Feasting on the Spirit!

 We met with the Elders and Sisters of our District for a District P-Day activity.  We met them at a place called The Energy Zone and learned about electricity.  It might sound like a strange activity but was really interesting.  They had hands on games that helped us learn about the power of electricity and it started off with a cool 3 D movie! Needless to say we all had a great time.  Afterwards we went out for ice cream because come on, this IS a dairy state! And everyone loves ice cream!

We hit our 6 month mark this past week.  How did that happen?  It feels like time is flying.  We made a little stop on our way to our Book of Mormon class at a Harvest Festival in a town called Vernon Center.  It's a tiny little town but they know how to party.  They had a husband/wife band and they sang mostly country.  They were serving burgers and dogs, apple pie Ala mode, apple cider donuts and a bunch of other stuff.  Couples were dancing on the grass, women were line dancing.  There was just a fun atmosphere.  We celebrated our 6 months in style with a couple of those donuts and a dance to Alan Jackson's "Remember When" which always makes me cry. 

Speaking of Book of Mormon. How much fun is that book?  We love it more and more every day.  It is filled with the most incredible stories, lessons, testimonies, and doctrine.  We taught from the end of the book of Alma, about Chief Captain Moroni and his preparations to protect his people.  We compared Amalakiah and Moroni-the really good and the really bad.  We then likened Moroni's fortifications to us and what we need to do to fortify our homes and our own lives and testimonies. It was such a great lesson.  Perfect for coming into Conference weekend.  And, of course, what would Book of Mormon class be without a homemade treat from Sister Jolley.  This week??? Homemade Apple Cider Whoopie Pies. (Because I bought that dang apple cider and I can't let it go to waste) And believe me, they were a sugar high.  Too much.  The recipe is fabulous but next time I won't dust them in the added cinnamon and sugar. Check these beauties out.

We had some great lessons with the Sisters and some on our own.  But in reality, it was a slow week on the visiting side of things.  We had a couple of families with Covid so we stayed away.  We love when we can visit-but sometimes we stick closer to home.  

We were excited to have the chance to watch conference.  Because we are on Eastern time our first session didn't start until noon.  We thought we would take advantage of a morning drive to find a couple of covered bridges and some colorful leaves.  The leaves are still trying to turn here but it is happening more and more.  Up North it is spectacular! (a little hint for next week?  We are going up North tomorrow to see the color show) Anyway, we saw these two bridges.  The first one was built in 1825 and they no longer let cars drive through it.  The second bridge was built in 1875 and you can drive through it.  They were both amazing!

                                                                    Hyde Hall Bridge

                                                                Salisbury Center Bridge

There was a beautiful vista on the other sider of this bridge.  I couldn't resist grabbing a few photos up through the trees.

While we were driving from one bridge to the other we came across this old abandoned church.  Of course I needed a picture.  I would love to know the story of how it was abandoned.  Did people just find a new church?  Was it in disrepair? Did they just walk away? Sad to see it overgrown.

And then we saw this church. It looks like it is in good shape but look at the date on the front!

The Elders and Sisters were supposed to be in a different home for each session of Conference-and the people could feed them if they wanted to.  Our missionaries are not fed by the members (Maybe it's that way in all the missions).  They can only have dinner if there is a non member that is invited but conference was the exception. They came to our house for the afternoon session on Saturday and we made them a Mexican feast (their request) because you can't find Mexican food here. 

We loved Conference. Today we had a brunch at our Branch before the morning session and then we watched together.  We had 8 of us come and 4 of us are missionaries.  That's kind of how it is here. Makes our hearts hurt a bit but we are thankful for those that came.  I've heard that conference feels different in the mission field and I think it does! We have loved every session and we feel so very thankful for our testimonies of our Savior, Jesus Christ and that we are led by a Prophet of God.  We felt uplifted.  We are ready to move forward, being better disciples of Jesus Christ, working harder to improve ourselves and helping others to come unto Christ.  We are excited to be more bold in telling people about why we are here and pray that the Spirit will work through us to help others along the path.  We love you all.  Have a most wonderful week.