Message 24 June 2012

Message—24 June 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

Monday in our Mission Office Staff Meeting, in addition to our normal business and spiritual thought; President Christianson had invited a Brother Baxter and his wife to come to our meeting.  Brother Baxter is an archaeologist who lives in President’s stake in Orem.  Brother Baxter, who was in a Master’s Degree program in Archaeology at BYU in 1997, was part of the team which conducted the archaeological excavation work at the Joseph Smith Senior, Log Home.  He shared with us a shorter version of his experience there and showed us pictures of how they did the work and what artifacts they found and what they learned about how the log home was situated on the farm.  It was a very interesting and informative presentation.  The log home which is now on the farm was constructed on the exact spot it was originally built in the early 1800’s; and has the same dimensions it originally had.  The reconstruction was done in 1997-1998.

Monday afternoon I spent some time at the NY DMV office in Irondequoit to take care of some problems with the insurance on one of the mission vehicles.  I had to obtain proof that the insurance problem had been corrected by the Insurance Co.; so I could take this proof to court on Wednesday.  I observed a lot of interesting people at the DMV Office.  I obtained the needed proof and also registered the new truck we had obtained in Kirtland, a few weeks ago, with NY registration and plates.

On Tuesday we spent the day alone in the mission office while the Servoss’s went to the Mission Leadership Training meeting for the Buffalo and Rochester Zones which was held in the church in Batavia.  Tuesday morning early, Sister Jensen prepared some fruit which was to be served at the training meeting; and sent it with the Servoss’s.  On the way home Tuesday we drove to Macedon to get a pick-up truck we had taken the day before to get a Rhino Bed Lining sprayed on it.  On the way home at one of the busy intersections there was a serious accident with a car hitting a pick-up and causing it to be tipped on its side.

Wednesday morning I got up at 4am to take the Servoss’s to the airport by 5am so they could fly to Utah for a wedding.   While I was gone Sister Jensen prepared the fruit for the training meeting to be held that day.  I returned home in time to get ready and have a quick breakfast and leave in time to be at the Canandaigua Church for the training meeting for the two Palmyra Zones.  We loaded all of the food needed, except for the pizza which we had ordered from Mark’s Pizzeria, for the training meeting for the Palmyra Zones, in to our car and left at about 8:10 am.  We attended as much of the training as we could in between preparing snacks and lunch for all the missionaries, and cleaning up after them.  Sister Madsen and Sister Clark took care of things at the mission office during most of the day; until they had to leave at 1pm for their assignment at the Joseph Smith Farm at 2pm.  Just before they left, Sister Schank and Sister Aiello arrived to take over at the mission office.  We had to leave the training meetings in time to get to the mission office by 3pm so we could take Sister Schank and Sister Aiello with us to the Webster Court by 4pm.  They had to go because they had been driving the vehicle with the lapsed insurance.  The two sister missionaries had a learning experience at this court.  Sister Aiello, who is from Italy, was totally confused by it all.  The Webster City Attorney had Sister Schank and I come and explain about the insurance lapse problem to her.  We were finally able to get her to understand the problem and we showed her we had proof from the NY DMV that the problem was corrected; so she said she would dismiss the tickets for the lapse of the insurance.  While we were waiting for our turn to talk with the judge there were a number of other people who had their turn to see the judge for a wide variety of issues.  One young man was there for some drug related charges; the judge sentenced him to 9 months in jail and a major fine.  The judge had him sit in the jury box until an officer came to take him straight to jail.  When our turn finally came to see the judge we let the City Attorney explain about dismissing the charges.  He reluctantly agreed to dismiss the charges.  Sister Jensen and I have been in some pretty interesting places and circumstances while fulfilling our mission assignments.  After we finished at the court we took the two sisters to their apartment so they could now drive their vehicle again, after almost two weeks; and go the Site Training Meeting at the Hill Cumorah.  We took home the things from taking care of the food at the training meetings.  We then left from our home and drove to Geneseo for the ward’s annual strawberry and ice cream social.  It was at the Highland Park not too far from the church there.  The Ward Mission Leader had organized a Rain Gutter Regatta for the young people in the ward, also some not so young participated.  They had provided food for the event so we ate there and then I helped with the certificates for those who participated in the regatta.  We then went back home and arrived about 9pm.  This was a loooong day for us.

