The year of 2018 started out very cold here in Missouri! New Year's night we gathered with other senior couples for our potluck dinner and family home evening. It was a bitter cold night.
We started our focus on healthy eating even before the new year began. We are trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat, dairy and sugar. Here is one of our tasty veggie suppers.
Our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, passed away on Jan. 2, 2018 at the age of 90.
We will miss this kind, gentle, giant of a man who has lead and set an amazing example of always reaching out to each individual. His funeral will take place on Jan. 12th.
The bitter cold weather caused some frozen pipes in a couple of the chapels even though our boss, Mark, took precautions for vulnerable areas. He put portable heaters in critical places but unfortunately someone turned them off. Hence, one pipe was cracked in 13 places. Ugh what a mess!
Steve and Elder Briggs also had to replace a thermostat in the visitor centers director's home. It wasn't a good time to have no heat so it was fixed by the guys asap.
We had to remove some very heavy large tables from high council rooms. They were donated to a community action center in Trenton. We were very grateful they had a couple of men who could assist in unloading them.
The Missouri River went from running free to almost frozen over in a very few days. It brought to our minds the difficult hardships that many of the early saints endured from being driven from their homes during bitter weather conditions in Missouri. We really don't know how they endured this trial.
We had our first quilting appliqué class on the first Saturday in January. Our teacher, Sister Larsen is a master quilter and instructor. What a great way to start the new year.
That evening we were invited to Elder and Sister Johnson's home for soup and salad. We all brought food to share and enjoyed a nice time together with our new friends.
We had heard numerous warnings about freezing rain and ice but on Sunday morning it appeared to just be raining. When we went by the Elders' apartment to give them a ride to church, Steve stepped out of the car and went down in an instant on a patch of ice. He jammed his thumb and wrist and had an immediate shock-type reaction. I took him directly home and the elders gave him a blessing. Another set of missionaries came and picked up the elders and took them to church. After making Steve comfortable with ice packs and blankets, I went to sacrament meeting and then came back home to check on my patient. He was doing better but was still very uncomfortable. This would be the beginning of a few weeks as his hand, thumb, wrist and other bruised areas of his body slowly healed. After this incident, if there is even a possibility of ice, we wear grippers over our shoes. They really make a difference.
Later that afternoon, I had an appointment with my cousin, Mette, to visit my Aunt Inge Lisa in a nearby memory care center. She is suffering from dementia. It was sad to see my vibrant, cheerful, always busy serving others, Aunt in this situation. Our prayers often include her and her family and caregivers.
By Tuesday, the weather had cleared and was warm enough to enable us to remove the Nativity Scenes from the temple, Liberty Jail and the Visitors' Center. This beautiful sunrise photo was taken from the parking lot of the Mission Office. What a beautiful way to start the day!
We first went to the Kansas City Temple. The sunrise continued to be gorgeous so we took a lot of photos. This is one of my favorites.
Later that morning when we removed the Nativity from the visitors center, I realized that the Community of Christ temple across the street would be in my photo of Joseph and Mary being loaded onto the trailer. It is an unusual building that lights the way for its members. In our minds, it doesn't even compare to the Lord's house were eternal ordinances are performed. The Community of Christ temple is used for concerts and gatherings and is open to the public.
Our cute sister missionaries who work in the visitor centers, also answer the phones for individuals calling to receive bibles or Book of Mormons. Their goal was to beat the sisters on temple square for numbers of referrals. They did it and were awarded these congratulatory tee shirts modeled by three of the sisters.
We were happy that the mild weather lasted one more day as we had to go back to the VC and scrub off the black tire marks left by the bobcat used to remove the heavy statues. Fortunately our idea worked and we were able to clean up the marks without damaging the planting areas. Hooray!
The within a couple of days, the cold weather returned with a vengeance. We were grounded for a day by freezing rain. Everyone was told to stay home and not travel. As soon as the roads were clear, we were back to our rounds. We spread a ton of ice melt keeping walkways safe.
After rounds on Friday, the 12th, we were able to return to our homes to watch the broadcast of President Monson's funeral. We were happy that the weather was mild in Salt Lake so the crowds could pay their respects along the motorcade route and gather to attend the funeral. I will always remember some of President Monson's choice phrases. "Be of good cheer. Your future is as bright as your faith." "Doubt and faith are total opposites and there's only room for one." "By
learning of Him, by
believing in Him, by
following Him, there is a capacity to become like Him.
The weather was so cold at Far West that we couldn't even raise the flag back up. We had to wait for a milder day.
We love having our fantastic elders to dinner. Here we are joined by Sister Fader, a woman in our branch who needed the friendship and food.
On Monday, Jan. 15th, the employees had a vacation day, so we got one too. We went with our team mates, the Briggs, to the Arabian Steamboat Museum. It is a fascinating place where thousands of artifacts from a sunken steamboat are displayed. The ship was buried in mud and silt for over a hundred years and the artifacts were shielded from light and heat by the mud and silt so they did not oxidize. They were unearthed by a family and were amazingly preserved and cleaned by hand using dental picks.
The museum had a section dedicated to the Mormons who traveled by steamship up the river and then either went by wagon, handcart or eventually the train on their journey to Utah.
After the museum, we drove to the famous Kansas City BBQ called Joe's which was started in a gas station. We went to the original gas station which still serves the BBQ. There are additional locations now.
We waited in line along with many other lunch goers. We agreed that it served awfully good BBQ meat.
