Message 31 October 2011

Message—31 October 2011

Dear Family & Friends,

This past week has all been long days and short nights for us.  Tuesday we did our apartment checks in the Palmyra North Zone of our mission.  This includes apartments located in Lyons, Newark, Marion, Palmyra (White House which is located on the Joseph Smith Farm on the corner of Stafford Road and Temple Drive) there are six Sister Missionaries who share this large home; then we also did an apartment very near the Mission Office in Fairport and the apartment in which the Zone Leaders live in Pittsford.  The missionaries in this zone, and the Palmyra South Zone were attending a Mission Leadership Training meeting in the Palmyra Stake Center.  At lunch time we stopped in at the training meeting to help the other two couples from the Mission Office Staff; serve lunch to the missionaries.  President Christianson did most of the training at the Leadership Training.  On Wednesday we attended the Rochester and Buffalo Zone Leadership Training meeting in the chapel in Batavia which started at 9am and went to 4pm.  We helped with the lunch and snacks for this meeting.

On Thursday we used the help of zone leaders and some missionaries to move all the furniture and furnishings out of two different apartments.  One senior couple, Elder & Sister Bird, was released to go home on Wednesday, so we had to empty their apartment in the morning and take it to the Mission Storage Sheds and put all the items into storage.  Then in the afternoon we went to Palmyra and had to do the same thing for a senior couple, Elder and Sister Nelson, who had just completed a Palmyra Temple Mission.  This couple used to live in the Provo 2^nd ward years ago when the Stake President was G. Marion Hinckley; the Provo 2^nd ward was part of the Provo West Stake at that time.

On Friday we were asked to work in the Mission Office during the afternoon so Sister McVea could go with a neighbor friend from Orem, Sister Morris, to help her find the graves of some of her ancestors who are buried in our mission area.  Sister Jensen took care of some work Sister McVea gave her.  Elder Jensen helped Elder McVea and Elder Servoss with doing some inspection of older mission cars that have been replaced by newer cars last week, all six cars are new Toyota Corolla’s.  This inspection is part of the process to gather needed information so the people in the Church Offices can set a price at which the cars can be sold to anyone who wants to buy one of the cars.  We also did a post-delivery check on two of the new cars that have not yet been assigned to missionaries.

Saturday we did our four hour assigned shift at the ward Family History Center in the morning.  In the afternoon we made up a printed program for the baptism of Casey Reichhart, a new convert the elders have been teaching.  I have mentioned her in previous letters.  Many people here in the ward have been praying that Casey’s mother would give her permission to be baptized.  These prayers were all answered a week ago when Casey’s mother gave her permission.  Her mother attended the baptism service.  There were many ward members who also attended.  It was a great service with a strong presence of the Holy Spirit.  Casey was baptized by Elder Olsen; then on Sunday in Sacrament meeting Elder Swanner confirmed her and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Casey is a very happy new member of the church.  She had three of her friends, who are non-members, attend the baptism.  Another recent convert, Marin, from the area of Greece NY who is attending the Brockport College and living in the dorms on campus, also attended and brought two of her non-member friends.  Following the baptism, a ward social had been organized; and Casey’s mother and one of Casey’s friends; and Marin and her two friends, stayed for the ward social.  On Sunday one of Casey’s friends came to all three meetings, and also Marin and her two friends came for all three meetings.

Halloween in NY is a big celebration with many Halloween type decorations at homes; and also many of the smaller towns and villages put Halloween decorations out in front of the stores.  One of our neighboring apartments have manikin sized Halloween figures, some are people some are skeletons, and he has a huge 6 foot diameter spider in a web hanging from his veranda above his front door; flanked on both sides by two 2 foot diameter spiders.  For FHE we are going to attend a Halloween social which is a harvest ball and dance; with the senior couples in our mission, which will be held in the basement of the Hill Cumorah Visitor’s Center.  Elder McVea is going to do his famous chicken dance; we were treated to see a preview of it this morning before our Office Staff meeting started.  He is very good at doing this.  Sister Servoss sewed up a beak with an elastic strap so he can put the beak over his nose and mouth.  Elder Olsen’s birthday is today, Halloween day.  We had a little birthday celebration with he and Elder Swanner last night.

