Parades and Battlefields

Memorial Day was fun.  All the little communities around us have a parade on Memorial Day.  The one we went to wasn't super fancy just a basic color guard of Veteran's, a small float with Veterans riding on it, and fire engines. They came down the main road to the cemetery and there they had a short program with a 21 gun salute, a wreath laying, TAPS, and a bagpiper playing Amazing Grace.  It was touching.  They don't decorate graves around here like we do at home.  Look at the grave in the pictures that has flowers planted around the base of the headstone.  We saw that in the cemeteries all over Norway and fell in love with it.  Not all graves have gardens around them but lots did.

After the parade and ceremony we drove around the countryside and took some pictures of, what else is there?, farms and barns.

On our way home we decided to go visit the Oriskany Battlefield.  As you remember, New York was a hotspot during the Revolutionary War.  There were many battles fought here. The battle at Oriskany was a very bloody battle.  The English, Mohawk, and Seneca were lying in wait for the Colonist and ambushed them there.  More than 500 people lost their lives for the fight for freedom on that day.

There is a cool story about how the Colonists were ready to just perish but a huge thunder/rain storm came and stopped the fighting for an hour. General Herkimer rallied his troops, moved to higher ground and withstood the ambush.  It was a turning point in the battle for Fort Stanwix and for the battle of Saratoga.  There's so much to learn about the Revolutionary War. We hope to visit more sites on our P-Days.

We had a great week.  We drove to Norwich for our District Council which is about an hour and 15 minutes from our place.  That was the first time we have been to Norwich and it was fun to see where two of our darling sisters work so hard.  It was pouring rain all the way there.  We had a wonderful meeting.  It was an emotional day because you see, this coming week is transfers.  The feeling is that all three companionships will be affected.  That's life in the mission but it's still hard to move on.  And for us, we will stay here, say goodbye to some and get to meet some new missionaries.  It's exciting and hard all at once.  We ended with a tearful testimony meeting.  We have grown to love these Sisters and Elders.  They are incredible.  They teach with the Spirit and with confidence and boldness.  We love them.  I took my cameras with me and we had a blast taking photos of them.  We took each companionship, each individual missionary, and then the District-minus us.  Look how cute they are!

We had some amazing visits with members of our Branch.  We had the opportunity to help a sister with her Family Search account and to help her find a name to take to the temple. One of the really cool things is that when we were getting her signed up and it asked for her birthdate she went to March, and as she was scrolling down I kept thinking, what are the odds? And yup, she pushed the 26th.  We are birthday twins.  So fun. We also visited with one of our members and gave our first solo impromptu lesson and it was awesome. We met with the Elders for a couple of lessons and that is always so uplifting.  

We went to a track meet at the high school and watched two young women run and jump.  And while we were watching, we had the chance to visit with some wonderful people that we've been trying to catch- they are the parents of one of the girls. And, as we were driving around the beautiful little town of Sherrill, we found some more places to take some more great photos.

We feel so blessed and we love when we hear back about making a difference in someone's life.  Sometimes you go through the motions and wonder if it even helps.  But then there are those little places where you see the hand of the Lord.  We have been working with the Elders with a darling lady and getting to know her.  We have met with her alone as well, we have even taught her a short lesson and tried to answer her questions.  She has come to church twice in a row.  The first week everything was so new and probably a little overwhelming for her.  Today, as I held the hymn book and sang, I could hear her singing softly too. Baby Steps! It is amazing to watch how the spirit works.  She experienced her first testimony meeting and it was wonderful.

We know our Savior lives.  We know that His grace covers us completely.  We are so thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost that whispers and bears testimony of our Father and our Savior.  We have a greater love for the Book of Mormon and the spirit it brings into our lives. We see it work miracles in the lives of those who will read and ponder it's teachings.  We are so thankful to know that we have a Prophet who leads and guides us and who prays for us.  We love him.  We pray for those we are working with and for all of you.  Remember that you are so very loved and appreciated.   #GoTeamJesus