That evening we attended the first convert baptism in our branch since we arrived in Missouri. Cute Rilson Fluerime. His brother is a member but not his mother. Her English is minimal so the elders have lined up some Skype sessions with French speaking elders in Washington DC. Our elders speak English and Spanish.
Rebekah Banks played a violin solo at the baptism. I was her last minute accompanist. She is a darling young lady with a magnificent spirit too.
Here are our elders with Rilson after his confirmation.
The Missouri River in various stages of freezing.
On January 16, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, hosted a video broadcast in the foyer of the Salt Lake Temple to announce the new first presidency. Elder Russell M. Nelson has been ordained as our new Prophet and President, with Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring as counselors.
The Lord has being preparing these remarkable men for their assignments and responsibilities for years. I looked up biographical information on each of them and shared them with our team members as we traveled in the truck on our duties. I feel very strongly that President Nelson is the prophet for this time. I pray that we as members will unite behind our new presidency and as we move forward together in faith, we will see marvelous things occur. This is the Lord's church and He is guiding his chosen leaders. Of that I bear my solemn testimony.
Steve has continued to work hard but has been limited in the scope of his activities. We were able to make a strong contribution to changing hundreds of light bulbs in one chapel as he was the gofer and I was the changer. It worked out really well and I learned a new skill.
One day I saw a card on the bulletin board in the office for Slavinsky's Bakery in Kearney. No one we asked knew anything about it. I researched it on-line and found that it was still a viable business so we planned to stop by there on our Friday rounds and check it out. All week long we looked forward to "Fritter Friday." We were not disappointed. Those fritters were the best ever!
Saturday night we had the quilting group and their husbands to dinner at our house. We are enjoying this group of friends and sometimes the husbands get feeling left out since we meet together and sew once every week or two. We decided to have a dinner where everyone brings something. Our dining room is the biggest so we hosted.
Elder Thompson and Elder Earl are both quite tall. They just barely fit under our dining room archway. We love having them to dinner each week. The days we host them vary as I usually just sign up where there is a blank space on their schedule. Very few members of our branch can afford to fee them weekly.
Sunday afternoon, the 21st, we had another baptism. Kerin Katadrik whose mother is a member was baptized. Unfortunately her non-member father wasn't able to attend, but her non-member brother-in-law was there and we were happy about that. Her mother is a very strong member. Their native language is Marshalese.
The LaPlants pictured here with them have assisted them to adjust to this new country over a period of several years. Brother LaPlant performed the baptism.
I love this Kansas City Temple from every angle. It always looks magnificent to me.
Here's another one of our yummy, veggie meals. The baked sweet potatoes are topped by sautéed apples, cranberries, cinnamon, pecans, and craisins. It is so delicious!
On Monday night, the 22nd, the senior missionaries gathered at the mission president's home for another potluck dinner and FHE. As President Love talked to us after dinner, he made one statement that I thought was really profound. He said, "Stand with the prophet today and you'll stand with the Savior tomorrow." I love that thought. We were all uplifted and spiritually touched by the recent ordination of our new prophet, Russell M. Nelson. There are great things ahead for the disciples of Christ.
We have 22 sets of senior missionaries serving in the Missouri Independence Mission. What an amazing group of dedicated, willing and talented people we serve with.
Tuesday was the first of four zone conferences. We attended this first one in Cameron, Missouri which was a little over an hour north of us. It was a snowy morning, and the elders directed all the missionary cars how to park so they could be thoroughly examined by our new fleet manager, Elder Olsen. He has only been in the mission for a week but he definitely took charge. He gave a cute prize each day to the companionship with the cleanest, best kept vehicle.
We are always touched when the group sings Called To Serve. Here everyone sang it for the relief society sisters who prepared and served us lunch. It was some of the best chili and cornbread we've ever eaten!
Wednesday we did a blitz at the Gallatin Stake Center. All the north FM workers were there to make repairs, adjustments and take inventory of the building. It was a major day of work.
We allowed ourselves to take a lunch break at the local Mexican restaurant. On the left front is Kevin, the big boss; Elder Briggs; Steve; Mark, our boss; Cheri, the administrative assistant; and Sister Briggs. Tom, the other FM mechanic, had to leave so he missed the photo.
We were so happy that the weather improved so that Thursday, when we moved hundreds of chairs, it wasn't so bitterly cold. We were really tired at the end of that day.
Saturday, Steve and I had a few errands to run. We stopped at the local Steak n Shake to use a coupon which included a double steak sandwich, fries, a side salad and a regular sized chocolate milk shake for only $5.99. It was our first time to try this restaurant. We shared the meal and were both full. What a great deal!
The rest of the day was spent preparing food etc for a wedding at our branch. Amber, a new member for less than a year, and Nicholas, a recently activated member were married in a lovely ceremony by our branch president, President Woodward. They are very excited and looking forward to their temple sealing in a year. The branch, especially the Woodwards, stepped up and put together a nice reception/dinner afterwards. Everyone was very supportive since their families were not supportive. Amber's family thinks Mormons are a cult so her dad refused to allow family members to attend. It is sad but Amber is happy.
Here is the crew that cleaned up in the kitchen after the dinner. I thought it was pretty incredible that I was the tallest woman in the room. Ha! Sister Katadrik is in the pink and Sister Woodward is wearing the apron. Michael in the back, who is recently activated, was our chief dishwasher.
I loved capturing this photograph the other morning when a shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds to shine on our lovely Kansas City Temple!
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