Hellos and Goodbyes

We had our last Zone Conference this week with President and Sister Summerhays.  They have one more transfer to do before their three years are up.  We have really enjoyed working with them and will miss them, but we knew when we were called here that we would only serve five months with them.  I can’t believe we have been on our mission for four months already.

           

Elder and Sister Johnson, on the left, are the office couple and will be leaving in June also.  They have been serving for 23 months.  They live in Rexburg and said they would go by and see Grandma Ward when they get home.  They have done such a great job taking care of all the details of the mission.  They will be greatly missed also.

Our biggest surprise was the new CES couple who came last week and who we saw for the first time at the Zone Conference.  Elder and Sister Marshall, on the right, came from Cortez, Colorado and have been working in the Monticello Temple since they got married three years ago. She just retired from school teaching so they decided to serve a mission.  She said they know the Chamberlains.  Elder Marshall is originally from Pima, Arizona and moved to Cortez after they were married.  He and Rod grew up together. What a surprise when they walked in the he and Rod recognized each other.  Another connection for Rod. We are going to enjoy getting to know each other and spending some fun p-days together.

             

We also got to spend some time in the Columbus Temple with Ashley Groetzinger who  received her endowments.  The people in the picture are, from left to right, Patty Wylie. Sister Green, Nancy Groetzinger, Elder Green, Ashley, Mike Orum, Patty Johnson, AD Wilson, Allison Carman, and Pam Wilson.  Chuck Wylie was taking the picture.  Ashley graduated from BYUI and knew Kara, Riley and Michael there.  Small world. Patty Wylie is in the RS presidency and Chuck is the ward mission leader.  Nancy is Ashley’s mother and one of the sweetest people I know and a long-time member.  Mike is in the elder’s quorum presidency and was baptized just two years ago.  Patty Johnson recently lost her husband and this was her first time back to the temple since he died.  She said she felt him there with her.  AD is the first counselor in the bishopric and he and Pam are Addiction Recovery Missionaries.  Allison is our RS president.  It feels like we have known these good people all our lives.

After the temple we drove the two hours back to Wheeling and then an hour on to Greentree in Pittsburgh for stake conference. It was six hours total driving with four hours of temple and meetings.  The men also had priesthood leadership for another two hours.  What a great day!

                                      

I finally got a picture of our great Wheeling Elders and the Zone Leaders.  Elder Garner, Elder Neerings, Elder Florence and Elder Jeromchek.  We really love these young men.

We are having a wonderful time doing this work and getting to know all these wonderful people. I am so grateful we get to spend our whole mission in Wheeling.

Weird Noises

As it has gotten warmer we have been sleeping with our windows open.  We started hearing the weirdest noises from outside.  It reminded both of us of a squeaky belt on an automobile.  It goes for several seconds and stops and then another starts from what sounded like a different location.  We listened to this for several days until we finally found out what it was.  We have a pond in our back yard and there are frogs in it.  This weird noise is coming from these frogs.  As far as we can tell, there are six of them living in the pond.  They are very musical in a weird sort of way and they sing us to sleep at night now.

                     

The one on the left was making the sound and blowing out the little pouch under his chin.  Mystery solved. 

We had a Siete de Mayo party at the church Saturday.  We couldn’t have it on the 5th so we renamed it.  The Holbrooks got asked to head it up and they did a great job.  Adam is the Elder’s quorum president and is from Woods Cross.  Becky is in the Primary presidency and the week night Relief Society leader.  They have three daughters, Corduroy 5, Adylin 3, and Clover 1.  He is an ER resident at OVMC and will be here for three more years.  They served really good Mexican food and Becky even made homemade churros.  They had a piñata and other games for the kids.  It was a fun ward party and much needed.

              

Rod contributed by vacuuming afterwards.  Actually, we cleaned the whole building after the party because it hadn’t been done and the next day was Sunday.  Fortunately it is a small building.  The Bishopric is working on a building cleaning schedule and scheduler.  That’s Dave Phillips, our YM president talking to Rod.  His wife, Misty, is in the Primary presidency.  They have three kids, Katlyn 8 who just got baptized, Lindsy 5, and Wyatt 2.  They moved here from Texas so Lindsy could receive medical treatment in Pittsburgh where the leading specialist in her medical condition is.  She can’t walk and has a muscle- deteriorating disease with a very long name I can’t remember.  They just bought a home  and are planning on being here indefinitely. 

