44 Years and Counting
How long is 44 years? And how fast does it pass? We celebrated our anniversary on Monday-it was a fun day-but we really don't feel old enough to have been together 44 years! We didn't do a lot-we figured that our trip to Alexandria Bay a few weeks ago was our early anniversary blow out so this day was more quiet. We did head back to Pixley Falls to try my hand at capturing that blurry, milky water from waterfalls. The secret is a long exposure but you can't hold your camera and get that. So with a tripod and more importantly with a remote control for my camera (which I've had for two years and never used) we were ready for the day. It had rained in the night so we knew the water would be great and I was praying for a bit of a cloud cover. That is another secret to getting the waterfall pics-no hot spots from the bright sun. We hiked all over the place, finding all the little waterfalls in the shade because the big waterfall was pretty bright. We got some great stuff. We slid a bit in the mud and went places that we probably shouldn't have tried but it was a great payoff. Look how pretty! The last photo is the big waterfall because the sun went behind a cloud and it was perfect!
We had our first District Council with our new District. We have 12 missionaries-4 Elders, 4 Sisters, us and one other Senior Couple. It was such a fun time. We learned and shared together about the importance of the Book of Mormon in the conversion process- but not only for our friends but for us too. We love the Book of Mormon and we love learning from the young missionaries. They are bold and valiant. Afterwards we all ate our lunches together which was totally a step back into the real life of teenagers. They talked about their favorite movies and about music and favorite things to do. We brought cinnamon rolls for everyone and they went crazy for them. If you've tried my cinnamon rolls, you know!
After District Council we went home and changed our clothes and headed to a place called Pulaski (things are pronounced a little different in New York-it is pronounced Pole-Ask- Eye) We ran there to help clean out an apartment from some Elders who had been moved. I had the task of emptying out the cupboards and Mike helped carry out furniture. Man was there so much food. These Elders had been doing service at a food pantry and they were given lots of food. I think there were 6 big bags of spaghetti and several boxes of other pasta, but the canned goods, wow! So every time we have Zone conference, they put out the stuff left by the missionaries-hopefully the Elders and Sisters will take some food home with them because food is expensive here and they could use some free stuff!
We taught our Book of Mormon class on Mosiah 27, and the conversion of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah. We love that story. We learned together about the importance of having a change of heart. We compared their actions before the angel's visit to their actions after their conversion. With a change of heart we want to be better, to do good things and to serve others and testify of Jesus Christ. We all need to strive to have a change of heart-to become new creatures.
We got a phone call from Elder Boone (our housing coordinator) with a proposal. He asked us to come back to Pulaski and help do the final cleaning and and then he invited us to stay for dinner with the other office missionaries. We met at the office and rode with the Boone's. It was such a great time to get to know them better. We knocked out the cleaning in no time and had some time to kill. We were only a few miles from Lake Ontario and so off we went. I'm sure you all know that Lake Ontario is one of the Great Lakes. The shore was very rocky with the most beautiful smooth rocks from the constant waves. We found some great skipping stones and tried our hand at that. Some of us were better than others. Dinner was great. We went to a place with some down home cooking and the prices were the best we have found in four months. The food was great and it was a treat to get out of there under $35.
On the last Saturday of July, the town of Rome has what they call, "Honor America Days." They have a big parade and then in the evening they have the symphony at Fort Stanwix and fireworks. We went to the parade and there were a lot of people there. It's fun to visit with people. We still are trying to figure out how to give out pass along cards - so if you have great ideas of what to say, please tell us. It was "Hometown USA" and so charming. They had lots of politicians, a few school bands, some creepy clowns, old cars, lots of old guy bands-some of them not too bad, a few floats, military and police color guards. One thing that made me feel really sad, when the first color guard came by no one stood. Just us and a couple of people next to us. The people across the street just sat in their chairs. And they were old enough to know better.
As we drive the roads of Central New York, the scenery is always changing with wildflowers that grow along the roadside and in the fields. The corn has it's tassels and there are fields and fields of beans. The produce is starting to be sold in roadside stands and we could hardly wait to get our hands on some fresh corn. We went to one place and it was a dollar an ear! Wait, what? I want corn for 33 cents an ear. Does anyone know where I can find corn for that price? Sad! But the flowers! Look at the flowers! And check out the sunflowers! Breathtaking!
Sunday was a long day but a fabulous day. We headed to church where I had the chance to speak in Sacrament Meeting. I used Sister Wright's Talk, "Christ Heals That Which if Broken". I love Him! He heals everything-especially our hearts. Afterwards we met together for our Love, Share, Invite meeting with all the rest of the world. We took part in that teaching as well. How do you Love, Share, Invite?
After church, we stayed to fill the font for a baptism. Our Hamilton Sisters had a sister being baptized and they don't have a font, so they use ours. Last we had heard, it takes about 4 hours to fill the font so we stayed. I had brought lunch for us and we did some Come Follow Me study, I practiced the piano because I was playing for the baptism, and I got a few steps in-walking the halls. Everyone came and the baptism was awesome. When she came up out of the water she said, "YES!" She is so excited to be a member of the church. I love seeing the spirit work on people as they enter on the covenant path. We feel so blessed.
Sister Gillette and Sister Fisher trying out the water! Yup! It was too hot. We added cold but it was still pretty warm. Oh well, we're learning.
By the time they had their refreshments and we got everything put back, away, and closed we headed home about 10 hours after we had left our house. We were tired but we weren't done. We had the opportunity to have a zoom call with several other senior couple missionaries in our mission. Technology is so great to help connect us. We gabbed for about an hour. By 9:00 we were ready for bed. Missions are wonderful. We keep pretty busy. There are moments we still feel like we aren't doing enough, or we aren't doing it right. We pray for the spirit to guide us through the maze of missionary work. We love you, we pray for you. Have a beautiful week.
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