Message 10 February 2013

Dear Family & Friends,

Much has happened since last Sunday.  Monday morning at staff meeting we had a great discussion led by President Christianson in which we all learned principles and doctrines which we have not recognized previously.  We began with some great missionary related principles shared by Sister Christianson, which she had read in Clayton M. Christensen’s new book which is entitled “The Power of Everyday Missionaries”.   President Christianson then led a discussion about how the scriptures are filled with vignettes of real families with real people who have real problems and challenges and how they handled them.  These scriptures allow us the opportunity to learn from them by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.  We can learn from these real people, any truths, principles, and doctrines that our Heavenly Father knows can help us by reading, pondering, and praying about what we read in the scriptures.  Then through the Holy Ghost we can be directed and guided through our own real problems and challenges.  Many times as we receive answers through the Holy Ghost, He teaches us not just from the words in the scriptures but also from the thoughts and impressions that come into our minds and hearts.  Another very important thing we learn from the scriptures is that families really are central to Heavenly Fathers Plan for his children.  The Bible begins with Adam and Eve and their family and includes how Adam and Eve had great challenges with two of their sons, one of whom killed his brother.  Then we read about the family of Abraham, whose father tried to offer him as a sacrifice to idols.  Abraham had to leave his home and family to save the lives of his wife and family.  Then we have Moses who became a foster child of a princess of Egypt and then had to find his way back to the gospel by running away from the home he was raised in and finding Jethro and his daughter Zipporah who taught him the gospel so he would be prepared to be the prophet of the Lord who could lead the children of Israel from Egypt.  Then in the Book of Mormon it begins with Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem to save their lives.  Lehi had two sons who just never received a spiritual witness that changed their hearts.  Instead they tried to kill their younger brother who did have a spiritual witness of the gospel.  Lehi’s younger son Jacob was abused by the rudeness and meaness of his older brothers.  The examples go on and on in the scriptures.  We are not the first parents to have difficulties raising our children; it began with Adam and Eve and continues today.  The scriptures which we have, were provided by divine design and have been preserved by the hand of the Lord to be available to help us with our lives in this day and time.  We were greatly blessed by being a part of this discussion with the President and the rest of the office staff.  Monday evening we went to dinner with Elder and Sister WIllyerd and we had some good discussions to help them in their assignments.

Tuesday and Wednesday I helped Elder Willyerd with the vehicle inspections at the zone conferences for the Rochester Zone and the Palmyra North Zone.  Then in the afternoons of both days I helped him with other things that he still needed to learn.  I am confident that the new office staff will do all that is needed and required of them, and they will likely do it even better than we did because the Lord will help them as He hastens His work.  Tuesday evening President and Sister Christianson took us to dinner and we were blessed to spend some time alone with them before starting our journey home on Thursday.  Wednesday evening we attended the Site Training Meeting at the Hill Cumorah.  We had been invited to share our testimonies with the senior couples and the young Sister missionaries.  It was a heart wrenching experience filled with the Spirit.   We will greatly miss these experiences with the missionaries who teach at the church history sites.  We will also greatly miss our associations with all of the missionaries; we have received far more blessings than we deserve.

Thursday morning we began packing what we own into the car, only to discover that we could not quite get everything in.  So we ended up sending one more box of things home through UPS before we could make everything to fit.  We finally started our journey homeward about noon.  We drove southeast to Bainbridge NY and arrived about 4pm.  Brother and Sister Sherman helped us find our way to their home on the phone since the GPS could not find the address for us.  We learned later that the reason the GPS could not find Bainbridge is because the community is in the process of changing the name to Afton.  The Sherman’s were very good to us and took us to see the Josiah Stoal and Newell Knight homes.  The Sherman’s have keys to these homes so we were able to go inside them and see the interior and take pictures.  They also showed us Kelsey’s Pub where Joseph was tried on false charges.  We also drove along the road where the constable drove Joseph to jail and was supposed to turn him over to a mob that was waiting on the bend along the Susquehanna River.  The constable had a change of heart and drove through the mob and then a little farther down the road the wheel came off the wagon but Joseph and the constable were able to get the wheel back on and get a way from the mob before they caught up with them.  The Sherman’s provided a good dinner and let us stay with them for the night.  They also fed us a good breakfast and we bid them farewell and started westward about 9am Friday morning.  We drove through some light snow storms most of the day, but arrived safely in Cleveland at the mission office Friday about 4pm, where we met Elder and Sister Jacklin.  They then took us to dinner and then to their home where we spent the night with them.  We had time to visit and reminisce with them and share missionary experiences and other memories.  They also provided breakfast and more conversation.  We left their home Saturday morning about 9:30am and drove to Carthage Illinois; arriving about 8pm.  We found a motel and spent the night there.  Sunday morning we drove about 15 miles to Keokuk Iowa, across the Mississippi River and south of Nauvoo.  After church we drove back to Carthage to the Jail where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred.  Some Senior missionaries provided a tour and commentary about the events that happened there.  We then went to find a motel closer to Nauvoo; and ended up in a motel in Keokuk Iowa.  We are going to spend Monday in and around Nauvoo and then see where we will go from there.

We express our deep and abiding love for each of you and we are so appreciative of your thoughts and prayers in our behalf.  We look forward to seeing you next Saturday.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine &

Message—3 February 2013

Dear Family & Friends,

We spent every day in the office this week trying to help the Willyerd’s and Sister Harris and Sister Allred learn more of what they need to know to take over the mission office responsibilities all on their own, beginning on Thursday.  We spent time planning for this weeks’ Zone Conferences at the Hill Cumorah and what needs to be done.  These wonderful people have been called by the Lord and they will do exactly what needs to be done in the way it should be done.  The Lord will direct them and sustain them in their assignments and provide help through the Holy Ghost just as he did us a year ago.  This really and truly is the Lord’s work and he is in the details more than we know.