Thursday we were in the office alone all day.  I had to take care of taking some vehicles to be cleaned in preparation for being sold.  At the end of the day we took a car to Palmyra for two sister missionaries to use during the time of the Pageant.  Thursday evening we tried to recover from our long Wednesday.

Friday after we finished at the Office, we had to drive to the Peter Whitmer farm to take a replacement key to two of the sisters who live there.  The one they had been using for some reason quit working; so we took the extra key to them and brought the bad key back with us.  On the way there we stopped at an Outlet Mall and Sister Jensen bought a few things she needed.

Saturday Sister Jensen started on doing the wash while I did some preparation for going to visit with a lady who had asked for a senior couple to come and teach her about the church; our appointment was for 2pm.  She is Jewish, but has been converted to Christ.  She is living in a motel by the Rochester Airport.  Her eyesight is very bad so she asked if we would start reading the Joseph Smith pamphlet to her and discuss what we read and answer her questions.  Being Jewish, she knows the bible very well.  She was somewhat surprised to learn of some of the scriptures the Spirit prompted me to use in answer to her questions.  Due to her health challenges she has to be in a room where the temperature is below 60 degrees.  Sister Jensen had brought her wool sweater, and I had the wool lined flannel shirt Jana gave me for Christmas.  I am sure this looked odd to have such warm things on a day when the outside temperature was 80 degrees; but we could only take the cold for about 2 hours before I started shivering and we had to leave.  We will have to see if she invites us to come again.

Also on Saturday morning three couples who are serving 6 month temple missions at the Palmyra Temple came to see and learn about the church history sites that are here in Mendon where we live.  One of the couples who came was Elder and Sister Swasey; the husband is Sam Swasey, who is Sister Jensen’s first cousin.  Sam’s dad is Sherman Swasey who is a brother to Sister Jensen’s father.  We visited with Elder & Sister Swasey for about 15 minutes before the other two couples arrived.  I had an enjoyable time taking them to the different sites here and sharing information about what took place during the early years of the restoration.  Saturday evening a little before dark, I got a call from a man who had with him his son-in-law and his grandson who has a missionary call to Chile.  They were here visiting and wanted to see the Mendon Church History sites.  He said he was at the John Young home, and wanted directions to get to the Brigham Young Baptism site.  I said well hold on one minute and I will walk out of our house and meet you and show you how to get there.  So I walked out of the house and he was parked in front of our garage; so I then rode with them and walked to the baptism site with them and shared some of the history with them.  We had a good Saturday!

We attended our church meetings today.  A number of families were on vacation so our attendance was a little low, but the Spirit was there.  Austin Bowles was confirmed today in Sacrament meeting by Elder Davis.  Austin’s parents and his grandmother were also in attendance; and they all stayed for Sunday School.  Time will tell if the parents will allow the missionaries to teach them.

We know we are engaged in the work of the Lord; and that the gospel is true, the Book of Mormon is true and can change our lives as we read it and ponder and pray to learn the truths within it.  President Monson is our prophet today.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and He lives.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Richard & Maxine

Message 17 June 2012

Message—17 June 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

On Monday we had 5 new missionaries arrive here in our mission; there were 4 Elder’s and One Sister.  Monday evening we participated in the new missionary orientation meeting which is held at the President’s home.   He has a downstairs room that is set up to be a meeting room with a computer projector and also tables on which they can put their scriptures and notebooks to make notes in and the folders we give them with information they will need as they begin their missionary service here.  Each of the office staff takes some time, 5-10 minutes, to provide information that will help the missionaries know what we can each do to help them.  I take a little longer with my vehicle training because it is required by the Missionary Department.  The intent of the vehicle training is to help them keep safe as they travel and also to help them know what vehicle maintenance is required of them.  They also must view a safety video clip which starts with Elder Holland speaking to them; then is followed by some additional safety practices and vehicle maintenance instructions; and ends with another summary message from Elder Holland.

