Pittsburgh

We got to go to Pittsburgh twice this past week.  It’s an hour drive from Wheeling and we have done it enough we can pretty much put the car into auto pilot.  The first trip was for interviews with the mission president. It’s always an honor to get a few minutes with him.  It is such a great responsibility to lead a mission and be responsible for all of the elders and sisters.  We love President and Sister Topham.

The second trip was to join three other couples and tour some of the sites of Pittsburgh.  Elder and Sister Mooney. who just arrived in the mission field, wanted to see Pittsburgh so we arranged with Elder and Sister Marshall and Brother and Sister Cannon to meet them at the institute building in Oakland where the Marshalls teach institute.  The Cannons are a couple from SLC here waiting for Sister Cannon to receive a bilateral lung transplant.  She is on the waiting list at UPMC and Cleveland Clinic.  He is a physician and has been asked to be a medical advisor for the mission.

         

The first place we toured was the the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. It is essentially and study and class room building which was build back in the 1700’s.  The above pictures are taken from the top floor of the building, looking down onto more of campus and the down town skyline in the distance. It is a beautiful old multi-storied building with class rooms designed in the motif of various countries. These class rooms circle a large cathedral-like study hall that has been beautifully preserved.

                            

After seeing a little more of campus, we went to the Frick Estate and toured the mansion and the buggy and car display.  Fricks were wealthy owners of the steel industry in Pittsburgh around the turn of the 19th century.  They built a mansion on five acres in the “suburbs” of Pittsburgh.  It is now right in the middle of the Oakland area of Pittsburgh where five universities and colleges co-exist. They didn’t allow pictures on the tour but it was a fun time with other missionary couples. 

We managed to give out a pass-along card and talk to several people about the church so it was a good missionary day too.