On October 19^th when Elder Jensen was here for the mission presidents seminar he shared one thought at the Wednesday evening dinner that has been on my mind a lot since then.  In referring to Lehi’s vision of the tree of life, he said along with the rod there is also a path.  As I have read and pondered and prayed about this idea I have been helped to understand this idea even better.  It was my turn to give the thought in our office staff meeting this morning so I shared what I had learned.  I will give a short version of it here.  In 1 Nephi Chapter 8 is the description of the vision.  We know the rod is the word of God=the scriptures, including living teachings of living prophets.  The path is clearly explained in the scriptures and includes the “doctrine of Christ” and all the ordinances required including temple ordinances.  In verse 19 it says the rod … led to the tree.  Verse 20 states he beheld a “…strait and narrow path which came along by the rod… even to the tree”.  In verses 21-23 it tells of “…numberless concourses of people…” (that is lot of people) who commenced on the path but when the “…mists of darkness…” covered the path they “…wandered off and were lost”.  These people did not make use of the rod (the word of God, the scriptures) they just tried to follow the path.  In verses 24-28 it talks of the people who “…caught hold of the rod…did press forward clinging to the rod…and partake of the fruit…”; but they did not also use the path (the ordinances).  They were then distracted by those in the great and spacious building and “…were ashamed…and fell away into forbidden paths”.  In verse 30 it states that “…other multitudes… did press forward continually holding to the rod…” and followed the path by the rod until they made it to the tree and partook of the fruit and stayed there.  The message to me is that we must hold fast to the rod (read, study, pray and ponder about the scriptures and how they apply to us personally) and use them to help us press forward on the path and we can reach the tree which is the love of God which includes making use of the atonement.   A few other scriptures that add to our understanding are in Psalms 119:105, Proverbs 4:26.  In Micah 4:2 and Isaiah 2:3 are two almost identical verses which states “…we will walk in his paths…”  The entire Book of Mormon is centered in Christ and the vision of Lehi.  We know these scriptures are true and will lead us to Heavenly Father and the Savior through the atonement.

We express best wishes for great birthdays to Adrianne on Nov.11^th,  Braden on Nov. 12^th, Caulter on Nov. 15^th, Kendra on Nov. 18^th.  We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving time together with your families and take time to express gratitude to Heavenly Father for all you are blessed with.  We are very thankful for each of you and for the blessings we have received through having you as members of our family and also being our friends.  We hope and pray for Norm Erickson with his surgery tomorrow and any follow up procedures to help him be blessed to stay with us longer.  We hope the doctors can find the right things to do to help Olivia with her hearing when they examine her on Wednesday.  We express our love and deep sympathy to Josh at the passing away of his brother Kelly.  We hope the family will be comforted and sustained through this week and the coming months as well.

We love you all and pray for each of you to be blessed in every good way.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Richard & Maxine

