A Horse Dentist and a Bunch of Cows

 This week has been filled with study, much prayer, many blessings and a lot of fun. We started the week off with our P Day! Mike headed over to get our oil changed and our tires rotated.  If you wonder how much driving we do, we put over 5,000 miles on our car in about 7 weeks. That's crazy.

We had a district activity with the Sisters and Elders from our District.  It was in Hamilton. The property between Rome and Hamilton is gorgeous but Hamilton the town???  Oh my goodness, the town!  I couldn’t believe how cute it is.  I had no idea that it is a college town but Colgate College is in Hamilton.  These photos are one of the churches and a building that sits on a diagonal street.

We played sand volleyball for about 35 minutes and then climbed into our cars and headed into town for ice cream.  The Hamilton Sisters took us to a little place called Maxwell Chocolates which had delicious looking chocolates and yummy ice cream.  Mike had Almond Joy and it was good.  He thought it had a little too much coconut.  I don’t know, Can you ever have too much coconut?  I saw that they had a sugar free raspberry swirl ice cream.  I asked about it and they let me try it.  It was heavenly.  That’s what I got and I am dying to go back and get some more.  So so good!

After ice cream we went out to a farm where the Sisters have been teaching a lady and her boyfriend.  He is a horse dentist.  He has two of some of the biggest horses I have ever seen.  He talked to us about “floating” their teeth and then he showed us how he does it.  

He is quite the talker.  The Sisters are so cute with him.  He believes in evolution instead of creation.  He likes to yank their chains a bit. He told us he has seen ghosts-I call them angels.  He showed us his man cave and all the war memorabilia that he has.  He was a medic in Viet Nam and had some pretty close calls.  He has a ton of medals.  It was interesting to me.  Afterwards we walked up the road to his neighbor’s farm and saw a bunch - like 62 new little calves.  The cows were a little skittish because of the dogs we had with us.  Those mama cows circled their babies into a big old circle to protect them.  It was pretty cool to watch.  We took some photos and had great time together.

L-R Sister Carissa Matthews, Sister Tamzin McCourt, Sister Azlyn Gillette, Sister Annie Oliverson, Us, Elder Weston Crow, Steve (the Horse Dentist), and Elder Jacob Hofheins

We were tired but had such a great time.  These Sisters and Elders are incredible and they love us.  And it's not a surprise that we love them! 

Our Branch President had asked Mike to arrange sacrament meeting talks for the last couple of weeks of May so he worked on that a bit and I made more cookies to deliver.  We even spent a little time weeding the small flowerbed in the front of our house. We ran by some members homes to deliver some gifts for the Young Women.  At one of the homes, mom was not there but we were talking with the girls outside.  The Elders came walking up and we were all visiting. One of the girls brought out a hamster but then they got talking about their pet rats - RATS - that's plural.  I guess they have about 10 maybe 14 rats. Gross.  They started trying to put the rat on Elder Crow and he completely freaked out.  He hates rodents of any kind.  One of the girls handed the rat to Mike and he took it! He thinks he was imitating Bruno!  BUT!  We don't talk about Bruno! (Do you know the song? Look it up on YouTube and you'll be hooked>)

Wednesday found us at District Council. Again, the drive took us to Hamilton.  It's about 45 minutes from our home and such a beautiful drive.  There are signs along the road that tell us to "Share the Road" with our Amish friends.  We haven't seen many Amish but on that day we came up on a carriage.  I couldn't help but grab a picture out my window.  It's interesting, if you look close, he is on a cell phone.  That really surprised me. I didn't think they used any modern technology.

At Council, we learned more about the importance of members being part of the teaching of our friends or investigators.  When the members are more involved with the teaching, those working toward baptism find more courage and comfort in knowing that when missionaries are transferred, there will still be familiar and friendly people all around them.  We did role playing-just like we do every week and Mike and I are getting more comfortable with it.  When our District Council ends each week, the Elders ask if there is anyone that needs a blessing.  Several of the Sisters felt they needed a little extra strength.  Mike actually gave 3 blessings.  I love watching Priesthood power at work.  That evening we met with a couple of our members and one of the Elder's friends.

