The Jolley's in Upstate New York

We have been in Rome New York for about 10 days now.  In some respects it has flown by and at other times it feels like we have been here forever.  We have had mostly cool days and we had about 10 inches of snow on this past Tuesday!  Our apartment is either too hot or too cold.  I guess that's what happens in 100+ year old houses.  I find myself wearing a jacket most of the time. On Sunday, Easter, we went to our little branch for the first time.  I think there were 26 people there, and four of us were missionaries.  It's tiny but I think we are going to just love it.  Easter is always a tender day for us.  We love that we can celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, knowing that because of Him we will see our darling Natalie and all of our loved ones that have died, again.  Thank heaven for Jesus Christ. After church, we had our District Leader and his companion and the two Sisters serving in Rome, for Easter dinner. It was a traditio...

 When we left the Provo MTC we assumed we would have quite the long, maybe boring road trip. We actually loved driving across country! It was long-but not boring! We got terribly tired and we were so thankful to be done each day, but what a glorious country we live in! Those funky rock formations in Wyoming- and I might add, Cheyenne is a pretty little place! We loved traveling through Nebraska and Iowa with their rolling corn fields ( which were not planted yet) and the amazing farms that dotted the countryside! We felt such gratitude for the farmers from the “ breadbasket” of our country who grow the wheat and corn for us to have so many yummy foods to eat!  And we crossed the Missouri River and the Mighty Mississippi  We crossed through Illinois and into Indiana! More farms but a lot more trees. Such beautiful places. On our way to Erie Pennsylvania we stopped by Kirtland Ohio - One of our favorite places in church history! So many wonderful things happened in Kirtland...

 It has been an incredible 2 weeks at the MTC but all good things must come to an end! Isn’t that what they say? But that’s not how we feel! We have been lifted up, fed by the spirit, encouraged, and taught! We have rubbed shoulders with some of the best people who love the Lord and are consecrating their lives to Him!  Flowers are all blooming! Our District L-R Elder and Sister Fulmer, Elder and Sister Warren, our teacher, Sister Slaughter, Elder and Sister Perkins, and us! We sat at the feet of Elder Hamilton and learned about Family Search and the capacity family history has in bringing souls to the Savior! We also sat at the feet of Sister Bonnie Cordon, the Young Women General President, and learned about trusting in God (Proverbs 3:5-6) and finding peace in Christ! On other evenings We learned about the attributes of Christ and the culture of Christ. We learned in every class how to help others come to Christ! We love Him and we pray that we can be the kind of missionari...