Tuesday was the day when the transfers of missionaries to new companions and new areas took place.  All those missionaries affected by the transfers came to the chapel on Westfall Rd in Brighton, which is about a mile from the Presidents home, and met at 12 noon.  The President gave some instruction and then announced which of the new missionaries were going to be companions with which of the new trainers.  As part of this transfer meeting, any mail that has come is delivered to those who come to the transfers; and other things from the Servoss’s and the Ellis’s are also given to the missionaries.  I also have to make connections with each of the missionaries who are going to be new designated drivers of their vehicles.

Wednesday evening we attended the Site Training meeting at the Hill Cumorah.  Some information was given that pertains to things we can do to help during the upcoming Pageant as many visitors come.  President shared some thoughts and his testimony about the first 8 verses in Section 100 of the Doctrine and Covenants.  This revelation as given in Perrysburg NY, which is town we have been to a few times.  We went there to find a new apartment for the Elders who serve in that area.  Read these verses and see what you learn; it is more meaningful to us since we have been there.

Thursday Sister Jensen and Sister Servoss went to help Sister Christianson with lunch and snacks for the new missionary training meeting held at the President’s home.

Friday morning I and Elder Servoss drove to the Sacred Grove to meet with two other site couples, the Nielsen’s, who are the supervisors at the Grandin Building, and also the Smellie’s.  These two couples had made arrangements with Bob Parrott to take us through the grove and share with us very helpful information and more details about the grove and its history.  Bob also pointed out many lessons the plants and trees in the grove can teach us.  Bob is the caretaker of the trees and plants in the grove, around the Palmyra temple, and at the Peter Whitmer Farm.  He has also been included in some of the discussions about the area around the new Harmony PA site.  He is a forester by profession; he had his own forestry service business for about 20 years before he was invited by the church to take care of the historic sites.  Bob is not a member of the LDS Church, but he has a knowledge and testimony the church is true.  He has been instrumental in restoring these sites to what they would have looked like at the time Joseph Smith was in these places.  He does a lot of work in these areas to keep them looking so pristine and nice and safe.  He shared information about some of the trees and plants and their characteristics and behavior.  One of the trees he calls the adversity tree.  It has a large scar on the trunk which has mostly healed itself.  The tree then had another injury which killed the main bole, so the tree grew horizontally to the left about two feet, then made a 90 degree turn and grew straight up for a ways.  Then another injury occurred so the tree grew back to the right and then turned up again; always trying to reach toward the light which is required for the tree to grow.  Elder Marlin Jensen showed a video clip of this tree in his CES Fireside last month; he talked about how the tree teaches a good lesson for us to always adapt to our trials and overcome them and keep growing towards the light of Christ.  We spent about 2 and a half hours in the grove with Bob and the two couples.  I learned a lot about the various kinds of trees and how to recognize them and also about a number of the perennial plants in the grove.  Bob also shared a few stories about helping with the videos that have been made at the historic sites.  One story was about the making of the video of the First Vision.  When the filming crew were preparing to do the scene of Joseph seeing the Father and the Son; they chose to do the scene on the east side of the Hill Cumorah; which is on the opposite side from where the pageant is performed.  The filming crew went to this site at a time they thought was early in the morning.  After arriving and starting to set up; the sunshine streamed down through the trees and there was a mist that came up at the same time and it looked just like they wanted the scene to look.  However, they were not set up soon enough to capture the scene before it was gone.  So they decided to come much earlier the next morning and hoped to catch the same scene.  They arrived early enough and were all set up when the sunshine appeared and the morning mist arose, just like the day before, only even better.  They were able to get this scene filmed just perfectly.  So when you see this video and you see the actor portraying Joseph put his arm up to block the brightness of the light; you can remember that this scene had no artificial light, it was all natural.  Elder Maxwell is exactly correct, God really is in the details of our lives, and He is able to do His own work.