Thursday was a rough day!  After our walk I fixed us a nice breakfast but then I felt so sick. I curled up on the couch and slept and slept.  I felt guilty-not being a missionary.  Mike just did some computer work and let me sleep. I must have needed it.  I got up and made dinner for a family in our branch that welcomed a new baby a couple of weeks ago. After we dropped dinner off we ran to a local high school to watch two of our YW play softball.  We tried a few more people only to find no one home and ended the evening dropping off a conference talk to one of the guys who said he would talk in church.

Friday was a cool day!  The cute Rome Sisters had asked us if we could sit in on a lesson they were giving about the Priesthood.  They asked if we could have it here in our home.  We were excited to host them and their friend. They came about 12:45 and explained that this gentleman has a pretty hard life and that he shares a little too much.  They asked if we could help them keep the lesson on track because he would go off quite easily.  It was really hard to keep him on track.  As he was talking, I could tell that he was discouraged-almost like he was ready to walk away (He's on date for baptism).  We all know how hard Satan works on those who are progressing.  As we talked and as we tried to get him back on track, I had the strongest feeling that Mike needed to give him a blessing.  I tried to make eye contact with Mike and he had felt the same thing but wanted me to suggest the blessing.  I asked him (J), or suggested it would be a good thing and bless his heart, he was worried that he was sweating and it would make Mike's hands dirty.  After we assured him that is was okay he agreed.  I can't even describe how strong the spirit was in our home. The very minute that Mike laid his hands on this J's head the Spirit took over and spoke through Mike.  It was incredible.  I had to wipe tears away and this man just wept.  I pray that he will let the power of the spirit strive with him and help him through his fears and doubts.  We are so blessed to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

The afternoon found us at Quack's Diner in Madison, meeting our Branch President and his wife for dinner.  It was so nice to just be able to visit with them and learn more about them.  President Morgan is a hoot.  He is a convert that took 7 years to decide to be baptized but man is he a powerhouse.  We are quickly learning to love the people here.

Saturday morning and we were back on the road, heading to Oneida to our church building.  We had a branch breakfast and a clean up.  A few of our storage rooms in our building have just collected "stuff" over the years and we decided to clean them out.  Mike, our branch clerk, and our Elder's Quorum President cooked bacon, sausage, eggs and pancakes.  We had 16 people show up and it was awesome.  I didn't get pictures of anything though-imagine that.  I've been taking pictures of everything. After breakfast we headed back to members houses to try to meet new people. Drove up around Oneida Lake (because they are spread out everywhere) and had to stop for a picture.  The clouds in the sky made for such a pretty vista!

We made a connection with a man who has dropped off the radar and it was a nice visit.  So many of these people want us to know that they are still believers, that they listen to conference and that they have testimonies.  We just can't get them to church.  After a few more 'no answers' to our door knocking, we returned home.  We had dinner and then we headed back to Oneida for a lesson with the Elders.

Sunday morning was Branch Council.  It was a good meeting.  The Elders want to start a Book of Mormon study group on Thursday evenings and we are the ones that will teach and lead the class.  We are excited to get the people back into the Book of Mormon.  We testify that the Book of Mormon teaches the pure doctrine of Christ and that when we immerse ourselves in it's teachings, we will be changed. We had Sacrament meeting and Come Follow Me.  We, along with President and Sister Morgan, had been invited to dinner a few miles away.  We had a really nice afternoon with this sister and her non member husband.  He is so nice. And, Mike gave two more blessings to these good people.  We are hoping that maybe he will join us for the Book of Mormon class.  We ended the day with listening to President and Sister Nelson talking to the Young Single Adults.  We are so thankful to have a prophet who is not afraid to teach us who we are and what God's will is for us.  We are sons and daughters of Heavenly Parents with a divine nature. Thank heaven for this knowledge.  We love you all!  We hope you have a wonderful week!

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