NEW CLASS SCHEDULE!
Here it is! The new summer schedule is here! ENJOY! I know we are all EXCITED!

Sara’s is Back!
Sarah Bronson will be coming into town and has a few appointments still open! Sarah Bronson is a dear friend of our nurse, Teresa, and is from Florida. Both Teresa and Sara were in the same Wellness Center in Palm Beach. Sarah practices a technique called Brain Balance, and because it is hard to put into words, she simply calls it Happiness Alignment!

When I was introduced to what Sarah does, it was not hard at all to understand, as I have been exposed to much of the circulating techniques of healing for two decades now. Our daughter Emily is completing her certification in The Body Code, and it is similar to what Sarah offers.

Simply stated, The Body Code, Brain Balance, Happiness Alignment, EFT, simply are ways to release emotions, feelings and even chemicals from the body. I have taken part in all of these methods and love it! I still use the Emotional Freedom Technique EFT when I can’t fall asleep and it works great! Sarah will be speaking on this Wednesday, and if you are interested in seeing her, please call soon as her time is almost completely full! Sarah has openings each day May 11-17.

Organic Sod?
We just cut a new 100 x 60 foot garden and rolled the sod! If anyone is interested, we are asking $1.5 a roll and have about half that area left. Please call 629-4300.

The Wedding Season is here!

For those of you new to shopping at Nature’s Garden, you may not be aware that we host weddings many Saturdays during the summer. The upper parking lot is ALWAYS left open for Nature’s Garden shoppers! If you arrive and the parking lot looks full for a wedding, please just pull up to the store. NOTE: We have MANY outdoor weddings. IF you arrive during an outdoor wedding, please pull up slowly so as to not disturb the wedding. The wedding times are always: 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm and occasionally we have an 11:00 am. We do NOT have weddings each Saturday, but when weddings are going on, do not leave! Just come on up to shop!!

NEW PRODUCTS GALORE!

Our TOOTH POWDER is here! We actually label it T & G powder as we cannot sell the INCREDIBLE herb comfrey for internal use. I suppose it healed too many people but WE ALL STILL USE IT! Heck, I use it in my green smoothies! Many have asked what we use for toothpaste and this is it. We have labeled it appropriately, and you will see we recommend it for external use only…..and you can do with it what you wish!

Here are other new products! Mrs . Meyers Clean Day Bathroom Cleaner Lemon and Lavender, Nature’s Garden Organic Rosemary, Nature’s Garden Coriander Powder, Nature’s Garden Paprika, Organic Spearmint Tea, A Crazy NEW The Soap Bag that hold your soaps in the shower! We LOVE them and have sold so many since we brought them in last week! Also, new Sandwich Sacks to replace the plastic bags (our kids love them and use them daily) and some new reading books: The Raw Life by: Paul Nison, The Daylight Diet by Paul Nison, and Raw Knowledge by Paul Nison.


OUR GARDENS

We enjoy the beauty of the gardens here and welcome you to enjoy them too! If you would like to stroll in the gardens when you come to shop, please feel welcome. If you have children, they MUST hold your hand. We are quite strict when it comes to children in our gardens, so please respect this one request. As the weather warms up you will find our Yoga classes will be in the Gardens as well! We will have different musical groups perform for us as well in the gardens….and will keep you posted!

PLANTS and SEEDS!

Organic Veggies and Herbs will be here in two weeks! ALL have been planted in rich organic soil with worm castings. These plants will be incredible in your garden! Our heirloom organic seeds are in the store and waiting for your first tilling! DISCOUNTED 2009 and 2010 seeds are available as well.

Tiffany, Debbie, Kelly – who are these people!?

Tiffany joins us up in the Wellness Center. Tiffany is a delightful CNA who is helping Teresa with her appointments. Tiffany has adorable young children and is very excited to join the team! Tiffany has been training for many months under Teresa, and is a dear friend to all she meets. Debbie is a lovely woman who has been hired to keep us all on track up in the Wellness Center. Debbie is taking over all of my accounting responsibilities, and is going to run the office so I can PLAY! With the many speaking engagements coming my way, I can’t WAIT to get into the public more and leave the daily “grind” to someone who loves accounting! Ha! Perhaps my book will get finished with some extra time on my hands……. Kelly is our daughter Amy’s best friend. (They are both 4.0 students neck-to-neck at their school for valedictorian!) Kelly will be helping with our new computer program for the kitchen so we can mass produce some of our items for sale at other stores. Kelly will also be helping at the register in the store. Say hello when you meet her! WELCOME to Everyone!