After spending the morning with Bob in the Sacred Grove; Elder Servoss returned to the Mission Office.  I had made arrangements with Elder Jeffs, who lives at the Peter Whitmer Farm; he is from Castledale UT, to have him go with me to an Amish harness shop in Romulus.  I stopped at the Whitmer Farm and picked up Elder Jeffs and we drove down to Levies’ Amish Harness Shop.  These Amish people are great souls; they work hard every day but Sunday and do their farming with horse drawn equipment.  I took care of the purpose for which we went and then I took Elder Jeffs back to his house; and then drove to the Mission Office and spent the rest of the day.

Saturday we did our “home” work.  We cleaned and Sister Jensen did some cooking to prepare some food to take with us today to Church for a munch and mingle that is held on the 3^rd Sunday after church is over.  Members bring some kind of potluck item and then we all share it among ourselves.  Saturday evening we took the Servoss’s with us and met Elder and Sister Jones in Henrietta NY at 935 Jefferson Rd. which is a restaurant named Bugaboo Creek Steak House.  It has a Canadian history to the name and they have decorated the interior with a variety of large and small game animals and fishing also.  In Canada it was a place where hunters and fishermen and went to enjoy hunting and fishing trips.  Hanging on the walls there is a bison head, a moose head, a raccoon, and a fish on a plaque that all move and talk.  Many other animals and fish also decorate the walls; but they do not move and talk.  In the waiting to be seated area they have a Christmas tree with white lights and two large eyes that are attached to the tree; and a few of the tree branches move and the tree talks as well.  They have a life size Canadian Mounted Policeman manikin standing by the fireplace.  It is quite an entertaining place.  We had a good meal and visited together.  It took us two hours to get our food and eat it; but you have to understand it was the night before Father’s Day and there were several birthday party groups there as well.  It was very crowded and noisy and their air conditioner was on full blast so it was cold; other than these few details it was a nice get together.

Today we had a great church meeting with some good messages and the Spirit was also there and we were blessed to partake of the sacrament.  I taught the High Priest’s Group lesson about missionary work; I thought it was a good lesson and we had a good discussion.

We are so very blessed to be here in this mission and experience so many marvelous historic sites and interact with wonderful people and try to be helpful in whatever ways we can.  We both know Heavenly Father lives, Jesus Christ also lives, and is the head of His Church; with prophets and apostles to whom he reveals His will and wisdom.  Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration in this last dispensation; and the Book of Mormon is absolutely true and will bless our lives forever as we read it and pray to gain our own testimony that it is true.  This work is all true and guided by Heavenly Father and the Savior.

We love you all and pray for you daily.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Richard & Maxine

Message 10 June 2012

Message—10 June 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

Monday we had a good mission office staff meeting with President and Sister Christianson.  Our opening hymn was “Let us oft speak kind words”.  This hymn always brings back to my memory a number of occasions in our Mapleton Sacrament Meetings when Welby and Burt Warren and Ernest Binks used to sing this same hymn.  I greatly enjoyed hearing these good men sing this hymn.  I have been greatly blessed to have wonderful parents who practiced speaking kind words.  The hymn has helped me remember to follow this same example.  I have really benefitted from hearing others sing the hymns of the church; they are filled with great messages which have helped my testimony grow and be strengthened, and I feel the Holy Spirit often while hearing or singing these hymns.  Sometimes I have to stop singing because the Spirit touches me so deeply.  In fact, I have experienced a Danish nosebleed, also known as shedding tears, while listening to or singing hymns.  I shared these thoughts in a shorter version after the opening song and prayer in our staff meeting Monday.  President Christianson said he has had the same experiences in his life; and he then changed the spiritual thought he was planning to share and expanded on the thoughts I expressed.  President Christianson has written a few books on the effects of music on our minds and spirits; so he is well versed in scriptures on the topic.  In our staff meeting a number of experiences were shared about how the Lord had blessed us in accomplishing our assignments.

