Random Thoughts through August

As I look over our pictures from the last month, I can see that we have not taken many.  Our days continue to be full, and our schedule goes on from week to week.  We are pretty much on a six-week schedule, so where we are in that period determines what we will be doing.  Before I go further, I want to include a beautiful picture taken in July.

SACRED GROVE

 

 

WHAT HAPPENED HERE CHANGED THE WORLD.  LET IT

CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

 

Elder Cutler has a similar picture as this with the same quote hanging in his office.  Its message is incredible.  As we continue serving our mission, we more and more realize what the Prophet Joseph Smith did for each of us.  His part in the Restoration, the translation of the Book of Mormon, the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the restoration of the Priesthood and the ultimate sacrifice of his life mean more to us than ever before.  What a blessing he is to each of us!!

 

Our last transfer was the 23rd of July, and we had 12 new missionaries come, including 4 VISA Waiters.  That week is full of lots of paperwork in the office and getting everything in place for the new apartments.  One day when Dad and Elder Barlow were out delivering furniture, he saw this beautiful site in downtown Utica.  It was a memorial to all those soldiers from Utica who have received Purple Hearts. 

 

We were excited to see the pictures from the Leadville 100 and for how well Mike Staffieri and Greg Francis did in the race.  Both had personal records -- lots of training goes into this accomplishment and we were so glad that they both did well.  Those big buckles mean a lot!!!

 







 

 

On one of our trips to "The North Country" we delivered some things to apartments, inspect them, and checked to see if the apartments are "worthy" to have their leases renewed.  One of the apartments we visited Dad noticed the smell of gas.  He told the elders to open up the windows to keep the place ventilated.  He called National Grid and they said to tell the missionaries someone would be there within 45 minutes and they were to get out of the apartment.  They were to leave the door unlocked and if they didn't the repairman would knock it down.  There was a small gas leak in the oven, so it was a good thing Dad was aware that day!  All of the apartments have to have carbon monoxide detectors as well as smoke detectors, but they do not detect the gas. 

 

While here we have had the best corn-on-the-cob we have ever had, and there are cornfields everywhere.  The golden area in the background is a cornfield.  The cornfields are huge, and it is so beautiful to see the gold set against the green.  We are going to miss the corn once the season is over.  

 

 

Revolutionary Trail

 

On our way back to Utica we stopped at the greatest ice cream place!  I love ice cream anyway, and this is the very best ever.  It is just a stop on the side of the road, and unless you were familiar with "Mercer's",  you would just drive on by.  One of the former Assistants loved the Play Dough flavor and would always stop when he was in that area.  He is now in the northern most part of the mission, Massena, and in a walking area.  The hope is that they will have a car before the -20' weather comes in the winter.  At any rate, this ice cream is the best.

 

 

The Sister's Conference was the 9th and 10th of August.  The Sister Trainer Leaders thought it would be a good idea to have a Sisters' Cookbook.  I was in charge of putting it together.  It was a lot of fun, but the amount of typing I did was hard on the wrists, etc.  The conference was a huge success and we hope there will be another one in a year.  Although in a year we won't be here!:-(

 

The following weekend we had a Senior Couples Conference, and we thoroughly enjoyed that as well.  We realize that our mission is unique and very different from the others.  The one thing we know, though, is that each of us was called by a Prophet to be where we are.  We love this time here and feel so blessed.  The last day of the conference we went to the Herkimer Diamond Mines.  (Herkimer is where we go to the branch on Sundays -- where the big flood occurred the first part of July.)



President Wirthlin

Sister Wirthlin

Mom hammering away in search of diamonds!!

The apartment in this house is really quite nice.  One of the things that we check at every apartment is whether they have bed bug mattress covers.  Bed bugs are a problem in this climate, so we try to make sure that the missionaries are protected this way.  They have lots of training on what to do. 

Some members who live above the missionaries apartment but red tape on the missionaries' door with a sign that said the place was in foreclosure.  We had a good laugh.

 



 Last Sunday we left Herkimer on our way to Albany, as we were taking two missionaries to Boston.  One of them, a VISA waiter, needed to have a physical, blood work and chest X-Ray there.  The Australian Embassy required certain doctors, and the closest was Boston.  We really had a nice day.  Since we were in Saratoga Springs already, we did not have to travel far to pick up the sisters.  They were a joy to be with for the day. We saw a Trader Joe's on the way to the doctor (on the same street), so you know that Dad had to make a stop there to get his salami, cheese and nuts.  We then went to a Greek restaurant for lunch and had Gyros (like tacos). 

