Spelunking

 Have you ever explored a cave?  A big cave?  We had the chance to go to Howe Caverns about 2 hours East of us on our P-Day.  We had bought tickets to go and then our care broke down so we had a chance to re-schedule and it was pretty fun.  Howe Caverns is named after farmer Lester Howe, who discovered the cave on May 22, 1842, after noticing that his cows frequently gathered near bushes at the bottom of a hill on hot summer days. Behind the bushes, Howe found a strong, cool breeze emanating from a hole in the Earth. He went down into the cave and started exploring.  It is huge.  They opened it to tours and it has grown into quite a tourist trap.  It's always 52 degrees in the cave so we were really glad to have our jackets.  

There are wildflowers everywhere here.  The roadways are spectacular to say the least.  We have had such a beautiful summer with lots of rain.  It's green and lovely. And the skies!  And the clouds!  I have people tell me that every time they see the clouds they think of me because I make such a big deal about them.

And of course there is an abundance of really beautiful old churches.  Some are still used and some are abandoned.

As I was uploading all of my photos on my SD card look what I found!!!

I had taken pictures of the Blue Moon on August 30th but had never taken them off the SD card.  When I pulled up the pictures there were some pretty cool pictures of the moon so I thought I would share my favorite.  It really is kind of a captivating shot.

Our week was filled with District Council where President and Sister Gentry came for interviews with the missionaries.  We also studied from Preach My Gospel and Sister Park and I fixed lunch for everyone.  We had pulled pork sandwiches (left over from the big YSA conference that the Parks helped with), coleslaw and chips. I made an apple cider donut cake and they loved it.

We grabbed some dinner with Elder and Sister Connolly on Friday evening.  We are all feeling the time slip away from us.  They have become such great friends.  We will miss them.  They will go home to Indianapolis in December. 

We had Stake Conference which is always a treat.  We met in Whitesboro at the Utica Stake Center for our Saturday meetings and then we also met there on Sunday but the meeting was broadcast from Oneonta. 

Life is good.  We are starting to say our goodbyes to people and that is proving to be hard for some.  We have been so very blessed to be here and for the memories we have made with some really good people.  We love our Heavenly Father and our Savior.  We are so thankful to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  We love all of you.  Thank you for your prayers.