We regularly see miracles taking place in the missionary work being done in this mission.  Last week Sister Thomas and Sister Raines in the Buffalo area found 17 new investigators to teach.  They began with finding one family of six; who then invited two other families they are friends with to come to their home and listen to what the Sisters were teaching and feel what the family felt, meaning the Spirit.  One week ago, Elder Wilson and Elder Vazquez, also in Buffalo, had a goal of getting 8 people to attend church the next Sunday.  They had invited investigators and some inactive members to attend; they followed up Sunday morning with these people to insure they were coming.  When the Elder’s arrived at church, only 7 people had come.  About 10 minutes before meeting began an inactive brother called and said he would come if he had a ride; so the Elder’s asked a member to go get this brother, he did and so the Elder’s met their goal of 8 people attending church.  During the next week these two Elder’s met together, one hour before their district meeting, with another set of Elders in their district, who are teaching in Spanish; to practice their Spanish together.  When Elder Wilson and Vazquez came in to the church, where they were meeting; a Hispanic man was sitting in the foyer on the couch.  Elder Vazquez asked him how they could help him.  The man told them he had just moved to Buffalo; and his relatives who are LDS had invited him to find an LDS church and let the missionaries teach him the gospel.  He did not speak any English, so he was hoping to find some missionaries who could speak Spanish.  Elder Vazqeuz said it just so happens that there are three missionaries here today who speak Spanish and we would love to teach you, please come in this room with us.  So they proceeded to teach him and arranged to teach him more on another day.  As Alma 13:24 states the Lord is preparing people to hear the gospel.  He also leads them to find the missionaries or the missionaries or members to find them so they can hear the restored gospel in their own language whether that is English or some other language.  The Lord really is on our left hand and our right hand to help with His work to gather Israel.

Tuesday morning we took the new Chev Colorado truck we had brought back from Kirtland last weekend down to the Elder’s in Hornell; then we returned to the mission office.  When we arrived in the parking lot in front of the mission office; Sister Servoss had a lady in her vehicle who she introduced to us.  Her name is Shoshanna, she is Jewish lady who has been converted to Christianity; and has been shunned by her Jewish friends.  She has many medical problems; but she has a medical degree so she has some knowledge of her problems and is trying to manage her health challenges.  One problem is a type of hypotension where she has to be in a place where the temperature is in the 55-60 degree range.  Sister Jensen supported Sister Servoss and sat in the Servoss’s vehicle with Shoshanna and had the air conditioner on as low as they could get it and talked with her most of the rest of the day.  Sister Jensen and Sister Servoss were both very cold by the end of the day.  While they were doing this Sister Christianson managed to find who the Transient Bishop is and got his counselor to come and talk with Shosahnna and see what help could be provided.  Bishop came a little later and provided some assistance for Shosahnna.  She is a very interesting lady.  Some gospel related topics were brought up and discussed a little; but Shoshanna needs more medical help before she will be in a position to learn the gospel.

Wednesday evening we attended the Site Training meeting in the basement of the Hill Cumorah.  The topic covered was about the events and history of the Peter Whitmer Farm in Fayette.  Sister Chatterton and Sister Hatch did a modified version of the Jeopardy Game with all the questions being about the history, facts, and events that happened at the farm.  It was quite fun and helped us learn more about the farm.  There is a new display in the main foyer of the Hill Cumorah Visitor’s Center for the visitors who come during the pageant.  It consists of some of the costumes used in past years in the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  This is the 75^th anniversary of the beginning of the Pageant; so these costumes were selected to represent how the costumes have changed over the years.  Some of them are very elaborate and beautiful.  This week when we go I am going to take the video camera and take some video of these costumes; they are very impressive.