 

 

One of the sisters is from Idaho, and the travel she has experienced is very limited.  She really wanted to see the Boston Temple.  We figured it was only 20 miles out of the way, so we went to see the temple.  It is beautiful, and the grounds were in their prime.  We arrived back at their apartment by 6:00 in plenty of time for them to make their 7:00 appointment.  We drove the rest of the way back to Utica and arrived home a bit after 8:00.  It was a long day (14 hours), but we had a good time.  The missionaries are always so grateful for anything done for them.

 



 

 



We office couples try to have prayer every morning before we start working, and we feel as though the days go better when we do.  Elder Barlow gave us this quote to mull over, and I don't want to forget.  We have found that we have a lot in common with them -- 6 children, her middle name is also Lou, both have had grandchildren pass away within the last year -- lots of different parallels in our lives.  We enjoy them and value their friendship.

 

Friday was Special Training, where the latest new missionaries and their trainers come for more mission training.  This group was considerably smaller than the others we have had since being on our mission, and it was a more relaxing day.  We office couples have different areas where we train, and of course the Assistants, and President and Sister Wirthlin do their training.  We did not have any missionaries stay with us this time, and the lunch was only for 35.  We usually have Chicken Riggies, which is a local favorite (Google it -- almost impossible to find outside of the Utica-Rome area) and we have it catered from a local restaurant along with their incredible antipasto.  Dessert is usually a brownie with ice cream.  A candle is lit as the president serves each new missionary and the missionary gives his/her favorite scripture on "light".  It is a fun time to see the growth of these new missionaries and how they come out of their shells.

 

Yesterday we had our first experience going out with a couple of elders in downtown Utica for a missionary lesson.   They wanted us to go and testify of the truthfulness of their message.  It was a wonderful experience and very glad for the opportunity.  They are awesome missionaries, and we felt privileged that they wanted us to come with them.  THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!   I know it.

 

Today was our Primary Program.  The children all did such a good job.  We had three non-member children who participated, and they learned the songs (two sang solos) and they bore their testimonies.  One of the sections was on "I am Thankful because..."  One of the younger girls said she was grateful for her skin because you can't see my insides and my body parts won't fall out.  She probably had some coaching, but it was really cute.  There are wonderful people in this branch, and they are raising incredible children. 

 

I will now close, but I do want each one to know that it is a privilege to be in the mission field at this time.   We have seen many changes and have experienced many tender mercies.  We know that the Lord is in charge of this mighty work and that as we prayerfully and carefully live our lives that He will bless us as we need.   Each one of you is loved and remembered by us.

 

Love,

Grammy, Papa, Elder and Sister Cutler, Herb and Sharon, Friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Travel -- Temple -- Pageant

July 26, 2013 - Travel, Temple Sealing, Hill Cumorah Pageant & New Missionaries:

We are so tired from all the activities we have done during the past two weeks, but it is a good tired.  Six weeks after the new missionaries arrive, they return to the Mission Office to participate in a "Return & Report" day.  This particular group was the last of our big arrivals, so we had about 65 missionaries with their companions attend.  When they arrived, you could see in their eyes the excitement, fear, confusion and wonderment of starting their mission in the field.  When they return for this special meeting, they are changed - excited, more confident and so pleased to see their MTC companions again and hear about their experiences.  It's like seeing the transformation of a moth in a cocoon struggling to break free and turn into a beautiful butterfly.  Some of the new missionaries had their wings fully extended and some were still trying to adapt to this new world of missionary work.  It's wonderful to see the transformation and of course, that transformation continues throughout their mission.

This month, we only had to find 5 new apartments but two were in opposite areas of the mission.  Most of the new apartments were found fairly quickly, but one new area in downtown Utica was proving to be somewhat difficult.  This will be for walking Elders, so it had to be near bus transportation.  This area is also a low-income area, so apartments were hard to find that were suitable.  The AP's were assigned to help locate the right place, but every time we viewed their pick, we turned it down.  It just didn't feel right.  The AP's were so busy, we decided to enlist the help of the Zone Leaders.  On the first day of looking, the Zone Leaders were walking down the street in an area they felt would be a good location.  On one particular street, a gentlemen saw them walking by and wondered what they were doing.  He called them to his house and asked what was going on.  They told him they were looking for a suitable apartment for missionaries who would be assigned to this area.  He then told them he had an apartment and asked if they wanted to see it.  It turned out to be just the right spot and a good clean apartment.  However, the story goes on.  Apparently, this landlord was praying that morning for help in finding a good clean Christian tenant.  The Elders were also praying to find a good apartment and a good landlord.  And then the Lord brought them together.  The Elders immediately called us.  We were out of the office in Herkimer delivering some furniture, but when they called, we said we could be back in 30 minutes to see the apartment.  We did and we met with the landlord and viewed the apartment and then signed a lease on the spot.  This was another tender mercy for us.  Never doubt that the Lord is watching over the missionary work.