Message 24 October 2011

Message—24 October 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week went by like a flash.  Last Monday as part of our Office Staff meeting, President and Sister Christianson drove us in the mission van to show us the route we needed to follow to pick up some of the Mission Presidents and their wives from the airport, who were coming to our mission for a Mission Presidents Seminar.  We also were taken on the route to get to the Hotel where the Mission Presidents and wives would be staying.  On the way to the hotel we came to a place on a six lane stretch of freeway (I-490) where there were tall concrete sound barriers on both sides of the freeway.  All 3 three lanes going east were stopped and traffic was backed up for over a half mile because of a two point Whitetail Deer which had got trapped in this stretch with no way to get out.  He was going west in the eastbound lanes and kept dodging towards the cars and then back towards the sound barrier.  Later while we were driving back through that area there was no sign of him so he must have made it out safely.  The Mission Presidents Seminar was being held in our mission for 22 Mission Presidents of the missions in the North America Northeast Area.  This area includes from about Chicago, North and East to Washington DC, then North as far as people live including the parts of Canada to the North and over to Nova Scotia.  Elder Jay Jensen is the Area President for this area so he and Lonie came to preside at the seminar.  Also accompanying him were Elder and Sister Nash and Elder and Sister Alonzo of the First Quorum of Seventy.  They also had Brother and Sister Watson, he works in the Missionary Department in SLC, and Terry Spallino who is the Director of Temporal Affairs for the North America Northeast Area.  Many of the Presidents and their wives drove to the seminar in a car; but some of them came by plane.  Elder McVea coordinated assignments to each of us in the Mission Office to pick up those who came by plane.  Through previous arrangements through President Christianson and Elder Jensen; we were assigned to pick up Elder Jensen and Lonie when they came Tuesday evening.  President Christianson picked up the other two General Authorities and their wives; who came on the same flight.  After taking Jay and Lonie to their hotel to drop off their bags, we took them to a restaurant to get a bowl of soup; so we were able to visit with them while we ate.  Wednesday evening we were invited to the dinner with the mission presidents and general authorities and their wives at the Woodcliff Hotel where they stayed.  As the name indicates it is a pretty fancy place.  Jay invited us to sit at his table so we were able to visit a little more with them.  After the dinner Elder Jensen gave some great instruction and testimony about using the Book of Mormon in missionary efforts.  We were greatly blessed to spend a little time with Jay and Lonie as well as the others who attended the seminar.  The seminar was from Wednesday through Saturday at 12:30 pm.  Each day they went to some of the Church history sites and the chapel nearby.  Thursday they were at the Sacred Grove and Smith Farm homes, and the Hill Cumorah; and their meetings were at the Palmyra Stake Center.  Friday they were at Fayette at the Peter Whitmer Farm and the chapel there.  Then Saturday morning they were at a chapel near the Rochester Mission Office in Pittsford.  I helped Elder& Sister Servoss, Elder McVea, and others from the local wards in doing the set up for each of the days.  Elder & Sister Servoss & Elder McVea set up Wednesday evening for the Thursday meeting.  Elder McVea became ill on Thursday so I went and helped the Servoss’s take down the things from the Palmyra Chapel and move them to the Fayette chapel and set things up again.  Then Friday evening I and the recovering Elder McVea went and helped Elder Servoss take down things from Fayette and take them to the Pittsford chapel and set things up again.  Then Saturday after the seminar ended, we returned everything to where it belonged.  At the end of the seminar I was able to give Jay and Lonie a hug as they left to go to the airport.

Friday evening and Saturday Sister Jensen, Sister McVea, and Sister Servoss went to a “Time Out for Women” conference held in a conference center in Rochester; about 1500 or so women attended.  Sheri Dew was scheduled to come, but she was not able to come, so she arranged for John Bytheway to come in her place.  On Saturday some other great women speakers gave great presentations; one of the women was Mary Ellen Edmunds.  Since they were missionaries, they were invited to sit near the front of the conference auditorium very near the stage where the speakers stood.  In order to help facilitate the Sisters going to the conference and to save traveling farther so I could help with the seminar set up and moving; we stayed with Elder and Sister McVea Friday night.  The McVea’s live in the John Young home in Mendon.  This is the home where Brigham Young grew up and lived until he joined the church.

Thursday evening Sister Jensen went to a Relief Society meeting alone and gave a presentation about couples preparing to serve missions, she did a great job according to some of the sisters there.  On Friday during the day we drove to Collins, the Southwest area of our mission; and helped the Elders their move to a different apartment in Perrysburg.  It was raining during the entire time we were moving so we had to use tarps to cover the things in the back of the trucks we used.  We left Collins at 2:30 pm so we could get back to Rochester in time for the Sisters to go to the Women’s conference to hear John Bytheway speak.  Tuesday evening through Friday evening were long days and short nights.

Sunday morning I substituted for our Ward Mission Leader, who was on vacation, in attending the PEC and Ward Council meetings.  It turned out that this was the last of those two meetings that our Bishopric would attend together.  In our sacrament meeting Sunday morning, the bishopric was released by the Stake President, and a new bishopric was sustained.  Bishop James Hurst (he is not related to the Mapleton Hurst family) has been our Bishop with John Petranek as first counselor and Guy Warren (he is not related to the Mapleton Warren’s) as second counselor.  The new bishopric is Bishop David Zundel, with Jeffrey Bateman as first counselor and Guy Warren is the second counselor.  We look forward to serving with this new bishopric.