We had a fun p-day this week in Pittsburgh with the Brenchleys.  President and Sister Summerhays were going to come too, but couldn’t at the last minute.  We met Brenchleys at Greentree where the stake house is and drove together down town.  We found a place to eat and then went to see the Pittsburgh Pirates play the LA Dodgers.  That’s been high on Rod’s list of things to do and the Brenchleys are going home in July so we want to do all these things with them before they go home. 

                   

                            

The Pirates beat the Dodgers and Rod was even cheering for the Pirates.  He’s always been a big Dodgers fan.  It was a good game and a fun p-day for us.  The stadium is right on the river, as you can see.

We were invited by AD and Pam Wilson one night this week to a big gala evening at the WesBanco Arena where the Nailers play hockey.  It was a fund raiser for a medical clinic in Wheeling that gives free medical care.  AD sponsored a table and invited us as guests along with his two daughters and their husbands.  There was lots of good food and an auction to raise money for the clinic.  It was a good community event to be associated with.  AD is the first counselor in the Bishopric, Pam is the compassionate service leader and they both are called as missionaries to teach the addiction recovery class.  They converted to the gospel as a family when the girls were young. 

                            

The missionary work is going great.  We have another investigator committed for baptism on May 28th.  The elders are teaching him and we have met with them several times.  Chias is from Guatemala and his sister, Lete, and some of her grandchildren are members.  We are also teaching a 10 year, Austin Beaver, whose mother, Rebecca, is less-active.  We have been meeting with the family since we got here and Rod is teaching Rebecca driving lessons so she can get her drivers license and have a way to get to church.   Hopefully Austin will be baptized soon.  Rebecca says Austin has been teaching his five year old brother, Alex, everything he has been learning.

We are loving the people here and they are loving us back.  We would like everyone to come out and meet them and see what a wonderful place this is.  We pray we are doing what the Spirit directs and accomplishing what He wants to happen in the Wheeling Ward.

Fun in Pennsylvania

We drove to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to the Acura dealer to get a recall notice taken care of.  They gave us a loaner car so we didn’t have to sit there waiting for it to get fixed.  Wednesday we were able to go to leadership training in Pittsburgh again and were spiritually fed.  We watched a talk from Elder Holland that he had given in the MTC a week before we were there. He was speaking to missionaries, testifying in Elder-Holland fashion and it was powerful.  It set the tone for the whole day.  That night President Summerhays called and told us to meet them in Gettysburg Saturday morning and spend the day with them.  We called the Brenchleys and made arrangements to pick them up on Friday in Somerset where they are serving and drive over together.

                                                                          

As you can see, it was a cold, wet and windy day in Somerset.  They took us to the crash site of Flight 93 on 9-11-01.  It’s only a few miles from where they live.  It was a very sobering experience.

               

They are trying to get the memorial built by the tenth year anniversary in September.  It will be a beautiful memorial when it is finished.  There is a temporary visitor’s center where we were able to see pictures and read details of what happened.  They even had the content of phone calls the passengers had made before the plane went down so they know pretty well what happened that day.

The Brenchleys took us as guests to their Rotary luncheon and then we took off for Gettysburg where we had made hotel reservations for the night.  It was fun getting to visit with them and hear in more detail how the missionary efforts are going in their part of the mission.  They will be going home (Centerville) in July. 

We met up with the Summerhay’s Saturday morning at the visitor center in Gettysburg and spent the day together learning and touring. 

                                                        

We watched a film about the history of the battle and then saw this “Cyclorama”  which is a 360 degree oil painting on canvas depicting the battle.  It’s 42ft high and 300 plus feet around.  This picture is one small section of the painting.  It’s pretty spectacular.  We spent some time in the museum and then went on a bus tour of the battle sites. 

       

The six of us got stopped several times by members and non-members asking us where we were from and what we were doing.  There are always opportunities for missionary work.  Sister Summerhays told us that Pennsylvania has the fewest members of the church than any other state.  Lots of missionary work to do here.

After the bus tour we walked around the cemetery where the Union casualties from the battle were buried. The Confederacy took their dead home to be buried.  There were approximately 50,000 casualties of this three–day battle, the most casualties of the Civil War.  It is said to be the turning point of the war.

                             

 

           

The Soldiers’ National Monument is the location of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  I remember memorizing the address but it never made such an impact on me as reading it here where the battle took place. 

           

Afterwards we drove out to this covered bridge which is just out of Gettysburg.  This is where we said our goodbyes and drove back to our areas of service where we do the real work of the mission. Gettysburg is about four hours from Wheeling.  It was a fun break and good to spend time with other couples.