Because the other office couple were attending Zone Conferences, Sis. Cutler and I have had to deliver new apartment furnishings to different areas of the mission.  On Monday, the 15th, we drove to Hudson Falls which is right next to Glens Falls (Jimmer's home town).  Glens Falls is a beautiful town.  This apartment is a nice one, and little did the Zone Leader know that he would be a trainer and then live in the apartment.  Good thing he liked the apartment!  We then traveled back to see the renovation of the apartment owned by a ward mission leader in Greenwich.  We were pleasantly surprised to see how well the renovation was turning out. 

We love to see the farmland, and every bit of land is used for one crop or another.  These bales of hay were all over this area, and the camera cannot pick up the magnitude of the field.

That same day, we also traveled to a Sister's apartment to inspect some damage.  The mission has been renting this apartment for a number of years, but it certainly needed some immediate work.  The front door was broken and wouldn't lock, broken tiles in the shower, bathroom sink was leaking, blinds were broken and the medicine cabinet was missing.  So we spent some time talking with the manager and demanded that things get repaired ASAP or we would move. 

Last Friday, Sis. Cutler and I drove the mission van and trailer (full of furnishings) 3 1/2 hours north to the town of Massena to set up a new apartment.  Massena is on the northern most boundary of the mission right along the St Lawrence River. 

Across the water in this picture is Canada -- this is the St. Lawrence River.
We then traveled to the town of Odgensburg to drop off a couch to a Senior Couple's home which sits right on the St. Lawrence River and has a beautiful view. They are the branch leaders in a newly opened branch.  We took their old couch to the Elders in Ogdensburg but it would not fit into the apartment.  The Elders put it on the curb and said someone would pick it up.  I talked to them later and the couch (Hide-a-bed) was gone before they could clean up and get out to an appointment.  It is funny how those things work around here.  People just load up their junk on the sidewalk and if someone does not take it the trash people carry it away.  Then we headed south to try and visit with some more missionaries who were having problems with their apartments.  We didn't realize how much time it took to travel from spot to spot and by the time we arrived, it was too late.  So we traveled on to Syracuse and arrived at out hotel about 9:30 pm---a twelve hour day of deliveries and travel.  We were exhausted.  And we had not had dinner!!!

The next day, Saturday, we went out of our mission to travel to Palmyra to attend a temple sealing for a couple from our branch who were baptized 1 year ago.  It was a beautiful sealing along with the sealing of twin boys who had died shortly after birth.

 

 

Sacred Grove

 

Then we stayed around Palmyra that day so we could attend the Hill Cumorah Pageant that night.  We met some wonderful people that day who were either serving like ourselves or were on a two week mission just for the pageant.

The pageant itself was wonderful in its presentation of the Book of Mormon.  The appearance of Christ from the top of the hill descending was inspiring.  There must have been close to 800 cast members who all mingled with the crowd before the performance dressed in their costumes. 

 

Abinadi

In the audience, we met a sister who knew Mike Staffieri's parents, our tour guide who led us to Oberamergau, Germany and a couple from our stake in Washington City.  The pageant started at 9:00 and ended at 10:15 pm.  We finally got back to our hotel in Syracuse well after midnight.  But it was a wonderful day.

We attended Church the next day in Liverpool and then traveled back to our apartment that afternoon.
Monday was spent in paying rents for 91 apartments and catching up on utility bills and missionary packets for the new missionaries arriving the next day. Tuesday night was training the new missionaries on what the office staff does.  Wednesday was transfer day.  It was interesting that with only 10 new missionaries arriving, the President made 80 companionship changes, so we had over 110 people for lunch on Transfer day.  That night we had dinner at the Presidents home for those missionaries who were going home.  It is always a special night to see them complete their mission with the anticipation of going home.  We all get a chance to bear our testimonies, and the missionaries have grown so in their 18 month. 