The Elders here in Brockport are going to have their second baptism since they have been here together.  It is a young lady named Casey, age 16.  Her mother has been reluctant to let her be baptised, but the mother’s heart has been softened through many prayers by many people; and on Friday she gave her permission for Casey to be baptised this next Saturday on the 29th.  She is very excited about being baptised.  She shared her testimony about her conversion to the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith in Fast meeting on September 25th.  The young women in the ward have accepted her and helped her learn about the church.  Casey came to our home and watched both sessions of the Sunday General Conference on Oct. 2nd; the Elders were here also.  She had a great spiritual experience to see and hear the conference sessions.  Casey learned about the church through her mother taking her to see the Book of Mormon Play that was in New York City.  After seeing the play, her mother also took her to the Hill Cumorah Pageant in July to see what Mormons really believe.  Casey filled out a self-referral card after the pageant and the missionaries went to talk with her and that is how she started learning about the church.

Heavenly Father lives, Jesus is the Christ and Savior and Redeemer, the church is true, the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration, and President Monson is the prophet today.  We share this witness and testimony with you.

We were happy to learn from Kendra that her sister Rhonda learned that her cancer is in remission.  The doctor was really amazed the cancer was in remission.  When he first saw her he did not think she would make it.  Prayer really does work.  We hope all goes well with the surgery and whatever else has to be done to help Norm Erickson get his heart problems solved so he can have the needed treatments to get his cancer in remission. Olivia is having some tests next Wednesday to find out what can and needs to be done to help correct her hearing loss in her right ear.  We were excited to learn that Wes was successful in getting a six point elk this month, yeah for Wes!!  We hope Brandon stays safe in Texas on the fires again.  We hope Brad and Kendra and family have a great time together on their hunting trip and that they all return safe.  We hope all the grand children are doing well in school.  Shadyn finished his soccer games last Saturday and won an award with his team.  Good luck to Josh as he starts a new job on October 31^st.  We hope everyone is well and happy and can keep earning a living to provide for their family.

We love all of you and pray for you in all you do.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Richard & Maxine

Message 17 October 2011

Message—17 October 2011

Dear Family & Friends,

Another week has vanished in little more than a blink of the eye it seems.  After office Staff Meeting on Monday we spent much of the rest of the day taking care of assignments from the President and gathering together things we would need to go check apartments on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Tuesday we checked half of the apartments in the Rochester Zone; then on Wednesday we checked the rest of the apartments in the Rochester Zone, which included apartments in Batavia, Warsaw, and Geneseo.  While traveling to the apartments in these three towns, which are at higher elevations, we were blessed to see some of the handiwork of the Lord in the color changes in the leaves of the trees and shrubs.  We took some pictures of some of the scenes.  We will try to get them added to the Blog in the next week or so, for you to see.

Thursday we attended a Special Training meeting for all the missionaries.  It was held in the chapel at the Peter Whitmer Farm in Fayette.  This is where the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished by the Prophet Joseph Smith.  It is also where the Three Witnesses saw the Plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated along with the other things shown to them by the Angel Moroni.  Twenty of the sections in the Doctrine and Covenants were also received at Fayette.  One part of the training was related to all the missionaries reading the Book of Mormon in the last six weeks.  Some of the missionaries shared what they learned from reading the Book of Mormon.  About twenty or more missionaries also shared their testimonies of the Book of Mormon.  President Christianson invited us to begin again to read the Book of Mormon only do it slower this time and search for all the verses which refer to, discuss, or witness of the atonement of the Savior.  This meeting was very uplifting, beneficial, and spiritually strengthening.

Friday we checked apartments in Lockport, Niagara, and Buffalo.  One of the apartments in downtown Buffalo was in a high rise building.  The elevator was one of the old types where it does not open automatically, you have to manually pull the outer door open then you also have to manually open a second accordion type mesh door to get in.  You then have to manually close both doors and then when we got to the third floor you have to open both doors again to get out.  This may give some of the older people an idea how old the apartment building is.