Wednesday afternoon I picked up the truck Elder Ingram and Elder DeLaCruz have been driving, from Fred Foti Collision.  The repair work had been done by Fred due to an accident in which it was involved a few weeks ago.  On Thursday afternoon I took it to a shop to have the Rhino Bedliner repaired and partially replaced on Friday.  Fred started working on the truck from Hornell that was in the accident last week.  I and Sister Jensen went and picked up Elder Ingram’s truck after we left the office on Friday.  Also on Friday, Sister Jensen and Sister Servoss provided some food for the Elder’s and Sister’s who were being trained by the President to be new trainers for the new missionaries who will arrive tomorrow.

Saturday we met Elder Ingram and Elder DeLaCruz to give their truck back to them.  Elder Ingram is completing his mission this week, on Wednesday, so Sister Jensen and I decided we would take Elder and Ingram and Elder DeLaCruz to lunch at the Olive Garden, for Elder Ingram’s last meal bought by us.  We have had many good experiences with Elder Ingram since we have been here.  His mother is coming on Monday to spend some time with him here in the mission before she takes him home to be released.  He is from Phoenix AZ; he is going to go to college there someplace and he also has a girl friend from Phoenix, who has been writing him all during his mission.  So he will have to find out how things are between them also; if all is well, a marriage may happen in the near future.  I told him to go to the Phoenix Mission office and find President Taylor and give him a hug for me.  Elder Ingram will continue to be a good member missionary, rather than a full time one.

We went with the Servoss’s to the Saturday evening session of their Stake Conference in the Palmyra Stake Center, which is across the street from the Palmyra temple and less than a fourth of a mile from the Sacred Grove.  Elder Gerard (sp), a member of the Quorums of 70, presided at the conference.  There were some very good and appropriate messages given; it was well worth attending.  President and Sister Christianson spoke in this meeting; we always love to learn from them.  This Saturday evening session of a Stake Conference is always a great spiritual meeting that lifts and motivates and inspires us to do better.  Before the meeting began, I visited for few minutes with Larry Benson and his wife Lynne who are serving a 6 month Temple mission at the Palmyra Temple.  Larry worked in the BYU Library with me for many years; he is a great person.  He and his wife have been assigned to attend Sunday church meetings in the Hornell Branch where Elder Olson and Elder Decker serve.

Today we attended our ward meetings in Geneseo.  We had a youth speaker who gave a great message about forgiveness.  Two other great speakers also shared messages about forgiveness.  I substituted for Chris Elliott, the Ward Mission Leader, as the teacher for the Gospel Principles lesson in Sunday School; the lesson was on the topic of Exaltation and Eternal Life.  We had a good discussion and the Spirit helped do the teaching.

We very much appreciate all that our children and grandchildren are doing to take care of our yard while we are here.  They do a lot more than we know about; and we are so grateful for each of you and what you do for us.  We also appreciate our good neighbors who also help out in many ways.  We are truly blessed with good family and friends.

We hope all the fathers have a great Father’s day next Sunday.  We have both been so greatly blessed by our wonderful father’s; they have done so much for us and taught us and set examples for us and just loved us.  We are especially thankful for Father in Heaven who provided us with this mortal experience and has helped us every day of our lives in so many ways; we love Him and His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ and express our deep gratitude for the atonement and the resurrection and the great eternal plan of happiness they made possible for us.