So now, we are completely done in and are walking around the office like zombies.  But we are loving the experience and the wonderful spirit of the mission and the missionaries.  Thank you for your prayers, support and love.  We need the prayers for our strength and ability to do the work that is assigned to us.

Saturday morning we spent with the Assistants gathering things for their new apartment, and then later in the afternoon went to a branch picnic.  By the time we arrived back at our apartment we were ready to kick back and look at the ceiling.....

We love you all, miss each one, and look forward to emails, messages, ANYTHING from family and friends.  Take care of yourselves.  We especially thank our neighbors, the Croasdale's, who are looking after our house. 

Love,
Grammy, Papa, Mom and Dad, Elder & Sister Cutler, Friend

Six months into our mission!!!

July 7, 2013

Today we celebrate 6 months into our mission.  Hard to believe, but true.  When we first arrived, we felt like we were drowning, couldn't keep our heads above water, with all the responsibilities we had to learn-FAST.  Now we feel like we are at least swimming with the flow.  Maybe by the end of our mission, we will feel like we are floating along without a care in the world.  It has been quite a 6 month ride both physically and spiritually.

This past week was primarily spent in the office.  However, on Tuesday, we took some new bed foundations over to the Elders in Greenwich which is just north of Albany.  While there we looked at the possibility of moving the Elders to another apartment.  The current apartment is nice and large, but the landlord has been apparently going into the apartment without telling the Elders.  The Elders learned this from some Church members who said they saw this happening.  The landlord apparently doesn't like the Church so is making it known.  Fortunately, the Ward Mission Leader has a spare apartment above his house that he said he could fix up.  We saw it but were not impressed.  However after learning what he would do to fix it up, we said OK. We also went to see an apartment in Saratoga Springs -- where a famous thorough-bred horse race track is located.  Saratoga Springs is a quaint little town -- the apartment was fine.  We are trying to check on the apartments that have had long-term leases.  The tendency is for the apartments to acquire a lot of junk furniture and such, which makes it difficult for incoming missionaries.  This apartment was quite nice, actually, although it is a bit dark for me.  We are going to have a Day of De-Junking in a couple of weeks.  It is quite interesting that most of the villages allow their people to just put junk out on the side of the road and the garbage removal people take it all away.  Guess there are no public dumping areas.

We are seeing more parts of the mission and it is beautiful this time of year...so green, but humid.  We are preparing for the next group of new missionaries, but thankfully, only 8 this month.  But that means 3 new apartments - one near the office and the other two at the far north and east (Glenns Falls -- Jimmer's home town).

Friday night we traveled to the south with the other office couple, AP's and Mission President and his wife to see a historical exhibit on Joseph & Emma Smith.  They had quite a nice exhibit, and that was the area where Joseph and Emma were married.  There is so MUCH church history here,

Friday and Saturday the President sent missionaries to help clean up the basements in the flooded areas of our branch and other places.  It was hot and sticky, but the missionaries did work hard and cleaned about 20 homes, primarily not members of the church.  The Mission President told me to purchase a pallet of bottled water which was delivered to the Salvation Army.  The Church is partnering with the Salvation Army and the Methodist Church to help the community.  Members of the Methodist Church were so impressed that they offered to feed the missionaries.  We met a man whose basement was being cleaned by the missionaries and he was so grateful he had tears running down his face.  Today in Sacrament Meeting the member of the stake presidency residing in the branch and in charge of the community clean-up effort related an experience he had yesterday.  The missionaries are assigned to certain homes, and he was out checking to see how things were going.  He went to the house where the missionaries were supposed to be and they were not there.  He was a bit confused that they would not have been there -- he went out looking for the yellow "Mormon helping hands" tee shirts and located the missionaries.  They thought they were at the right place, and it so happened that this was a single woman in dire circumstances and desperately needed their help.  I am learning that there are no coincidences in this work -- the Lord is in charge -- He wanted the missionaries at this woman's home yesterday.  It was a touching story about how these service projects can change not only the lives of the people being helped but change the lives of those who are giving the service. 

Saturday, a man was baptized in the branch who is married to a member (Hawaiian).   We have watched the transformation in this man that the gospel in his life has made.  Truly wonderful.