Saturday I went to a members place to help with a service project.  Brother DeGraff has about 40 acres of woods (trees, in New York a forest is called the woods); and he has offered to the Bishop whatever quantity of wood may be needed to help any of the families in the ward who heat their homes with wood.  The ward members go to his place each fall and cut down the trees and split them and stack them and cover them so they can dry through the winter and then they can be used the next year.  Brother Degraff and his son and I were the only ones who came.  We worked for a few hours and then the rain and high winds came, which made it unsafe to continue so we quit.  Brother DeGraff is one of my favorite people in the ward; he is just an all-around good person who will do anything for anybody, and he is a faithful home teacher and, honors his priesthood.  I was blessed to have a number of these kinds of people to mentor and teach me in my youth.

Sunday night we attended an awesome performance by some of the Senior Missionaries who serve at the Palmyra Temple.  It was held in the Palmyra Stake Center building across the road from the Palmyra Temple, and just a few hundred yards from the Joseph Smith Home and the Sacred Grove.  The theme was focused on the life of Joseph Smith.  There were three sisters who alternated playing the organ and piano.  There were three men who had put together a short narration, including some quotes, covering the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Some of the hymns of the restoration were played on the piano or organ or together as an organ/piano duet; and there was also one vocal solo.  They used a laptop computer and computer projector to project pictures related to the songs being played or sung.  It was very well done.

We are so greatly blessed to be here serving in this mission.  We have wonderful and powerful experiences which greatly add to our testimonies of the truth of the scriptures and the gospel and all of its doctrines and ordinances.  We know with an absolute certainty that Heavenly Father lives, loves us, and answers our prayers; we are all his children.  Our mortal family lineage goes through hundreds of generations; but we are spirit children of Heavenly Father, so there is only one generation from Him.  We also witness that Jesus Christ lives, and he is the Savior and Redeemer of all the world; his atonement and resurrection are real and will bless us eternally as we use the atonement to help us change and follow Him.  Joseph Smith is the prophet of this last dispensation and was the person through whom the Book of Mormon was translated and made available to bless our lives with its truths.  The Book of Mormon is a powerful witness of the Savior and the fullness of His gospel.  President Monson is the prophet of the Lord, we know he is; and we sustain him and the other prophets, seers, and revelators who serve with him.

We hope all of you are doing as well as you can under the circumstances you each have to deal with in your lives.  We know you all your own bucket of rocks and challenges and trials to deal with.  We pray for all of you and know that as you pray for help from Heavenly Father He will sustain, guide, and comfort you and help you to overcome whatever happens in your life.  We can always trust what Heavenly Father prompts us to do through the Holy Ghost.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Richard & Maxine

Message 10 October 2011

Message—10 October 2011

Dear Family & Friends,

Last Monday evening we went to President Christianson’s home to participate in orienting some new missionaries.  There were supposed to be six new missionaries but only five made it in time for the orientation meeting.  There were 3 Sisters and 2 Elders; one of the Sisters is Sister Wall, her parents live on86 South, 9^th West in Provo in the Provo 2^nd Ward, Provo South Stake.  The 4^th Sister missionary was Sister Gulzar who is from Pakistan; she has been serving at the Salt Lake Temple Square Mission.  Generally, these Temple Square missionaries are assigned to serve the last two transfers (12 weeks) of their mission in a regular proselyting mission.  Sister Gulzar flew out from SLC and made it to the Chicago airport; but her flight from Chicago to Rochester was cancelled.  Elder Servoss in our mission office was informed of this by the Missionary department in Salt Lake, so he arranged for her to be on standby for the next available flight to Rochester, or a 12 pm flight which ever became available first.  She finally made it to Rochester at 1 am Tuesday.  During the time we did the orientation for the other 5 missionaries President Christianson was on the phone trying make contact with Sister Gulzar to tell her what was going on and help her get to the right place to get on the right flight.  Satan sure knows how to mess things up for missionaries if he possibly can; but it all turned out fine.  Sister Gulzar has had a very difficult life.  Both her parents died while she was a child; she did not want to live in an orphanage so she was able to live with her sister some of the time.  When she could not be with her sister, she lived on the street or wherever she could find shelter and food.  She was blessed to meet up with the missionaries and joined the church when she was around 16.  Her two great desires after joining the church were to be able to see the Salt Lake Temple in person and also go to the Sacred Grove.  Heavenly Father loves his daughters and inspired a prophet to call her to serve a mission at the Salt Lake Temple Square Mission.  Then by inspiration she was sent to the NY Rochester Mission for the last 12 weeks of her mission so she could have her two great hopes come to pass.  This is another witness that Heavenly Father and the Savior are in control of their work being done.  We give our witness that they really are “able to do..(their)… own work”. (2 Ne 27:20-21)