We express our love to each of you and we want you to know we pray for you and think of you.  We have been blessed so much by good family and friends who have been a good example to us and have helped to mentor and teach us valuable and important things through the years.  The Lord has been very good to us in so many countless ways.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Richard & Maxine

Message 3 June 2012

Message—3 June 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

Monday morning we drove to Hornell to get pictures of the truck Elder Olsen and Elder Decker have been driving.  Sunday evening while they were driving home from Rochester after attending the fireside at which Alex Boye was the speaker it was hit by another vehicle.  The Elders had ridden to the Westfall Chapel with some members from Hornell and had left their truck parked on the roadside in front of their apartment just like they normally do.  When they arrived at their apartment, the missionaries discovered the police were about to leave and their truck was loaded on a tow truck which was ready to drive away.  A lady in a Jeep Laredo had crashed in to the right rear of the Elder’s truck and their left side of the truck bed had been pushed up into the truck bed about 18 inches; and the left fender was sticking out about 18 inches.  Also there was a large dent in the left rear corner of the cab of the truck from the bed of the truck being pushed forward.  The tailgate was also broken off.  We went to the Covered Wagon Tour Bus shop where the truck had been towed; and took pictures of the damage so I could send them to the Insurance Co.  After reporting the accident and the resulting damage to the insurance co. on Tuesday, they gave me approval to have the truck hauled up to Fairport to the collision repair shop we normally use so I could more easily follow up on getting the repairs done.  The cost for the towing and three days storage and hauling the truck 80 miles to Fairport was about $700; cheap huh?

We returned from Hornell and went to the Palmyra Temple to meet President and Sister Christianson, Elder and Sister Servoss, and Elder and Sister Ellis.  Since it was Memorial Day, we had arranged with the President to have him take us on a walk around the Palmyra Temple property and part of the original Joseph Smith Sen. Farm.  Sister Jensen was not able to walk with us on such uneven ground so she went to the Welcome Center, which is at the Sacred Grove, and waited in the air conditioned visitors center and visited with the missionaries there.  There are a number of interesting historical and spiritual details about this area which the President shared with us; and I took video clips of these places and then Tuesday evening I wrote down what the President had told us, so I have those details in a separate journal record.  We can share this with you at a later time; it is about 4 pages long.

Wednesday evening we attended the Site Meeting at the Hill Cumorah.  We attend these meetings to take the mail to the missionaries who attend; and we also attend in place of the district meetings the other missionaries have in the day time while we are in the office and cannot leave.  This night Sister Cook, who is the multi-stake Public Affairs Director for the stakes in our area, and her counselor, Sister Sutton; attended the meeting and provided some instruction about how we as missionaries at the sites or missionaries in other public places should handle questions from the media representatives.  Sister Cook is the wife of David Cook who was recently released as our Area 70.  They provided instruction and examples of how we should be positive in trying to provide correct information to them.  The general policy is that we explain we are here to invite people to come unto Christ, so if that is what they want to learn about we can help them.  However, if they want other types of information we will be happy to help them find a source to obtain the information they want.  We then refer them to the Mormon.org or LDS.org and they can use any of the information that is there.  We can also contact the Stake President, or a Bishop, who can provide information as well.  The point is the Church wants to insure that the information the media obtains is correct and accurate and not just a bunch of personal opinions.  These media reports are being viewed by thousands of people and some of the information is repeated in other media reports where thousands of others see them; so the church wants the information to be accurate.  Today in a combined Priesthood and Relief Society meeting at church these same two Sisters, plus Sister Lonsberry from the Geneseo Ward we attend who is the other counselor to Sister Cook; attended and provided some information and training inviting each member to do at least one thing to share our personal feelings and thoughts about the church through one of the Social Media sources.  Sources such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Mormon.Org, and etc. should be used by us to help share the gospel message.  Elder Cook came with his wife and I visited with him for a few minutes; he said he has not yet received a calling from the ward or stake.