After the baptism, the missionaries starting arriving after a day spent cleaning up the muck.They were so dirty, but had smiling faces and glad to be doing service.  They will be going out again tomorrow and then again next Friday and Saturday.  The whole stake is trying to provide the service, and there were a few people from the northern end of the mission about 3 1/2 hours away. 

 

 

 

 

The missionaries were filthy dirty, smelly from the awful, mud and excited to have done this service.  Might I add, the water in the village of Herkimer is not drinkable and the gas is turned off as well.  The drinking fountains at the church were even off limits.  Notice that every missionary has on something other than the yellow shirts that sets them apart from everyone else -- you have it, the black badges.  These badges are worn with respect, and we love the name tags and what they mean in our lives.  It is a privilege to be part of the Lord's army of missionaries, and I hope that we will always be worthy to wear these name tags.

 

 

We send you our love -- lots of love -- and hope this finds each one well and happy.  We are very blessed.

 

Love,





Elder & Sister Cuter, Mom & Dad, Grammy & Papa, Friend

 

 

Mess in Herkimer

Just a couple more pictures I want to have to remember the mess in Herkimer.

I will be going with Dad tomorrow to deliver some mattresses, inspect an apartment and check on a possible "move" to another apartment.  We will be going as far north as Lake Placid, so it will be a long day.

Love to all,
Mom, Sister C., Grammy, Friend

I just posted a couple of days ago, but I just wanted to write down some thoughts before forgetting them.  This picture was taken on Friday afternoon --

We are concerned about the heat and drought in the West --the fires and all are awful.  I do know that 115' is too hot for me even with air conditioning.  I know the dry heat makes warm days more bearable, but the heat the past few days in the Southwest is difficult, to say the least.  Our thoughts do wander back to the west coast and the concern for one and all.

We went to bed on Thursday night with hard rain, and we woke up on Friday morning with it raining just as hard.  We talked to the maintenance man here at the apartment complex, and there are other basements here that have flooded now.  Because our basement became a continual problem they finally put in a sump pump -- our basement is dry.  It definitely is not cold with the rain.  It gets quite humid, but our apartment is comfortable if we have the dehumidifier and air conditioners on.  Our air conditioners are definitely not what you would call "designer dreams".  Cool is worth the ugliness.  We are up above the streams, but many roads are and have been closed.  Downtown Utica was flooded and lots of inconvenience with road closures.  We are grateful for safety.This weather is supposed to continue for the rest of the week.

Herkimer was in the news again.  Our branch is located there, and the city was flooded horribly on Thursday night/Friday morning.  Our missionaries had water up to the dashboard and into their brand new car.  The car still worked, so they went to Utica to the mission home where they have a wet/dry vacuum.  They have stayed a couple of days because the hot water heater not working as it was down in the basement and it was flooded.  The National Guard was called in to help. 

Above is a picture of the Mohawk River/Erie Canal.  The water was above the wall and yachts were on the grassy area.  Water went across the road and across the divider.

Here the water has receded about 8 feet. 

 This was one of the village streets, and this certainly was not the worst -- the National Guard was there and it was not possible to get any closer.  The mud and silt make such a mess.

We had branch members who lost everything except their house-- their animals, garden, complete back yard.  The water completely covered their backyard.  A large work party went to their home yesterday to try to re-route the normally shallow little stream that at most is 6' wide.  There are streams all over the county, and the flood alert is not over.  The mission president went to this home, and when it is time that the water has receded enough, the missionaries in this zone will go out there to try to help with the cleanup.  Other people had basements flooded, no electricity, etc. etc. etc. 

I must say that it is beautiful here with all of the green.  We went out to the branch president's home yesterday -- without the GPS we would never find anything.  Their home was 20 miles away in the most beautiful countryside.

The freeway picture is the Revolutionary Trail now a freeway.  Such a lot of history here, and the villages are often more than 200 years old.  We don't always get our Preparation Days, so we are only able to explore once in a while.  Next Saturday we have a baptism -- which is a great thing!!! 

 

We were sustained and set apart today as Primary workers.  We teach the 7 year old CTR class, a great group of kids.  I hurry from class to Sharing Time where I play the piano -- I don't do that so well, but getting better.  I used to know the Primary songs on the piano, but if you don't use it you lose it. 



Again, we feel very blessed to be able to serve a mission here in New York.  I don't know what I was expecting, but I am happy and pleased that we made the decision to serve.  Our lives are blessed from associating with the missionaries, the humble people in the branch, our mission president and the others with whom we serve.  I will never be the same.  My love for the Savior has increased, and I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and our modern-day prophet.  We love each of you and are so grateful for notes and emails that we receive.  It means a lot.

