Wednesday, July 20, 2011

A Wonderful Week

We started the week at transfer meeting at Greentree.  We said goodbye to the Brenchleys and to Elder Neerings.  The Brenchleys are going home to Centerville after they visit the New York, Rochester area where they served their first mission.  We have really enjoyed serving in the same mission and having good times together.  Elder Neerings is going to serve in the Warren area and says he is looking forward to new challenges there.  He is a good missionary and will be successful where ever he serves, but we will miss him here in Wheeling.

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Wes and Sara Walton also came to transfer meeting to see Elder Neerings off.  Wes and Sara were baptized in December and are a great addition to the Wheeling Ward. Wes is serving in the YM presidency and Sara is the RS music director.  They have a one year old daughter named Peyton.  Wes is known for his funny-feet shoes.

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Our new missionary and district leader is Elder Ames. He is from a small farming community near Bakersfield, California. He will serve with Elder Boam in Wheeling.  They drove with us to Wintersville on Wednesday for district meeting.  After the meeting we broke tradition and ate at Burger King which is Elder Ames favorite.  Elders van der Spek and Boughton enjoyed it too.

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We had a great week finding and teaching.  We were able to visit about 20 people this week.  Usually we can’t find that may people home. Most have no interest in coming back to church, but some did and that’s worth all the time and miles we spend finding them.  We were finally able to meet with the Birkhimers.  They have been on our radar since we got here and Sunny and Kamryn came to church Sunday.  Kamryn is 8 and we are hoping to see her get baptized. 

Tearsa, Ben, Coleson and Elise came late Friday night to stay for a few days.  We drove them around the area a bit on Saturday so they could see where we serve. 

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We spent some time down by the Ohio River, but Cole’s favorite was the fire engine.

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After we drove to St. Clairsville, OH and had some lunch we went home and got ready for the Wheeling Ward Pioneer Day Celebration.  The families loaded their hand carts and trekked across the plains.  Rod and I were in charge of the stick-pull station where the pioneers stopped and played.  We had some fierce competitions with the stick pull and the pie eating contests.

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There were over 100 people there for the party.  That’s more than we get out at sacrament meetings some times.  We finished off the day with a campfire and roasted wieners and marshmallows.  It was a great event for the ward.

Sunday we went to church where the kids got to meet all the friends they had made at the party.  After dinner we drove up to Oglebay Park.

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On Monday we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium and then to the Pirates game that evening.  What a fun day with the kids.

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                                       Cole enjoyed petting the sting rays the best.

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The game was rain delayed twice so we had plenty of time to enjoy the PNC Park. Ellie bug enjoyed eating fish off of Grandpa’s knee and Cole had fun wiping the rain off the seats for people.  He even got a $1 tip from one lady.  The Pirates beat the Reds 2-0.  The kids did great at the game.  It was Grandma who got tired.  The game didn’t get over until midnight.  It sure is hard having so much fun.  Thanks Tearsa, Ben, Cole and Elise for coming and spending some time with us on our mission.

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