Week 39 February 14 - 20

It started out as a slow week.  We were again wondering where all the patrons were.  We might have had only a couple of baptism groups all week and very small sessions.  However come Saturday we were found.  The baptistery was full all day.  Did I saw Sister Vargas broke her ankle during the snow storm last week and so they called in Sister Diere to come in and help.

Sister Vargas and members from her Ward stopped to visit after Church

  It was quite a busy place all day.  Also all the sessions all day long were full.  They were afraid they were going to run out of clothing.  It gave us an opportunity to find all the aprons which had green tint ties.  Sister Harris has been changing them while the rest of us unpick.  

Saturday was also our Ward Temple day and these wonderful people showed up at the session and came over for some dinner.  

Sister and Brother Matthews and their children, Bryn Bass, Paul, Elder and Sister Richards

Our new couple Elder & Sister Young, from North Carolina, arrived on Friday.  We all chipped in and supplied their apartment with food so they will not have to go out for a few days until they get their bearings.  

Monday was President's Day and the temple was open and manned by the missionaries.  Elder & Sister Grimley were coordinating.  It was another wonderful. Paul and I went in at 6:30 along with the Harris' and Grimleys.  The rest of the missionaries came in at 8.   We had 34 youth plus adults in the baptistery and the two sessions were both full to capacity.  Paul and I officiated and followed the second session.  What a wonderful day.  

Paul invited all the missionaries from Kingsbridge 2nd to come for lunch.  He had to leave and go give blood while I fed 12 missionaries.  They came in groups, thank goodness.  First four sister missionaries and then Elder Tabor and his companion, the new AP's, then the six Elders.  It all worked out and I think they got enough to eat.  It is always fun having them in our home.  

Elder Tabor and Companion, the new AP's to the President

Sisters Bongolto, Engmann, Sine, and Simons 

Elders Tonner, Cosela, Jimenez, McNairy, Pires and Kolyonor

The day was not over yet.  That evening at 6 pm we had a FHE at the Benches.  I was the coordinator for the dinner along with Sister Bench, Bean, Nabor and Holloway.  We had a wonderful dinner, cordon bleu, sauce (from Rob), baby potatoes, green beans, rolls, salad and ice cream sundaes.  After dinner we had a meeting and also introduced the Youngs

Missionary Couples Pres & Sister Nixon, Bench, Bean
Sister & Elder Heideman, Lewis, Mumford, Young, McKenna, Nabor, Holloway and Grimley 

A bio of Elder & Sister Young:

Employment: Ralph worked 36 years in the microelectronics industry (IBM and Sandia National Labs). Holly was a school teacher, a music teacher, and owned her own retail and photography business.

Previous temple service: We have been ordinance workers in the Washington D. C., Boston, Albuquerque, and Columbia South Carolina Temples.

Holly grew up on an apple farm in Clintondale, NY. Ralph was raised in Poughkeepsie, NY and served in the Mexico, Southeast Mission. While we attended BYU, we lived in Orem, UT. After grad school, we lived in Poughkeepsie, NY for 24 years, then in Albuquerque, NM for 12 years. We have lived in Denver, NC for the last 2 years.

Currently, we have 4 children and 12 grandchildren with whom we enjoy visiting and travelling.

Holly's hobbies include music, family history, reading, interior decorating, water sports, landscaping and yard work.

Ralph likes fixing things, tinkering with physics equations, programming, and camping.

We look forward to our arrival and getting to work in the Manhattan NY Temple.  

Elder and Sister Young

Dear Lewises, 

Your dinner was so very lovely!  Thank you for all your efforts for which we're all grateful.  The menu and the results were wonderful.  We loved it.  As did everyone.

We cannot thank you enough for the example you set for all the missionaries of hard work, of smart work, of willingness to find what needs doing and doing it, without asking if there's anything that you can do to help!  You just DO it.  

How we admire that in you both!  You have boundless energy, and you're willing to spend it on the Lord's errand.  What more could He ask?

How we love you!

Sincerely,

The Benches 

We received a nice note from Eric Bila.  He was in our Temple Prep class in Kingsbridge 2nd ward and moved to Provo. 

"I miss you so much! everything is doing well, I appointment with the Bishop to meet this Sunday for my Temple atonement.  LDS is the same everywhere the same but to be honest I have to say that I still haven't met Teacher with deep spirit like you.  You gave me enough motivation to continue to grown my faith and I would never lost theat habit, you gave me a deep feeling, about the Temple.  I love you!" 

We gained another Granddaughter this week.  Courtney's former companion Sister Rodriguez.  We love these girls.  I now have three, Sister Chisholm, Rodrigues and Sister Mondragon (from Pen 3) serving in NJ.  

Kimberly and Gary and Kory and Katie and family spent the holiday in Island Park snowmobiling.  Rob took Robbie and went ice fishing in Strawberry and then took all the boys on Monday.  Kelly stayed home and worked on the house and yard.  

Week 37 February 7 - 14

Tuesday we were back in the temple.  So great to be back and back to work.  Everything looks so great in the temple.  Very bright and beautiful.  Wonderful to be back with all our missionary friends and local workers. However, it was a very slow day.  Thank goodness for tourists.  It was a rather slow week all week.  I was, however, able to  do several of my own names.  Paul and I were also able to do some sessions together and do sealings together.

Our session with President Nixon was especially spiritual.  He is a great man and very close to the spirit.