Loves,
Grammy and Papa, Elder and Sister Cutler, Friends

I have  to go back and relearn  how to do this blog every time I do it, so please be patient with me.  We have had a couple of great weeks.  I am finally over my stomach ache.  I no longer drink milk but have been drinking Almond Milk.  Weird, for sure, but I just do not tolerate milk very well these days.  The second thing is that I have conquered the Mail Merge!!  I started working on it again, and knew that there was something we were missing.  I knew that the excel worksheet I kept saving was not quite right.  My partner in the office, Sister Barlow, suggested that we try one more time and add info into the IMOS program.  At any rate, we figured it out and I am now able to do the Mail Merge without looking at the directions.  This is a huge mountain I have climbed, and I am so grateful to be able to do it now.  It does save a lot of time.

We had 24 new missionaries come in on the eleventh of June, and we had two sister missionaries stay with us that night.  The breakfast went well (served 40 people), and then the missionaries had training.  We helped set up for the lunch, but there was one hang up -- the 30 pizzas that were ordered were late in coming.  Everyone was wondering what was going on and why the delay.  I would not say that the missionaries were cross, but it was getting a little late for their lunch.  One of the elders sat down to the piano and started playing "Called to Serve".  The missionaries came back into the room and got into a huge half circle and started singing with gusto.  It was incredible.  He played "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet" and a couple of other favorites and the spirit in the room was so strong.  President Wirthlin went around shaking hands and came back to the front of the room in tears.  I have the responsibility of taking the pictures of the new missionaries, their companions, and then with President and Sister Wirthlin.  That went smoothly and by the time we were finished the pizzas had arrived. 

Having all of the missionaries hanging around the office that day was also an incredible experience.  We really can feel the priesthood power when they are there, and we are so blessed to be able to participate in these transfer days.

That night there was a dinner at the Wirthlin's honoring the missionaries going home the next morning.  That experience is always special as well.  These missionaries were a huge addition to the mission and will be missed.  I must say, though, the new ones coming in are pretty awesome.  One of the Visa Waiters can speak Portugese fluently as well as German.  The way the missionaries are paired together is always a huge miracle. 

We went on a road trip on Saturday.  It is so beautiful here this time of the year.  We have had some HUGE lightning and thunder storms, and the rain comes down so hard -- sometimes it hails as well.  This Saturday was beautiful and clear.  We went up into the beginnings of the Adirondacks. 

The colors were beautiful -- this yellow area off to the side of the road was so pretty.  Does not show up as beautiful as it was.  Below is a lake that winds around to the left.  There were cabins there, and it looked like a fun place to visit again. 

 

 

This is a covered railway bridge next to the lake.  Some of these places are so old -- we plan to take a train up to the Adirondacks -- if not soon then in the fall.  Beautiful!!!

 

We went to a city called Boonville.  Our office partners are doing some genealogy for a member whose family is from Boonville.  We decided to go to the cemetery to see if we could see any of his family names. 

We did find some of his family names, whether they were his or not does not matter -- we just found some quite by accident on the side of the road.  This cemetery goes back to the 1700's.  The town of Boonville is in the distance.  These small towns are so interesting, and they date back to before the Revolutionary War.  One thing that we have a hard time with, though, is that there are no mountains to give us an idea as to which direction we are going.  The sun comes up in the east and goes down in the west, but part of the day we can't see it.  Reminds me of the First Presidency Message by President Uchtdorf in the June Ensign, "Walking in Circles".

As we were heading back we saw this Nirvana Spring Water sign.  This bottled water is supposed to be the BEST spring water.  I just plain and simply thought it was so funny to see this sign and then the spring with Canadian Geese all around in and about the water.  My love for Canadian Geese is not very great because of all the poop they drop all over the place.

 If you look closely you can see the geese in the distance.  Just one of my quirky pictures..... .