FAMILY UPDATES!

YOU CAN STOP READING NOW (but you sure don’t need too!), AS THE FOLLOWING is intended for all those customers who know our family and enjoy the updates! Here are updates from Eric, Amy and Jenna!


Eric: (19) Many of you know Eric has been anxiously awaiting his mission call, and it came! Eric will be serving in the Spanish Speaking Orlando Florida Mission for two years! He is very excited and has saved several thousand dollars towards his mission. He is honored and excited to serve the wonderful people in that part of our amazing country. Eric leaves June 17th and if you would like to attend his open house please join us June 12th starting at 4:00 pm.

Amy (16) is still living in South Africa on a Foreign Exchange. She will return in Early July!

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello Everyone! Here are some differences between Cape Town and home, and an update on my experience thus far. It has been so incredible, thank-you again to everyone that helped get me here!
School: The season of Touch Rugby has now ended, which is the sport Janell and I played this term. It's like rugby, but instead of brutally tackling each other you aggressively "touch" them, and thus there are slightly different rules. Its really fun! (If you want to learn... let me know and we'll organize a game sometime!)

Cost of Living The basic living costs are much less here compared to home- food, apartments, clothing (depending on where you shop, obviously), transportation, and so forth, costs a lot less. (Not vehicles, electronics, name brand shoes, etc. though). All of the groceries on the counter in the picture attached cost just over70 Rand, or $10! (That would be a big white pumpkin, honeydew melon, 2 roughly 2lb bags of carrots, a giant cucumber, bag of grape tomatoes, loaf of bread, bag of mixed salad, a few peaches and 5 mangoes.) It’s awesome! “Fruit & Veg Mart” is one of the largest lines of produce stores in SA, and is the object of my heart’s adoration. 3 When I begin misbehaving, or scavenge some of Neville’s food, he just threatens not to take me there for a week and it snaps me line quick! Haha!

You must know that wages are also much smaller compared to home, so the lower cost of things is necessary for survival for many. The average factory worker (and many do work in factories) makes 800 Rand a week, which comes out to about R 19/hr, or $2.71/hr. Ingrid pays her employees R17 an hour, or $2.42/hr, and at fast food restaurants it’s around R10, or $1.42/hr. Even though the cost of living is lower, these low wages certainly don’t help people move up on the economic ladder or rise above the line of poverty (which unfortunately is drawn at around 50% of the population). It’s really sad, and because South Africa is competing with China on the global market in many areas (especially clothing), they can’t raise the wages or the prices of items any more or else they’d lose the business and thousands of people and factory workers would become jobless (which here all to soon could mean homeless). It’s like they’re trapped in their economic status. With unemployment at 23%, people take what jobs they can get despite the pay, and keep it.

Climate
Africa has fulfilled its stereotype of being freakishly hot. It gets up past the 100s some days! I recall one day pulling chocolate out of the cupboard inside and finding it melted! But other than those squelching times, the weather is truly beautiful. Giant sun, lots of wind, and very occasional showers.

Autumn is here now, so things are cooling off. My word, it is HILARIOUS seeing people shiver some mornings, scurrying around in scarves and multiple layers when the temperature drops to that deadly 70°! I keep inviting them to come to Wisconsin for a day and feel where the word cold really came from.

FOOD!
One of the best aspects of this foreign experience is all of the FOOD! It is certainly different, often unheard of (seriously), totally delicious, and almost always homemade. I am enjoying it to the moon and back (and learning how to make it, so when I get home invite me over to cook for your family a South African meal!)

The fruit and vegetable selection is huge and it’s all deliciously fresh! YUM! South Africa has a climate and landscape that can grow produce of any sort: peaches, pineapples, oranges, bananas, cabbages, apples, plums, root vegetables, mangoes, litches (these funky spiky small sweet fruits) and so much more. Thankfully, my outstanding consumption of these (and activity in sports) offsets my endless consumption of all of the other fantastic SA delicacies, which would otherwise be plumping me up quick as they're not considered healthy, especially to someone coming from a home of raw foodists and health freaks!

School Dance!
The Valentine’s Day Ball, way back in February, was so crazy fun! And also a unique experience. For one, back in Slinger we don’t get patted down and searched by security when we enter the dances, but we don’t have amazing techno music with marimbas and drums in it either!