I went with Elder Swanner and Elder Olson, who are the Elders here in Brockport, on Thursday to help an older man who lives next to a member, Brother Dodds.  The neighbor, Fritz, had some things to carry from his basement to his garage for the Salvation Army to pick up.  He has a bad back and cannot lift much, so he needed help.  He is a Lutheran and had asked in his church for some help and even offered to pay $20 each to two men if they would come and help him.  After two weeks and not getting anyone to offer help; he asked Brother Dodds if he could get some Mormon missionaries to come and help him.  The Elders and I offered to come and help him and so we did, and we finished moving things for him in about 30 minutes.  He was very happy and grateful for our help.  He told me it was disappointing to him that no one in his Christian church would come and help.  He and Brother Dodds are very good friends.  I do not think he is ready to listen to the gospel yet, but maybe later when he moves to Florida.

With the help of the Lord we were blessed to find a new apartment for some Elders who have been stuck in an apartment that is not as clean and safe as Elders should be living in.  The Elders were led by the Spirit to find the apartment.  We met the Elders on Friday and went with them to evaluate the new apartment to be sure it was appropriate.  We explained to the apartment owner who we were and what the missionaries do and how there are changes in which missionaries will live there.  She said we would not be allowed to “witness” to any of the other tenants in the house.  We explained we were not Jehovah’s Witnesses; she thought we were.  We then told her about the strict rules the missionaries live, including that they also do not date.  We also assured her the rent and utilities would always be paid before they were due.  After she understood how well behaved the missionaries are and that the rent will be paid on time; she asked if we had other missionaries to whom she could rent.

Saturday we took a short trip with Elder and Sister McVea and Elder and Sister Servoss to see the Letchworth State Park.  This park is called the Little Grand Canyon of the east.  It is really more like the Upper and Lower Falls in Yellowstone; except that the rock formations are blue limestone.  Also instead of rocks and sand and etc. the terrain is covered with very thick trees, vines, and other green growth.  We were hoping some of the trees would have fall colors; but there were not very many with colors yet.  When we made our trip to the south part of the mission on Friday we took some pictures of some of the leaf color changes that have taken place at the slightly higher elevations; about 1500 feet.  The elevation here in Brockport is only about 550 feet.  We will try to figure out how to put some of these pictures on the Blog for you to see.  After driving the scenic route we stopped at an Arts and Crafts Show that is sponsored by the Livingston County.  While some went to see the arts and crafts, Elder McVea and I looked at some of the restored cars in the parking area.  There was a 1932 Chev with a rumble seat, and a 1953 Chev pickup; and some others as well.  We then stopped in Mt. Morris at a 1950’s restaurant for some dinner.  We had a fun day together.

Saturday night and Sunday morning were our Stake Conference Sessions.  The Stake Presidency presided, there was not a general authority visiting.  President Christianson spoke at the Adult session Saturday evening; and Sister Christianson spoke at the Sunday Morning session.  The other speakers also did well and shared some great messages.  One young lady was baptized 3 months ago and stood up in front of about 800 people and shared her conversion experience; she did very well.  I think this is the first time in about 20 years that I have not attended the Saturday afternoon priesthood leadership session.  I felt like I was missing a meeting; but I was not invited to attend, so I did not.

We hope and pray for Lonie that her detached retina can be successfully reattached so she can be blessed with good vision again.  We hope and pray for Tom and Carol to be blessed with better health.  We hope and pray that Kendra’s sister Rhonda can have her cancer put into remission.  We also hope and pray for Norm Erickson that his cancer and heart problems can be treated and that he can be comforted and sustained through his pain and suffering.  We hope all the grandchildren can do well in school and take advantage of the chance to get a good education.