Happy Easter

We had another wonderful week.  The most momentous thing was the baptism of Barb Safereed.  She is a wonderful Sister whom we have been privileged to help teach.  The Elders said she was almost too easy.  She was a member referral and accepted what she was taught from the beginning.  Her non-member mother, daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters were at the baptism along with two other investigators.  She is our first convert baptism since we arrived. 

                                      

Elder Neerings (on the left) baptized her and Elder Jeromchek (on the right) confirmed her.  Of course, they tried to talk her into letting ward members do it but she insisted the elders do it.  The family who referred her were involved in the music, prayers and talks.  Rod gave the baptism talk and I played the piano.  What a wonderful day!

We also got  to go to Pittsburgh for transfer meetings.  We arrived a little early so we drove down town and got to see the Steelers and Pirates Stadiums.  That was high on Rod’s list of things to do.  The President said we can even go to a game sometime.

                                               

              

Of course we got lost going back to Greentree where the church is and were almost late for the meeting. 

The transfer meeting was fun and we got to meet the new elder to our district.  Elder Selfridge (on the left) was made a District Leader and transferred to another area so we got Elder Rasmussen.  He’s from Mantua, UT and is a great elder. 

              

The Elder on the right is Elder van der Spec.  He hates hugs and gets mad when any of the elders try to hug him.  I told Rod that it was his responsibility to give Elder van der Spec hugs because he won’t get mad at him.  He’s wearing him down. It has become a district joke now. 

Out biggest surprise was when Steve Reitz, a good friend from our ward in Utah, showed up at church Easter Sunday.  It’s one of those moments when your two worlds meet.  Steve is in Pittsburgh on business and decided to surprise us by driving the hour over to Wheeling and finding us.  He said he had to actually see us so he could report to the bishop we were actually on a mission and not vacationing some where.  We had a good visit with him and he caught us up on the happenings of the Parkmeadows Ward.

                                            

We have another missionary in the family.  My brother’s son, Jason, has just received his call to serve in the West Indies Mission.  We are so excited for him.  Missions are great and we recommend them to everyone.  We love the people here in the Wheeling Ward and are going to have a hard time leaving them.  You truly learn to love those you serve.  We invite all of you to come see us and meet these wonderful people.  It’s really getting beautiful out here.  We love you all and love the work. 

April Showers

Spring has finally sprung in this part of the world, but we have had so much rain that nothing has been planted yet.  It’s pretty soggy out here, but there are green trees showing everywhere and lots of green grass.  We are starting to see the beauty that everyone has promised us. 

                 

We are enjoying the labors of the previous family who lived here.  They are the Seaborns and have moved to Texas.  We have communicated with them a few times and she told us to enjoy her flowers she had to leave without seeing.  We are also looking forward to the possibility of holding some ward parties here since our back yard seems equipped for such gatherings.  The elders said they would come help us clean things up a bit. We just need it to quit raining for a while.

                 

                                              

The side porch with the swing is a fun feature and we hope to hold district meetings out there sometime.  There is a fan in the ceiling of the porch to keep the air moving when it gets hot.  I love listening to the wind chimes hanging from the porch and the many birds singing in the surrounding trees.   

                                               

Just so it’s documented, I do practice the organ almost every day.  I have had to play the piano in correlation meetings and relief society meetings for the past few weeks so I guess it’s a good thing I have practiced.  I also accompany the elders at weekly district meetings. 

                                                

This is our district for one more day.  We get to keep Elder Neerings and Elder Jeromchek (far right) in Wheeling, but Elder Selfridge (far left) is being transferred.  Elder van der Spec will get a new companion in Wintersville tomorrow.  We had fun taking this picture with five cameras on a timer.  Elder Green took a picture of all of us trying to get our cameras ready.  We have fun at district meetings with the Elders.

                                                

Wintersville is in Ohio and is about 35 miles north of Wheeling. There are people in the ward from both Ohio and West Virginia like Wheeling.  These are the only two units in the Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission that are not in Pennsylvania.  We feel special.

We continue to enjoy finding and meeting new people.  We have made some very good friends and we don’t get lost nearly as often as we used to. We have opportunities almost every day to testify of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and of the Book of Mormon.  We will be having our first convert baptism this coming Saturday and are very excited for it. 

