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

Message—30 December 2012

 

Dear Family & Friends,

Believe it or not this will be the last blog message from us for the year 2012; my how the months have flown by so quickly.  The next message will be the first in the year 2013.  We have had a great Christmas week this past week.  On Monday we had mission office staff meeting at 9am and then after the meeting we helped make arrangements to get all the last minute Christmas packages and mail for the missionaries delivered to them.  The AP’s, President Christianson, and the zone leaders delivered these packages to the missionaries’ apartments so they would have them for their Christmas day.   Sister Jensen did a superb job of keeping track of all the Christmas mail for the missionaries as it was received during the month of December and made sure it was all delivered as quickly as possible.  After we finished what we needed to do at the office, President told us to take the rest of the day off; so we left for our home around 1:30pm.  Then at 3:30 pm we took the Servoss’s with us to the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center to have Christmas Eve dinner with the rest of the senior missionary site couples.  We had a nice dinner and a few musical presentations from the senior missionaries; then President and Sister Christianson shared a few thoughts with us.  When we finished and cleaned up we went back home and spent the evening together and watched a few Christmas movies; then we went to bed.

Christmas day we spent together doing a variety of things that we needed to do.  We were able to talk on the phone with, or face time with, all of our children and receive a report on how their Christmas went.  It was a fine day for us.  The Lockport Elders called and told me they had slid off the road into a ditch of water.  They had called a member who asked a friend of his to bring his tow truck and pull them out of the ditch.  The car was still drivable so they drove it home.

Wednesday we spent in the office.  I obtained the needed information from the Lockport Elders to complete the accident report.  They sent me pictures of the damage to the car so I could forward them to the Insurance Co. that handles all the Church insurance claims.  Wednesday about 4pm it started snowing and continued snowing all night.  The next morning, Thursday, there was over 12 inches of snow on the ground plus some drifts that were even deeper.  Thursday morning Elder Servoss and I used snow shovels and a snow blower provided by the FM shop to clean off the driveway and the sidewalks so we could get to the car and drive slowly to the office on snow packed and slick roads.  When we got to the office a backhoe with a wide snowplow attached to the front bucket was in the process of pushing the snow off the parking lot around the church.  We had to find snow shovels and clean off the sidewalk before our wives could get in to the office.  This is the first major snow storm of the winter.  It continued snowing very light off and on Thursday and also on Friday and Saturday most of the day.  We only received about an additional 5 inches of snow altogether on these three days.  The site training meeting normally held on Wednesday evening was cancelled due to the snow storm; so we stayed home all three nights.  Friday afternoon and evening we helped the Servoss’s get the monthly Mission’s Glad Tidings newsletter printed, folded, and put in envelopes and sealed and addressed and stamped so they could get in the mail by Friday night.  It took us until 6:30 to get them all done.  Saturday we had to go do some shopping for food even though it was still snowing.  We then spent the rest of the day working on some projects at home.

Today, Sunday, we had great church meetings.  In Sacrament Meeting, after the sacrament was administered; the speakers were President and Sister Broadbent.  President Broadbent is the new First Counselor in the Palmyra Temple Presidency and his wife is an assistant matron.  They had been serving a mission at the Oakland Temple Visitors Center.  They were called to be in the Palmyra Temple Presidency before they were released from their mission; so they only had about a week at their home before coming here to NY to begin their new assignment.  We had been invited by the Elliott’s in our ward, to stay after our meeting block and have dinner with them in the church along with the missionaries and Dan Cornell who rides to church and back home with us.  Dan lives in West Bloomfield, and we drive right by his home so we stop and give him a ride to church and then take him back home on our way home.  He is great person and has had a lot of challenges in the last year or so; but he is doing much better.  When we arrived home I shoveled some more snow off the walks and the driveway.  The snow storms have cleared out and left a blue sky; and the big bright beautiful sun came out and softened a little of the packed snow so I could get it moved before it turns to ice.  Now that the snow storms are over we have a very cold polar air mass that is making it very cold, especially with the 15-20 mph wind chill factor.