We love you all and pray for you to be blessed with all you need to find true joy in your lives and be able to endure and handle all the challenges in your lives.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Richard & Maxine  

Message 3 October 2011

Message—3 October 2011

Dear Family & Friends,

You may remember we shared with you a month ago that everyone in the mission was going to read the Book of Mormon before the next transfer; which is tomorrow.  We completed our reading a week ago and have started reading and studying together again, this time a little slower, only three chapters a day.  Here are a few comments from some of the missionaries about their experience of reading it together.  “It has allowed us to truly feel Heavenly Father’s love for us and has helped us to more fully understand our purpose as a missionary.”  “It has helped us see the atonement on almost every page of the Book of Mormon as we have looked for it and understand how to use it more fully every day.  The Spirit is so much stronger in our companionship and our love for it has grown so much.”  “Our eyes have been opened and we know that our purpose, the Book of Mormon’s purpose and God’s purpose are all exactly one and as we read the Book of Mormon we become one with God.”  On page 108 of Preach My Gospel there is a quote from President Hinckley about the Book of Mormon.  He first gave this statement in a 1985 or 1986 General Conference talk; he repeated it in another Conference talk in the early 1990’s and again after he became the Prophet.  He said, “Those who have read the Book of Mormon prayerfully, be they rich or poor, learned or unlearned, have grown under its power…Without reservation, I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you have read it, there will come into your hearts…the Spirit of the Lord.  There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.”  We testify this is true.  Sister Jensen and I have noticed that through reading the Book of Mormon together, praying for the missionaries and members to be more united, and praying for the investigators to understand and feel the witness of the Spirit as it speaks to their hearts has brought great blessings to our ward and the missionaries and the investigators.  We have been trying since we arrived in the mission, along with the Elders who serve here also, to coordinate together with the members to make a ward mission plan; which is supported by the members.  Last week in ward council the ward mission plan was agreed upon and accepted.  We have a great Ward Mission Leader who has helped a lot in getting the plan put together and approved in ward council.

We have seen some good success in the last week or two as ward members have gone with the Elders to teach some of the investigators.  The youth in the ward have accepted and are encouraging one of the young women investigators, Casey, whom the Elders are teaching, and she has made great progress.  Casey was brave enough to go up to the podium and share her testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon in Fast Meeting last Sunday.  She also came to our apartment Sunday (yesterday) to watch both sessions of General Conference along with the Elders and another young lady who is a member but has been inactive; she has been attending meetings for the last few weeks.  Casey would very much like to be baptized, but her mother will not give her consent, yet.  After Casey went home yesterday, she sent a text message to the Elders stating that while Casey was watching conference with us, her mother was at home also watching conference by herself.  We keep praying that Casey’s mother will allow her to be baptized; and Casey is also praying and fasting that her mother will give her consent.

General Conference was absolutely a spiritual feast.  Every talk and all the music was given under the direction of the Spirit and was a message from the Lord through his servants.  There will be much to study, review, and ponder, and pray about when the talks become available.  The October Ensign is focused on the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  It is filled with testimonies of prophets and apostles and others of the truths contained in the Book of Mormon; which will be very helpful in understanding it and strengthening our testimonies of its truth.  President Christianson said there are 6607 verses in the Book of Mormon, and there are over 3800 of the verses that have one or more occurrences of one of the 100 names used to refer to Christ; this means that every 1.7 verses refers to Christ.  This is more references to his name than there is in any other book in the world.  Thus the Book of Mormon really is another witness of Christ.  The more we read, study, pray, and ponder about what we read in the Book of Mormon the more we will learn about Christ and improve the possibility we can learn to obey him and his teachings and work towards becoming like him.  We know this will be true for each of us.

We wish a wonderful and happy birthday to Laurie on October 28^th; that is the only birthday we know of in our immediate family for this month.  We are sure she is not getting any older; she is just having a birthday celebration.  We hope Caulter continues to get better and recover from his motor bike accident last week.  We talked to him on the phone and he says he is doing much better.

We love and appreciate all of you, we pray for you, and we are grateful for your prayers for us.

Love,

Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard