Dear Family,
During the Sunday evening
hour normally devoted to writing to family, we were attending a fireside that
we had not anticipated. Sister Doxey,
whose husband oversaw the development of the Adam-ondi-Ahman properties for
nearly 40 years prior to his passing away two years ago was visiting the area
with three of her children and their spouses.
She offered to share her family’s experiences with us so we were
naturally excited to learn of them. For
many years she (with those of her 12 children who were still at home) spent
summers here assisting with maintenance and beatification projects.
One interesting
experience, shared by her oldest daughter, involved the first service
missionary called here. He was a retired
farmer and served alone. His
responsibilities included cleaning up and removing trash from the
property. He was blind in one eye. During his daily regimen he was struck in the
blind eye by an object and was transported somewhere for medical
attention. During the ordeal his sight
in that eye miraculously returned. That,
with many other experiences, showed the hand of the Lord in the work proceeding
here.
We were pleased that we
could even attend the meeting with Sister Doxey, as during most of the
afternoon and early evening hours repeated alerts were appearing of hail storms
and tornado watches. Fortunately the
damaging hail storm went around us. We
felt fortunate (and grateful) with the corn crop so vulnerable to damage. Nearly all the crops are finally in, although
some soy beans might need to be replanted.
We have started getting
quite hot weather, with the heat index over 100 a couple of days. It is interesting to see the temperatures
early in the morning at around 74 degrees with humidity usually about 94%. Quite different than what we are accustomed
to. With much rain, everything is green
and growing.
Saturday we had an
interesting experience, visiting the Amish community. We were able to tour one of their homes and
had many questions answered about their beliefs and customs. The young lady who lives there has consented
to our taking the balance of the missionaries back for a family home evening on
the 6th of July. They had
propane for cooking, heat, and lighting.
Other appliances such as the washing machine, ringer and dryer were
powered by air lines that were pressured by a wind-powered generator. We will send (at some point) pictures
taken. All was fascinating. Watching a real four horsepower tractor,
walking abreast with a teamster at the reigns was, it seemed, a snapshot from a
former era.
Tuesday we made a quick
trip to the Kansas City airport to see Melanie and Chyllia for a few
minutes. They were on their way to
Branson, Missouri for a clogging performances and a competition. It was a surprise to Chyllia. We had lunch together and visited the Liberty
Jail visitor center. In just a few days
Andrew, Kandyce, Grant and Hayes will be coming to visit also. We are always excited to have family
here. And it was so nice to converse
with others during the week over the phone.
Our garden is doing well
but the fence panels are not tight enough to keep the small bunnies out. They wiggle through the 2 X 4 inch mesh and
dine on the peas, beans, and sweet potatoes.
We have found that they are not the easiest animals to herd through corn
patches and vining crops. If we only had
brought a 22 we could make a nice vegetable stew with rabbit meat. Snatching “our veggies” should be a capital
offence, shouldn’t it?
Please keep in touch. We look forward to each contact. Know of our love and appreciation.
Love,
Marilyn & Kevin,
Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa
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