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