Another quick week!
Monday we went to Pittsford and had a great office
meeting. We finished up around noon and
went out to eat with the Ray’s. They are
going home the first of April, and we will really miss them. We went over to Sam’s Club after and got a
few things and then went back to Batavia (home). That evening we were invited to eat at Amanda
and Skyler’s home. They were supposed to
have home evening at the home of one of the members, but the members had
complications and couldn’t, so we stayed and had a nice home evening with them.
Tuesday we studied all day.
(I know, crazy huh?) I didn’t
think Dennis and I would ever read this much together. We couldn’t believe that the day flew by so
quickly.
Wednesday we had our District meeting in Batavia and made
the meal for it. We made chicken
enchiladas and Spanish rice. There are 8
Elders and 4 Senior Missionaries that attend these meetings. The young missionaries conduct the meetings
and they do such a good job. They are
full of enthusiasm and love of the gospel.
It is a blessing to see how the mission works.
Thursday we made some very rough business cards for
ourselves and went to one of the neighboring towns to see if we could meet some
of the members and less-actives. We left
cards at 10 stops and didn’t find anyone home.
It’s difficult because everyone is busy or works. (even at home in Idaho) I was very discouraged and then later in the
evening we got a text from one of the members that said she was sorry she had
missed us and that she appreciated us driving way out there to meet her. That was encouraging! However, we haven’t heard anything from the
other 9. We will continue to go around
the branch meeting them. After not
having any luck we dropped into the Jello Museum (in LeRoy) and saw what they
had to offer. It was very
nostalgic! They told of the inventor of
Jello thinking he had made a fortune when he sold the recipe and rights for
$450.00 (the cost of a home for himself) in 1897. The new owner had lots of product, but couldn’t
sell it to anyone. He got discouraged
and offered the entire company to one of his workers for $35.00. The man said, “why would he want something he
couldn’t sell”. So, the owner had a
great idea and had salesmen go door to door and give it away. He then told markets to get it stocked
because it would be in demand soon. Well,
the first year he made $6 million dollars.
It was pretty interesting.
 |
| Selfie at the Jello Museum |
 |
| A cute house we saw in Leroy |
Friday we had to be at the mission office early for a
meeting with the Missionary Leadership Council.
It was a great meeting and we are getting excited to pass out the new
Ipads to the missionaries. They are the
mini Ipads, but they do the job. I can’t
believe how much the missionaries use them.
It is a tool made for missionary work.
We went over to Palmyra following the meeting to get a gift for Amanda
and Skyler at the only LDS bookstore in the State of New York. We got a beautiful book with paintings of
Christ and telling of how he loves us all.
I loved it and I think they did too!
That evening we met at our chapel for the baptism of Amanda and
Skyler. She had us come early to tell us
how much she appreciated everything we had done for her and how her life had
changed so drastically! It was such a
great thing. The baptism was nice and
the branch supported it quite well. The
change in Skyler is dramatic—he is so happy and excited. He greets people now and talks with them,
before he wouldn’t make eye contact. He
even answered all the questions the speaker asked about baptism. He is really a
special kid!
 |
| Baptism Night |
 |
| Angel Moroni Cake |
Saturday morning, early, we got up and took Amanda, Skyler,
Deborah Earsing and ourselves over to Canandaigua (near Palmyra) to the Bishop
Storehouse. Our branch had an assignment
and we had volunteered. It was fun and
didn’t take too long. We arrived home
about 12:30 and looked at each other and said, ‘Now What?” We decided to drive out to Letchworth State
Park. It is about 30 miles from where we
live. It is a ‘mini Grand Canyon’ and it
was so beautiful!
After returning home
we got ready for Stake Conference and picked up 2 Elders, Bill Haggerty, Karol
Stevenson, and Amanda. (our car is
really getting used) We went to Westfall
Road near Rochester and had a great adult session of conference. We love our car! The meeting was really good and we didn’t get
home until 11:00. (we had a large detour
to pick up Skyler from Amanda’s friend)
Then we had to set our clocks ahead for daylight savings time—so it was difficult to
get up on time—
Sunday we went back to Westfall Road for the general session
of stake conference. We had a car full again,
and enjoyed the meeting. Our mission
president spoke, and he is always so interesting. He loves the missionaries!
There were some wonderful talks given in conference. A couple, the Ostlers, have been called to be the site directors here. (The Smith farm, Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah, Grandin Printer, Whitmer Farm, etc.) They were in Sierra Leone (Africa) as the Mission President and his wife and served there for over a year when they were evacuated because of Ebola. They told a couple of stories from their mission. He read from one of the missionaries reports that the Elders had taught a family about keeping the Sabbath day holy and the family was really quiet and they knew that they only earned .75 to $1.00 a day and that if he didn't work on Sunday, they wouldn't eat. The father finally said that they would keep the Sabbath day holy and that they had faith that the Lord would provide, but if they didn't they would drink lots of water and go to bed hungry. Wow! I feel so pampered and spoiled! We have no idea of the poverty and faith that people have.
Another story he shared was that the Elders had asked a family to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. One of the sisters listening to the missionaries couldn't read. She listened and then quietly went to one of the neighbors that evening and borrowed their Book of Mormon. She took it home and put it under her pillow and prayed that she would know the truth about the book. She dreamed in the night that she was following a path and that she was trying to follow someone-- and it was Christ. That is exactly what the Book of Mormon is for--to bring us to Christ.
Blessings:
You are going to help Sara get her barn book made! So cool. Love you
ReplyDelete