Tuesday and Wednesday evenings we stayed home in the evening and started organizing and planning and gathering together what we need to send home and what we will take with us in the car when we leave.  Thursday morning the Servoss’s stopped at the office to say farewell to everyone.  They are taking a month to drive home because they will be stopping in many places to see friends and relatives.  Thursday evening we decided to go to the last Institute Class which Brother Gammon taught.  As we left the house to drive to Geneseo it was cold but there was no snow.  After about 5 miles the snow began to fall and the closer we got to Geneseo the snow became more heavy until by the time we were getting off the freeway exit to Geneseo it was white out.  When we arrived at the church there was about an inch of snow in the parking lot.  At the end of the lesson we said farewell to Brother Gammon.  When we went outside after Institute, there was about 4 inches of snow.  As we drove home the snow gradually quit and by the time we got to the house there was no snow on the ground.  These lake effect snow storms have very strange and unique patterns.

Friday we spent most of the day helping the Willyerd’s prepare for next weeks’ Zone Conferences.  Saturday we spent the day deciding what items we still needed to send home in boxes and getting them boxed up.  We also spent part of the day cleaning up some of the rooms in the house so the Willyerd’s will have a clean home in which to move.

Today, Sunday we attended church in Geneseo and had a great Fast and Testimony meeting.  Elder Willyerd shared his testimony first and we shared our testimony a little alter, and others shared their testimonies.  Our other meetings were very spiritual and edifying.  The church is really true and the people in Geneseo are great people whom we have learned to love.  A young 4 or 5 year old boy, who is a son of our newly sustained ward clerk, shared his testimony by relating a short story about fish getting caught in a net.  He then said if we do not want to get caught in the net of Satan we have to choose to do what is right and let the Holy Ghost help us.  That is so profound and from a 4 year old.  Our life really is that simple; choose to do what is right and let the Holy Ghost help us.  The youth of the church today are so much closer to the gospel and the Lord than I ever was at that age.  The church is in the Lord’s hands for sure; but he has sent young people who will be a part of the coming of the millennium.  Many of our young missionaries in this mission come from very dysfunctional homes and yet they are the spiritual giants they are and will yet become even greater leaders.  We know the missionary work in which we have served the last two years is perfectly true and it is being hastened through inspired prophets and apostles and other faithful servants raised up in this day to do all the Lord needs to have done.  We as members need to do our part to help in the gathering of Israel.  Joseph Smith is the prophet of this dispensation; the Book of Mormon is absolutely true and will help us come to the Savior through faith in his atonement and using our agency to choose to follow the inspiration we receive from the Holy Ghost.  President Monson is the Lord’s prophet today and we need to follow what he and the other brethren teach us.

We love you all and look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks.  Many of you we know will not come to see us on the 17^th, but you are welcome to come to our home any time after that when you are available.  This will be the last blog message from us as we complete our mission on Wednesday and begin driving homeward on Thursday, in a meandering path that will get us home on February 16^th.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard

Message—28 January 2013

Dear Family & Friends,

This message is a day late, but we are not a dollar short.  We have been blessed by the Lord with all the resources we have needed to serve this mission; both in a physical sense and especially in a spiritual sense.  Heavenly Father has been so good and kind and patient and helpful in what we have been blessed to accomplish.

Last Monday we enjoyed a good office staff meeting with President and Sister Christianson and five senior couples currently serving in the mission office.  Since we are training our replacements; there were four additional missionaries besides the Ellis’s and Servoss’s.  Elder and Sister Willyerd are replacing us, and Sister Allred and Sister Harris are replacing the Servoss’s.  The two sisters and the Willyerd's are learning quickly and will be just fine carrying on in helping the President with all that needs to be done to keep the missionary work moving forward.  Monday evening we enjoyed a family home evening alone; it was great.  Tuesday we spent the day in the office training; and were able to work on some things at home in the evening.

Wednesday we started for the office with sunshine and dry roads; but after we arrived at the office I needed to go north to Webster to pick up Elder Servoss from a transmission repair shop.  The closer I got to Lake Ontario the snow started falling; by the time I reached Highway 104, which parallel’s the lake, there was 5-6 inches of snow and a number of vehicles off the road and a multiple car accident.  When I first reached the snow I had to stop for a traffic light but the road was icy and I partially slid into the intersection, but some angels kept me from hitting another car coming from my left.  I safely made it back to the office with Elder Servoss.   We left the office at about 3:30pm to go to an office complex on Winton Road South to pick up Eric Levie who had been at this office building doing some work for the company for which he works.  Some of you will remember Eric was a neighbor to us in Provo for several years when our older sons were teenagers.  Eric and our sons all worked for Mac Carter.  Eric and his family currently live in Mesa Arizona.  His oldest son Jeff is serving a mission in the New Hampshire Mission which is just to the North and East of our mission.  Jeff will finish his mission next month and return home to Mesa.  We took Eric with us to the Site Meeting which was at the Peter Whitmer Farm in Fayette.  The Site Directors for our Historic Sites are the Searle’s; and their son Scott is good friends with Eric; so Eric was able to meet the Searle’s and become acquainted with them.  Eric was able to experience the Whitmer Farm Visitor’s Center and also to be in the restored log home of the Whitmer’s and have Elder Searle tell him of the events that took place in the log home.  We drove Eric back to his hotel in Henrietta so he would be able to attend some meetings on Thursday and Friday morning.

