April showers?

The first week of April, it was our turn for rounds on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I love those days when we check and service the historic sites.  There is a special hallowed feeling at those sites and we love taking care of them even when the weather isn't pleasant.  Reflecting on those saints who lived and suffered persecution there is always sobering and leads to thoughts of gratitude.

The days in between rounds are filled with chapel projects and deliveries.  Below Steve disassembles old nursery cabinets since we delivered new replacements.

Below our crew was diligently working to remove old cabinets and materials from remodeled areas of the Clayview chapel.  It is being prepared for a new ward to be created at the end of April.  It will be hosting 4 wards then.

Here we are delivering new tables and removing old broken down tables from the Leavenworth, KS chapel.

We often eat our lunch in the car.  When I pulled out this mashed banana from our bag, our friend Vickie laughed and snapped this photo.  It's good to laugh at silly little things as it makes the day less tiring.

In the middle of the week, some former FM missionaries who served about 18 months ago, stopped by to see our boss, Mark, and visit the old hang out.  Surprisingly, they were a couple from Blackfoot, Idaho.  The husband, Darren Dance grew up down the street from Steve and after they were married, Darren and Ellen lived by Steve's sister, Kathy & Brent, for 17 years.  It was a brief but fun reunion.

It takes a real crew of us to deliver whiteboards to chapels as they are very heavy and of course, we don't want to break them.

These are piles of sawdust and wood chips that are all that's left of the big beautiful trees we used to walk past.  It really makes us sad to have them gone.

Wednesday night, we had a threesome of elders to dinner as transfers were the next day and our other elder finally got his visa for the Dominican Republic.  Below are Elders Thompson, White and Watts.

We were excited to see these tulips coming up at Liberty Jail.  Mixed in are a few daffodils that have survived recent snow storms.

I liked this photo of Steve changing lights at Liberty Jail because it shows the replica and the exterior walls are made of the original stone.  This is a beloved historic site.

After we left Far West, we tried a different dirt road to explore the area a little bit.  We saw this old-style bridge that reminded us of one in Blackfoot when we were growing up.

We also saw all of this old railroad stuff on a piece of land along the way.

On Saturday, our stake hosted a relief society women's conference.  The speakers, classes, service project and brunch were all very prepared and it was a spiritual delight.

We were especially enriched by powerful leadership of our stake president, President Cato as he addressed us and asked us to rise to the challenge to minister to each other and do whatever is required to prepare for Christ's second coming.  We really love and respect this humble, down to earth servant of the Lord.

I took an hour to visit my Aunt Inge Lisa on Saturday too.  She usually responds to and loves the dogs when they are brought to visit.  This time she did not and it saddened me.

Saturday afternoon we went with our friends, the Briggs, to check out some country quilt shops and get blocks for the "Old Town Trail".  

The first shop was delightful and the proprietor, told us the miraculous story of her "Eye of God" quilt which is based on the photo from the hubble telescope.

Typical of Missouri small businesses, it was the only shop open at that time on Saturday afternoon.  The others posted their hours and it surprised us that they weren't open long on Saturdays.  We would have supposed Saturdays to be busier than during the week.  Who knew?

This old barn features a wooden barn quilt.  This is one of the brightest we've seen and since it was on a dirt road without much traffic, we were able to stop for a picture.  We loved the old car parked next to it too.  We often see the old-fashioned windmills too.  They were used to pump water.

This is another country quilt shop but as mentioned, it was closed at the time we arrived which was about 3:30 p.m.  This was the Sisters Fabric Farm, a quilt shop down a dirt road outside of Lathrop, Missouri.

After driving around the country for a couple of hours, we went to a BBQ placed in Excelsior Springs  which was highly recommended by one of our bosses, Kevin.  It is located in an old railroad depot and is named for The Wabash.  Here we are standing in front of the smokehouse where they smoke all the meat.  You can see piles of different kinds of wood used for different meats.

 Here are our friends, Elder & Sister Briggs, discussing the BBQ menu at the Wabash.

This was one of the best BBQ meals we've had so far.  BBQ is a big part of the local cuisine and culture so there is a lot of competition to be rated among the best.  This place is said to always have a line.  5 p.m. on Saturday was no exception.

Sunday, one of our friends at church, Brother Jeffries, wore his most eye catching suit so far.  I wish I had a photo of Steve together with him in his navy suit as Steve really got him laughing when he said that together they represented the red, white and blue of America.  They both have white hair.

Snow arrived as predicted on Sunday afternoon.  We were happy that we were home safe and warm since it was probably icy outside.  The snow was gone by Monday morning and we were happy about that.