We learned that Effie Thomas, our neighbor up the road from our home in Provo, passed away last week.  We will miss her; she is a wonderful lady and has been of service to others in many unseen ways.  She has also been a great example of living the gospel and she has taught her children how they should live their lives.  Our lives are better for having been blessed to associate with Effie and her family.

Since the month of January is only two days away we want to express a happy birthday to Josie on January 3^rd, and Lynne on the 19^th.  They are the only two of our children and their families who have a birthday in January.  We hope you both have a wonderful birthday.  We hope all of you have a wonderful year in 2013 that it will be filled with blessings and experiences and opportunities to be of service to others and to each other.

We know the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is perfectly and absolutely true; and it is the only way we can be happy and prepare to live with Heavenly Father and the Savior forever together as families.  As we build our lives on the foundation of Jesus Christ we will have the help of the Holy Ghost to guide us in our lives to make choices with our agency that will help us learn to follow the example of the Savior.  As we make and keep the covenants included in the eternal plan of Heavenly Father we will have more joy and happiness and we will be blessed to become who Heavenly Father and Jesus know we can become.  As we do these things together as a family we will help our families become prepared to receive ALL that Heavenly Father can give us.  Our lives in mortality are for the purpose of becoming like the Savior; and this is process not an event.  Reading, pondering, and praying about truths and doctrines in the Book of Mormon will be the most helpful way to hold on to the rod which is the word of God, and to also keep our feet on the path that leads to eternal life and exaltation.  Listening to and following the teachings of our living prophets and apostles will also be of eternal value to us.  We know these things are true and testify to all of you that this is the path that leads to true joy and happiness in this life and in the life after death.  We express our love to each of you and pray for you and your families.

Love,

Mom & dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard

Message—23 December 2012

 

Dear Family & Friends,

Since I did the blog message last Monday night, I will begin this message with Tuesday.  Tuesday and Wednesday we helped with the Christmas Devotionals for the missionaries.  Tuesday the missionaries in the Rochester and Buffalo Zones came to the church on Kreag Rd. in Pittsford where the mission office is located.  All the young missionaries came and the MLS senior couples from the two zones; and also some of the Senior Couples who are assigned to the church History Sites.  On Wednesday all the missionaries from the Palmyra North and Palmyra South Zones came, along with the MLS Senior Couples from these two zones; and also the Senior Site Couples who could not come on Tuesday.  The Senior Site Couples took care of being at the historic sites so the young sister missionaries could come to the Christmas Devotionals.  Sister Jensen and I had to be to the Mission Office by 8:15am both days so we could get the gas credit cards for their vehicles, which expire at the end of the month, and give them new cards with which to buy gas for their vehicles.  We did this as the missionaries first arrived before they came into the church.  The meeting began at 9am with the AP’s conducting and President Christianson presiding and Sister Christianson also was there.  On Tuesday one of the Elders was sick and stayed at the Presidents house with his companion tending to his needs.  Late that night the sick Elder had to go to the Hospital emergency room because he was so dehydrated; he returned home about 2:30am.  In each meeting, the AP’s gave some instruction first, followed by President taking some time to begin the instruction planned for the morning.  After President spoke briefly he had Sister Christianson give some instruction; she is always well prepared and teaches by the Spirit.  President then took the rest of the morning to provide instruction.  He is a very expert teacher and he knows the scriptures very well and uses them to teach great spiritual messages and doctrines to help us become better missionaries.  Sister Jensen and Sister Servoss had prepared what was needed for food for lunch.  They had prepared all the items to have a Hawaiian Haystack lunch.  The missionaries helped set up the tables and chairs in the cultural hall before the meetings began, and some senior sisters helped with decorating the tables.  At about 11am some Senior Sisters helped get the food ready to put in the cultural hall and set the tables etc.  Shortly after 12 noon President broke for lunch and we office couples and a few others set the food out for the missionaries to serve themselves and sit at tables and enjoy the food.  Elder Ellis, Elder Servoss, and I brought out ice cream and the Sisters brought out the cookies and some topping for the ice cream; then we 3 old Elder’s scooped the ice cream into the bowls and let the missionaries add what they wanted to their own ice cream.

