After we took the Marcums to the airport on Sept. 11, we drove to Chillicothe to pick up a chair and then met the group back at Hauns Mill where they had been cleaning up and mowing. Mark is showing us what soybeans look like when they turn yellow and ripen. Soybeans, hay and corn seem to be the primary crops in this area.
Dave was just a little dirty when he finished mowing so we had to capture it in a photo.
We often drive through New York on our way to Hauns Mill from Far West. This is the elementary school.
That evening there was a special awards ceremony at the Truman Library honoring an outstanding community servant in the name of Alexander Doniphan. Doniphan was an outstanding Missouri citizen, military hero, etc. and a big her to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His efforts helped the saints to relocate and saved the lives of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum when they were ordered to be shot a Far West. The senior missionaries and church leaders were invited to attend this award presentation.
President and Sister Love, the mission president of the Missouri Independence Mission were there.
President Dennis Cato and his wife, Sondra, the stake president of the Independence stake were also there. Both of these couples are amazing leaders and examples. We have come to love and admire them.
We recently stopped by the David Whitmer burial site at the city cemetery in Richmond.
After months of doing work at the Platte City stake center, we stopped at this hardware store nearby. I discovered a popcorn machine in the back and was thrilled to enjoy a bag and most of Steve's. Too bad I didn't know about it sooner. We certainly would have stopped in more often.
Friday evening, we had a little gathering at the Forsyths apartment in honor of Andy's 70th birthday!
Saturday, as we did our errands, we made a point of stopping by the Mid-west Geneology Center where two couples serve in the records preservation department. Sister Ann Larsen has several quilts on display there. This quilt is primarily made of hand-stitched applique blocks. It represents thousands of hours of work and is absolutely gorgeous. She is definitely a master-quilter!
Sunday evening we were invited by Sister Bennett to come to her home for dinner so that she could feed the elders. She is a very interesting lady who has been widowed a long time. She scoots around her house on a chair with wheels and enjoys her three companion cats. I helped her cook the hamburgers but I am not sure how she managed to make the macaroni and cheese she pulled out of the oven. She is a lady with a lot of pluck and opinions.
Monday after we finished our work at the Visitors' Center, we joined together with the Chamberlains to put up the new sign at the mission office. At Craig's request, we mixed 180 lbs of cement for each post so I doubt that this sign will blow over or fall down in the wind.
While the guys were mixing the cement, a lady came by on her electric wheel chair. She said that the battery was almost dead and she couldn't get home. After we got the signed installed, Steve figured out a way to tie the chair to the back of the truck and we pulled it up and down the hills until she was almost home. She opted to walk by the side of it and I walked behind which is how I was able to take this hilarious photo. The chair was way too heavy for two or three guys to lift it in the truck. Who knew?
That week we had two different firesides with two historians who have worked extensively on the Joseph Smith papers. One talked about the events that took place in Missouri. The other one focused on Joseph Smith as a man and shared a lot about his personality, etc. Both presentations were interesting.
Wednesday night, just before Thursday transfers, we hosted Elders Hunt and Rowley and Aaron and Kimberly. Aaron is a member who hasn't been active and Kimberly is working with the elders. It turned out that both elders were transferred out of our branch, so it was fortuitous that were getting better acquainted with Aaron and Kimberly to help them make the missionary transition.
The next day was the big chair shuffle. We moved chairs from Chillicothe to Clayview and from Clayview and the shop to Jackson. Then we moved chairs from Jackson back to the missionary cave and donated a bunch to Salvation Army. We were tired after moving hundreds of chairs, but we attended the temple and helped clean afterwards anyway.
Friday we were able to work together with the Briggs and combined our assignments.
Our plan was to finish up in time to have lunch at Hank and Tank's in Hamilton and pick up the deals at the Missouri Star's 10th birthday bash.
We didn't get into the dancing and games but we did enjoy lunch and picking up our deals!
Saturday, the Briggs invited us to ride to Leavenworth with them to see the Frontier Army Museum.
We had to check in at the visitor headquarters and be interviewed and cleared to get passes to go on the army base. The museum not only had a history of the Leavenworth military facility, it contained many excellently preserved transportation vehicles used in the 1800's.
We really enjoyed seeing all the wagons, sleighs, coaches, etc. We especially liked this carriage used to transport Abraham Lincoln from Atchison to Leavenworth on his one visit to Kansas which was the frontier at the time.
On the post there is this monument taken from the Berlin Wall in 1989. We were very happy to see this since we had seen another portion of the wall last year in Berlin itself.
It is always so sobering to see a military cemetery. This cemetery at Leavenworth has the graves of over 23,000 veterans, many of them gave their lives serving our country. How blessed we are and we need to appreciate our freedom more and honor their sacrifice.
We did exactly that later that evening when we attended a patriotic program entitled Ring The Bells of Freedom, celebrating the 231st anniversary of the signing of the United States Consitution at the Historic Stone Church in Independence. It is a beautiful building which reminds us of a small old style tabernacle like you see on temple square or Logan. It was built and dedicated on April 6, 1888, but the RLDS church and used as their headquarters for many years. It is still used by a local congregation of the Community of Christ church.