Thursday we left the office at 4:30pm so we would have time to drive to Geneseo and have some dinner before teaching Institute at 7pm.  Jon Sykes was the only YSA who came to Institute; but we had a good lesson; Jon is a great young man.  He is going to move to Utah in June and marry a young lady in the temple and live in Utah.  The Geneseo Elder’s came to the church near the end of the lesson.  They were on exchanges with the Warsaw Elders because Elder Maisey’s driver’s license had expired on Monday and his companion could not drive.  So the two Elder’s from Warsaw could both drive, and had permission from President to drive; this made it so neither companionship had to walk to their appointments.  One of the driver’s was Elder Pratt, it was good to see him.  We had received Elder Maisey’s driver’s license Thursday so we had it with us to give to Elder Maisey so he could drive again.

Friday at about noon we left the office and picked up Eric Levie again from where he was working and then drove to Palmyra and took Eric to see the Martin Harris homestead, the grave of Alvin Smith, and the Book of Mormon Publication site at the Grandin Building.  Sister Hausauer and Sister Aiello provided most of the tour for Eric; they are awesome missionaries.  Elder Fuller finished the tour because the Sister’s had a teaching appointment.  Elder Fuller also gave us tour of Shortsville; this a name made up by the missionaries for the area under the floor of the Grandin Building.  When the building was restored it required considerable work under the building to stabilize the rest of it.  Under the floor are some of the old wood and other furniture and items that were in the building when the restoration began in the 1990’s; some of these things were in the original building in the 1820’s.  Hardly anyone gets to see this area; it was awesome.  We then went to the Hill Cumorah Visitor’s Center so Eric could see all that was there.  We returned to our home and Eric spent the night with us.

Saturday morning we got up and had a nice breakfast fixed by Sister Jensen.  Eric remembered why he spent so much time at our place when he lived there, Sister Jensen makes good food.  I think between Nancy Carter and Maxine, they provided most of Eric’s meals when he lived by us.  I took Eric to see the historic sites here in Mendon where we live and told him of the historic events that occurred here.  We then went to the Hill Cumorah and drove up to the top where I told Eric of some of the additional things that are special to this place and he took pictures.  We then went to the Joseph Smith Farm and the Sacred Grove.  We stopped at the Palmyra Temple for Eric to take some pictures.  Sister Jones and Sister Gillespie gave us the tour of the log home and the frame home and the barn and cooper shop.  These two sisters are also awesome missionaries.  Eric and I then walked through the sacred grove and I shared a number of things about the grove that I have learned from others.  We had a special day at the historic sites.  We then left the farm and drove down Stafford Rd. and stopped at the home where Porter Rockwell lived and grew up with Joseph Smith.  We also stopped at the lake rock school house where Oliver Cowdery taught school before becoming the scribe for the Prophet Joseph Smith.  We also drove by where the saw mill was from which the Smith’s obtained the lumber to build the buildings on the Smith Farm.  This place is still a saw mill but now has all the modern equipment that saw mills have and is much bigger.  We then drove Eric to the Rochester Airport to catch his plane to return to Mesa.

Sunday we had made arrangements to go to Brockport to church, instead of to the  Geneseo.  We sent Elder and Sister Willyerd to attend church in Geneseo and stop and pick up Dan to take him to church with them.  It was good to see the good people in the Brockport ward where we lived and attended the first year of our mission.  They all remembered us and seemed pleased to see us again.  After the block of meetings we stayed for a baptism service for Joanne Mayo.  Elder Ellis baptized her; she will be confirmed next Sunday.  Going to Brockport allowed us to express our appreciation for their kindnesses to us while we were with them.  After the baptism we went to the Ellis’s apartment and she provided a good dinner for them, us and the Arrington’s.  We had a very close association with the Arrington’s and it was great to spend more time with them.  As we were finishing our dinner Sister Lucero brought her niece Joanne (who had been baptized that day) and Joanne’s son and they had some dessert with us and visited.  After we said goodbye to everyone we drove to Casey’s home and visited with her for a little while and then said our goodbye’s and drove home.  By the time we arrived home my brain was not sharp enough to do the blog message, so I waited until tonight to do the message.

This morning we had office staff meeting where President invited the Servoss’s to share their testimonies before they go home on Thursday.  This evening we went to the Site Couples Family Home Evening at the Hill Cumorah.  Norman White had been invited to share his life’s story, conversion, and finding his wife; and the experience he had in being blessed to provide some of the logs that were used to reconstruct the Peter Whitmer log home.  Norman was given the Melchizedek Priesthood and ordained an Elder in the Peter Whitmer log home.  Norman and his wife were privileged to be the first live sealing in the newly dedicated Palmyra Temple.  A good brother and friend of Norman’s had taken care of having the temple work done for Norman’s birth parents, earlier in the day.  So after Norman and his wife were sealed Norman was sealed to his birth parents.  The rest of Norman’s story is in a blog message from last year when we also heard him give his presentation.  What Norman shared is another witness that there are no coincidences, everything is intertwined by divine design; as Elder Maxwell said some years ago.

In the month of February there are only three birthday’s in our immediate family.  We hope Madison has a wonderful birthday on February 18^th, and Landon on February 20^th, and Colby on February 24^th.  We also recognize the birthday of Jay on February 5^th.  I also remember that both my Dad and Mom graduated from mortality in February.  We hope everyone has a special Valentine day in February.