After lunch we took pictures of the missionaries from each of the zones.  On Tuesday after the lunch and the pictures we stayed in the cultural hall and were privileged to watch Elder Goedel do an Indian Hoop Dance.  He was taught by his father how to do the hoop dance; and Elder Goedel is a world Champion Class Hoop Dancer.  He was in full costume and I made a video of him doing the dance; he is really awesome.  Everyone then went into the chapel and missionaries from each of the zones shared some of their talents with Christmas related music and songs.  Elder Hunt has been here on his mission for about 6 months and he started learning how to play the harmonica after he arrived in the mission.  He did a great job playing Silent Night on the harmonica.  Before he began, he said to all of us “I am not very good at this, but since you are all missionaries I know you will love me anyway.”  After the Christmas music we watched a movie that had to do with Christmas and the gifts the Savior has given us; we learned some great principles about the life of the Savior and what he has given to us.  Following the movie a number of missionaries shared their testimonies of the gospel.  The meeting ended about 4pm.  Following the meeting many of the missionaries came into the office to get supplies, and report on referrals to Sister Jensen and a few had some vehicle questions for me.  Tuesday after the meeting I had two Elders stay and take driving instruction tests.  One elder did the upgrade test so he could be approved to drive; and the other Elder took the Van driving test so he could be certified to drive the mission van.  They both passed their test.  It was almost 6pm before we left the office to go home.  Sister Jensen was too tired to fix us a dinner so I fixed dinner by taking us out to a restaurant to eat before we went home.

On Wednesday we did about the same thing as on Tuesday.  The Wednesday missionaries did not get to see Elder Goedel do the hoop dance.  A few additional things we did was take the new Dodge Caravan we received a few weeks ago to a place in Macedon to have a receiver hitch mounted on the rear of the vehicle so we could put a hitch mounted bike rack in the receiver so the Sister Missionaries who drive the van could carry their bikes when needed.  Then at 4pm we took the two sisters who drive the van to an appointment they had; then while they were at their appointment, we went to Macedon to get the van and pay for the work, and bring it back to give to the sisters to drive to Site Meeting at 7pm at the Hill Cumorah.  It was 6:30 pm before we got the van back to the sisters; so we skipped dinner and went to the Site Meeting for the special training that had been planned.  We arrived home after 9pm very tired, and went to bed so we could get enough rest to work at the office on Thursday.

Thursday and Friday we spent catching up on office work that did not get done on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Friday I had my monthly MARC meeting with President and the AP’s which is about issues related to the vehicles.

Saturday we stayed home and had a real P-Day for a change.  I did make a trip to the office to send a text message to the missionaries to caution them about driving in the snow storm going on and to slow down since the roads are slick.  We received about 6 inches of snow Friday night and Saturday, the first snow storm of the winter, and it was on the first day of the Winter Solstice.  I actually got to shovel some snow off the walks and from in front of the garage.  The snow is half melted on Sunday; but it is supposed to snow again about every other day this week, a few inches each time.

Today, Sunday, we attended church and were blessed to receive good messages and we were also privileged to take the sacrament to renew our covenants so we could try to do better this week.  Tuesday is Christmas Day, we pray that each of you will have a wonderful Christmas and that the real Spirit of Christmas will touch your lives and bless you with peace and love and joy in the gifts of the Savior to each of us.

We are so greatly blessed to be serving in this special mission with the wonderful people who are here.  Each single missionary and all the senior couples are serving here by divine design.  We have been blessed in so many powerful ways through our associations with the missionaries, the members, and the people of NY.  A week ago I went to get something for dinner for Sister Jensen; I went to Wendy’s to get her a salad.  While standing in line waiting to order, the man behind me asked me if I had driven all the way from Utah, he had noticed the Utah license plate and my name tag and connected the two pieces together.  I told him I had, and that I would get to drive back home as well.  He then told me he had just been to BYU a week or so ago.  He said he was an author of a wonderful Christmas story entitled “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey”.  He said a BYU Theatre Professor had obtained permission from the authors to make a play based on the book; and the professor had invited him to attend the opening night performance which he had made into sort of a musical.  He said he met some wonderful people at BYU who treated him very kindly.  He said he also went to Salt Lake City and had never met so many nice people in one place.  I do not know all of the details of his visit, but he was impressed by his experience.  I asked him if his book was for sale and if so where I could buy a copy.  He said it was available from Amazon, so when I got back to the office with Sister Jensen’s lunch I looked online and found a copy was available to purchase, so I ordered a copy.  When I read about the details of the book on the Amazon website I discovered that I had just been talking with the well-known illustrator of books, P. J. Lynch.  He is a very fine person and I appreciated the chance to meet him.  We read the book together Saturday evening; it is a very well written story with a great message.  The author of the story is Susan Wojciechowski, and as I said P. J. Lynch is the illustrator.  At the end of the book, Susan states that this did not require a lot of handwritten drafts and edits.  She states: “I have only a few pages of computer-printed text.  I truly believe a power beyond me guided my hand.”  P. J .Lynch states “I can’t say whether my work on the book was inspired in the same mystical way that Susan’s was, but it is true to say that as I painted, I had no doubts—and that is very unusual for me.”  Read it if you can find a copy.