We invited our next door neighbors, Christy and Jeff Krantz, to attend the program with us. They enjoyed the musical program very much and were happy to be back in the church where their daughter was married. The program was an interfaith effort honoring the Constitution and three local families who have helped to strengthen their community and thereby our nation. The director and many of the performers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The young couple in the middle were part of one of the honored families. John and Brandi Kroeger, have been assigned to serve in our branch and he is the elders quorum president. Cheri Battrick, our FM administrative assistant stands next to Brandi.
Cheri's husband Craig did an amazing job as Benjamin Franklin in the program.
Monday evening was our final family home evening at President Love's home. Since the next one is scheduled for November 29th, they had each of the missionaries who are departing before that date give a few remarks about their mission experience. I didn't realize that it would be our last one. I got very emotional so I didn't do a very good job. Steve did an excellent job and mixed humor and humility in just the right way. Everybody leaves Steve!
We posed in front of the fireplace with President and Sister Love.
And had this photo taken with our dear friends, Dave and Vickie Briggs, who depart on October 8th.
We will truly miss them the last month of our mission. They have made each day of work a delight.
This is a wonderful group of dedicated senior missionaries.
This week I was privileged to try mowing at Far West with the zero turn mower. It is very responsive to each little move of the levers. I wasn't very good as is evidenced by a nick in a tree when I was distracted by someone moving on the temple lot. Fortunately the mower wasn't damaged but my ego got bruised.
Steve does a fantastic job on the mower. He is the best next to Mark in my opinion. He's an equipment guy!
I love working in the flower beds. This one is in front of the Liberty Jail. Soon we will be pulling the flowers and planting the bulbs for spring.
Steve is doing more sprinkler repairs at Far West.
Here is a photo of our current sister missionaries serving the Riverview Branch. Sister Jones is fresh from the MTC. Sister Parkin, her trainer, has only been out about 2 months. These are amazing sisters.
This barn we often pass on the way to Far West is still in use. I can't really believe that the farmer puts his cows in there in the winter but he does. It looks like it will collapse any moment.
Dave and Vickie actually got to mow together at Far West on this particular day. Steve and I have mowed together at Hauns Mill but not Far West. We just posed for photos.
That evening, I took this photo of Steve in the dental chair just prior to the removal of his back molar. He was a trouper throughout the ordeal and afterwards as well. Three chocolate milk shakes in the next 24 hours accelerated the healing process.
When we did rounds on Friday, we took a couple of minutes and located John Whitmer's grave in the Kingston cemetery. He was one of the eight witnesses to the Book of Mormon who remained in the Far West area after church members were driven from the state. He never denied his testimony but he was no longer a church member.
Steve is watering some sod that was installed on some muddy worn spots on the Far West temple lot.
Saturday morning, we helped Elder Rowley move his extra long bed to his new apartment in Blue Springs. The next transfer, he will need to get help from other FM missionaries with access to a pickup truck. He's a great elder and we miss him.
Later that morning, we met up with the Briggs to explore the Family Fun Farm that we see the barn for as we pass Kearney on the freeway. We could see the flowering mums, piles of pumpkins and big new barn and wanted to check it out.
It turned out to be a very delightful venue with old tractors, trucks, wagons, etc. and many fun activities for families and kids. They had things to ride, throw, jump on and pet plus food and a fantastic gift shop.
These two grain storage units had been converted cleverly into men's and women's restrooms.
I made Steve pose next to this Steiger tractor since he was involved in designing the factory that assembled these tractors many years ago.
Vickie and I were NOT involved in the design of this Cinderella carriage, but we posed there anyway.
We chuckled at this young couple and their baby. He was dressed in typical Missouri farmer jeans and she was dressed in the latest style. It was one of those "only in Missouri" moments.
It was a perfect fall day and we were up for a little more exploring so we went to the Watkins Woolen Mill in nearby Excelsior Springs. It was a very interesting museum and property. We missed the tour that went through the factory, but it was still worthwhile to visit. It's great that they have preserved these historical places that showcase the life of the frontier folks in the 1800's.
Sunday, we had our new elders and Brandi and John Kroeger to dinner right after church. It was nice to get acquainted with them, but we only had an hour so I forgot to get a photo. After the elders gave us a message and a challenge, we drove directly to Liberty Jail to pick up Elder and Sister Daniels. They rode with us to Far West to hear Kimberly Jo Smith, great great granddaughter of Joseph and Emma Smith tell about the Smith Family members and their Missouri experiences.
This is the second time we have been privileged to hear her speak. Afterwards Elder Daniels used his metal detector to find one of the sprinkler shut off valves that we needed to dig up and fix. The shut off was extra deep in the ground so our shovels and screw drivers hadn't hit it during our search.
Knowing that location truly helped with our sprinkler repair work.
On Monday October 1st, Steve and I loaded this very large load in the dump trailer all by ourselves while our boss, Mark, was up in the lift trimming the branches off trees at Richmond and Far West. We were tired that night.
Michael Ellison, is a faithful local church service missionary who has been helping FM missionaries in Missouri for over 10 years. He comes in Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the spring, summer and fall months. He is a gentle, kind soul who works very hard at helping keep up the mission office, director's home and Visitor's Center landscaping.