Thursday we had a snow day.  They were expecting a huge snowfall.  It did give the schools a snow day.  We went into the temple at 5 am and it was snowing but not hard.  About 10 it was really coming down, so they say.  When we finished at 12 we decided to stay and do the 12:30 session which ended up having six couples on it.  By the time we came out the snow had stopped.  I ran out about 10 to get some medicine and it was cold and blowing snow and slushy streets.  People were shoveling off the walkways.  Something happened down under the street, Columbus, because since Thursday we have had electric trucks, cable trucks digging and doing something under the street.  It took out the temple internet.

Today was the last day for Elder & Sister Buchanan and Sister Thompson.  The Buchanans have been here twice and for 23 months each.  They will be very missed.

Monday Sister Nabors and Heideman went to the NYC Library and took a tour.  It was so great.  What a beautiful building with lots of history.  It is a research lilbrary and is free.  You cannot check out a book but you can study it at the library.  One of the best in the world.

Clifford in the children's section 

From the map room showing California as an island

NYC Library

Original Winnie the Pooh and friends

Winnie the Pooh

Elder & Sister Adams, FH Missionaries here at the Temple came over to help us figure out how to get to work.  They are real experts and wonderful people from American Fork.

Elder & Sister Adams teaching Paul FH 

 We ran into Elder Sumsion aet the Stacy Nelson fireside held at the Manhattan Ward.  She was very iinspiring.  He said he is doing well.

Elder Sumsion at the Stacy Nelson fireside.

 That same evening we ran into Sister Watkins.  Her dad served in Camarillo as a young man and her grandparents, The Fraziers, were our coordinators in the Jordan River Baptistery when we served their last year on Mondays.

Sister Watkins, granddaughter of the Fraziers and daughter of Elder Watkins who served in Camarillo

Week 36 January 31 - February 6

Pepsi Cola invented here in New Bern

Fort Macon

New Bern Episcopal Church over 300 years old

moss on all the trees in town

Sister City is Switzerland and Bern means bear there

Raleigh NC temple 

Basking in the sun in New Bern

George Washington's Mount Vernon

Capitol, 

Rotunda

Brigham Young statue

Utah state of Farnsworth invented the tv

The longest escalator we have ever been on

Washington DC Temple

Philadelphia Temple

St. Peters Basilica, they were having a baptism

room prepared for painting

Preparing 

more preparation

Elder Golden and Sister Diane Adams helping with Paul's family history

Our beautiful granddaughter, Kaylee, at Seniors night highlighting the dance team.  Kaylee's in the middle.

Second Week of maintenance shutdown.
We checked into a time share in New Bern NC.  We traveled around the city to see some of the sites.  Mitchell's authentic turn of the century hardware store.  Also all around town we found bears.  Switzerland is a twin city and bern means bear so they have 50 or so bear statues around the city.  Kind of fun to find them.

We drove to Fort Macon, Atlantic Beach, NC where we toured the fort.  History of the fort
The war of 1812 demonstrated how vulnerable our young nation's coasts were to enemy attack.  Between 1817 and 1865, 38 permanent forts were built from Maine to the Gulf Coast and California.  Fort Macon was constructed from 1826-1834.  As a result of congressional economizing.  It was garrisoned only in 1834-1836, 1842-44, 1848-49.  More often it was occupied by a single caretaker.

Such a caretaker was living at the fort on April 14, 1861 when local militia, the Beaufort Harbor Guards, made an unauthorized demand for its surrender two days after the start of the War between the States.  North Carolina joined the Confederacy in May and Fort Macon was a Confederate Fort for almost a year until April 26, 1862, when it was re-occupied by Union forces, following a devastating April 26th bombardment.  After the war, the Fort served as s military and civil prison from 1867 until 1876, then returned to caretaker status in 1877.

In 1898 Fort Macon was reactivated during the brief Spanish-American War, with black troops under the command of black officers on the alert for Spanish naval attack.

By 1903, the Fort was abandoned.  In 1924 it was sold for $1 to the state of North Carolina along with its surrounding reservation, becoming the state's second public park.  In 1934-35, it was restored by the Civilian Conservation Corps and was  well visited park until the onset of World War Two.  Fro 1941-44 the fort was occupied by Coast Artillery Units, a deterrent to German U boats who preyed upon Allied shipping offshore.

Since 1946, Fort Macon has once again become a state park and today as well over a million visitors each year.

It was a fun day and the weather was nice but windy.  We stopped on the way home at Paul's favorite restaurant, Golden Corral.  We also walked around town and saw the Isaac Taylor home, where two sisters lived on the third floor for over two years while the Union Army occupied the two other floors.  The Christ Episcopal Church in town is over 300 years old.  Lots of Churches in this little city, one of which is ours.  New Bern is a city with lots of history and beauty.

We went to Raleigh to the temple.  It reminded us so much of Palmyra, the same floor plan.  We got there about an hour before our 11 o'clock appointment thinking we could do initiatories or sealings.  We had forgotten that in these small temples there is no place for people to wait and they have you wait in the waiting room until time to come back and dress.  We got in and went to the celestial room for a few minutes and then did a session.

We took a couple of days and ate at Golden Corral, Paul's favorite place.  We drove around the area and went on a few tours in the city of New Bern.  A really lovely place.

We headed back to DC and stayed with Ron and Sue Juvenal who are serving in the DC Temple.  We went to the temple, did a great tour of the Capitol, went to dinner with the Juvenals and to church Sunday morning we went to Church next to the temple.

We left after church and went to Philadelphia and stayed at the Embassy Suite for our anniversary.
We got back to our apartment after dropping off the car in White Plains after stopping at WalMart on the way.

It was good to get back home.  Now the fun of preparing our apartment for painting.  What a job and what a mess.