We love each of you and we pray for your well-being and happiness, and that you will receive the blessings you need in your life to help you have the light of Christ in your life always.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard

Message—17 December 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

Due to there being so many things to do yesterday on Sunday, I did not have time to do the blog message for last week until tonight.  All of this past week Sister Jensen has been very involved in keeping track of all the Christmas mail and packages coming for the missionaries.  She has to keep a tracking sheet for all the packages that come through the USPS, through FedEx, and also through UPS.  Some of the packages she can forward on directly to the missionary apartments; but some she cannot forward.  Those that cannot be forwarded she calls the AP’s, the President, or the Zone Leaders to see if they will be going to the right area to take the packages with them and deliver them to the right missionary.  She also does all she can to see that the missionaries get regular mail by forwarding or sending with someone traveling to the right area of the mission.   She has been making separate piles for each of the zones so she can keep items until tomorrow and Wednesday when all the missionaries will be coming to the Christmas Gathering.  Two zones come tomorrow and the other two zones will come on Wednesday.  There are a number of things for each of the missionaries to take home to their apartments for Christmas.  In addition to the gifts for the missionaries we have some other mission related items for them to pick up and take with them.  Sister Jensen helped me get new vehicle gas credit cards ready to exchange with each companionship for their old card.  The old cards all expire on December 31^st, so they have to have the new cards to start using.  Sister Christianson also has new missionary medical cards for each of the missionaries to receive.

President and Sister Christianson are giving each missionary a book President wrote about the doctrines of the Book of Mormon.  A Senior Missionary Elder was given a tree which blew down a few weeks ago due to the high winds we had from Hurricane Sandy.  The tree was on the Hill Cumorah, and when Bob Parrott, the forest manager for the Church History sites, found the tree he gave it to Elder Poulson who is a FM Missionary.  On his own time, Elder Poulson used the saws and other tools in the FM Shop to cut the branches into elliptical pieces about one fourth inch thick; and then sanded them and put a clear stain on each piece.  Each missionary has, or will receive one of the pieces.  We were given a piece last week at Site Meeting, like I described, and also a second piece a little larger made for a paper weight.  The pieces are very beautiful.

Wednesday evening after Site Meeting I had to do some vehicle trading with two Sister Missionary companionships.  Sister Earl and Sister Adams brought the Toyota Corolla they had been driving and I gave it to Sister Larsen and Sister Aiello to drive.  I had brought the new Dodge Caravan that we picked up at Kirtland with us; and that is the vehicle I gave to Sister Earl and Sister Adams to drive.  The Chevrolet Colorado pickup Sister Larsen and Sister Aiello had been driving; Sister Jensen and I drove home to take the next day to give to Elder Olsson and Elder Guzik in the Buffalo area.  Elder Teichert and Elder Bird gave Elder Olsson and Elder Guzik a ride to meet us in Batavia at 9am Thursday morning.  Sister Jensen drove our car and followed me to Batavia.  After giving the truck to them we then drove our car to the Mission Office to do our days’ work there.  Before we left for Batavia we took Elder and Sister Servoss to the Mission Office because their car was having the transmission repaired, so they did not have a vehicle.  Later on Thursday afternoon I gave Elder Servoss a ride to get his car back from the transmission repair shop in Ontario NY; just east of Webster.  When we went there we drove on Route 104 (Ridge Road) and we passed what is called the Xerox Area.  This is the main offices and production facilities for the Xerox Corporation.  The Area is about a half mile long and about another half mile deep.  Then Thursday evening we drove to Geneseo for the last Institute class for this semester.  We will have a break from now until January 10^th before we have the next class.

