Lady Bulldogs

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Also something much different from years past is the fact that Lands has been going through radiation and chemo while battling cancer during the season

"It has been different, but it's been alright " said Lands at practice on Wednesday "It's probably been a little more taxing, fatigue-wise, but it is what it is and it's what I do "

Rhoten, a senior starter said that the team could tell when he's not having a good day, but he won't let anyone know

"You can just tell in his face if he's had his chemo that day because his face gets a little more red than usual " said Rhoten "He's had a great attitude through it and that's helped us stay positive "

Rhoten stated that this team is constructed differently due to not having Riley Harvey to count on

"The difference between last year and this year is now we have to rely on each other more than just one or two players " said Rhoten "This year you don't see just one person who has 40 points in a game and the others have two Coach Lands says that we all have to score at least four points If we all do our job, we will win."

Madisyn Hargrove echoed those statements, "This year's been a really big change and its actually been really awesome The freshmen have really picked up and took a role "

Howe was defeated earlier in the year by Whitesboro, but so much has changed since then and the young Lady Bulldogs have improved each week and they feel they are a much better team when they face them tonight

"We're not even the same team right now that we were when we played them " said Hargrove "I don't think they really know what's coming "

What they didn't see before was what the team refers to as the "fiveand-five " Instead of substituting one player at a time, Lands rotates an entire group of five in the game at a time One group of five will start a quarter and another group of five will finish the quarter It's something he's never done before until this year

"There's been 10 of them this year and we've used all 10 of them We continued on page 4

Pastor continued from page 1

Him To The Staff

Landis, who is more accustomed to big "county seat" churches, finds himself in a much smaller town, but likes the feel his mother Gayle Landis is also a Methodist Minister who has served all over the North Texas area and even in Van Alstyne for two years

"Howe is still small right now, but it's 10 minutes from Sherman and 20 minutes from McKinney" said Landis "White Decatur was a big town, it was 30 or 40 minutes from anything I feel closer to bigger cities here even though it's a smaller town."

Upon graduating from Plano High School, Zack Landis finished college studies at the University of North Texas in 2007 before going to seminary school

Lanis starter as an assistant youth minister at First United Methodist Church of Plano before becoming the youth director at Prosper United Methodist Church He then went to First United Methodist Church in Sherman as the youth director for nearly five years Upon finishing seminary, he became an associate pastor At that time, he went to First United Methodist Church of Decatur and has been there for the past three and a half years as the associate pastor

Landis started at FUMC at his first senior pastor position at the beginning of 2017 A month in, he says he has found a good church with a lot of good people

"They do a lot of good things like the food pantry, which is pretty impressive The church is active in the community" said Landis "There are some organizational things that we'll have to work through, but other than that, it's a good spot to be "

He had a chance to meet the former Pastor Moore as he was coming on board just to introduce

Landis, a young minister, says that he's enjoying being in a smaller church and does not necessarily have dreams of being a pastor of a large church such as the ones he's served before

"Sometimes (larger churches) are not all what it's cracked up to be " said Landis "A lot of times you're just dealing with all of the innerworkings of the church and you're more like a CEO rather than a pastor and you're not with the people That's not necessarily the dream of every pastor. We've been enjoying being here "

With Howe only having a inner population of 3,000 people, there are seven churches in town Landis says that he's not a proponent of taking members from other local churches, but wants to focus on those people that currently do not have a church home

"There's plenty of people out there that don't have a church and I think that's where we need to focus " said Landis "We want to focus on those who don't know Christ or have a relationship."

Landis and his wife Laura have moved into the church parsonage on King Street in Howe They have been married for two years come April 11 and they have not yet had children

Outside of ministry, Landis is an avid golfer who shoots in the mid80s, but says that's because he hasn't played much lately He's also a former Lions Club Director and is interested in becoming a member of the Howe Lions Club

But when it comes to ministry, Landis says that will preach a lot out of the Gospel of Matthew

"Right now, we're in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount sermon series " said Landis "I guess that would be my bread-and-butter because I've done a lot of studying on and know a lot about it If I had to pick one book, that would be it "

Being in Howe for four Sundays and when asked which church member comes to mind first, Landis said without hesitation, Ned Culp

"He's just an interesting guy and has called me several times " said Landis "We've sat down and had a meal together and sat next to him at the family breakfast recently He just has a lot of stories and a centric personality with a kind heart "

While Methodist preachers rarely get to stay in one place for an extended period of time, it is not unheard of for a preacher that loves the congregation and a congregation that loves a preacher to have a special long term relationship Who knows? Only One