Last Thursday, June20, Dad and I needed to go to Hamilton, NY to see an apartment where sisters were living.  They were trying to have a sense of humor and not complain about their situation, but when we saw the conditions there I told Dad that we had to get them out.  I took pictures, but I won't bore you with those.  The place has been rented for 10 years or more, and there was so much stuff collected in the apartment that you could hardly move.  Plus it was dirty.  I really felt sick to my stomach when we left.  The landlord owns 200+ apartments in Hamilton and the surrounding area.  He was willing to let the church roll over the lease and security deposit.  We found another apartment, and yesterday (Wednesday, June 26th)  they moved in .  They are so excited, and I am very pleased for them.  Many of the apartments have been rented for several years, so we will be going out and inspecting the places to see if they are okay.  The Assistants are going to be moving as soon as they can find an apartment -- their place is nice enough but needs painting, etc and cleaning out the accumulated junk.  One nice thing is that you can put stuff out on the sidewalks where it is collected.  That will be a huge help!!!

We spent a good portion of Saturday taking care of the 5 youngest of 7 children of members of the branch.  They were desperate for help, so it was our fun to help out.  They live in a 200 year old brick house in the country -- bricks falling off of the siding, and lots and lots of work to renovate the place.  They are a cute family and we had a nice time.  We had a late lunch/early dinner at a restaurant called The Chowder House.  I had the best scallops ever -- even beat out Ivars!!!  I am hoping that we can go again because the meal was so good.

The meeting on Sunday night for missionaries and local church leaders was a wonderful meeting.  Elder Holland conducted the meeting, and he said, "To all the full-time missionaries sharing in this broadcast around the world, we say never again in your entire life are you going to be part of a zone conference this large!"  We looked for Kara in the choir, but we did not see her.  What an incredible experience for her to be there.  The missionary work is going to move forward at a greater and greater pace -- just hope we can keep up.  The Lord will not let this work fail, and we are so thankful to be here at this time to be part of the tsunami.  The members of the church will have an increase in responsibility for missionary work.  Lots of changes......

Will close for now.  We are doing fine -- still so very tired after spending the day in the office, but we are happy and healthy.  We love you each one, and you are in our thoughts and prayers.  Have a good weekend!!!  Be safe and know of our love.

Mom and Dad, Grammy and Papa, Elder and Sister Cutler


 



We are back!!!  As I have said before, the weeks fly by and we find that we are behind in our blogging.  Groundhog Day does not describe our lives, but we do a lot of the same things during the weeks of the month.  We had some time to do errands at lunch on the 16th of May and decided we would eat at a Asian restaurant at the mall.  We will not make that mistake again.  We both got horrible food poisoning that lasted from that night until Monday the 20th -- sick sick sick!!!  We continue to get stomach aches.  The awful thing about the whole experience is that at an office staff meeting  the AP's asked us where we had eaten -- and they said we had not eaten chicken.  What?  Then what did we eat?  They were not going to tell us, but others wanted to know as well.  It came out and we almost got sick again -- we had eaten possum....... Gag again!!!  I said "you mean we ate road kill?"  Yup.  No way -- Elder Tollefson said the restaurant is being investigated for serving sub par food -- not what they are advertising to be serving.  Well, Scott asked me whatever were we thinking to eat Asian food in a small Asian restaurant in rural New York?  I guess I will wait until we get home to eat at "The Taste of Asia" -- awesome food there.  We were so sick, and we missed an "exploring" trip with our friends and Stake Conference.  We were most disappointed. 

We were sad to hear of the passing of Sister Frances J. Monson. 

She was truly a remarkable woman.  As I have read the Church News, over and over the remarks about her life indicated how dedicated she was to serving the Lord.  President Eyring said, "Her talents were many, her love abundant, her character above reproach and her faith unshakable."  She is a good example for each of us to follow.  There is much more I could say, but there will probably be a book written about her that we can read.  We were able to watch her funeral on the computer in the office. One thing that we noticed was how old President Monson looked, and his coloring was not good at all.  I am sure that he has had a big load with her illness, his health issues, and the huge responsibilities that are his being the Prophet.  He has also been an incredible example of a life in service to the Lord.

The week of the 24th of May Dad was busy trying to get 8 apartments.  They now use the missionaries, primarily the zone leaders, to find the apartments that the President wants in the various areas.  It is amazing how it all comes together, and Dad has said many times that he has felt the tender mercies of the Lord in finding these apartments.  They are all nice apartments and furnished nicely as well.  The missionaries are all awesome!  They always seem to come through.  They are out in the various areas, find an apartment, call Dad, take pictures of the apartment inside and out, email the pictures to Dad, Dad calls the manager, and then the leases are put together.  Amazing how well it has worked.  There has only been one that Dad said he would not let a pig of his live in -- and so the missionaries are now very careful.  Google Earth helps as well.