Friday afternoon I received an unexpected but great blessing to have a phone call from the Phoenix weather man (that is who he said he was), but I recognized his voice immediately as President Taylor.  It was a great blessing to spend some time visiting with him in person.  He and Sister Taylor are doing an awesome job of being the Phoenix Mission President and faithful wife; she is also a great teacher.  President Taylor has a special place in my heart and life.  We made plans for us to attend the Mesa Temple Easter Program in March next year and stop to visit with them while we are there.  We are looking forward to this.  Friday evening we went to the Geneseo Ward Christmas party.  They had a good meal and then a Christmas Program.  The theme of the program was the 12 Gifts of Christ; which he has given us.  Sister Jensen and I had been asked to do the gift of “renewal”; which is actually the gift of the atonement which enables us to repent and change and be renewed.  So that is what we talked about.  Sister Jensen gave an abridged version of “The Mansion” by Henry VanDyke.  I then shared a few thoughts about the story and how it relates to Christ and Christmas and repentance and having a change of heart.

Saturday we were able to do some shopping for groceries and also did some cleaning and straightening up.  In the afternoon we went to the West Fall Chapel to attend the baptismal service for Yessinia and Brianna.  These two young ladies, college students at the John Wesleyan College, had been first contacted by Elder Swanner and Elder Olsen when we were in Brockport last year.  These Elders had invited Yessie and Stephanie, another friend, to the baptism service for Casey Reichert last October on the day of the Brockport Halloween Ward Party; and they came and stayed to the ward party. These two Elders had arranged with us to bring Yessie and Stephanie to watch a CES Devotional and then also the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last year.  These young ladies had attended church in the Brockport ward three Sundays during November last year.  Yessie and Stephanie had been touched by the Spirit at all these meetings; but unfortunately, Elder Swanner and Elder Olsen left Brockport soon after these visits to church and our home in Brockport.  We kept trying to get the next missionaries to continue teaching these young ladies but it just did not happen.  Sister Jensen kept in contact with them through texting.  In August this year we were able to get the AP’s, who are assigned to the YSA Branch, called the GVB (Genesee Valley Branch).  This is the Branch Yessie and Stephanie and Yessie’s friend Brianna should attend.  These two Elder’s, one is Elder Hole who is a nephew of DeeAnn Jenkins in our ward in Provo, the other is Elder Harris, started teaching Yessie and Brianna in August.  Stephanie lost interest along the way so she was not taught again.  When the Elder’s taught them a week before Thanksgiving, Yessie and Brianna accepted the invitation to baptized on December 15^th.  However they were afraid to tell their parents and family.  Elder Hole and Elder Harris asked me to join them in talking with Yessie and Brianna the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to help give them courage and support to tell their parents and family.  With the help of the Holy Ghost we were able to say the right things to help them.  They texted us on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, and told us that their parents and grandparents accepted their choice and decision to be baptized.  Prayers are answered.  Brianna’s mother and grandparents came to her baptism last Saturday; they drove up from Pennsylvania, a three hour drive, one way.  It was a great baptism service with a strong presence of the Spirit, and a number of GVB members and missionaries who also came.

Sunday after out Church meetings we stayed for the Munch and Mingle; this is a phrase which means all the adults bring some kind of food to share and we all share it.  Afterwards, we took Elder Maisey and Elder Southwick to call on some referrals in the far edges of the ward boundaries.  After this we came home about 5:30pm and had a little more to eat.  Then at 6:45 pm Elder Maisey and Elder Southwick arrived at our home and we took them up to the Westfall Chapel to attend a Rochester Stake Christmas Concert.  David Cook did the narration for the concert.  The stake choir, who has been practicing for over a month, sang beautifully a number of Christmas hymns and other classical Christmas music.  The congregation was invited to join in some of the numbers.  Yessie and Brianna came to the concert so we were able to see them again after the concert.  They had someone take a picture of us with them.  We were also blessed to visit with some of the Brockport ward members who were in attendance.  We arrived at our home about 9:30pm.  Now you know why I did not get a blog message done yesterday.

