It has been over a month since we have posted in our blog. That time has gone by so fast! We thoroughly enjoyed Conference, and then the next weekend was our stake conference. "Hastening the Work" seemed to be the theme for both, and I am so grateful to be part of the missionary force that is throughout the world. The time is moving so fast now, and I hope that when the last day of our mission arrives that I will have no regrets in not doing enough.
On the 12th of October -- Saturday -- we took off about noon and went to Cooperstown. We went to the Baseball Hall of Fame and had fun going down Memory Lane as far as baseball is concerned. It was a beautiful fall day, and the ride to Cooperstown was beautiful, with the fall colors so beautiful and in their glory. Cooperstown is a charming small town, and there is a lot to be found about baseball.
Fall colors in their glory!!!
Babe Ruth and a fan
Edgar Martinez, a Mariner favorite
San Francisco Giants Memorabilia
This is one of the Assistants, Elder Tanner, with the famous frog. At transfers the Assistants do a role-play demo on the Fable of the Frog -- If you put a frog into boiling water he will jump out, but if the frog is in the water and it gradually heats up it will just cook. Well, the assistants do this training to let the missionaries know how to handle difficult "relationship" issues, whether it be their companion, a member of the ward, etc. If there are feelings developing and all, either the companion or the missionary just has to call the president and say he/she has a frog problem, and the president goes right to the missionary, and handles a rapid transfer to another part of the mission. This is the quick fix of a possible problem, and if there are more issues they are taken care of quickly. The skits have been hilarious, with the assistants knowing of missionaries having girlfriends at home and using their names in the skit -- all in good fun -- lots of laughs and yet getting the point across quickly.
We were able to go to the Palmyra Temple on the 19th of October and spent the day at the temple doing a session and then sealings. We were gone for 11 hours, so we were very tired. We did not see any of the historical sites this time. On the 20th we taught Primary, I conducted R.S., and then we went to a rest home in Herkimer with the Primary to sing some songs and hand out homemade cards. One of our girls wanted to see the sister from our branch who lives there. For some reason she was not brought out when the children were singing. She is a very frail lady (three years younger than I!), used to be outspoken and spicy. She has had several strokes and is in a wheelchair and cannot talk. We took Azizza into her room along with the missionaries and sang I Am A Child of God. The sister had tears running down her cheeks and mouthed the words to the song. It was such a precious experience. She is brought to church every Sunday in a wheelchair.
We spoke in church the 27th of October. The branch president called us on Wednesday night in need of speakers for Sunday, and so we willingly(?) said we would do it. I spoke on service and Papa spoke on obedience.
We were very saddened at the sudden and tragic death of the father of our assistant (Elder Tanner) to President Wirthlin. His dad was in a horrible airplane crash taking off from the Fairbanks, Alaska airport. The plane lost all power and they crashed right after the ending of the runway. Elder Tanner's younger brother was also in the accident and had both legs broken in a couple of places. Elder Tanner went home for a week to help his mother get through the nightmare. So many unanswered questions.
We had mini-zone conferences the last week of October with a General Authority doing a mission tour. They covered about 1,300 miles in 2 1/2 days!. Usually the zone conferences are between 9 and 3, but this time there were half-day conferences with a lot of traveling in between and after. Elder Bruce R. Porter of the First Council of the Seventy was the visiting authority. His message was entirely on the Plan of Salvation, the role of the Savior and the atonement. His talks were outstanding.
Just have to add a couple of pictures that made my week -- so fun to have pictures of everyone!!!
Kara with our friends, Elder Ed and Sister Joyce Collins -- friends from our newly married days at BYU 50 years ago!!!!! They are CES missionaries in the same mission as our Sister Trammell.
Kara and her companion
Lizzy and Lyla
Maisie Lou making a scary face.....
On Halloween our office partners, the Barlows, always have liver, bacon and onions for dinner. They had their children eat this dinner before going out on Halloween night. We went to a diner with the Wirthlins and Barlows on Halloween night so we could witness the dinner. I took the picture of them and they emailed it to their six children asking if they had had their liver and onions that night -- they had six responses to their email within one minute!!! That was the quite a record, and NO -- no one had liver and onions.
So much for the month of October. Our days go by quickly and we continue to love the associations and work with the missionaries. We are blessed to work in the branch, and we are learning so much from the humility and willingness to serve that we see there. It is not easy to run a branch with such long distances, people with no cars and no money to buy gas to drive 40 miles. We have learned a lot from this experience with them. We love the Lord, are grateful for His atoning sacrifice, and we feel it a blessing in our lives to be here. Bye for now!
Grammy & Papa, Mom & Dad, Herb & Sharon, Friend