On Saturday the 25th of May, we had a pancake breakfast at the Barlow's.  His pancakes are so very good!  We then went out exploring.  This time of year is so beautiful here.  All different colors of green.  There aren't any mountains, so it is hard for me to get my bearings, but with the GPS we are able to do fine. We headed out of Utica towards Rome, NY.  We saw an obelisk on the right hand side of the road and took a side trip to where the Battle of Oriskany was fought in August of 1777.  It was one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War.

 

This was one of the few battles in the war where almost all of the participants were North American:  Loyalists and Indians (against the Revolutionaries) fought against Patriots in the absence of British soldiers. There is a lot I could write, and it was a very interesting side trip in preparation for our time at Fort Stanwix.                                                              

 

      

Fort Stanwix played an important role in the Revolutionary War period.......

 

The 27th I went with Dad to deliver some phones and then he had to do the final work for a lease.  It was a beautiful day and we drove along the Catskill Mountains and over to Cooperstown.  The countryside was absolutely gorgeous.  The day was a bit hazy, but I had to take a few pictures to show we were there.   I love pictures of silos,

so I try to take  a picture whenever I can.  This  one was set against the Catskills, but they are not mountains as we know them.                                





 

 

 

 

On June 1st, a week ago, we drove to Clinton, New York and saw some beautiful old churches -- 1700's.  There are all different kinds of churches, each unique in their own way.  It is hard to get far enough away to get the church without the electrical wires, but here is a sample of one in Clinton.

 

 

Our day would not be complete without going to a bakery.  They said that these "half moon" cookies are famous from this area -- delicious too!

 

 

It was a fun day  -- went to farmer's markets, antique markets, the Oneida Silver Store in Oneida,
and just lots of looking around. 

We are so thrilled to have Kara out on her mission now.  The MTC is a wonderful place, and I know she is feeling the spirit in great abundance.  She will be a fantastic missionary, I know. And our love and blessings to Kirk as he starts his time as a Bishop.  He will be fantastic, and his family will be a great support to him.  Julie, you will be blessed as well!!  

Sunday, June 2 we had a fabulous musical evening put on by the Utica Central District.  Elder Borgia (from Morgan Hill) played the acoustical guitar and sang, and Elder Rymer (from Mapleton, Utah)played the piano and sang also.  Both are very talented, good voices, play their instruments well, and then the other missionaries in the district each had speaking parts to pull the evening together in a celebration of Christ.  It was wonderful!!!  We were very impressed with the music and the spoken word was good as well.  Such a nice Sunday evening, and another  great testimony of the role of Christ, his atonement, and the restoration of the gospel.

Monday, June 3.  Today is my Dad's (Mom) 98th birthday!!!  Does not seem possible that so many years have passed by without him.  He was 54 when he died.  He was a good man and has been missed by us all. 

This week Dad has been delivering furniture to the eight apartments.  The missionaries at the different locations do the lifting and carrying, so Elders Barlow and Cutler just get the furniture there and supervise the delivery.  The system works well.  I had a very slow week as far as the weeks I have experienced so far.  I was doing things that had not been done in a long time and feeling pretty good that I had worked ahead of schedule.  On Thursday afternoon as I was working at the computer I had a real shock -- I was supposed to have the Monthly Newsletter ready for Friday delivery to the Zone Leaders.....  I had half of it done, but I had to really get going on Friday to have it finished in time.  I was so glad that I was able to finish in time -- the typing and computer angels were by my side for sure------

We had another tender mercy yesterday in regards to another apartment.  As we were leaving the office on Friday, President Wirthlin told Dad that he needed to get one more apartment.  Changes in the missionaries coming on Tuesday made this extra apartment necessary. I guess President Wirthlin had told the zone leaders in Albany of the need.  We received a phone call yesterday morning that they had found an apartment.  The lease has been emailed, the pictures emailed, and yesterday we spent our Preparation Day buying the things other than furniture that are needed for the apartments -- lamps, irons, ironing boards, pots and pans, etc. etc. etc.  We were able to finish and get the trailer loaded by 3:30 yesterday afternoon so that the furniture and all can be delivered tomorrow.  I will never doubt that the Lord is in charge of this important work.  .He knows the needs.  We are so lucky to see these things take place first hand.

We love each of you and pray for your wellbeing.  We are very blessed that you are part of our lives.

Love, Elder & Sister Cutler, Grammy & Papa, Mom & Dad.