This morning we left a little early so we could get some things in the mail before going to the Mission Office to get ready for our 10am staff meeting.  After the staff meeting I had to take care of some vehicle issues for the President.  I had a wonderful surprise after the staff meeting; Annette called me and Anne was there with her; so through speaker phone technology, I was able to visit with them for little bit of time, before I had to leave.  Annette is a very spiritually strong woman; she is very much like her mother and grandmothers.  I would have liked to have visited longer, but I could not; I will call and visit another time from here at home, after the zone conferences this week.  Today Sister Jensen received several mail deliveries of more Christmas mail and packages which she had to record and sort in to zones to be ready to give them out tomorrow.  Then at 4pm Sister Jensen and I took Elder Servoss with us to Macedon to pick up two new Chevy Cruze’s which are for some of our additional missionaries who will be arriving in January and February.  Then this evening after we finally left the Mission Office we went to Palmyra to the Joseph Smith Farm for their annual Christmas Family Home Evening.  We did not stay very long because Sister Jensen had some things to do at home in order to be ready for the Christmas Gathering meeting tomorrow.  While she has been doing those projects, I have put this blog message together.

We express our love and appreciation to each of you and we want you to know you all have a special place in our heart.  We will love you forever.  Thank you for all you have done and continue to do to bless our lives.

Love,

Mom & dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard

 

Message—9 December 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

This was a very interesting week with more to do than we had time in which to do what was needed.  Sister Jensen had a few missionary related meals to help prepare and also helped in planning for the upcoming Christmas Missionary meetings on December 18^th and 19^th.  The Christmas mail and packages for the missionaries are beginning to arrive so there was plenty of mail to get forwarded or arrange to have delivered where it was supposed to go.  Following up on what happened as missionaries called on referrals is a continual effort.  I had a variety of vehicle issues to take care of.  I had to get six vehicles ready to be sold; three of them still had some repair work to get done, and also these same three had to have an interior detail cleaning done on them.  I was also coordinating with a college student who is an LDS member who wants to buy one of the vehicles we have for sale.  I also had to arrange to have a vehicle that will not be needed until the next transfer, to be made available to trade for another vehicle that needed to be ready to be sold and taken to the Cleveland Mission to be traded for a new vehicle that was delivered there by mistake.  These things only took a paragraph to summarize but it took all the time we had and more to get it all done.

Monday at noon after our office staff meeting with President and Sister Christianson, Sister Jensen had helped prepare some food for a lunch we all had together.  We had also invited some of the people who had been in our old office building at Perinton Hills, whom we had not seen since we moved out at the end of August.  Only one of the people came but we enjoyed visiting with him.  Later in the week on Friday, Frank came to see us; he had been our next door office friend at Perinton Hills.  Monday evening we attended the Senior Site Couples Family Home Evening.  Elder Smellie shared with us a video of an address given by the wife of Brother Eldred G. Smith in 2007 at a similar gathering of the missionary couples who were serving at the Cove Fort Utah visitor’s site.  The video included also the address given by Brother Smith; but our site missionaries had seen this part at a previous family home evening which we were notable to attend.  Sister Smith shared some family history information from the Hyrum Smith family organization about Hyrum and his life.  The Smith’s had brought with them the actual clothes worn by Hyrum, including the holes from the bullets and evidence of the blood stains, at the time of the martyrdom and also his watch which had been hit by a bullet at the time of the martyrdom.  It was very interesting to hear from her.  Eldred G. Smith is still alive; he had his 105^th birthday this year.  For those who do not know who he is, Brother Smith was the Patriarch to the Church from about 1947 until 1976.  During those years Brother Smith gave over 15,000 patriarchal blessings, mostly to people in countries outside of North America where there were no patriarchs.   At one of the general conferences in 1976 this calling was eliminated.  Up until that time he had always been sustained as a prophet, seer, and revelator along with the first presidency and the quorum of 12 apostles.  Since that time Brother Smith has been a true and faithful member of the church.  He is a great grand-son of Hyrum Smith through his son John.