A comedian that spoke at one of the weekly all-school assemblies in the beginning of the year had made the joke that when white people dance, it looks like they’re being shot at by an automatic gun. That was one of his jokes I actually understood and joined in with the rest of the student body he had pealed over in laughter, as my friends and I actually have a dance move we call the automatic gun! So exchanging dance moves such as that and many others, with their dance moves (which I have NO IDEA how to name!) was truly a ball!! Their dancing is so different.

Random Patriotic Note
On a side, more patriotic note, I want to throw in how thankful I am to be part of America for reasons beyond the fact that it is a stable, developed, and advanced country.

A couple of days after the disaster in Japan, an article headline in a newspaper here read “Americans dig deep in their pockets to help”, and then reported the awing amount of money and support that had been sent to Japan in a matter of days. And later, when the topic was brought up at school, a mate commented that was “typical America” and said America’s always somewhere helping people after disasters. In both instances I thought hey- that’s my country! There is a deep sense of pride that comes along with being part of a nation that is so willing to give and help when someone stands in need, and that is what I felt and feel today.

The USA certainly has its issues, faults within the government and angry citizens protesting in the streets of capitols, but being a nation based off of the institution of service and sacrifice is worth something great, and it is our unselfish response to the need of others on countless occasions that has made our generous support in Japan typical.

So to me, being an American doesn’t just mean having a significant amount of rights, enjoying football and patriotic events, living a politically high profile life, and being part of one the most unhealthy and nutritionally ignorant group of humans ever to have lived, it means being thankful for all that I have—in it’s incredible abundance—and giving some of that away to my neighbor, digging into my pocket, when they stand in need. Because that is what we do.

Have a fantastic and productive week filled with gratitude!

Amy Sprouse

And the last update but not at all the least…….

Jenna (21) is serving her mission in Las Vegas! In her last letter she called Las Vegas HEAVEN! Well, I sure would have never thought that about Nevada, but Jenna is in the thick of INCREDIBLE people and teaching others about Her Savior. Following is her Easter letter. If you are interested in receiving any future updates form Jenna (she writes weekly and we post the letters) please send us a reply and we will add you to her personal mailing list. Jenna does not Facebook, text, call or contact anyone from home during the week, with the exception of one hour for emails a week. SHE LOVES IT and her letters are AMAZING!

“This month’s message is about the very best message of all….our Savior! This Easter Sunday I challenge you to look to the future, forget your trials and find relief in the Saviors arms. Any troubles you have, tell your Heavenly Father. This Easter come to realize that your Savior truly saves!

“He is Risen” is the very best news the world has ever known. The Man who suffered the most, was tempted the most, and was trodden down the most, has overcome all! Because of our Saviors triumph over death, endurance in suffering, patience with affliction, correspondence with the father, unconditional love towards every child of God and humble submission for us, we can escape sin and live with our Father again.

Because our Savior is so personal, it is important to know He has personal feelings. It hurts Him when we complain to the father. He cries when we sin. He is heartbroken if we don’t pray to the Father each day. It kills Him when we don’t repent and mock His glorious atonement and Heavenly Fathers eternal plan.

Jesus is real. Feel Him. Know him. Touch the prints in His hands by submitting yourself to the will of the Father. Bow before Him by serving your brother. Tell Him you love Him by following the example He showed to us. Let Him hold you and uplift you, by praying to God and pour out your deepest concerns and sorrow to Him. Show Him your heart has been changed and aligned with His desires by shouting praises to your God! Become like the Savior in all ways.

We don’t become like Christ in a day. It will take a lifetime. Eternal friendships are formed over time. Give him your time; give him your life.

God has a continual plan for your life. Never forget that the chosen have the most trials. Look to Christ and live. Heavenly Father loves you. He will bless you and not only will the windows of heaven be opened but the very hosts of heaven will should hallelujah and surround you day by day.

“At the last moment the master could have turned back. He did not. He passed beneath all things.” April 2011 Ensign

Do not see your Savior as dying on the cross or lying in the tomb. See Him as the Savior, Risen, Glorified Lord, Master of the Whole Earth.

He is not dead. HE IS RISEN!”

If you read to the end, thank you!

Thank you for being part of our lives, we truly appreciate each of you who shop and support our family. Enjoy a beautiful day!