End of Mission News 10/31/09

Hi Gang, Sorry we have been so long on getting this blog out but things have been moving along fast with full days. The pictures are a small review of the past few days. We started out with our last church meeting in the mission field Sunday, then drove to the mission home in Utica. We had dinner and spent the evening with our mission president and his wife. Monday with left for Don's house in Rock Taven, he come home early and drove us around the area. The highlight was going shopping at the Orange County Choppers store. Don fixed us dinner and we had a great evening with him. Tuesday Don took us into New York City and we saw his work site and met several of the orthodox jews he works with, he then took us into the city. We were able to get a room on the 36th floor of the New York Marriot Marque in Time Square. We spent the whole day walking around the area. It was raining most of the day but not hard. We saw most of the sites and waited in line for tickets for a show. We got great seats for South Pacific at the Lincoln Center, Don joined us and it was magnificent performance. We spent the night in the city and on Wednesday got soaked seeing the 911 site, very touching, every american should see that. We also saw Wall street and the stock exchange. It rained hard all day long, lot of cabs. We got the experience of going to the port authority and taking a bus out to a park and ride to meet Don. Thursday we left early and drove all day to Angola, Ind. Friday we drove down to Nauvoo and spent the night there and saw some sites. Saturday morning we saw more of Nauvoo and then drove to Carthage, very moving place. We then went on the Quincy, Ill, we were able to find the old drug store where August Heidbreder worked as a pharmacist. We also saw the old Heidbreder home where a 5th generation family member still lives. With his help we visited the family grave sites. Took lots of pictures and had a great time seeing the old family stomping grounds. We were able to drive back up to I-80 and are spending the night in Williamsberg, IA. It has been a very busy week with lots of driving, the trip to the historical sites was well the time and delays. Truely a chance of the life time. We are really ready to get home now. Bishop Huefner called us and our homecoming will be on the 22nd of November so don't plan anything. We are planning to be home Monday (Nov. 2) about 7 PM if things change we will call you. Love Mom and Dad

north Country Mission News 10/18

We are frantically trying to finish up everything so we can leave. These past two weeks we have been so busy. Dad was asked to baptize a young boy of a family we have visited since we came, Tobias Kunkel. The dad was deployed, they have four young children and we visited often. Their dad did not qualify to baptize his son so the boy asked dad to do it. He was so excited to be baptized! The dad is away again at training and they are trying to sell their house, so she is alone again. We about got burned out fixing food. We did food for two baptisms, the Stake Pres. came up on conference weekend to do deployment blessings and wanted a lunch between sessions so we fed about 40 people. The next night we had our last young adult dinner. We made our last trip to Palmyra and enjoyed the beautiful fall leaves. The picture is looking from the temple down into the Sacred Grove. We were all alone in the grove due to light rain and it was beautiful. We will miss spending time there.

We had a young couple who lived in Watertown Ward and he deployed to Afghanistan last January. She stayed awhile and then went home to have her baby at her moms. I emailed her to see if she had the baby and if he made it home on leave to be there. She sent me cute pictures and was happy that he was there for the birth. On Oct. 5th I got an email from her saying that he had been wounded, shot three times, and they would be coming back to Ft. Drum. I emailed her back and didn't hear from her, so I called her phone number that I had. He answered and they were back moving in. We went over and helped put the crib together and the rocking chair, etc. The Army moved them back. While we were there he told us his story. He's a Captain and in charge of a unit of ten men and four Afghan soldiers that they were training. They had been together six months. They had finished for the day, removed their vests and guns. Five were playing cards outside when one of the Afghans opened fire on them. He was inside, heard the gunfire and grabbed his gun and looked out and the soldier, turned and shot at him. He got away. Cpt. Kurth ran out to his men. One was already dead, one bled to death in his arms and two more were badly wounded. He called for a helicopter and one was there in ten minutes. He didn't know he was shot until the helicopter driver told him that they needed to check him out. He's still in a lot of pain, but dealing with is the worst part. He just cried as he told us the story. The other two wounded sokdiers are at Wslter Reed recovering. He also said that he asked at the hospital for a blessing from someone LDS. The surgeon happened to be a member and gave him a blessing and then called ahead and another member met him in Germany at the hospital there. He has a great attitude, but blames himself for the incident. He thanked us for listening and said that the Dr. told him he has to tell his story once every day.

We also were honored at a ceremony as volunteers of the month on post. There were ten awarded and the Col. gave us each coins. That is a big deal in the Army, they give coins out at special events. It is especially good for the PR we are fostering for the church on post.

We are having a hard time saying goodby to everyone. We are trying to visit and get email addresses, etc. We will miss these people so much, we have learned to love so many. Our cute Young Adult leader, Colleen, cries every time she sees us. She has no one and has relied on us. We have learned so much here and are so blessed for the experience.