Tuesday evening we were blessed to be able to stay home for the evening.  Wednesday afternoon I had Sister Thomas and Sister Klepinger bring their car to the office.  Sister Thomas came to meet up with President and Sister Christianson so she could spend the evening with them before going to the airport Thursday morning to catch a plane to meet up with her brother who was also returning home from his mission in Italy.  They then returned to their home together.  Sister Klepinger then joined another Sister Companionship to make a threesome until the next transfer in January.  Sister Thomas has been an awesome missionary here.  Wednesday evening we took the car Sister Thomas brought to the office, with us to the Hill Cumorah for the Site Training meeting.  After the meeting we exchanged the car, a Toyota Corolla, for the Dodge Caravan that Sister Earl and Sister Adams had been driving in Seneca Falls.  We then drove the van home so I could take it on Thursday to get an interior detail cleaning done so it would be ready to drive to Ohio to meet the Vehicle Coordinator, Elder Jacklin, from the Cleveland Mission to exchange for a new 2013 Dodge Caravan that had been delivered to his mission by mistake.  I had called and made arrangements to meet Elder Jacklin at the Kirtland Church Visitors Center at 11am on Saturday.

Sister Jensen and I and a few others were fairly busy during the week taking 3 cars to have repairs done and new tires put on them, and also getting an interior detail cleaning done on them.  I also had the President’s old 2011 Chev Traverse to get an interior detail cleaning done for it so it would be ready to be sold.  Finally by Friday about noon I had all 4 vehicles cleaned and ready to be sold, and the Caravan ready to be taken to Kirtland.  Elder Bringhurst, Elder Rawe, and Elder Garcia went with me to get the Caravan from the Detail Shop on Friday at 11am.  By the time we returned it was time for lunch, so I bought lunch for all four of us, and then took the Elders back to get their pickup so they could be to a 1pm appointment.  Elder Garcia is completing his mission next week and will return home on December 12^th.

Thursday evening we went to Geneseo to teach the Institute lesson.  We had only one person come, Alex, who was sustained today in Sacrament meeting as the new Ward Mission Leader, replacing Chris Elliott who has been a great Ward Mission Leader.  Alex is a fine young man and he will be blessed to do well as the Mission Leader.

