January 27, 2008

What a glorious week in Palmyra. We have been very busy in the Temple with lots of patrons. Saturday we served in the Baptistry and had two large groups. It was just wonderful to be so very busy.

Thanks to the Taylors, our landlords who are serving a mission in Washington, we have a lovely home to invite friends into.

Today, Sunday, after Church we invited the Harmons to dinner and then took a tour of the Smith Farm. See our beautiful temple in the background? The Harmons are temple missionaries who are going home on Friday. We have loved serving with them. He is sealer and they live in Sandy, UT. We will be very close to them when we get home. The Harmons are on the left and the Crumps were our site missionaries. They are from SL and have been out a couple of months. We are on the old Stafford Road walking down to the Smith Frame House.

This is the 4th floor of the Grandin Bldg. Sister Saxon and Porter gave us the tour of where the Book of Mormon was published. We see the hand of the Lord in its coming forth.

We stopped at WalMart after the temple on Saturday and we had this nice snow storm going. The flakes were so very large. It was all melted by today. In fact I believe it is suppose to be in the 40's by Tuesday

Last Wednesday the Rikers invited us to dinner at their home in Rochester. We serve in the temple with them. She also works in the office with me on Tuesday evenings. They just received their call to the SL Family History Center where they will serve for a year. They are so excited and report to the MTC in March. Their daughter, Donna, will stay in their home while they are gone. We have met such great people and made so many friends here.

Thought for the week: King Benjamin taught that "never-ending happiness" comes from keeping the commandments of God.

January 20th

Monday evening we were invited to the Winebrenner's home in Pittsford for dinner and games. The Harmons, Sister Harmon is on the left, Bro. Harmon took the picture, Brother & Sister Winebrenners, Paul and I, and Sister and President Siebach. The Winebrenners have a lovely home built in the 1830's. They both grew up in the Pittsford area and are converts to the Church. They served in the Palmyra Temple Presidency when the temple opened in 2000.

Wednesday evening we attended the Site Missionary meeting and heard the Potters give their life sketch. Elder and Sister Potter are the Directors of the Sites and are going home this week. They spent most of their lives in Washington, D.C. but have since moved to Park City close to their children. They have served as Mission President of Toronto Canada Mission and in the Washington, D.C. Temple presidency and here in Palmyra. Sister Potter was one of our walking partners.

Friday evening at the temple we had full sessions. It was so fun to have so many people in the temple. Saturday was also a great day. We were there from 8-5. I was able to help with a sister receiving her own endowments and having a baby sealed to them. What fun. Sunday we attended the Palmyra Ward where Paul stood in the circle for the confirmation of Sister Amy Dalykas who he baptized last Sunday. We then left and went to the Fayette Ward, Peter Whitmer Farm, for Sacrament meeting. Elder and Sister Beal were speaking. They are going home this Thursday to Hyrum, UT and then there was a baptism of a young man. The Sister Missionaries invited us out for that. Brother and Sister Rotz invited us to Sunday dinner and we had a lovely visit with them. Their home was also built in the 1830's. It's a beautiful home. They are our coordinators in the temple on Thursday nights.

Our thought for the week: "A kindness put off til tomorrow becomes a bitter regret."

January Second Week

Sunday was a wonderful day for Paul. We had a convert baptism for a mother and son, Amy and Mike Dalykas. Paul was asked by Amy to baptise her. He had met her Sunday mornings when she came to Church. He waits outside the buildng and greets people who come in. She just loved him and wanted him to baptise her. What a great experience for us. He also assisted in passing the sacrament with some of his seminary students.

The baptismal water was a little chilly. The 2nd picture is one we took on the Erie Canal. We understand Joseph did a lot of baptisms in the Senecca Lake.

Paul completed his first full week of seminary. All is going well and he is enjoying it. He's looking for goofy things to get their attention and keep them awake. They are really great kids. I am practicing the piano every day during seminary. Sister Buck has been helping me and has me in the green hymn book. No one can sing with me yet, but it's getting better and more importantly, it is fun.

We helped at the Bishop's Storehouse and helped clean the temple on Tuesday and Friday. Friday we we visiting the Harmon's in the John Young home in Mendon as we got a call that the temple needed some extra help cleaning so we also helped. What a special blessing to help clean the house of the Lord. Thursday we had a storm which stirred up the water supply so for three days we could not drink or use the water for culinary purposes. A good wake up call for being prepared.

We have been studying the historical sites more this week. We received information on the log home and the Whitmer log home from Bro. Victor L. Mylroie, temple sealer & patriarch, and Elder Blackhurst gave us the booklet on the Dead Sea Scrolls which are being displayed at the Vistor Center until March. It has generated a lot of activity from the commuity at large.

Have a great week. The gospel is true, share it with someone, and get yourself to the temple for some extra blessings.

Our New Year-2008

New Year's Eve we spent the evening with our wonderful friends, the Amsdens. They have been so kind to all the temple missionaries. We have had lots of fun times at their home. We had a wonderful steak dinner and then some great guitar music and sing along.

New Year's Day Pres. & Sister Jones invited many to their home for waffles, strawberries and ice cream. What a fun time. Pres. Jones is our dutch oven specialist and makes the best salsa around. Sis. Caton, on the left is our Friday Evening coordinator.

We spent a little time at the EastView Mall and had to check out the double decker carousel again.

On Wednesday, January 2, we celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary. We went to dinner and a movie. We can't figure out where the years have gone. All we know is that we are very happy and life has been so very good to us. That's because the gospel of Jesus Christ is a main part of our lives. We love serving here in the Palmyra Temple and being close to the restoration sites. What a blessing for us.

We are having the strangest weather. On January 1st it was zero degrees in the garage. Today, Monday, it is 54 degrees. The snow is practically gone. However Saturday, while we were in the temple, it started to snow these huge fluffy flakes. It was beautiful looking down towards the grove. By the time we got out at 6 it was all over. Saturday morning in the temple we were coordinators for the Hughes.

Paul has done three days of seminary now and is still enjoying it. They haven't run him off yet. Actually he is really enjoying it. It's keeping us on our toes.

Have a wonderful week and remember "I must never forget that I am a child of God."