We had a mission wide conference on Friday the 16th with Marvin K. Jensen presiding. It was great and the couples met with him alone in the evening. We are glad we didn't miss that! We are planning to be home around the 3rd of November, we will let you know as the time gets closer. We send our love to all and are getting excited! Mom & Dad

north Country Mission News 10/6/09

This week we had some new experiences. We were called by the Mission Pres in North Carolina to see if we could arrange a baptism for a woman. Her step son was coming home from Iraq and she and his dad were coming up to meet him and wanted to have the baptism here so he could attend. The husband was in the process of reactivating but could not yet do the baptism. She was fairly young with a two year old of their own and was very excited and touched. Dad was able to perform the baptism and it was a very special experience for all of us. It was on a beautiful fall Saturday morning. During the week we took the YA's bowling on post and had 10 come. Tuesday, Wed. and Thursday we participated in an Army Family Action Seminar. They asked us because we were retired military. Dad was in the medical section and I was in the Family section. They had issues pertaining to military families that were dicussed and proposals were written up to move on up to higher authorities for policy changes to benefit military families. We met lots of new people, about 150 participated, and we learned a lot and had a good PR experience. At Institute on Thursday they surprized us with a party in our honor. It was so much fun with flowers, cake, etc. and they each said why they appreciated us. It will be hard to leave them. We took one of them to get her wisdom tooth pulled on Monday. She had been hurting for a week and had no money to get it done. We drove her and helped pay so she could get it done. There are so many needs out here that we worry about what will happen when we leave, but there is anotheer couple to take over. Saturday we had another welcome home of the troops and then General Conference at the Ward. We spent a good part of the time left calling all the soldiers who are leaving to tell them that the Stake Pres. was coming up Sunday to give deployment blessings. We have busy weeks with unexpected thing coming up all the time. We love the variety and are always blessed by the experiences and the people.

North Country Mission News 9/27/09

Hi Gang, These pictures are of the deployment ceremony for the 2nd BCT (Brigade Combat Team) held this week at the parade field. The formation picture is of just one BN lined up in CO file formation. There were 6 of these BN formation across the field plus the Div. Band, close to 4,000 soldiers, it was very impressive. The other picture is of the crowd watching, on a beautiful fall day. It took about a hour and each BN cased their colors (flag) for the deployment trip. They leave between the 11 and 16 of Oct. Between now and then there will be alot of packing going on. This if by far the largest formation I have every seen in all my years in the military. It was so large the BCT commander and commanding general walked around the troops rather than have the units march in review before them. It was a real spit and polish affair, another journal entry experience as the missionaries would call it. 38 LDS members will deploy in the BCT from both wards. The impact will be heavy on the families and community when they leave. The flip side is that the 10 Aviation BCT in beginning to return now. Two small groups of the advanced party came in of Thurs. and Fri. this past week. There were 5 members returning on Thur. and two came on Fri., most of the main body will be home by the middle of the month. The planes just bring soldier home and take others out when they leave. Nothing leaves empty around here. Mom and I have been invited to be delegates for the annual Army Family Action Plan Conference (25th anniversary) to represent the retired segment of the military community. It is a 3 day conference, organized and planned by the DOD for improving the Army Family. It is really a big deal with great PR posibilities. I have no ideal how we were selected, it came as surpize to us, probable having something to do with our volunteering with the ACS on post. We have tried to be as visible a possible on Post and I guess it paid off. It should be interesting to see what happens. Mom and I are assigned to the Medical/Dental Workgroup. Instalations across the country are all doing the same thing, so it is a nation wide conference. I tell you things just keep happening to us. We just seem to be at the right place at the right time, just like someone was guiding us. We really love this work and it will be hard to leave all the great people we have met, but we are beginning to get alittle trunked. Love you all Mom and Dad

North Country Mission News 9/20/09

We are able to experience life changing events every week with the people around here. This week has been especially eventful. We began the week with a welcome home ceremony for those first arriving back from Iraq. They were just the few that come first to get ready for all the others. The other ceremonies we have been to have been in the gym. This one was held in hanger on the airfield and the soldiers lined up outside the hanger door and when they announced them the door opened. The Army band plays and it is so much fun to be there. It is especially meaningful to us because this is part of the groups we saw leave last fall. This week two more groups come home. The other picture is of us at the Lowville Cream Cheese festival for p day. Philadelphia Cream cheese is made in Lowville. It is about 30 minutes from us. It is a typical small town celebration where they close off the main street and have booths of food and crafts. They also have contests. etc. We met the Elders there and took them to lunch. On Sunday we had our usual beginning with Ward Conference in the Watertown Ward. The Stake Pres. was there and gave us the assignment to call everyone for deployment blessings and to have a lunch between General Conference sessions. We have another big group deploying in October. I went to Relief Society and one of our good friends came in and said she just got a text from a member at the hospital. Her husband had been having seizures that they couldn't contol for quite awhile and she had called an abulance and they had taken them to the hospital again. We ran over to the hospital to be with her and we hadn't been there five minutes when the doctor came in and told us that his breathing and heart had stopped and they did everything but could not revive him. He was gone. He is 25 years old and they have two children from her previous marriage and a little boy about a year old. It was a terrible shock, but we were just so glad we were there with her. Dad came over with the Bishop and they gave her a blessing. We stayed there for a couple of hours with her. She is a soldier and he had just gotten out because of this health. It was a very humbling experience! We came home and got a call from the Carthage Ward's Relief Society Pres.' husband saying that they had just had their baby. They were so excited an wanted us to come visit. Sometimes we get weary with so much going on, but we are so glad we are here to help and support people. We also met a man at church today who is in the military and he said that all his brothers and sisters are active in the church and he is on his third divorce and hasn't been a church for years, so it's time for him to come back. He went out and bought himself a dress shirt and came today. The time is flying by here at the end of our mission. We love the people here and it will be hard to leave, but we can't wait to be home with all of you!

