We like other Arkansans are enjoying a real seasonal spring this year with cool temps and the slow emergence of flower blossoms. Our typical spring is usually very short and often we feel the heat of summer upon us even before April!

New life is abundant in this springtime of the Church with the election of our new Holy Father Pope Francis! We rejoice with all of you to see the Holy Spirit's mysterious action and the Good Shepherd Himself taking such good care of His flock. We nuns rarely watch TV but on this special occasion we watched EWTN's coverage like many other Catholics around the world! We pledge our loving obedience to Pope Francis and promise our daily prayers and sacrifices for him and our Holy Mother Church.

St. Joseph not only brought us a new pope this year, but also brought us a new postulant who entered on his glorious feastday. Diana Croisant is from Tulsa, OK and has been working as a graphic designer while spending most of her other time helping out at her parish Sts. Peter and Paul. She is now a big help to us in the sacristy and brings along her fluency in Spanish. We are grateful to God for her vocation to our Carmel and for this gift to the whole Church. Thank you, St. Joseph!

Another exciting piece of news (more exciting to some than to others!) is that we replaced our old tractor with a brand new one--bright orange, at that! Sr. Lucia is very happy about this and will be making great use of it on our property of 20 acres. Anu, our other postulant has already started tilling the garden with it. It's name? You guessed it: Francis. Well, the consensus is the Spanish nickname for Francis--"Paco".

Let us stay close to Jesus in his suffering, death and resurrection as soon celebrate the great Paschal Mystery. We have prayed for our benefactors and all the prayer intentions sent to us during our novena to St. Joseph and will continue our prayers for all of you.

Love,

Your Carmelite Nuns