Touch the Temple

 We had the best P-Day this past week.  Once in a transfer we get to have a P-Day with our entire District. We decided to go bowling and then get ice cream. We have two sets of Sisters and two sets of Elders and another Senior couple so there were 12 of us.  The bowling alley was pretty high tech and it was galactic bowling.  The pins are attached to cables so when you would knock them down they looked like little ghosts flying through the air up into the frame where they would be reset.  It was pretty cool to watch.  I've never seen that before.  The most fun of all is watching these amazing Elders and Sisters just be teenagers.  There was music playing that they don't get to normally listen to so they were enjoying it.  The were dancing to "All the Single Ladies" and others.  They were moon walking and being goofy as they threw the ball down the lane.  Afterwards we headed to Sweet Frog for a frozen yogurt/ice cream, build your own sundae.  It was so tasty and bless Elder and Sister Fleming-they bought for all of us!

The top right photo L-R Sister Azlyn Gillette (front), Elder Ty Konold, Elder Andrew Martin (Zone Leader), Elder David Fizer (District Leader), Elder Benjamin Rawlings (Zone Leader), Us, Elder and Sister Fleming (Lori and Tom), Sister Julia Fisher, Sister Allison Aston, and Sister Paige Hafen

We had the chance to travel to Hamilton for our District Council.  Hamilton is one of our favorite places to  visit. Part of it is the drive that makes it fun for us.  There is a really fun little Amish farm along the way that has a little produce stand out on the side of the road.  On this day we stopped and bought a few items. I love that I can give my business to them instead of the big name stores.  Look how beautiful these veggies are.  Corn, peaches, green peppers and an onion! YUM!

One evening, as we were driving home, we saw the most beautiful rainbow.  I took some pictures out the window of the car.  Rainbows always remind me of a song I learned years and years ago at a Relief Society retreat.  I love a good rainbow and this one was a double-you can almost see the second one.

On Friday, we traveled to Palmyra with a few members of our little branch for a "Touch the Temple" activity for our Primary kids.  We had 6 kiddos and 8 adults.  We had the best little tour of the outside of the temple with our Temple President, President Cooper.  He is a tender man and he and his wife told us some of the cool things about the Palmyra temple.  Did you know that it was built in 10 months? It is the temple built the fastest because when President Hinckley announced it and said it would be dedicated on April 6, 2000-they had just 10 months to make it happen.  The stained glass windows are made to look like the trees in the sacred grove.  They were only supposed to have the stained glass on the front doors of the temple, but the man doing the stained glass asked if he could put it in every window of the temple so it felt like being in the sacred grove.  The tree on the front doors is the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.  The tree in the windows of the Celestial Room is the Tree of Life. Palmyra is the only temple that has a clear window that you can see into the temple on ground level.  Where that window is was supposed to be offices but President Hinckley wanted it to look out over the Sacred Grove but when you look from the outside into the temple you can see all the way through to the front doors of the temple.  So they changed the plans and made it happen.  It is quite spectacular.

We spent some time eating lunch at the Hill Cumorah and then went on the little tour in the Visitors Center.  I love the Christus and couldn't help take some photos! The picture of his hand-always makes me think of the scripture in Isaiah 49:16, "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." I am so thankful to know that those hands are there to pick us up, give us strength, and hold us tight.  We are His!

We also rode in a little golf cart up to the top of the hill to see the Moroni monument.. Some hiked but a couple of our members couldn't walk it.  The hillside where they used to have the pageant is being reforested.  People around here are pretty sad that the church stopped the pageant.  

After the Hill Cumorah, we went to the Smith family home and the Sacred Grove.  We needed to leave because we were going to Syracuse to meet the office missionary couples for dinner.  We left but had to run up the street to the Palmyra Chill and Grill.  We had been told that you buy the 1/2 kiddie cone and it is more than you can eat.  Check it out!  Wow!  I wonder what the whole kiddie cone would be-or the small, medium, or large for that matter!

And how did I end up with the bigger cone?  I always give the biggest to Mike-his is actually larger than it looks in the picture.  We ran to the mission office in Syracuse, met up with the Boone's and headed into downtown to the Dinosaur BBQ.  They had been told that it is a Syracuse Institution.  It was a bit pricey but the food was so good!  We sat outside and there was a live band consisting of two old guys singing our kind of music from the 60's and 70's.  It was awesome!

L to R: Sister and Elder Boone, Elder and Sister Koyle, Elder and Sister Connolly, Us

We feel so blessed to be surrounded with some of the most valiant men and women. Servants of the Lord who love Him and His work.  We are thankful to be entrusted with wearing the name of Jesus Christ on our chests and in our hearts.  We love Him.  We know that this is His work.  We are thankful for the Book of Mormon and for our testimonies of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  We are excited to see what our mission holds for us this week.  We believe in miracles and hope to have eyes to see the hand of The Lord in our lives.  We love you all!  Have a beautiful week.