Love Mom & Dad

North Country Mission News 9/14/09

Hi family! The picture os of the Labor Day picnic at Watertown Ward on Monday. They had a chili and pie making contest. It was lots of fun and we love these things because we can visit with so many people at once. We had pur usual busy week. We made lots of viasits and helped fix a dryer. The Burville Cider Mill is open again for the fall, so we got donuts and cider for District Mtg. The donuts are warm when you buy them and they are yummy! We made another trip to the temple this week. We took two women, one who did baptisms for the dead and one who went through a session. I held her baby while she went through. We had an ice cream social for the Young Adults on Sunday night before the CES fireside. We are getting a good group out now and it makes it so great! We will be sad to leave all of them. We had one of those amazing stories happen to us this week. There is a young soldier named Jason Hise from Florida. He was a brand new convert and we contacted him. He came to a few things and we visited him in the hospital here when he had surgery, then we didn't see him for a awhile. Each month for our YA dinner we call to remind everyone. One month we called him and he called us back and said that he had been shot breaking up a fight in Florida. He lost his spleen, part of his liver and kidney and bowel. He was in bad shape and wanted a blessing. Dad got on the computer and found some Elders in the area to go to the hospital. Later when he was home we called again to see how he was doing. He wanted another blessing so we called the Bishop in the area who sent some Elders. Last Sunday he walked into church. He had lost 30 lbs. but was doing well. He told us that the Elders had become friends of his and had been teaching him and were now teaching his friend at home. He knows he has been given a second chance and wants to be active again. The whole story is a small miracle! We are excited because many of the soldiers who left last fall will be returning soon. We can't wait to go to the welcome home ceremonies. Some of the advance party is coming back this week. Needless to say, the wives are so excited! The time is going by so quickly these past few weeks! We have so much we want to do before we leave. We send our love to all! Mom & Dad

Mission News 8/7/09

Hi Gang, Things have been hopping up here in the north country. The one picture is of the change of command ceremony for the division. Two major generals, one outgoing and the other incoming exchanged the Division flag under the watch eye of the 3 star general from the Pentagon. It was beautiful day and all the Divison units were represented with the division band and all. It was very uplifting and formal. Off in the distance just below the tree line are six 155 gun placement used for the 21 gun salute. The other is of the baptism held Sunday evening in Carthage. Brother Milot a soldier, was able to baptize his new wife of 3 days and also his 8 year old daughter, they have been waiting for over a year for his divorce to become final. One of the missionaries has just been out a week, he if from Coleville, Ut. The other is from Hooper, Ut. We are still just doing out thing. Visiting, feeding and serving. The fall has been great, sunny cool and so far dry. A lot like last year, so I guess this is how fall is up here. We made our usual trip to Utica for transfers and took one of the sisters down and brought a new on back. Our main focus is getting the new BCT (brigade) soldiers and families ready to deploy in Oct. The Stake has called group leaders for the two battalions and issued their letters of calling for the Army to certify. They get back from block leave this week and then start the packing for deployment. There are 40+ members leaving with the BCT, 21 active from Carthage and 7 active from Watertown. You can imagine how this will effect the Wards. Another BCT deploys in Jan. That will be a problem for someone else. Our hearts go out to these families and the wards. We love the work and will miss all the people, but we are ready to see all of you. Keep the faith and hug the little one for us. Mom and Dad

North Country Mission News 8/30/09

Hi everyone! We have had a good week this week. We started with a District activity (miniature golf and lunch at a Chinese place). We are glad because three of the missionaries are being transferred. We love the young missionaries! We also attended the memorial for the soldiers killed in the month of July. Most of the lives lost are from Ft. Drum since they deploy more here than anywhere else. They have a memorial once each month to honor the fallen soldiers. This one was held outside and was so dignified and respectful and beautiful. There were six killed in July. They begin with prayer and the Star Spangled Banner then tell a short thought about each soldier given by another soldier from his unit. The general says a few words and then they play taps and have a moment of silence. They have a large picture of each soldier that the family keeps. Today in sacrement meeting in Carthage Ward they asked a soldier home on leave to bear his testimony. Bro. Solberg has five children, three teens, and is a computer guy for the Army. He spoke of his appreciation for little things coming home like green grass and trees and rain. He hadn't seen rain in Iraq since March. He then spoke of the church meetings they held in his area. He said they had about fifteen men that met together each week and his favorite meeting was fast and testimony meeting. The spirit is so strong in those meetings as they each share their testimonies. He told of the Ugandan forces over in Iraq and that they were the security guards for their area. They had been sharing the gospel with two of them and they were eager to learn more. One man named Moses wants to be baptized and then he told of the new mission opened up in Uganda and that his family was taking the lessons back there. Bro. Solgerg said that he realized that there is a bigger picture over there and that the blessings of the Priesthood are in Iraq and people are being coverted to the gospel there. It is always so great to hear the stories of those who come back. We have so much respect for these people and all they give up! We hope all is well at home. We have so much to do before we leave. We send our love to you all!! Mom & Dad

