Cutler's Utica, New York Mission

We had a very nice, restful weekend with Jeff and Kristi and girls.  We needed it and are enjoying our trip east.  We have been listening to the Gerald Lund book,"Fishers of Men", the first of the three volume of The Kingdom of the Crown series.  It is a fictional story set in the time of Christ.  We have enjoyed it.

I need to write about a couple of experiences we had on Sunday.  Dad sat next to a young boy, eleven years old, who had Downs Syndrome.  Dad held the song book for him to help the young boy sing.  The rest hymn was "I am a Child of God."  Although all the words were not clear, Jordan sang with gusto.  People around us had tears running down their cheeks, and it was very moving for us as well.  After the song, Jordan leaned into Dad and Dad put his arm around him and they sat like that for the rest of the meeting.  Dad was quite moved and felt a very strong spirit from this boy.  Then after the meetings Dad was standing in the lobby.  Jordan saw him and came up to Dad to show him the picture he had drawn in Primary.  Such a tender moment for Dad.

Their ward has a program in place where the youth divide into pairs, go to member's homes for dinner and then give a short message about "Preach My Gospel," give the challenge, and get a commitment for the members to read the manual during the next four months.  They then have a prayer.  Annie Kate went out with a companion on Sunday as well and had a great experience.  One of our "missionaries" was Conner Folkman -- a great young man, the senior companion and a zone leader. The junior companion was the son of an elder Scott served with in Australia (or was in the MTC with him).   I was really impressed -- the church needs missionaries that are well prepared.

We enjoyed time with Greg and Trista and girls.  They are a great family and the Cutler girls love their Francis cousins.  Nice to have family near.

One of our stops on Monday was a Pony Express Station.  I wanted to see what the station looked like because I had a great grandfather and a great great grandfather who were pony express riders.  I wanted to see what a station looked like.  I am not sure of the exact routes they rode, but know at one time they did ride through Nevada -- Egan Valley in Nevada near Elko, and an Egan Station, named after them -- just a little family history info.  

For now (Wednesday) we are concentrating on avoiding storms and getting to Utica.  We know that the lake effect snow has resulted in at least a 3 feet accumulation of snow in Syracuse, but we will keep our eyes on the weather.


Love to all.