Friday after we closed the Mission Office we and the Servoss’s got in our car and drove to Kirtland Ohio; and spent the night in a motel.  Our purpose for going was to pick up a new 2012 Chev Colorado truck which the Salt Lake Fleet Manager had arranged to give to our mission.  This truck was not needed by the FM Group in the Cleveland area, so it was made available to the Rochester Mission.  The FM Manager had arranged with me to have the truck at the Kirtland Visitor Center Parking Lot for us to pick up and drive back to Rochester with us.  Saturday morning we made connections with Elder Miles to get the truck and the keys for it so the Servoss’s could drive it home.  The FM Manager had driven the truck from Cleveland to Kirtland and given the keys to Elder Miles.  We spent time letting the young sister missionaries who serve in Kirtland provide the tours they do for any visitors.  Sister Hillman and Sister Hatch were our missionaries who took us around the site.  Sister Hatch is a cousin to the Sister Hatch we have in our mission, who is one of the Site Training Missionaries in our mission.  Sister Hillman is from Idaho Falls.  They are great missionaries just like the sister missionaries who serve in our mission sites.  After this great experience we drove up the hill to the Kirtland Temple and took a few pictures.  The Servoss’s then left and started back with the new truck since they had to be to a ward High Priest Party by 6pm in the Pittsford Ward, which is near the Rochester Mission Office.

Sister Jensen and I decided to drive down to the John Johnson Home in Hiram Ohio to see it; we had never been there before.  We had two great sister missionaries, Sister Marht and Sister Palmer; provide the tour and accompanying facts and history and spiritual messages that were associated with this church history site.  They are great missionaries and we were spiritually blessed to be there and learn from them.  We took a number of pictures while there.  We learned many things while visiting these two places and feeling the power of the Spirit which is there.  Heavenly Father and the Savior both appeared in each of these two places on two separate occasions; the Savior appeared several other times in both places.  At Kirtland 65 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were received; at the John Johnson Home 16 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were received.  It was while living at the John Johnson home, with the ground outside frozen; that the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were both dragged from their homes and tarred and feathered.  Sidney Rigdon lived across the road from the John Johnson home; so he was dragged farther than was Joseph, and Sidney had severe head injuries from this event.  Sections 76, 84, and 88 were among the revelations received here at the John Johnson Home.  We arrived home from our trip about 8:30 pm.  This was about a 500 mile round trip drive for us; but it was all very worthwhile; plus we have a new truck to replace one of our trucks that has over 46,000 miles on it.  It just so happens that the President decided to use this new truck to replace the truck in Hornell, which has 47,000 miles on it, that was wrecked last Sunday.  Isn’t it interesting that the Lord orchestrated all of these events for us?

Today we attended our church meetings in the Geneseo Ward.  It was Fast Meeting, and some great testimonies were shared and the Spirit was there.  The mother of quadruplets that were born a few months ago shared her testimony and also shared how the Lord had blessed them so much to even have these children and then how he has blessed each of the babies to grow and do so well.  They are each in the 5 to 6 lbs weight range now and have been blessed to get through some serious challenges.

This afternoon we had the Servoss’s come over and have a good Sunday dinner with us.  We visited with them about their experience this morning in being invited to a Methodist church to share information about the church and answer questions.  They had a good meeting, the Methodist members were polite and considerate; and did not ask any real difficult questions.  One man who started out being a little rude learned from Elder Servoss where they lived; and it turns out that he lives only a few houses south of where the Servoss’s live.  After he learned where they lived he said well we are neighbors you should come and visit us.  He then became more cordial after that.

We continue to be so blessed in so many ways as we serve here.  Heavenly Father is so good to us and helps us in so many ways.  We love the Savior and will be eternally grateful for His atonement and the countless blessings available through it and the perfect example He has set for us.  We are so grateful for living prophets and apostles who are guided by the Savior in their service and assignments; they do receive revelation from the Lord in all they do.  We love each of you and will love you forever.  Thank you for all you do for us, even if it is just your prayers to bless the missionaries; we are included in that prayer.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Richard & Maxine