We didn't get around to the blog last week. Thanks for the birthday cards and greetings. We also had our 44th anniversary on the 19th. We're getting up there. We have done a lot of visiting lately! Some new soldiers left and we are visiting their wives. One lady is so upset. It's her hauband's third deployment and she is sure something bad is going to happen. She cries and cries. We don't really know what to do for her except listen. We helped the Sisters clean their apartment. They moved because something in the old apartment was making one of the Sister sick. We got two new, great families who moved into the Carthage Ward. Dad helped both of them out with some projects in the homes they have moved into. We have been teaching Institute almost all summer as the teacher has been gone. We visited a man in a rehab center who has had another bad stroke. They did not think he would make it and he is rocovering well. He knows he has another chance for a reason. He is currently repenting. On Friday the 14th we went up to Lake Placid for my birthday. The drive through the Aderondaks is beautiful. Last time we were there the museums were all closed for the winter. We went to the Olympics Museum and dad is pictured in front of the famous hockey goal when the Americans beat the Russians. Also, the other picture is of Lake Placid and the mountain called Whiteface behind it where the ski competitions took place. It is only 4500 ft. Yesterday we went to Palmyra again and took two men who had not been. It is always so beautiful and has such a spirit. We continue to help out and visit and do what we can. Missionary work is indeed work! We send our love to you all!

North Country Mission News 8/9/09

We got an email from a couple who will be replacing us. they are from Kaysville and he is retired Air Force. We are excited because they should be out here the last week of October so we will be a ble to leave and be home around the first part of November. We only have a few weeks left and we are trying to get everything and everyone in. We have some temple trips, etc. to make and so many to visit before we go. This week we visited the Maple Museum in Croghan, New York. It was really fun and is located in an old school in a tiny town. The other picture was taken on the way to Clayton as we saw these Amish selling baked goods by the road. We had a picnic at Watertown park for the Young Adults this week. We had a great turnout and lots of fun. Lots of the soldiers came but then left for training for a month. We have had two great new military families move in this week and we have been out helping them do house repairs. We also went to a home to put in a new dishwasher. They have 4 year old twins and they love us to come with our prize bag. They are inactive, but the mom wanted a blessing as she had not been feeling well. When we were leaving the little boy said, Don't go! We said we would come visit again and he said, Come give a blessing and bring prizes. They hug and hug us. We had a family move recently and the children called us Grandma and Grandpa. We get very attatched to these people! We always end up taking some dinners in because that is one thing everyone appreciates, especially the women alone. We had our first Zone Conference with the new Pres. It was very different, but very good. It is always uplifting to attend. We send our love to all and wish you the best! You are always in our prayers!

Love, Mom & Dad

North Country Mission News 8/2/09

Hi everyone, Things have been busy as usual, lots going on up here. There is always movement in the military in the summer months. Training, vacations, leave, moving, deployments and lots of rain. It has been a disappointing summer as far as the weather goes, but the bright side is everything is sure green. The pictures are interesting and varied. One is of the FHE Black River swimming event. You can see how wide the river is and green the shore line is. It is really a pretty spot. It is in the back yard of one of the YSA in the ward. We went to the re-enactment of the battle for Sacketts Harbor in the war of 1812. They set up a period camp one the exact spot,with all the uniforms, rifles and such. They are really history buffs up here. So great care was taken to have authentic clothes, tents, shoes, cooking and even the food. All the rifles had to work and use black powder. It was a great way to spent our P-day and learn about some history. One of our YSA, Amy who has been here since we first came, deployed Friday with her MP Company to Iraq. This is a shot inside the Gym of the deployment ceremony. People are still moving in and out all the time. It seems like a lot of confusion to us but the army people take it in stride. This December there will be 3 Brigades deployed at the same time, that's 12,000 + soldiers at one time a first for Fort Drum. You can imagine what kind of a impact that will have on the community not to mention the wards. One BCT leaves in Oct. for Iraq taking a counselor in the bishopric, the young mens president, 3 sunday school teachers, elders quorum counselors, exec. secretary and most of the YSA soldiers. Not one of them is leaving kicking or screaming, I'm sure some of the spouses have thought about it. We attended a 2 star Generals briefing to the new incoming soldiers. He made the statement that of the 306 million Americans today less than 1% wear the uniform. That adds new meaning to the statement. "Never have so many owed so much to so few" We feel very blessed to be here and get the chance to serve these soldiers and their families. It's a very special experience almost daily. We still miss you guys and trust you are keeping the faith, hug all those little one for us. Love Mom and Dad

North Country News 7/26/09

Hi Everyone, This has been another great week to be in the missionfield. Still cool and wet but typical for this summer. It will be fall soon and still no summer weather. They, the old farmers, say this has been the coldest and wetttest summer since 1972. It figures we're here. It is actually quite comfortable, we haven't felt that hot muggy thing yet. The two pictures are from this week. We came across this Amish flat bed wagon at a hitching post right in Lowville. You can see how the men are dressed with the straw hat and black clothes. There was actually a woman and child also but they're covered up. Kind of quaint isn't it. We will miss the Amish, they are a very peaceful group. The other is of our monthly dinner, we held it later in the month because some of the soldiers were on block leave. It was our largest turnout so far there were 18 people, 10 soldiers, 3 non-members. After they scarfed down all the food they played volley ball for a hour. They all seemed to enjoy the activity. On Sunday we were invited to dinner at Col Haight's, he is the brigade commander who is in Afghan. now. It is alway fun to go there because she sets a great table and is a great conversationists. Lot of war stories stuff. Their son comes home from his mission next month. We spent alot of time helping a spouse whose husband is in Afghan. move. She put their stuff in storage and is going home to help with her aging grandmother. It was military housing so cleaning was the big chore. I helped shampoo the carpets but had to fix the machine first, it figures. It was transfer week in the mission but in our district no one moved so we got out of the usual trip to Utica. I guess the new mission President did the smart thing and is waiting for the dust to settle on his arrival before he shakes things up. I told them before hand they weren't going to move

North Country News 7/19/09

Hi family! Monday was District activity and we took the missionaries out to lunch in Lowville and to the park for basketball and frisbee. It is still pretty cool and rainy here. At pageant they had to stop the show one night because of lightning but they did finish later. This week we have spent a lot of time helping a sister move off post to home because her grandmother is sick. Her husband is in Iraq so the Ward has helped. We have cleaned her carpets, etc. Her little kids call us grandma and grandpa every time they see us and give us big hugs. We are teaching Institute lessons all this summer as the teacher is gone most of the time. This Sunday we had some new families show up to Carthage Ward. It is thrilling to get good solid members that move in. One of the pictures shows a grain elevator painted like the flag. Around here there is a great deal of Americana everywhere you go. It's great! This particular farm is a favorite of dads. We have had some problems with the young missionaries overstepping their bounds on Ft. Drum and we called the new Mission Pres. since the missionaries would not listen to us. He called the Military Mission Dept and got it all straightened out. He will be good! We are enjoying our days here and we love the people so much. There is never a dull moment!! We send our love to all!

North Country News 7/12/09 added picture

North Country News 7/12/09

We have had a very eventful week! We began the week by taking a group of Young Adults to a concert and fireworks in the Watertown Park. The Syracuse Symphony gives a concert and then the fireworks follow. The whole twon shows up and it was lots of fun! Everyone puts out chairs and blankets on the hillside and has a great time. We took a gift and dinner to a young couple with a new baby, made three trips to a disabled soldier's home to fix his washing machine, made some visits in Clayton, attended a birthday surprise party and made lots of other visits. The best part of our week, however, was when we saw those two big motor homes pull up at Hill Cumorah! It was so great to see everyone and we had a great day together. We toured all the sites at Palmyra and the kids were great. The pictures are of the stage and chairs at Hill Cumorah set up for Pageant. The other picture is in the Sacred Grove. We loved the Pageant and we all made it through to the end. The next day we spent the day at the campground with the family and made a trip to the outlet mall nearby. We drove home that evening and tried to get back in the missionary groove. It was so fun to meet Carter even though his lip quivered every time we held him. Everyone has grown so much. We are ready now to get back to work and do nour best these last few months! We send our love to all. Mom & Dad

North Country News 6/6/09

Hi Gang, Well June ended with a real rush and July came in wet and cold. It sure doesn't seem like July or even summer when the temp. is in the low 70's and its raining all the time. We are at least used to it by now. Our week was filled up with visits and fix up projects. It may seen routine but believe me lots goes on in those two areas. In the visits life stores are told and in the fixup areas there have been some real stumpers. We have learned to be patient and take things as they come. It has been very uplifting watching the arm of the Lord in action in the lives of these people. Not to mention the tender mercies. Col Haight, 3rd BCT commander, was home on R&R from Afghanistan and was at Church. We had a great talk about the war there, he is so mater of fact and upfront. He made it a real point to talk with the spouses of his troops who were at church. He was very concerned about them and their families. He is a great example of a modern day rightous military leader. Saturday we met our new mission president and his wife. (Picture) the Bullocks from southern Utah. She grew up in Circleville and he grew up in Ceder City. He has been a CES Administrator for the past 15 years but began as a seminary teacher in Centerville and went on to Viewment leaving in 1979, just missing the Larsen chain. They seem to be great people. It will be interesting to watch what changes are made in the mission. The other picture is of one of our rare sunset up here. This was just after a stormy day and the clouds were beautiful. Sunday evening we went up to Wellsley Island on the St. Lawrance to a members house on the river to watch Fireworks over Bolt Castle. It was Great there were 200 hundred people there, lots of ward members, food and good conversation. The firework lasted for about a hour boats filled the river to watch. Four of our soldiers came and they really enjoyed the break from barracks life. This is a really a busy time for soldiers, block leave (2 wks) training at Ft Polk (4 Wks) More block leave then deployment in Oct. For the next month of so they are gone. We are still loving the work and are really looking forward to seeing the crazy caravan bunch (Scott's term) this week. Take care and stay out of trouble. Mom and Dad

mission News 6/28/09

This week we lost 7 of the departing families. They have moved on to other posts. We will really miss them. It seems so sad that we may never see those people again. The Army people say that we will all have a big reunion in Heaven. As part of our week we took a newly baptized girl up shopping for a shower curtain, etc for her apartment she has rented. It is so amazing to see the change in lifestyle the gospel brings. She drank and smoked, was a bartender and said that she always drowned her depression by getting drunk. Her sister joined the church and she watched her life change and so she decided she wanted what her sister had. She had done drugs, had to quit smoking and drinking, had to give up her friends so she quit her job because they were mad at her for the changes she had made. Some of them brought anti Mormon literature, etc. She applied for a new job and started until a background check came up with past drug charges. She had put money down on a small apartment and now had no job. She found another job at a gas station, but had no money to buy the things for the apartment. We helped her with some of the things and the Ward members rounded up furniture for her. She is so great and so grateful for her new way of life. We spent most of this week visiting some of the people we had not visited for awhile. We have made friends with so many and it is fun to visit. On Saturday we took our p day as there is a big annual air show on the airfield every year at this time. It was an amazing undertaking. It is free to everyone and has all kinds of displays where you can go inside all of the aircraft. The pictures show dad in front of an old B-17 called the Memphis Belle and then in front of a Chinook. The air show had jets, old fashioned planes, all doing acrobatics and amazing tricks. They had food tents and military displays and lots to see. There were thousands of people and then they have a country music concert and fireworks that are also free in the evening. It was a fun day! The Wards and Stakes around here are busy getting things set up for Pageant. It is getting exciting! Our new mission Pres. comes tomorrow and we meet him next Saturday. We send our love to all!

North Country News 6/22/09

Hi everyone, We had a great week with lots going on. At Zone conference Pres. and Sister Eckersley said goodby to us. They leave on the 30th of June with the new Pres. and his wife arriving then. It was one of those bitter sweet things. It will be great for them, after 3 years they deserve a break, but it is hard to see them leave we have become good friends. This mission is full of people coming and going. We aren't enjoying that part of it. It will be interesting to see if things change with a new mission president. We also got a chance to go down to see the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. We took the Elders from Watertown down to the mission home and there was no one to bring back so we drove the 1-1/2 hrs from Utica to Coopertown. The one picture of Elder Larsen standing in the Hall of Fame at the beginning. It's a great little town with all kinds of shops selling baseball memorbilia. There were lots of Little League teams roming around shopping. It was almost more fun watching the excited kids enjoying the shops. Engraved bats seem to be the hot item. The Hall of Fame itself was very interesting and historic. It beat the Boxing Hall of Fame all to heck. It is worth seeing even with the long drive home. Anyway we crossed of another need to see item from our list. We had 4 of our active military families leave for other Posts this week, it was hard to see them leave. There will be 3 other families leaving soon also. They take it all in stride and look upon it as a upward and onward change. June and July on military Posts are fun times for the soldies there are lots of 4 day weekends and the soon to be deployed have block leave. Lots of the families go home to see their families so both the wards suffer for attendance. We have a Brigade deploying in Oct. so from here on they will be taking leave and doing hard core training. This will be the third brigade we have been able to watch deploy since coming here. It's guite a process to watch unfold especially with the soldiers and families. The soldiers are pulled two ways, they look forward to being down range (deployed) and doing their thing but at the same time don't want to leave their loved ones. Seeing this part of the process makes one realize how much of a sacriface the soldiers are making. It is a uplifting
thing to watch. We love you all and miss being with you. Thanks for all the calls, cards and the picture was fantastic where did you ever find it. How appropriate for our situation. You are all great. Hug all the little ones for us. Mom and Dad

New From Up North 6/14/09

Hi Gang, We had a great visit with Bob and Molly and Megan and Luke. We picked them up at the airport and went to Palmyra and then the next day we visited the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario and the sites close to them. We had a great time together and enjoyed the visit. They took a boat trip over from Alexandria Bay to a small island to a place called Bolt Castle. We also visited a small lakeside town called Clayton and then onto Sacketts Harbor which is a historical site from the War of 1812 and is on Lake Ontario. On Monday before they came we had a miniature golf activity with our Young Adults. We had 18 attend, a record for us. One of the soldiers who had not been coming for a long time came with a new girl who is in his unit. We have had quite a few new ones show up lately. We are also losing about 5 great families these next two weeks. They are moving on to other posts. It is difficult to think that we might never see them again. We will try to keep in touch. Another amazing thing happened this week. We ran home between visits on Saturday and Adam Lindsey was waiting outside our apt. He is at Cambridge which is fairly close and came by to see us. We had a geat visit and it is always so good to see someone from home. We are never bored here! We lost the Elders in the area last week and now only have Sisters in Watertown and a set of Elders in Carthage. This should simplify things a little for us. We send our love to all! Mom & Dad

News from the field 6/8

Hi Gang, It has been another busy week up here. It seem like the work is increasing all the time. The pictures are from our last trip to Palmyra the past weekend. We took Jessica our YSA leader in the Carthage ward to the temple for her endowments. She has been a member for 7 years and the only member in her family. Her father is still opposed to it. She works as a librarian in Carthage, is very faithful and dedicated to the church, which has become her family. We were blessed to teach her the temple preparation lessons and help her get her clothing ordered. It was another great day to be in the temple. Several of the ward members were there to support her. They had a testimony meeting in the grove after for the Relief Society sisters there, Mom said it was very special. We are so blessed to be able to go to Palmyra so often in line with our calling. Last Sunday I picked up 6 soldiers from Post for church, it was max for our car. We don't know what we will do if others call next week. Our most recent soldier is from Clinton, Utah, he has been here for 2 weeks and just called the ward Sunday morning. It is exciting for everyone when new members just show up with out having to search them out. The weather is slowly warming up, but still cooler than last year when we got here. I think there has been alittle less rain also. An end of a era will happen this week in Watertown as far as missionary work goes. The Elders are moving out so there will be just Sister here for the time being. Elders have been in Watertown as far back as anyone can remember. It's sad in a way our mission was the top baptizing in the northeast last year and we are going from 110 missionaries to 90, this is the first round of decreasing areas. In the future there will be just one set of missionaries per church unit (ward/branch). It's a combination of fewer missionaries coming out, the raising of the bar and the economy thing. We will take the Elders down to Utica on Wednesday for the last time. The sisters will be here with a car which should greatly help us in giving rides. They will have a large area to cover and the ward members will have to step it up a lot. Sister Todd (her husband was a KIA in Iraq) was here to gather up her belongings and move home. We spent a couple of days helping her clean and fixing some plumbing problems, it was good to spend some time and serve her. She is putting the home up for sale and going back home in Washington to family. We love the work and the people here it will be hard to leave. If and when that every happens. Mom and Dad

North Country News 5/31/09

Hi Gang, This week has been very typical as far as being busy. We have much to do and find ourselves prioritising things more to get the most important things (people) first. We did alot of traveling also which takes time. We took the Elders from Carthage to Utica for Return and Report on Friday, that's an all day trip, 0530 to 1900 hrs. Saturday we drove to Palmyra for the Horton's Endowment and Sealing. They were both soldiers, he was an inactive member from Utah and she joined the church last year. When they had the baby she got out of the army, he is due to deploy to Iraq on the 8th of June, his 3rd time there. He is a combat engineer by trade an E6 who will make E7 while on deployment. We have been teaching them the temple preparation lessons and they are a great couple. Thrilled about the baby of course. The sealing was very special with their 3 week old son on the alter. We will be going to Palmyra temple next week also to take a YSA we have been teaching the temple preparations lessons too, is getting her endowments. The grove is so beautiful this time of year, we can't help but stop by and see it each time we go down there, it is only about a 1/2 block away from the temple. Is has definitely become one our most precious places here, we will surely miss it. Mom got her stitches out on thursday and everything looks great. The work is going well of course and the Lord seems to put us in the right places at the right time it still amazes us how we meet inactive members all the time. Summer brings some interesting challenges for the army, lots of families move out and new ones move in. A little more upheavel than we would like or can keep up with. We love the work and the people are just great. Keep up the great work you are doing with our grandchildren. Love Mom and Dad

Mission News 5/24/09

Hi Gang, We had a rather unusual week this week. We began the week with visits and making packets and volleyball at FHE. Tuesday was my surgery day. We drove to Liverpool. I took a sleeping pill on the way and with the gas he gave me I don't remember anything. He cut off the root, cleaned out the infection and filled in the root of the tooth. I still have some pretty big stitches. I slept most of the day while dad went to district meeting. On Wednesday we went to watch two of our members perform at a cultural event on post. They had a whole group of Samoans do the Haka dance and other groups performed. They fed everyone lunch (of which I couldn't eat much) and it was a great party! On Thursday the Mission Pres. and his wife came up to interview for a baptism and they took us out to lunch. They leave the mission at the end of June. On Friday we took food for a baptism over to the Sisters because we would not be there. We met our Young Adults at the church at 4:00 and went to Palmyra for a weekend activity called "Gathering at the Grove". They had registration and a dance on Friday night at the Stake Center (right across from the temple). Most of the kids camped at Zions Camp at the foot of Hill Cumorah. On Saturday they had breakfast, service projects or tours of the church sites, lunch, Elder Cook of the 70's spoke, workshops, dinner, a no talent talent show and a dance in the evening. Over 300 young adults attended from Canada and parts of New York State. Dad and I were able to get a temple session in on Saturday. Our favorite part of the day was Sat. morning dad took his run through the Grove and I went and spent an hour by myself in the Grove. It is so beautiful in the spring with a carpet of green everywhere (note the picture). On Sunday they had breakfast and then a Sacrament meeting at 11:00. They had a chorus of Young Adults with violin sing "How Lovely Was the Morning". It was so beautiful and they only had a short time to practice as anyone could sign up. We watched the new Joseph Smith movie at the Hill Cumorah visitor's center and then drove home. We feel so blessed to do these things. We have had such great experiences here and we love the young adults! We hope to settle into a more normal week with lots of visits, meetings, etc. We send our love to all!

Mpm & Dad

Mission News 5/17/09

Sorry for no blog last week. We get too busy sometimes. First of all, thanks to you all for the Mother's Day gifts, goodies and gift cards! It was great to hear from all of you. I'm lucky to be your mom! We have done a great deal these past two weeks. We started out with our Young Adult monthly dinner. Sunday we also brought food and had a YA fireside broadcast. Last week we delivered about 35 Mother's Day gifts to the women whose husbands are gone. These are great visits! They are short and the women loved being remembered and visited. It is especially great for the inactives because there is no agenda, just a friendly visit and asking them how we can help. They warm right up. We are learning to love so many of the families and getting to know them well now. We are doing a lot of driving lately. None of the soldiers in the YA group have a car so we leave an hour early to pick up and an extra hour at the end to take home for Family Home Evening, Institute and church. Also, we had Zone Conference last week in Utica, went to Palmyra on Saturday to take a girl who was just baptized and another to the temple. We will be going to Palmyra the next three weekends. We had a baptism last Saturday after which the Elders were playing basketball and one of them sprained his ankle badly and we were up half the night checking on him at the hospital with the other five Elders. About three a.m. they determined it was not broken, so everyone went home. We also drove a young sister to Syracuse for a counseling session, visited in the Psyche Ward a young woman who lost control and resisted police, helped paint, taught Institute class, cleaned out a storage room and took home piles of blankets to wash, took in several meals, etc. Our time here is certainly not boring. The pictures with this blog are two of the favorites of this week. The first is at Zone Conference with all the missionaries studying their scriptures just before the Mission Pres. enters. The second was in Clayton while we were visiting some members. The little town is on the St. Lawrence River and we saw a huge container ship pass by. It is about the length of two football fields. The spring is so beautiful here. Everything turned green in a matter of two weeks and it it so pretty. The Sacred Grove is all a light green with the new leaves and beautiful spring flowers along the paths. Today was Stake Conference after which we brought home 8 young adults for dinner. We had a great time. We send our love to all and wish you the best. You are in our prayers every day! Love, Mom & Dad

Mission News 5/5/09

Hi Gang, sorry this blog is so late we have had some very busy days lately. The picture is of our YSA group at FHE last week. They wanted to play volleyball and really had a great time. The soldier in the back court with the black tee shirt is Tongaian and was really into it. He is back from Iraq and is from West Valley. There were three soldiers playing and they had a lot of fun with each other. This is what the inside of the Carthage ward looks like with all the chairs down. The big problem this past week was Mom losing her phone. What a Glich that turned out to be. Tuesday night we took the Elders to dinner at their favorite place, Texas Road House. We then drove down to Utica and stayed at the mission home, because one of the Elders from Carthage was being transfered. It wasn't until Wednesday morning that we realized the phone was missing. We thought it was at home and didn't worry about it much. All day Wednesday was spent at the mission office for training because a new Elder was coming back with us. When we got home, Matt had left a message that our phone was at the Road House. When we went over to get it, they told us someone had already picked it up. We got on-line and suspended our phone after learning it was being used and two overseas calls had been made, so we ordered a new one. When the new phone came 4 days later it was missing a SIM card, we are still waiting for that. I can't wait to reprogram all the numbers into the new phone. The lesson is don't loose a cell phone EVER. Mom has been having some trouble with one of her root canals and is going to have endodontic surgery on the 19. They are going to go in through the gum and cut off the affected root and plug it off, if this doesn't work they will have to pull the tooth. She is not excited about the whole process but we'll survive I'm sure. This past Sunday was a really busy day as usual we had CES Fireside for the YSA with a light dinner, pizza and salad prior to. The broadcast was from BYU, Ricks and Apostle Bednar spoke for 50 minutes, it was great. There was a investigator there who is going to be baptized this coming Saturday. She was so thrilled to see so many YSA in the audience. It is hard for people out here to see how really large this church is because they are not around large groups of LDS. She has only been going to the Carthage ward, stake conference will be a real eye opener for her. The work is great, always lots to do and people to feed. Take care of yourselves and especially the little ones. We love and miss you all. Mom and Dad

Mission News 4/26/09

Hi Gang, Here are two typical missionary pictures from our district activity day. Transfers are this coming week, one of the Elders is going south and our district gets a greeney to train. It seems like someone is always leaving and someone is coming, both in the military and missionaries. You get use to the constant change of people. The young couple with the twins is leaving tomorrow for Fort Huachuca, Az. We have grown close to them, I was able to give the little girl another blessing when she went back to the hospital this past week. It continues to amaze us how things work out. We were up taking dinner to a family whose son has leukemia when we got a call from the couple. They were in the process of moving when the little girl twin starting getting jaunticed again. They took her to the hospital and called us about blessing her. Now this is a part member, inactive couple who lost their first child less than a year ago. It is interesting to see how they responded to this problem by going to the church first. We were greatful of course for the opportunity and the little girl is doing fine now. The deployed husbands of our spouses and beginning to come home now for R & R. We met our first one today at church. He was in the heat of things in Afghanistan less than 3 days ago. It is fun to watch the family cling to them, they are home for 18 days and then go back to the zone as they call it. These families are just great, they live with so much day to day stress and just keep going. We are humbled by it all. The weather is beginning to break, yesterday was the warmest 25th of April since 1916, at 82 degrees. We have lived through several record breaking days so far on our mission. We have a good group of YSA now who are all active and come to everything. Today a new female soldier from SLC showed up at church which was great for moral also. We love the work and feel so thankful to be here at this time and in this place and to have the experiences we have daily. We miss you all and pray for you. Mom and Dad