A Fair is a Fair

We actually started our week off with a day at the NY State Fair.  We have never been to the Utah State Fair-not sure why-maybe because I hate crowds of people?  It was probably the hottest day of the fair and that’s the day we went.  There weren’t a ton of people so that made it fun.  But there were also not all of the animals there or the big shows.  (Actually Boy II Men were in concert that night so I’m sure it got busier after we left).  We saw lots of chickens and bunnies and ducks.  We stopped to watch a rooster crowing contest- Silly me, I thought it would be a bunch of people crowing their hearts out, but it was real roosters and they didn't crow very well. We didn't see any cows or horses but we did see some gorgeous flowers in the horticulture building. (The flowers in the picture reminds me of fireworks for some reason-so pretty)  We saw some great photos and paintings, quilts and scrapbooks and lots of creative projects in the Home and Crafts building. There really are some talented people out there. The Dairy building had milk to drink and lots of places to buy ice cream, cheesecake, floats, etc.  They had a butter sculpture of athletes. And in the Indian Village they had beautiful beadwork jewelry and dolls and clothing.  We also walked the Midway but we didn't ride any rides. 

Ever since watching Carnival Eats on the Food Network I’ve wanted to try Fair food.  We did a little but not the real funky stuff like deep fried Oreos.  We actually started off with an Elephant ear and it was so so good.  I don’t know what it is about fried dough with cinnamon and sugar and powdered sugar but it was delicious!.  We also had $1 baked potatoes-which was the longest line we stood in.  They charge .50 cents for each topping.  I had cheese and bacon and dad had cheese, bacon, and chili.  I think mine actually had more stuff on it and it was done by the same kid.  Go figure. (While we were in line there were two black ladies right in front of us- a mother and adult daughter!  The daughter looked at my name tag and asked if I was a nun haha!  I told her that we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  They looked a little clueless so I said that they might know us as Mormons but that is not the name of our church.  The older lady said that her mom had been to the Hill Cumorah Pageant and had loved it.  We asked if we could give them a picture of Jesus and they were so excited to take our Pass Along Cards.  (That was cool-we are trying to have great courage in using Pass Along Cards) We shared an Amish donut, had .25 cent cold milk-white or chocolate-two for each of us, and we had a small ice cream nacho which was really good. I really wanted some fries but that baked potato filled us up.

We had a great time and we might even go back next year.  Old people get in free!!!

We had transfers this week.  We lost one Sister and one Elder.  It's always a fun and stressful thing for them when transfers come along but they love the change and having new people to meet and places to see.  Our new Elder in our District is actually from Cedar City and his little brother is good friends with our Cooper.  Such a small world. 

We had a chance to drive out to a little town called Earlville.  Luckily I had my camera.  We had been told that there are some cool old homes there and I wanted to grab a few photos (I had been inspired by some photos that had been submitted at the Fair) Well, needless to say, we weren't disappointed. Some of these old homes are literally falling down and others looked abandoned. In fact, the one on the bottom right?  Looks a little Norman Bates to me! Ha!

On our way home we saw a barn that I couldn't resist and then we stopped at our little Amish farm to buy some vegetables.  That barn is on the bottom!

We taught several lessons this week,  to our friend and to some of our members.  Our favorite was to a mom and her three little rambunctious boys.  We showed them the Children's Bible Video on the Good Samaritan.  Have you seen those videos? They are a kick.  You can find them on Gospel Library under children and videos.  Check them out.  Anyway, we had them do some role playing about how we can all be good Samaritans. We had a good time and then challenged them to do something nice for their neighbors (we actually had taken gooey frosted marshmallow brownies-some for them and some for them to take to two neighbors-but their mom told me that they had put their fingers in every marshmallow of every brownie so she couldn't take them to their neighbors) Oh little boys!

We had a wonderful Book of Mormon class learning about our Baptism covenants in Mosiah 18 and we brought in the sacrament prayers in Moroni 4 and 5.  We had the best discussion of what our covenants mean and how we mourn with those that mourn, or comfort those who stand in need of comfort.  We also talked about what it means to stand as a witness 100% of the time.  We also talked about what it means to take upon us the name of our Savior.  We talked of how Jesus has many names and maybe we should look at what name we need Him to be for us-at that moment.  Do we need Him to be Prince of Peace when we need peace.  Do we need Him to be Advocate when we are repenting.  Do we need Him to be Shepherd when we need direction in where we are going.  Do we need Him to be Savior when we need to be saved.  And what name do we need to take upon us for the person sitting next to us or our neighbor, or our ministering families?  Do they need us to be a peace giver, a teacher, a listener, an advocate.  There are many names that we can take to help Jesus Christ with His work-wherever we are! Most important, do people know that we are His?  Can they tell by our countenance, our words, and our actions that we are Disciples of Jesus?  We love the Book of Mormon and we love Jesus Christ!

On Friday, we became the bearers of cookies in a massive cookie drive by.  We made chocolate chip cookies with a fudge center, boxed them up, and off we went.  We visited with 6 families, gave them hugs and cookies and it was awesome.  We feel so blessed to be with these people. To be blessed by their love and to share our love with them. 

We have been waiting to hear if/when our branch will merge with the Rome Ward.  We have heard that it has been approved but our Stake President came on Sunday and told us the Area Presidency wanted a little more information-worrying that there might be someone who won't be able to make the drive to Rome.  We told him that there are two and that we would make sure that they had a ride with a member who has a van and is willing to pick them up.  We assume that with that bit of information things will move forward. As for now, we are just keeping on. 

We love you all! We hope you have a wonderful week!