Week Ten

How time flies when you are having fun.  We have had the regular ups and downs of missionary work, but we are having fun.  Mondays are no longer our p-day because we are volunteering at Wheeling Hospital on Monday morning, so Tuesday has become our designated p-day; that is unless something else comes up and we need to go to Pittsburgh or meet with someone for a lesson, or we have a funeral, etc.,etc., etc. As you can tell, we really don’t have a schedule.  We just hang loose and try to adjust to whatever comes up. 

                                      

These are our volunteer uniforms and as you can see, we double badge it.  We have totally confused everyone with the Elder and Sister thing.  Especially the Sister because I’m not a nun and it’s a Catholic hospital.  We went to the yearly volunteer banquet last night where they give out the service awards.  It was a lovely event and we were able to visit with some of the other volunteers who serve there and hob nob with the administration some.  President Summerhays asked us to volunteer somewhere where we can meet the public to let them know we are just regular folks.  We think this is a good place to do that.  And it’s fun for me to be in the hospital setting for a bit. Rod has less enthusiasm for it.  He’s never liked being in a hospital.

                                      

Rod said I had to put this picture in so I had proof that I really do practice on my organ.  I played the piano in correlation meeting and Relief Society Sunday and started all the songs an octave higher because the organ key board is all to the right and I just go there on the piano.  It was a trick to change octaves in the middle of the song.

                                      

We visited the young elders apartment this week and this is how they decorated the wall in their dining room.  They are so enjoying their new apartment and they are really trying hard to keep it clean.  We are so proud of them. They are wonderful young men and I am really going to have a hard time letting them go if they get transferred next week.  Elder Jeromchek asked the president for one more transfer, but he thinks he’s gone.  He will miss the convert baptism we have scheduled on the 23rd.  Elder Neerings is District Leader and will probably stay a little while longer. 

                                      

We bought a new toy last week.  Rod has joined the fitness center and goes there when he can, but I told him I wanted to stay home and ride the bike, so this is what we got.  It was cheaper than a membership for me at the fitness center.  The elders are really enjoying it too.  They come to our house on Monday mornings while we are at the hospital and do their wash, write their e-mails home and now they can exercise too. 

The work continues.  Everyday we are finding more less-active families and individuals, trying to remind them that this is the restored gospel and address their concerns.  Everyone has a different reason for not coming.  As Rod loves to say, “they are reasons, not excuses”.  We love teaching the gospel and bearing testimony of it’s truth.  We keep learning while we are teaching.  It is truly a blessing for us to serve. And to serve together.

A Spiritual Feast

We so thoroughly enjoyed the spiritual feast we have had for the past two days of General Conference.  As Elder Holland so aptly testified, there were messages given that were just for us as the Holy Ghost imprinted them upon our souls.(My words, not his.)  We heard in every message things that we needed for missionary work.  We went to the church with several other individuals and families to hear the messages.  There was a dinner between the sessions each day so no one had to leave the building.  So I guess it was two days of spiritual and physical feasts.

              

The largest group was Sunday morning with just about 50 people there.  The other sessions were smaller. Sunday morning we had three non-members there.  I hope they felt the spirit as strongly as we did.  Some of the members had direct TV and were able to watch conference at home on the BYU channel.  One sister said she listened to one session of conference on the Mormon Channel on her phone.  As you can see Rod made good use of his ipad taking notes of every session. 

We spent two days this week helping the Elders move into their new apartment.  They have been wanting to move for a long time but after Rod and I went to their apartment and saw what they were dealing with, we went right home and called the mission office couple and told them we had to get them out of there. That got things rolling. The elders found the new place and it was approved shortly afterwards.  We helped them move their things in our car and then spent one day cleaning their old apartment.  Every time we would scrub the walls or cupboards very hard, they would crumble under the rag.  It was literally falling apart and smelled of mold and mildew.  Their new place is much nicer.  It is relatively new and newly painted and carpeted.  Now they think they are really spoiled.  The sad thing is that the two places cost about the same. 

                                            

Each day we usually find some one who is on the ward records but haven’t been to church for years.  Some days we find several and some days we drive for miles and don’t find anyone.  We feel we have been directed many times in where we go and who we find.  We have put a few thousand miles on the car since we left Utah.  The Elders are limited on how many miles they can go each month but we aren’t since we pay for our own fuel.  We took all four elders in our car with us this past week for interviews with the Mission President in Pittsburgh so they could save the miles on their cars.  It was a fun trip with these good young men.  We even made a Costco run on the way home.

                                          

Too bad we have to use premium gas in our car.  This is the most expensive we have seen it since we got here. 

The work is going great and we have been spiritually recharged.  We are ready for a new week of finding and teaching.  We are enjoying the work and each other.