We will be released next week on February 7^th; and we will begin our journey home on that day.  We will arrive home on February 16^th.  Bishop Kemp has invited us to speak in Sacrament Meeting on February 17^th at 11am in our church which is at 1560 South 1100 West Provo Utah 84601.

We love all of you and look forward to seeing you any time it is convenient for you  to come and see us; since we are officially retired we think maybe we will be at home a little more.  Since we do not know what being retired means, being at home more may just be wishful thinking.

Love to all of you,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine and Richard

Message—20 January 2013

Dear Family & Friends,

The Senior Missionary Couple who are going to replace us arrived here in the mission on Tuesday the 15^th; so it looks like we will really be coming back home to Utah next month.  We have had a week full of mission office work and several meetings we attended in the evenings as well.

Monday we had our mission office staff meeting in which we discussed all the affairs of the mission with which we need to help the President.  Sister Allred and Sister Harris arrived in the mission on Saturday afternoon; they will replace the Servoss’s.  Sister Harris is Sister Christianson’s sister; so these two sisters’ spent the weekend with President and Sister Christianson and came to the staff meeting with them Monday morning.  We were surprised to learn the President had planned a day of Specialized Training for all the missionaries on Thursday.  The two Palmyra zones were to meet in the morning in the Canandaigua Church and the Rochester and Buffalo zones were to meet in the afternoon at the Batavia Church.  Sister Servoss and Sister Jensen then had to scramble and plan for the snacks for these two meetings; but as usual for them they took care of everything.  Sister Jensen and I spent the afternoon making sure we had everything ready to start training Elder and Sister Willyerd when they arrived.  The Servoss’s took Sister Harris and Sister Allred to the other John Young home across the road from where we live; which is where they will be staying.  The Servoss’s moved in with a member family in the Pittsford ward on Saturday so the Sister’s home was available for them to move into.  Monday evening we went to the Hill Cumorah Visitor’s Center for the Senior Missionary Family Home evening.  President Christianson gave us a very helpful explanation of the history and future of the House of Israel.  The purpose for this was to help us better understand what our role as missionaries is to help in gathering the House of Israel before the second coming of the Savior.  He shared a number of very helpful explanations to better enable us to more clearly understand all the scriptures about gathering the children of Heavenly Father in this last dispensation.  It was a great blessing to us to hear and learn what President shared with us.

Tuesday afternoon Elder and Sister Willyerd arrived at the mission office.  After being introduced and becoming a little acquainted with them we had them follow us to the apartment next to the Joseph Smith Farm, where they will be staying for a few weeks until we leave.  Elder Fuller who lives upstairs in the home the Willyerd’s are temporarily staying in, came down and explained about all the facilities available to them.  We told them what a great blessing they would have for a few weeks to take a walk in the Sacred Grove every morning or evening if they would like to.  Not too many people can begin their day by walking in the Sacred Grove.  We then returned to the office and finished some things there and then spent the evening at home.  Wednesday we began training the Willyerd’s in their responsibilities.  They are both very good people and are learning quickly.  Wednesday evening we went to the Site Training meeting at the Hill Cumorah.  In addition to the regular meeting items, Rand Packer and his wife, Sherry had been invited to share some of their experiences with Rand’s mother and grandparents.  Rand’s grand-parents are Willard and Rebecca Bean; and Rand’s mother is Palmyra Bean.  The Bean’s had lived in the Joseph Smith home, the home Alvin started to build before he died; from 1914 to 1938.  Palmyra grew up in Palmyra and graduated from the PalMac High School.  Rand shared some of the pictures they found among his mother’s things after she died a few years ago.  He also shared some experiences and stories his mother, Palmyra, shared with him.  It was a special experience to hear what Rand and his wife shared with us.

Thursday morning we went to the mission office and spent the morning training the Willyerd’s some more.  The Servoss’s and Sister Allred and Sister Harris had gone to the morning Specialized training in Canandaigua.  About 12:45pm we took the Willyerd’s with us and drove to Batavia in a snow storm to attend the afternoon Specialized training with the Rochester and Buffalo zones.  President spent the time training about how to teach lessons, and not just teach people; there is a significant difference.  Preach My Gospel has a chapter about how to do this.  In connection with this topic he also used Doctrine & Covenants Section 84 verse 88 and 2 Nephi 27: 20-21.  This last scripture states the same phrase in both verses “…I am able to do mine own work…”  He certainly is capable of doing his own work; but He chooses to allow us to participate in this work which requires much patience on His part.  By so doing it provides us great blessings to help us grow and progress and become who we can become.  While allowing us to participate in His work; the Doctrine and Covenants verse tells us that we are not doing the work on our own.  He tells us that He will go before our face (and prepare people to receive us and the gospel) and He will also be on our right and left hands, and the Holy Ghost will be in our hearts; and also He will have His angels round about us.  By providing us with all of this help, we are certainly not doing the work on our own; we can learn to teach by the Spirit what each person needs to hear when they need to hear it.  In this way the Holy Ghost can witness to the people the truths they are hearing, are true.  Thus as people are taught the truths they need to hear we can help them receive the gospel so they can come unto Christ.  The instruction was very much needed and the Spirit taught us what we needed to learn.

Thursday evening we drove to Palmyra for a presentation arranged by the Historic Palmyra Organization.  The meeting was held in the Palmyra Coverlet Museum; this museum has the largest collection of coverlets and quilts in America.  They have some very unique and valuable items in their collection.  Rand Packer had been invited to provide a presentation at this event in honor of his grand-parents, Willard and Rebecca Bean.  In the 24 years the Beans lived in Palmyra on the Joseph Smith Farm they became very good friends with many people in Palmyra and were an important part of the history of Palmyra.  Rand and Elder Searle donated a large framed picture of main street in Palmyra from the time period when the Bean’s lived there.  Rand also gave Bonnie Hays, the president of the Historic Palmyra Organization, one of the arrowheads found on the Joseph Smith Farm when the Beans lived there.  Rebecca used to give one arrowhead to all the people who visited the Joseph Smith Farm while they lived there.  As the Bean’s farmed the ground they would find many arrowheads, so there was always enough to give away to others.  Rand then used some pictures from the collection of his Mother, Palmyra, to talk about how all the Beans wanted to do was be friends with the people of Palmyra and live among them as neighbors.  By the time the Bean’s left in 1938 they had made many friends in Palmyra and were given several farewell parties and dinners by several groups including the churches on the four corners.  Rand ended with an experience he had a few years ago on a visit to Palmyra.  On a Sunday, after attending the LDS Church services in the Palmyra Stake Center across the road from the Palmyra Temple; he and his wife drove up to the Four Corners and went to the services in two of the churches.  In the Presbyterian church, after the services he was talking with the lady minister and a very old man came up and in his 90+ year old voice said he remembered Rand’s mother, Palmyra, he had graduated from high school with her.  He said I think I have a picture of our graduation class; he then asked where Rand was staying and Rand told him.  A little while later the old man came to the Palmyra Inn and brought the picture with him and Rand made a copy of it to add to the picture collection he has.  What the Bean’s started has grown to where the church and the community of Palmyra get along quite well.  The Lord really is doing His work, using us along the way.

Friday we spent the day training the Willyerd’s and then spent the evening at home.  Saturday we worked on some projects at home.  One of them was putting some things in boxes that we will not have room to take home in the car with us.  We have sent some boxes home already, and we will send these boxes home as well; and we may need to send a few more boxes the week before we leave.  Saturday afternoon at 2pm we had made arrangements to meet Yezzie and Brianna at our home and take them to dinner.  You may remember that these two young ladies were baptized just before Christmas here in Rochester.  They are both going to the John Wesleyan College and majoring in Nursing.  We told them about the church history events that took place here in Mendon and the people who were gathered in by the Lord to help with the restoration.  We took them to Olive Garden for dinner and had a nice visit with them.  On the way home we drove by where the Solomon Kimball home is located, and also stopped at the Boughton Hill Cemetery, and the Tomlinson Inn.  While at the cemetery I told them of the Vision of the Night Sky that occurred on the night of 22 September 1827 when the Prophet Joseph went to obtain the plates from Moroni.  This event was recorded by both Heber C. and Vilate Kimball, and also by Brigham Young.  The Mendon NY Historical Society has some records of other people in the area seeing this same scene.  This is another evidence that the Lord is doing His work including having angels round about us.

Today we had blue sky and sunshine before we were ready to leave for church; but by the time we walked out the door it was snowing.  It snowed all the way to church.  After Church, we drove home in sunshine.  On the way home we stopped at the Duvall’s in West Bloomfield, to give a baby blanket to Anna which Sister Jensen and crocheted for the baby which Anna is to give birth to tomorrow.  This evening I am going to go to a fireside at the Palmyra Stake Center where Rand Packer is going to do a fireside for members in the stake and area.  Sister Jensen is suffering from a cold, so she is going to stay home.  I will have to share what I learn tonight with you in next weeks’ message.

We express our great love and appreciation for all of you.  You are special to us.  May you each be blessed with the help you need in your lives.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard

Message—13 January 2013

Dear Family & Friends,

Monday there were 12 new missionaries who arrived in the mission.  Sister Jensen helped with getting the information on the new mission directory accurate.  She went to the President’s in the afternoon to help prepare a dinner for all these missionaries, the AP’s, and President & Sister Christianson.  During the day I prepared what I needed to provide the instruction about vehicle’s to these new missionaries on Tuesday afternoon.  Sister Jensen arrived home about 6:30pm and we had a home evening.

Tuesday morning we finished making preparations for giving instruction to the new missionaries.  The missionaries who were part of the transfer started arriving around 11am for the 12 noon Transfer meeting where the new missionaries would be introduced and informed who their new first companion and trainer would be.  I had some vehicle related issues to take care of with some of the missionaries as they arrived, and also after the Transfer meeting.  After the transfer meeting the new missionaries and their companions met with the mission office staff to receive some instruction to help them know what they needed to know as they begin their mission.  Sister Jensen and I are the last to give instruction to the new missionaries.  She provides helpful information about receiving their mail, taking care of referrals, and obtaining all the needed information for people who are baptized and confirmed as new members.  I then give the training and instruction about vehicles and safety and then talk them through the steps of making sure the information needed to certify them are in their missionary vehicle related folder.  This information is then used by the President and I to certify the new missionaries to be the designated driver of a vehicle when the President so assigns them.  The last 10 days or so I have been coordinating with the missionary drivers and Subaru Dealerships to get some recall warranty work done on 9 Subaru Legacy cars we have in the mission vehicle fleet.  I also took care of having the NYS annual Inspection done at the same time and then paying for the inspection.  It kept me busy, along with all the other things I have needed to do this week.

Wednesday we took care of all that we do after new missionaries arrive and also tried to catch up on a number of other responsibilities for which we have responsibility.  Wednesday right after lunch I took President to get his Traverse from the repair shop.  We did not go to the weekly Site Training meeting in the evening since they were doing safety training at the Joseph Smith Farm.  Sister Jensen had given out most of the mail at the Transfer Meeting on Tuesday.

Thursday we both spent some time preparing for beginning to train Elder & Sister Willyerd who will be arriving the first part of this next week; they will be replacing us.  Thursday evening we went to Geneseo to the first Institute Class of this new year.  We had two YSA’s and the Elders attend.  Brother Gammon taught the lesson.  We stayed and had treats and visited for about an hour and arrived home about 10:30pm.

Friday we both pretty much got caught up on our projects and preparations for beginning to train the Willyerd’s next week.  Friday evening Elder & Sister Jeppesen who are serving in the Cattaraugus area came and went to a session at the Palmyra Temple and then they came and spent the evening with us.  We were able to visit with them for a while before we went to bed.  They are a great couple and are doing a lot of good in the Cattaraugus branch, which is on the Seneca Indian Reservation.  The Jeppesen’s used to own a large dairy in Mantua UT; they milked about 500 cows.  Elder Jeppesen sold his part of the dairy operation to his partner so he and his wife could serve some missions.  They are great people.

Saturday morning after breakfast and a little more visiting; Chris and Rhonda Elliott arrived at 10am.  Chris and his family are members of the Geneseo Ward and he has been our ward mission leader up until about a month ago.  He was released as our ward mission leader and called to be the Young Men President; he is a great leader and does well with the young men.  He will be very good at helping prepare the young men to be good missionaries by the time they are 18.  Chris is employed by a company which distributes dairy milking supplies to many of the dairies in Western N Y between Syracuse and Buffalo.  Some of the dairies he services have robotic milking equipment for which he provides the cleaning solutions and calibrating the robots to clean properly.  Chris had arranged with a dairy not too far from where we live to allow us and the Jeppesen’s to see their dairy operation which milks about 750 cows and has 13 robotic units to milk these cows.  Most people would never guess that Western NY has over 650,000 milk cows scattered around the area.  Most of the dairies milk 1000 or less cows, but there are some larger dairies which milk 3,000 to 5,000 cows.  It was very interesting and educational to watch these robot units milk the cows with no direct human involvement.  Each cow has a tag around her neck with a computer unit embedded in it.  The tag tells the robot who the cow is and a large variety of information about the cow.  The cows are all in enclosed barn areas and the cows choose when they will be milked.  No human has to go herd them into a holding pen and then herd them into the milk barn and clean each cow and then put the milkers on like most of us are used to doing.  The cows are motivated to be milked mostly based on obtaining a measured amount of grain.  It is amazing that the cows choose to be milked an average of about 2.7 to 2.8 times in 24 hours, roughly 3 times.  These numbers tell you that there are some cows which need to have a human bring them to be milked; mostly these are the new young heifers that need to learn when to be milked.  If a cow tries to get grain before she should be milked no grain will be dispensed and the gate to let her out opens so she will leave.  Most of the cows have it timed to within 10-15 minutes of when it is the right time to be milked next.  Once the cow is locked in the milking unit automatically begins doing what it is programmed to do.  The robotic arm unit goes into motion and an arm with cleaning brushes swings under the cow and laser guiding lights help the unit find the teats and the brushes gently clean each teat one at a time.  The cleaning unit then swings out of the way and goes through a thorough cleaning process so it will be ready for the next cow.  The unit with the milking claw then swings under the cow and the laser light guides each shell and inflation onto the teat one at time, beginning with the rear teats.  Each robotic unit has its own milk receiving jar and pump to empty the jar when the cow has been milked.  The milk is measured, the temperature of the milk and a few other things are measured.  All of the information is then sent to a computer which is monitored by the herd manager.  There are all kinds of messages and prompts sent to the computer and the herd manager and a few other helpers take care of any warnings or problems that appear on the computer screen.  The information in the cows tag includes whether any of the quarters on the cow are not functional or have been treated and if the milk should not go into the tank the milk is dumped into the floor drain and washed away.  The milking shells and inflations are steam cleaned after each cow for a few minutes.  The milk is pre-cooled before being pumped into the bottom of a 7,000 gallon tank.  The timing of all of these steps is worked out so that when the milk truck comes to get the milk from the tank there is time to clean the tank before milk goes in to the tank again.  There are two tanks this same size so while one is being cleaned milk can go in to the other tank.  There are a lot more details about how this all works, but it was very interesting to see and hear how it all works.   I have some good pictures of the robot units.

We had a great day in our church meetings today.  We were invited to visit with a family in the ward after our meetings and eat with them.  We stayed and visited with them for a while after eating.  We are looking forward to hearing President Uchtdorf in the CES Fireside this evening.

Our missionaries here in the mission continue to have many spiritual experiences in finding and teaching people the gospel.  Sadly, there are not a great number who are willing to change their lives and let the gospel and the Holy Ghost into their hearts and lives to change them and bring them the happiness that only the gospel can bring.  In time, more of the people will accept the gospel as they have more visits from the missionaries.  It takes an average of 7 exposures to the gospel before people will feel the Holy Ghost tell them it is true and then accept it and live it and be willing to be baptized and confirmed.  We know the gospel is true and of eternal worth in our lives if we will let it become a part of our lives.

We love all of you,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard

Message 6 January 2013

Dear Family & Friends,

This has been a great week with many varied experiences.  Monday was New Year’s Eve day.   We had our Monday Mission Office Staff meeting at 9am.  In the meeting Elder Ellis shared some pictures they took the previous week when they visited the brother of Elder Ellis and his wife in Bainbridge NY.  This is the town where Josiah Stowell lived in 1825 at the time Joseph Smith went to work for him to earn some money to help pay for completing the construction of the Frame home on the Smith farm in Palmyra.  While working for Josiah, Joseph also met Newell Knight; and he also met Emma Hale from Harmony PA.  The brother of Elder Ellis has a sister-in-law and her husband who also live in Bainbridge and she and her husband have the keys to the home of Newell Knight.  Elder Ellis had taken pictures of these homes, both outside and inside them; and he also shared with us the history of the two homes there and the Knight family and the Stowell family.  It was very interesting to see these homes and learn some more details of the families.  Newell Knight is the great-grandfather of Jesse Knight who had the financial means to do so much good for the church and helped save BYU from financial ruin.  After the staff meeting we stayed and accomplished a number of essential things and then we went home around 3pm and spent the evening together.

Tuesday, New Year’s Day, Sister Jensen went to the President’s home to help Sister Christianson and Sister Servoss provide a meal for some missionaries who were returning home on Wednesday morning early.  While she was gone I worked on putting some books and other items in boxes and taping them closed so we could send some things home in the mail that we do not have room to take with us in the car.  When Sister Jensen arrived back home we finished boxing a few more things and got all the boxes taped and ready to mail home on Wednesday.

Wednesday we put the nine boxes of things in the car and took them to the Office with us, and then during lunch we went to the Post Office and paid for the postage to send them to April, who will take them over to our home for us.  Wednesday I also went to the McClouth Chev Dealer in Macedon and picked up the needed paperwork to take to the NY DMV Office to obtain an interstate transit permit for a 2013 Chev Van that was delivered here to our mission instead of being delivered to the Cleveland Ohio mission.  The purpose of the permit was to make it possible for Elder Jacklin to come and get the van and drive it to Cleveland and register it in Ohio.  We did not want to register the vehicle in NY and then one week later also register it in Ohio.  The transit permit only costs $12.50; the registration cost to register it in both states would have been around $400.00.  When I went to obtain the permit, the Church Insurance Co. had not yet sent proof of insurance to the NY DMV; so I could not get the permit on Wednesday.

We have nine Subaru Legacy’s in our fleet of cars for the mission; and I had received a recall notice for all nine of them to have the engine control module corrected to prevent a possible problem.  So I had to call the missionaries who drive these cars and find out when they could take the cars to have this warranty work done; and then I had to make appointments with the Subaru Dealer.  Then I had to call the missionaries back and tell them the day and time they had to take their cars to be done; and also give them the address where to take them and other insturctions.  Wednesday evening we went to the Site Meeting at the Hill Cumorah to take some mail Sister Jensen had for some missionaries.  I also took care of a few items on some vehicles.  After we got home I received a call from some Elders that they had an accident and had damaged their car when they hit an ice chuck in the road.  I told them to call me Thursday morning and I would fill out the online accident report.  I also arranged for them to come to the office at 2pm so I could get pictures of the damage and also so we could go get a repair estimate so I could send both the pictures and the repair estimate to the insurance.

Wednesday and Thursday I had a number of the monthly car reports the missionaries sent in that I had to check over and get recorded.  Thursday morning first thing I had to take a Subaru over to the dealer for the warranty work I mentioned above.  This Subaru was parked at the mission office because it was not being used for a week until transfers next week.  Then I had to go pick it up when it was done and pay for it and another Subaru that was also done at the same time.  At 2pm the Elders who had the accident the night before came and I took pictures of the damage to their car and then we went and obtained a repair estimate.  Later in the afternoon we went back to the NYS DMV with the insurance card that came Thursday morning for the new van.  This time I succeeded in obtaining the transit permit for the new van.  We then went to the McClouth Chev dealer and picked up the van and drove it to the Mission Office and left it; then we made it home about 6:30pm.  I called Elder Jacklin in Cleveland to let him know I had the van and the transit permit, and asked him when he wanted to come and get the van.  He said he would make a few calls and then call me back.  When he called back he said his mission president had instructed him that he and Sister Jacklin and Elder & Sister Holley, an MLS couple in their mission, would come on Friday, the next day, and then go back to Cleveland on Saturday.  We had talked earlier and we had offered to take them to the Church History sites while they were here if they wanted.  We offered to have them stay with us Friday night.  Since neither couple had been to the Church History sites here we made plans to take them.  So we worked things out to take them to a couple of sites Friday evening and then to the Palmyra Temple Saturday morning for an endowment session.  Then we would take them to the Sacred Grove on Saturday after the temple session, and then they could go home Saturday afternoon.

Friday morning we both tried to catch up on things that were not done so we would be ready to go with the Jacklin’s and Holley’s when they arrived.  Sister Jensen helped get some things, including some snacks, set up for the President to train some missionaries who he had called to be the trainers for the new missionaries who will arrive next week.  Friday afternoon the Jacklin’s and Holley’s arrived about 4pm.  When I saw Elder Holley I knew exactly who he was, he is Dennis, a son of Mac Holley; and Anne’s nephew.  The Holley’s have almost completed their mission in the Cleveland Mission; they have done an MLS mission in Canton OH and have done wonderful things there.  They will leave for home the week after we leave.  What a great privilege to spend time with these two couples who have Mapleton UT ties.  We decided to first go to the Book of Mormon Publishing Site since they closed at 5pm; then we would get some dinner and go to the Hill Cumorah Visitor’s Center after dinner because they were open until 9pm.  Sister Jones and Sister Gillespie provided the tour at the Grandin Building; but they had to leave for an appointment before we were finished, so Elder Fuller, a senior missionary and also the site supervisor for the Grandin builing, finished the tour.  He shared some additional things with us that most people would not get to hear.  He told us that recently, Elder & Sister Howell were at the Grandin building and two men came in.  One of the men said to Elder Howell, I am Bruce Grandin, a great-great grandson of Egbert Grandin who published the Book of Mormon.  We have a ledger here with us that my aunt had which belonged to Egbert Grandin.  The ledger has in it the names of Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris and some other names that are probably something to do with your church.  We are wondering if the church would be interested in the ledger.  After Elder Howell got his mouth closed, he said I am sure they would be interested.  Contacts were made and arrangements were made to have Bruce meet with Elder Snow and other Church History people this Tuesday, January 8^th.  Elder Fuller had been on the phone with Bruce for about 40 minutes Friday afternoon before we arrived.  In their conversation they became well enough acquainted that Bruce is going to come to Preston ID when Elder Fuller gets home in September and elder Fuller is going to take him snowmobiling.  I would love to be a silent observer to the meeting on Thursday.  What an awesome thing to discover and to have non-members of the church bring it to the very place where in the ledger had been used and written in; and offer it to the church.  Watch for some kind of news report about the meeting; it may not be made known until later, but I think it will be in the news before too long.

After the six of us left the Grandin Building we went to the Yellow Mills Restaurant just west of Palmyra and had a nice dinner together.  We then went to the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center and spent an hour or so.  We then drove to our home in Mendon.  Since we only have one extra bedroom, Elder and Sister Jacklin stayed with us and Elder &Sister Holley stayed across the street with the Servoss’s.

Saturday morning we had a nice breakfast, Sister Jensen made some quiche, and I helped a little with some French toast.  We had maple syrup we purchased from a maple syrup farm about a mile and a half from where we live.  We also had fruit, and the Servoss’s had brought some venison bacon someone had given them, it was pretty good bacon.   After we ate we went to the Palmyra Temple for the 9:30am session.  We had a wonderful temple session together.  We saw three temple workers who are members of the Brockport ward who were helping that day.  One was Ed Westphal, and the others were Brother and Sister Griffin; it was nice to see them.  Before we left the temple we looked out the west window where we could see down in to the Sacred Grove; what a great experience we had together.  After the temple session, we went to the Joseph Smith Farm and the Sacred Grove.  Sister Green, who finishes her mission on Tuesday, took us on a tour of the log home and the frame home where the Smith family lived.  The six of us were blessed to be the people in the last tour she will give on her mission.  It was a very spiritual experience to go from the Palmyra Temple to the Sacred Grove, and have Sister Green provide her last tour.  The Spirit was very strong, Sister Green had a difficult time and shared her testimony in pieces along the way; then at the end of the tour by the Cooper Shop she shared a very powerful and spiritual witness of the truths she has been teaching for the last 18 months.  Heavenly Father was so good to us while we were together in these sacred places.  We then walked out in to the Grove and I shared some of the things I have been taught and learned about the Grove while we have been here.  We then drove down Stafford Rd. so I could show them where Porter Rockwell lived and where the saw mill was located that provided the timber and lumber for the log home and the frame home back in the 1820’s.  Then I also showed them where the school was in which Oliver Cowdery taught before becoming the scribe for Joseph Smith during the translation of the Book of Mormon.  Then we drove over to the top of the Hill Cumorah and took a few pictures and I shared some additional information about the Hill that I have been taught and seen.  We then drove up to the Martin Harris Home and took a few pictures.  We then drove to the Mission Office so they could get the new van to return to Cleveland.  After they had their things moved in to the new van, Elder Jacklin gave me the keys to the old van.  I asked him why he was giving me those keys and he said I am supposed to leave it here so someone who has purchased it can pick it up here.  I did not know anything about this, but I trust Elder Jacklin, so I now have the old van they had.  Elder Holley invited us all to go have dinner together before they headed back to Cleveland; so we went to the UNO Chicago Grill and had some dinner together.  They then left for Cleveland in the new van and are safely back in Cleveland.  We arrived home and did the dishes from breakfast since we did not have time to do them before going to the temple.  Elder Servoss brought over some chicken for Sister Jensen to cook that is for chicken enchiladas for next Friday for Zone Leader Council.  We watched an old movie and Sister Jensen did some washing and drying of our clothes.  We watched some of the local news and the weather and went to bed.

Today was the first Sunday of the first month of a new year.  It was a great testimony sharing meeting.  In the High Priest’s Group we had a good lesson and discussion using the conference talk given by President Monson in the October 2012 Priesthood Session.

This coming week is transfers; we have 11 new missionaries coming.  This will be our last transfer of our mission; we are pretty sure we get to stay together as companions for this last transfer.

It was a marvelous and spiritual blessing and privilege to be together with the Jacklin’s and Holley’s in the places where Heavenly Father and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith; and where Moroni appeared multiple times.  There is also a special feeling in the Grandin Building where the Book of Mormon was published.  There was divine intervention to bring together all that was needed to have the Book of Mormon published where it was.  We know with absolute certainty by the power of the Holy Ghost that the sacred events that took place at these sites actually happened.  We can feel that witness every time we go to these places; we know it is all true and that through studying, praying about, and living the truths restored in the Book of Mormon and through the Prophet Joseph Smith; we can find the joy and happiness Heavenly Father has to offer all of us.

We love you and pray for you every day; we know you are all receiving many blessings in your own lives.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard