Mission News 3/15/09

Hi Gang, These are some of the typical things we saw this past week in the north country.  I don't know which one will show up first, it always seems to be different.  I will talk about each one and you can figure it out.  Early spring is maple sugar collecting time up here.  We came across this house on our way home from district mtg. in Lowville, it was right off the road.  Those white paper like bags attached to trunks are actually closed plastic bags with attached tubes to tap the trees.  When the bags get full of sugar maple sap they are poured into a big vat and boiled until concentrated.  The result is a amber colored syrup which is much sought after in these parts. Pure maple syrup which goes for about $10 a pint.  The next picture is one of those once in a life time power of nature things.  At a place called Tippets Point just south of the small town of Cape Vincent, where the Saint Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario, when conditions a just right in early spring the ice that has formed on the lake all winter begins to break up. As it thaws and if the wind is just right the ice chunks are blown against the shore line in huge piles.  You can see that some of the ice chunks are quite large, these piles go on for about a half mile.  It was really something to see, nature has unbelievable power. We were out visiting members who told us about it. The other picture is of a baptism in Carthage of a young spouse whose husband, a member, is in Afghan. She met two other spouses who are members and had no chance. The three of them have been a real help to the ward.  Another example of the long arm of the Lord reaching out for souls. We took the missionaries bowling on Post for their P-day which is Monday.  They bowled for three hours and loved it.  This coming week is transfers and two of the missionaries in Watertown, an Elder and Sister are moving out. The mission is also consolidating the two districts, Watertown and Carthage in one. That should make it easier for us.  The weather is easing up and you can feel a change coming even the geese are coming back in flocks.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.  We love the work and are strengthened by the people we work with.  The gospel continues to roll forth up here.  Love and miss you all. Mom and Dad

Mission News 3/8/09

We began this week by attending the National Prayer Breakfast at Ft. Drum.  It was put into law by Pres. Eisenhower years ago.  It was mostly attended by soldiers with breakfast and a speaker and a prayer for the country and the soldiers.  On Monday we had our Young Adult dinner for the month.  We are always glad when that is done, but we always get a great response to it.  We do lots of different things each week such as driving a girl down to Syracuse for a counseling session, replacing a battery in a single soldier mom's car, visiting many others.  We had two memorable visits this week.  We went to a home for dinner with the Elders and the little boy, about 18 months old wanted Dad to pick him up and when he did he gave him about a 10 minute hug, just hanging on tight.  He obviously missed his dad.  Another visit was meant to be.  We took dinner to an inactive family whose husband was gone and when we knocked on the door he answered.  It turns out that their little boy was diagnosed with leukemia and they sent the dad straight home to be with his family.  He is being treated and doing fairly well.  We were able to report to the Bishop today about it and they were setting up help for the family.  Friday was Dad's birthday so we took our P Day and went to visit the Boxing Hall of Fame in Conastoga and the Oneida silverware factory store in Oneida.  It was the first warm day in so long and we had fun.  We send our love to all.  Thanks for the birthday calls and cards!     

News from the north country

Hi Gang,  First of all congrat. to Scott and Jen and Leah's birth, we missed another one. It has been a busy and varied week in the cold north country.  We took lots of meals to spouses and their families.  Attended The Merchant of Venice at the college with the YSA on Institute night.  The most impressive event of the week was a memorial service for the four young helicopter pilots who died in a crash of two Kiowa's in Iraq on Jan 25th.  The crash was listed a KIA due to enemy fire.  All four were with the 10th Aviation BCT from Ft Drum and left families, one was Ben Todd a member of the Watertown ward. It was a very sobering service with lots of Army tradition.  Each soldier was memorized by a fellow pilot and a series of pictures.  After the service members of the ward and the Stake Presidency were there for a picture.  We also helped a spouse finish up some grouting in her kitchen in an old home she and her deployed husband had been working on.  We love and miss you all, hang in there and keep the home fires burning. Mom and Dad 

 

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News from the north country

Hi Gang, We took this picture today of the snowmobile races on Black River.  You can see that the weather is still holding, cold. It's a pretty wide river with a lot of weight on it and no one seems worried about cracking.  Mom and I couldn't believe they were out there.  Our week was busy with visits and travel.  We took dinner to two spouses and their families. One who was very sick and needed help. She has two small children, her husband just deployed as a sniper to Afghan. We also visited a spouse of a deployed soldier.  She has 5 children one of which is autistic. You can imagine how full her plate is.  She is 34 and has a 17 year old son, do the math. She was young when she had him. She also has 15 and 12 year old daughters, the 5 year old autistic son and a two year old boy.  She is holding things together pretty well.  When we asked if we could help her with anything she mentioned that her vacuum wasn't working.  I took a look at it and found two very large nails lodged in the belt. It took about 5 minutes, the daughter immediately began to vacuum with it.  The husband is in the heart of things in Afghan. I recently sent him some serviceman's  scriptures that he asked his wife for.  They have been an inactive family for about a year. We made two white knuckled trips to Utica this week also in snow storms.  One for Zone conference on Thursday and another for a couples party on Friday.  We have three couples leaving in the next two months and one couple just arrived.  It is always fun to get together. We have a great sit down dinner at the mission home and President Eckersley always brings us up to date on the world wide missions progress.  He talked about how the economic down turn has dropped the Church's stock portfolio by 40% and how this will effect the church and the missions.  Already senior couples going of missions are down by 14%.  We are all in for some interesting times ahead.  A good time to fill up the old oil vessels. We certainly enjoy this work and the great military people. We also miss you all and pray for you.  Take care of yourselves give the kids a big hug for us.  Mom and Dad       

  

NY Mission News 2/15/09

We had a busy week beginning on Monday with a Young Adult bowling activity.  We had a great turnout with the picture showing only part of the group.  The silver haired woman is the institute teacher here.  She an old Army nurse and her husband is an oral surgeon who is retired military.  They live here in a beautiful area in Alexandres Bay on Lake Ontario.  We had our new soldiers show up again, so it was successful!  This week we visited the families of the deployed and took dinner to some.  Friday night the Watertown Ward had a valentine party.  On Saturday we had one of those amazing mission days.  We took four young girls down to the temple.  Two of them have husbands in Afghanistan, one is going to be baptized next week, one has her husband away in Special Forces training and she is a soldier too.  None of them have children yet.  Sister Clark was baptized in December and went to do baptisms for the dead.  The Mission Pres. wants them to the temple within 90 days of baptism.  Two of the others went on a session and the other girl waited for us.  We then went to the Sacred Grove and Hill Cumorah.  The grove was barren and snow covered, but still peaceful and beautiful.  Two of the girls knew each other but the others got acquainted easily.  We had good clear weather and it was a great day.  The girl who is to be baptized is friends with one of the active members.  We knew she didn't stand a chance because she had been there for blessings, etc. and her husband is a member.  The combination was a blessing because they all hit it off and will help and support each other.  It is a rare privilege to be involved in the lives of these people.  We learn to love them as we serve them.  We love Palmyra and are so blessed to have an area like this to bring members and investigators to visit.  We send our love to all!

blarsen1474

News from the frozen north

This week we saw the best and the worst of military life here on Ft. Drum.  On Thursday we went with one of the military wives to her husband's welcome home.  They have four little kids and he had been gone with an MP unit for 15 months.  It was so much fun to be there, it never gets old.  This time they had a live military band and it gives you chills when they all march out and they play the Star Spangled Banner and the Army song.  These military wives continue to amaze us.  This soldier had been deployed six times in five years.  Some of them short deployments, but he still has been gone so much.  We also were very saddened to be called by the Bishop on Monday evening to tell us that one of the Watertown soldiers had been killed in a helicopter collision in Iraq.  He was flying a Kiowa helicopter.  We took pictures of he and his wife and baby the night he left.  He helped Dad give blessings to three of the Young Adults before he left that night.  His wife left to go back to Washington after he left, so she was there when the news came.  We had a special fast meeting in the family's honor today at church.  Many of the military wives bore testimony and expressed the fact that they knew the risks and accepted them when their husbands left, leaving it in the Lord's hands.  They have great strength and faith.  It was a very emotional meeting.  The Stake Pres. spoke briefly.  They will have a memorial service on post for all 4 soldiers.  Two of our ward members had the duty to go inform the families of the death of their husbands and fathers.   One bore his testimony and said that his only duty for the next few months will be to the wife he was assigned to help.  The wives know immediately what has happened when they open the door and see a soldier dressed in his Class A uniform.  All expressed how fragile life is and how we should treasure time with family.  These families have such unity and support each other so unselfishly.

On a lighter note, this is one of the worst winters in 40 years.  We have had snow every day for over a month and it has been 20 or below almost every day.  We have still been out and around as normal.  The car does great in the snow.  We are glad that two months of winter are gone.  We do love the work and are privileged to be part of the lives of these people.  We send our love to all of you and think of you often.  Pray for us, we need all the help we can get!  Love, Mom & Dad