Our Young Sisters

We always enjoy having the young sisters over for dinner. They are so cute and always give us such a spiritual lift with their lesson and songs. We love them. Here are Sister Adamson and Sister Watham. Sister Marshall is with them ready to go out on visits.

Our Visitors

May was special because we had some visitors. Ann's daughter, Michelle, spent Mother's Day with us, as I wrote about on my previous blog, but I didn't get a picture posted. It was such fun having Michelle with us.

Also, Karen and Ross Taylor spent a day with us. Ann took Michelle to the airport at 5 a.m. Monday morning (I didn't go with her), came home and we both went to pick up Karen and Ross at 10:00 a.m. It was a very stormy morning. In fact, Karen and Ross couldn't get off the airplane after it arrived for quite a while waiting for the lightning storm to pass. On the way home, we stopped at the Waffle House for breakfast. Ann and I had wanted to go there ever since we got here, thinking having waffles would be great. It was so bad -- looked like a giant Eggo and tasted worse. So much for the Waffle House. We then went to all the Independence Historical sites that we could fit into a day and went by the library to show them where we work every day (we were able to take the day off to spend with them). We ended up having dinner at Zio's -- an Italian place that we really enjoy, after which we had dessert at our apartment. Great day and we were so grateful for the effort that Karen and Ross made to come and visit us. We took them to the airport the next morning. Thanks so much for the visit Karen and Ross!!

On to Jamesport

A view of Jamesport

In to have frozen yogurt

Sisters Williams, Marshall and Zurligen

The horse and buggy in front of Country Store

After leaving Adam-ondi-Ahman, the four of us continued on to Jamesport, an Amish town, for lunch. We wished we had seen a lot more of the horse drawn carriages and less cars. We did see several, however, and it was a delightful experience. After lunch, we did a little shopping and on the way out of town stopped at a little country store which was really fun. I bought some chocolate raisens that I fully intended to share with everyone and, can you believe, not one person was interested. I have to say I didn't mind devouring every single one of those chocolate raisens.

A Trip to Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman

Ann and I by Preacher's Rock at Adam-ondi-Ahman

Adam-ondi-Ahman marker

Ann and I with the Prophet Joseph at Far West Bookstore

Ann and I with our friends, Bro and Sis. Sprangler to the left (we were in the MTC with them) and Bro. and Sis. Buoy on the right - Far West

Myself, Ann, Lavonna and Lynn (Sisters Zurligen and Williams) at Far West Monument

On May 1, 2010 we (myself, Ann, Lavonna and Lynn) drove to Liberty Jail where we had been told that we would meet up with a bus that was taking the young sisters to Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman. Well, they totally forgot about us (and some other senior missionary couples), so we all drove to meet them at Far West, only making a couple of wrong turns and getting a little bit lost. Anyway, we made it and only missed out on the first few minutes of the presentation by the tour guide. It was interesting to be there with a tour guide, as you learn a lot more about everything that happened there, as opposed to being there by yourself. It is so special to spend time with the young Sisters. We really love them and feel so close to them -- especially the ones that serve in our ward and that we see on a regular basis. Afterward we went to the Bookstore just beyond Far West. We then followed everyone to Adam-ondi-Ahman. Again, it made it so much more special to have a tour guide and to be with the young Sisters and some of the senior couples. It started out being a chilly morning at Far West, but the sun came out and the rest of the day was beautiful.

A Trip to St. Louis

Views of St. Louis from top of Arch

Lunch on River View Dr.

On April 20, 2010 we took a trip to St. Louis. It was about a 3-1/2 hour drive and the scenery along the way was beautiful. We were able to take the trip and be gone on a Wednesday, as the Library was going to be closed. We stayed overnight a short distance from the temple and then went to the St. Louis Temple the next morning. It was so good to be in the temple again -- hadn't been since we left Provo. Afterward we headed towards downtown St. Louis, taking a few little side trips along the way. We had lunch on River View Dr. and then to the Gateway Arch. We went on the rather scary ride up the small enclosed elevator that swings this-a-way and that. We were glad to disembark as they had asked us before we bought our tickets if we were afraid of heights, if we were claustrophobic and if we could climb 96 or 196 or so stairs (can't remember how many -- it's been almost a month since we were there.) Anyway, the views were beautiful. After arriving downstairs again went through the museum which I loved. In fact, I'm hoping we can make that trip again, as I really want to see the Lewis and Clark movie that we didn't have time for. We also want to stop off at Hannibel next time and visit with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

A Birthday Celebration for Pres. Harry Truman

Yesterday, Pres. Harry Truman's birthday was celebrated in Independence. This is where he lived his whole life -- except when he was in Washington D.C. . It was a fun day of going to any of the historical sites for $1.00, free birthday cake, trolley rides, etc. I read the book "Truman" by David McCullough before I came on my mission, and so I'm really enjoying being here where he lived. This picture is of a man who was dressed up as Harry Truman and who had an amazing resemblance to him. It was a fun day.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY -- TO ME, MY DAUGHTERS, DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW & COMPANION

Much to my surprise, I looked on my daughter-in-law's (Whitney) blog and there was a beautiful Mother's Day tribute written by my son, Aaron. Thank you, Aaron, for your love and support and for all the wonderful memories. Also, I had a lengthy telephone conversation with my son, Jeremy, which meant a lot to me. He has been a very busy young man with his work, completing his Masters Degree and having a young family. It's been a while since he has had time for such a lengthy conversation. I have also talked to Karrin, John, Amy and Suzanne, as well as receiving beautiful cards. I received wonderful expressions of love from each of them, as well as from my grandchildren. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I love each of them very, very much. Thank you all for your kind thoughts and for your love. Today has been a wonderful Mother's Day, even though I am far away from all of you.

As usual, church was another spiritual feast, with stories and music that was truly exceptional. Ann's daughter, Michelle, has been here this weekend to spend Mother's Day with her mom, and has been so very thoughtful. As you can see from the picture, she ordered flowers for both of us. She was disappointed that the flower place made a mistake and send a boutonniere instead of a second corsage, but I was very pleased with her sweet thought of including me.

More apartment, More Green, More Workplace

Just for my records I wanted to post 2-3 more pictures of our beautiful surroundings.

A couple of more pictures of our workplace. I never know how the pictures are going to post, but one is of Ann and Lynn. (We get used to using our first names, because where we work that's what we're supposed to do. We're not allowed to talk about the church at work, but we do wear our badges.) Anyway, they concocted this black piece of plastic over the lights of the scanner because the overhead lights were creating a glare. I wish I had taken my camera the day that Lynn was prancing around the top of the tables putting this in place. One of the pictures is of me with the "big book" that I'm getting ready to scan. I couldn't hold it because the leather cover was disintegrating on my clothes. The other picture is the four of us with Andrew our trainer, problem solver, etc. He's a delightful young man that we appreciate very much.

These are pictures of the inside of our apartment. Notice the quilts on the beds in the bedroom -- both made by our good friend, Karen Taylor. Pretty amazing, huh! I was stunned when she presented them to us at our Goodbye Party that was given by our Conference Center team at her home just before we left to go into the MTC. I really love the quilt and it is there with me every day. Thank you again and again, Karen. We are going to see Karen and Ross next week -- they are coming to visit us -- I'll be sure to get some pictures while they are here. All the furniture you see here is from the "back cave" (where they have extra furniture for the missionaries -- except the beds that are new), or from thrift shops. I did buy a couple of Costco tables and a couple of Walmart lamps. I wanted a place to put things and good light to read by. Anyway, we were fortunate to find things that actually match. One of the senior couples that live in this complex loaned us a television -- yes, we're allowed to have a television, although we really don't have time to watch it. We are able to play music on it and so that is nice. We're happy here.

Another Wonderful Sabbath

I love Sundays. We belong to the Independence 3rd Ward, and it has been a wonderful experience. Our bishop, Bp. Cato, and his family (including his parents) are all converts from RLDS. Actually, they were part of a break off group from the original RLDS to the Remnant LDS. Bp. Cato is a unique man that does things spontaneously when he is moved by the spirit to do so (and you can be sure it will most likely be every Sunday). For instance, a couple of weeks ago Ann, myself and Sister Williams, that we work with at the Genealogical Library, all spoke in church. Bp. Cato had invited the Samoan Choir to sing that day. They were wonderful. I especially loved the song that they sang in their native tongue. There was a closing song on the program, but Bp. Cato stood up and said instead of the closing song he would like Sister So-and-So (don't remember name) and her daughter to come up and sing the closing song as they would be moving out of the ward. They came up, deciding on the way what to sing. Luckily, there was a pianist that day that could play. If not, I'm sure the bishop would have gone over to play -- he has done that before. The mother and her little 5-year old daughter sang all 4 verses of "How Great Thou Art." That little girl knew all four verses and really belted it out. The mother had a lovely voice and it was beautiful. Anyway, those are the type of things that happen on a very regular basis. You can be almost guaranteed that something on the program will be changed or added. It is always a very spiritual and touching experience. I love it.

Today was very special for me. I felt the Spirit so strongly in our testimony meeting and also in our Relief Society portion of testimony meeting. Then tonight we had a Fireside at the Independence Visitors Center, again being a testimony meeting of new converts. Amazing.

I'm grateful for the experience we're having of serving this mission. I love the young sisters and elders. We really love going to their mission and zone conferences. We love having the sisters over for dinner. And thanks to Ann, we always have a nice dinner for them. She is definitely the cook in this household. I'm grateful for her. I try to be as much help as I can, but she is the one with the motivation and determination to make sure it happens. I have to admit I'm eating better than I have for a few years -- with no credit to me.

Again, I love my mission and serving the Lord. What a blessing to know why we're here and where we're going. I've wasted lots of years, but I'm grateful that I can try to make up for that and to know my Heavenly Father loves me -- and He loves all of you also.