Mountain Miracle

To say that this state is showing it's colors is an understatement.  I can't tell you how completely beautiful it is everywhere I look.  So if I can't tell you, I will show you.

We had the chance to go back to Old Forge in the Adirondacks on Monday.  Old Forge is actually in our Zone, about an hour away,  so we can go there anytime we want to go.  I will tell you about our miracles that took place on Monday.  Yes, I said miracles-plural.

I woke up with a darkness over my heart. I tried to shake it off from Sunday but it was still there.  We were planning to go back to Old Forge and ride the chair lift up.  We walked for a little over a mile and then we got ready to leave.  As we headed up the road there were several places that I got some most incredible shots.  After about three stops and pictures, Mike pointed out that this little trip was lifting my spirits all ready.  He was right.  I am obsessed with the Autumn color and my camera.  That was the first miracle of the day!

We made it into Old Forge and headed up to McCauley Mountain. I was worried that I had taken too much time shooting and as we rode up onto the mountain it started to rain.  Luckily, we brought an umbrella.  The views were unbelievable.  

I was shooting but there was kind of a haze from the clouds and rain.  We walked around and part way down one of the runs to see another vista.  We stood under our umbrella waiting for the rain to let up. There are big flat granite rocks that get slick so we were being careful.  We saw a cute little lady and another lady that we assumed was her daughter.  They were trying making their way down to where we were but they were worried about their footing.  We told them it was a beautiful vista and Mike would help them get down.  He took one hand and the daughter had her other hand and they came down to where we were.  We chatted for a bit and laughed.  We noticed that the older lady had the cutest little personality.  We just hit it off.  We started to head back up the hill.  They seemed to want to go where we were heading-it was a little steep- so Mike helped them get back up the hill. The little lady wanted to know about our name tag and when we told her we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints she said, “Oh, the Mormons”.  Then she went on to say how badly she would like to get into genealogy. She had wanted to do genealogy before her husband passed away and he has been gone for 8 years.  I pulled out my phone, asked if they had smart phones, and showed them Family Tree.  They were amazed and we told them that they could have the app-that they don’t have to be members of our church.  They started just talking and talking.  As the older lady was talking with Mike, the daughter, Nancy Jean and I exchanged phone numbers and then she told me that she was going through a really hard time in her life and that she had started going back to church.  She said that she was just divorced after 39 years of marriage.  It had just been finalized and her ex told her the day after that he had already moved on.  She just sobbed and I hugged her.  I felt so bad for her.  The cute little mom, Norma Jean, wants us to meet them for dinner some time and we told them we would love to come and help them get set up with Family Tree.  What a sweet miracle.  We took pictures of them and Nancy took pictures of us.  And I can't believe we didn't get one of all four of us!

We hugged again and Norma Jean (83) kept throwing kisses our way. (It made me think of my Grandma Gibbons and her kissy, kissy on my cheek).  As they were riding back down the ski lift and we were walking up the hill they called out to us, waved goodbye, and off they went.  We were flying high.  We couldn’t believe what had just happened.  We DO NOT believe in coincidence.  We know that God’s timing is perfect and that Jesus Christ connects dots in our lives. That was our second miracle of the day.  These are some of the other photos I took up on top!

The third miracle was while walking down the street in Old Forge I looked down and there was a $10 bill on the ground.  I picked it up, looked around, and there was no one around-no one looking for money-no one even interested.  So I put it in my purse.  Lucky?  Not sure yet.  I still feel like maybe I was stealing.

We continued on with our day, taking more photos,  and then headed home.  We had invited our Sisters to come for dinner.  Sister Aston is leaving on Wednesday for Fayette, and Sister Curzone will come join Sister Hafen here in Rome.  I fixed breakfast for dinner.  The girls wore their pjs to celebrate.  I made French Toast with buttermilk syrup, bacon, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs and the girls brought strawberries.  I pulled out the cool whip and it was a feast.  We ended it with warm apple crisp and ice cream.  They were in heaven.  We love these Sisters.  They are amazing young women.

After the Sisters left I texted Nancy Jean and thanked her for our little visit on top of the mountain.  I told her it was the best part of our day.  She texted right back and said it was the best part of their day too.  I sent her the pictures I had taken of her and her mom and a couple of beautiful pictures from the top of the mountain.  She was so thankful.  She continued to visit over text.  She said that she was starting three 12 hour shifts at work and then she is taking her mom to Georgia next Tuesday to visit her son (brother).  She said that she will be in touch for sure. (Most would say that we won’t hear another thing from her but I don’t think that!  I think we will be meeting with these darling women more than once.)

The last miracle of the day! Out of the blue, Kayliana, a young woman in our branch that hasn't been coming and was pretty standoffish,  started messaging me.  She has been seeing my photos on social media and told me that she loves my photos and that I have a gift.  She asked if I would be willing to take her Senior pictures.  That is a huge breakthrough for her/us and I am so happy and excited.  Maybe we are doing something right!

        We had the chance to be at our mission office for transfers on Wednesday.  It was a really cool experience to see all the new missionaries just arriving and their trainers get paired up.  We had the chance to say goodbye to two of our Sisters and our District Leader, which was super bittersweet.  We have had Sister Fisher in our District since she was a brand new missionary, and the same with Elder Konold.  And Sister Aston, well she has just wormed her way into our hearts.  We will miss her!

        We had lessons with the Sisters, lessons on our own, and we prepped for our Book of Mormon class. We are learning about Abinidi and this past week was just the very first part where he is calling the people to repentance.  We talked a lot about the importance of repentance.  We will continue with Abinidi for the next two weeks.

           Our morning walks have become a little brisk.  We are not too excited for when the temps really drop.  We've heard that with the wind chill we will be feeling temps of minus 20 at times.  But for now, we love walking through fallen leaves and seeing the beauty all around us.

        Church was better today.  We had 23 instead of 8.  I had the chance to speak in Sacrament Meeting.  We are also planning a Halloween party for our Branch.  It should be fun.  Our idea is, that if we are supposed to be implementing the Love, Share, Invite program, we need to have something to invite people to.  They have been invited to church for years.  They don't want to come to church-yet.  If we can get them to some fun activities, where they can get to know others, again, then maybe they will feel like they can come to church someday. If not, then we are still reaching out the hand of fellowship-through a bowl of chili and a few little games.  Bring on the cupcake walk!       

         We feel so very blessed to be serving the Lord in New York. There is work here for sure.  There is great opposition as well-not unlike 1830.  The faithful are faithful, the not so faithful are, well,  not so faithful.  It is a work in progress-just like everywhere.  The struggle is real.  We have a mighty work to do-all of us.  

        We will do our best for Jesus Christ.  He has always done great things for us.  We love Him.  We love His missionaries.  We are so thankful for the Holy Ghost and for the gift of revelation.  

        We hope you all have a wonderful week.  Invite someone to come and see.  We love you!