Friday morning Sister Jensen helped prepare the food for feeding those who were coming to attend the all-day Zone Leader Council.  Then at about 10 am Sister Jensen went with Sister Servoss to go prepare and serve the meal to those who came to the Zone Leader Council, which is about 16 people.  They also stayed and cleaned up after the dinner.  We left the Mission Office shortly after 4pm to take our car home and get the things we needed to take with us to Kirtland.  On the way home we received a call that the Zone Leaders from Buffalo had come to the Mission Office to pick up a car that was supposed to be there for them to drive back to Buffalo.  They had ridden back from Buffalo on Thursday evening with President Christianson and spent the night at the mission home so they would be ready for Zone Leader Council on Friday morning at 9am.  They had me very confused because I knew nothing about having the car from Henrietta available for them to take with them.  When I got home I called President Christianson to find out what was supposed to be done.  He was busy in an interview so I talked with Sister Christianson and one of the AP’s to find out what they knew about this situation.  It turned out that they were really expecting to get the car from Webster, which is the same one I had been told by President to give to the Seneca Falls Sisters to drive while I was getting their van replaced by the new one I was going to get from Kirtland on Saturday.  So I called Elder Olsson and Elder Teichert, the zone leaders, and explained that there was not a car for them to take back to Buffalo.  After I got this explained to them I told them to stay at the Mission Office and we would come and get them and take them to Buffalo with us since that is the direction we would be going to get the van from Kirtland.  We had previously arranged with President Christianson to take Elder and Sister Ellis with us to Kirtland.  So we picked up Elder Olsson and Elder Teichert at the Mission Office and then drove to Brockport, to the same apartment we lived in for the first year of our mission.  There we picked up Elder and Sister Ellis and set off for Buffalo.  We stopped the Elders off at their apartment in Williamsville, a suburb in Eastern Buffalo.  We then drove to Erie Pennsylvania where we had reserved motel rooms for both us and the Ellis’s.  We got up early and headed for Kirtland Ohio, arriving about 9:30am.  We then spent the time until 11am looking at a special nativity display in the Main Visitors Center and the old School House next to it.  There were some awesome nativity sets on display; some of them from various parts of the world.  One in particular took up an entire corner of the main lobby of the Visitor’s Center.  The entire set was made of Olive Wood from Jerusalem, including the platform it was on, and the shelter and all of the figures, which were each about 18 inches to 2 feet tall; it was very beautiful.  The International Nativity sets were in the old School House.  While we were looking at these, Elder and Sister Jacklin walked in.  I did not know who Elder Jacklin was since I had never met him.  But he walked up to me and told me who he was and I shook his hand.  His wife then walked up to me and put her arms around me and gave me a big hug.  I was rather surprised at this until I looked in to her face; and there standing in front of me was Eileen Cloward Jacklin.  The same Eileen Cloward I had grown up with in Mapleton; Arlen Cloward’s daughter; and a grand-daughter of Charles and Olive Whiting.  Marv and Jay and I think Neil worked in the timber business that Arlen Cloward had at the time we were growing up.  Eileen is one year younger than I am; she recognized me right off, but it took me a few seconds longer.  When I recognized her we gave each other another hug, with her husband’s permission and even though hugging ladies is not permitted by mission rules, this time as reunited long lost friends.  It was a great reunion for us, we visited for 5 or 10 minutes then we finally introduced everyone in our group to each other.  Elder Jacklin and I then took care of exchanging keys and information about the vans.   The Jacklin’s stayed for a while and went through the first part of the Visitors Center tour with us, which the Ellis’s had never seen.  Elder Edmund was the Kirtland Site Director whom we had met last Spring when we went to Kirtland to get a Chev Colorado from the Cleveland FM Office; and we met him again on Saturday.  He had asked Elder and Sister Polis to give us a more detailed site tour than most people get.  After seeing the introductory film the Jacklin’s had to leave to go take care of some other assignments.  Eileen said she and her husband were currently the only senior couple in the mission office, so they were doing the work of 3 couples, how I do not know, but the Lord was blessing them.  They did have 2 Sister Missionaries helping them with some of the things in the office.  They will get another senior couple to help in February.  They will be receiving 60 new missionaries by February; Eileen will need to find new apartments for many of them. After saying a teary eyed farewell to the Jacklin’s, they left.  Elder and Sister Polis then spent the next two hours with us and shared some additional spiritually touching facts and information about the Kirtland area.  We were very blessed to see and hear all we did experience.  Elder & Sister Polis were so kind and informative; it was really a special visit.  It was too late to make a trip to the John Johnson Home; so the Ellis’s chose to spend some time seeing the Kirtland Temple and Visitor’s Center operated by the Community of Christ Church.  We were blessed to have Dave Cool as our tour guide.  As a young boy he had grown up in Kirtland and had lived in the home North of the Kirtland Temple where Joseph and Emma Smith had lived at one time.  He has been living in Kirtland for quite a few years with his family.  He told us he and his wife were the second to last couple to be married in the Kirtland Temple before marriages were no longer done in the temple.  He knew a lot of the history of the Kirtland area and he was very kind and shared many details with us and answered all of our questions about the history of the temple and the Kirtland area.  We also stopped at the Isaac Morley home and took some pictures.  We then tried to find a place to eat before starting home, but our GPS’s were not too helpful; so we started for home on I-90, hoping we would see a place to eat along the I-90.  When we reached Geneva Ohio we found a very nice restaurant and did not have to wait for a table, so we went in and had a fine dinner.  We then headed for home and took the Ellis’s back to their apartment in Brockport and then we made it home about 10:30 pm.  The distance traveled altogether was about 650 miles; but by going two thirds of the way Friday night it was not such a long trip.  We were greatly blessed with safety and with a good spiritual experience as well as a reunion with Eileen Cloward.

Our church meetings today were also very good with spiritual messages and good associations with members; and particularly being blessed to take the sacrament.  This next week is also going to be filled with many assignments, but we look forward to the blessings that await us.  We love each of you more than you know.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard