May 24, 2015

May 18, 2015  We had our weekly office meeting and then we had a nice birthday luncheon for Elder Merrill.  Sister Kennedy made a roast beef sandwich that had a good flavor.  She had gone to a popular place to eat once and they had people lined up to eat their roast beef sandwiches.  She could tell that they had lemon juice and cinnamon in the gravy and tried it.  It is a really good flavor.  (I better find out how much of each you use)  Sister Ballard made a large German Chocolate cake and it was really good.  I made a lettuce salad.  

President and Sister Francis with Sister Ballard

President and Sister Francis, Sister Ballard, Sister Kennedy, and Elder & Sister Clement

We had a good day of training and then went to the Rochester airport to pick up the Workman’s.  (they went to Georgia to be at the sealing for their daughter and family) 

We saw a terrible wreck on the way home.  The east bound lanes were blocked off  and traffic stopped for miles.  When we got close to the wreck we were sickened to see how badly the truck was wrecked  There wasn’t anything left of the cab.  We aren’t sure how it happened, but there were 2 semi trucks involved.  The other truck was rolled into the gutter.  There were dozens of police cars, tents for Hazmat, wreckers, ambulances, etc.  It made us so sad.  We looked at the news online when we got home, and it said that both drivers were transported to the hospital.  We don’t know the outcome, but from what we saw--it wasn’t good!

We took the rest of the cake from lunch over to the Elders.  As we were leaving, Elder Longhurst yelled out, “We love you Elder Merrill”.  (he didn’t know that we hadn’t made the cake—just sharing it with them.)  Nice, anyway!

May 19, 2015  We had a full day of training and working at the office.  We invited the office people out to dinner at Moe’s for 3 of them leaving.  We had a nice time there and a good visit.  We talked about what they had enjoyed about their mission.  They all mentioned that working with the young Elders and Sisters was a great blessing to them and how wonderful it is to be involved with them. We arrived home late.

May 20, 2015 –we worked at the office, but I can’t remember anything significant about the day.  (I guess I better write daily because I forget what we do when I don’t.)  It must be the same principle as tithing—pay it first or you won’t be able to afford it—write it first or you won’t be able to remember it.  We went to Pauly’s for a calzone for supper and it was very good!

May 21, 2015  We took Sister Kennedy (she couldn’t go to Moe’s) out for lunch.  We ate a burger at Tom Wahl’s and Dennis celebrated his birthday with several calls and cards, along with Facetime birthday wishes.  Sister Ballard’s son flew out here and will drive home with her.  They left this afternoon.  She is anxious to be back with her family.  

We stopped by the Haggerty’s.  Sister Haggerty isn’t feeling any better and she requested a blessing.  I don’t know what is wrong with her, but feel that she needs a different doctor.  The people from the office use a man called Dr. Pulley and he is LDS.  They really like him.  We hope she can get into see him.

May 22, 2015  We worked at the office and said our good-byes to the Clements.  We are now on our own!  HELP!  They were great help and we shall miss them.  I had my first meeting with the President to discuss the finances.  (I was really nervous!)  

We drove over to Palmyra and met the Brown's at the Palmyra Inn.  They are from Rigby and he owned the discount store that Dennis loved so much.  We went to dinner with them at a little diner in Palmyra call Athena's.  It was good to visit with them and hear about their mission in Utica.  They are serving on the military base with the soldiers and families that are LDS.  They are really liking their mission.  She is helping the women learn homemaking skills.  She says that she is surprised by how much they don't know!

May 23, 2015  We were able to stay home and not make the hour drive.  Yahoo!  We went to a couple of garage sales and had a good time.  They have quite a few here and we got a few good things for our new home.  (the décor is pretty old at the farm house—just a few things for the walls and kitchen)  

The lilacs here are so beautiful!

We got a few groceries for feeding the missionaries and for the Memorial Day branch picnic.  We packed up a few things to begin taking things over to Honeyoye next week.  

This gynormous pillow should fit back into this small case--??

Success!! (he was huffing & puffing afterward)

The Elders (6 because of splits) came for supper.  They ate everything and then we left with them to go visit Carla.  Her son is investigating the church and we had one of the lessons with him.  He is 15 and doesn’t know what to believe in.  He lives with his father and hasn’t had much, if any, religious training.  Afterward we went to a couple near Carla and visited with them.  They were very friendly and invited us to come to their picnic on Monday.  I think that the Elders will do that, but we will stick to the branch one.

Dana has a machine that is much like a paddle boat.  It's hard to use too!

May 24, 2015  We went to church and were the speakers.  I spoke on service and Dennis spoke on faith.  We filled the time and several said that our talks were good.  I hope that we were able to teach something!  Here is a portion of Dennis’s talk:

Elder Robert Gay of the seventy tells this story about his youth.

“What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”1

This is a question that my father taught me to carefully consider years ago. As I was growing up, my parents assigned me chores around the house and paid me an allowance for that work. I often used that money, a little over 50 cents a week, to go to the movies. Back then a movie ticket cost 25 cents for an 11-year-old. This left me with 25 cents to spend on candy bars, which cost 5 cents apiece. A movie with five candy bars! It couldn’t get much better than that.

All was well until I turned 12. Standing in line one afternoon, I realized that the ticket price for a 12-year-old was 35 cents, and that meant two less candy bars. Not quite prepared to make that sacrifice, I reasoned to myself, “You look the same as you did a week ago.” I then stepped up and asked for the 25-cent ticket. The cashier did not blink, and I bought my regular five candy bars instead of three.

Elated by my accomplishment, I later rushed home to tell my dad about my big coup. As I poured out the details, he said nothing. When I finished, he simply looked at me and said, “Son, would you sell your soul for a nickel?” His words pierced my 12-year-old heart. It is a lesson I have never forgotten.

I loved that story!  We had our other meetings and are planning to attend a fireside at the Westfall building.  We are taking 3 ladies with us tonight.  The speaker is Daniel Rona, a Jewish convert that does tours to Jerusalem.  I think we will really enjoy the fireside.   I spoke with a lady after church and found out that she is visiting her parents here for the day.  Her husband is a military man and they are a few hours north of us.  (near the Canadian border)  I asked her if she was in the Utica mission and she wasn't sure.  I told her of the Browns that are serving there and she immediately said she knew them.  Isn't it a small world?  

Blessings:  Having people that love us (and we love them).  It was so great to see how many people wished Dennis a happy birthday.  Our special blessing  is having people in our lives that care and love us. (thank you, thank you!)  That is wonderful!

Update on Brent:  He has had a rough week.  He aspirated something into his lungs and it has caused pneumonia and trouble breathing.  They have taken him back to ICU and are aggressively treating the problem.  We were told that this could be a roller-coaster ride for his recovery, but it is hard to see him progress so much and then have set backs.  His attitude is good and he is working hard.