January 31, 2016

We have been enjoying spring-like weather the past few days, “unseasonable and unusual” say the locals.  Nearly all the snow is gone and rain is forecast for later today.  However, the outlook is for a cooling trend, with rain likely to turn to snow.  There seems to be such broad and quick fluctuation, with swings from below zero to nearly sixty degrees in just a couple of days. 

A few weeks ago a large sign that directed visitors to the Adam-ondi-Ahman main entrance toppled over.  It had been placed on another farmer’s property with a multiple year lease.  We had initially felt it unnecessary to reset it but were eventually instructed to research who the landowner was and determine the scope of the lease arrangement.  Finding that several years of use had already been paid for, we were asked to repair and reset the signage.  To find the information needed we visited the county courthouse in Gallatin. 

Gallatin Courthouse

 The building was erected in 1905 at a cost of $75,000.00.  It is a majestic structure, complete with a clock and bell tower.  While there we asked if the upper loft was open for visitors.  A kindly custodian, Melo Hernandez, escorted us up several flights of stairs and a rickety ladder to view the bell and mechanized clock. 

Backside of Clock

Winding Mechanism

Bell

 It is the only such clock left in the country that continues to be hand-wound each week.  There is one at  the Smithsonian but it is power operated. We plan on taking the other missionary couples for a similar tour a week from Monday for family home evening.

While travelling to a tire repair shop in Bethany a couple of days later I stopped to take a photo of an abandoned home noticed during each previous drive. 

A fixer upper!

 It is representative of many such structures that should have been removed years ago but now mar the landscape, usually surrounded by old rusting cars and machinery.  We jokingly considered attaching the photo to requests for information from the new missionaries and list it as the farm house the couple who last submits their replies will occupy.

We are having more contact with those couples scheduled to arrive in March.  Time is flying.  It seems as though we just began the new year a few days ago; but we are turning the calendar page to February already.  Where did January go?  In just a few weeks the new missionaries will arrive.  Lot of preparations are underway.  During the week we began some minor repair work needed on the apartment complex some of them will occupy.  When those jobs are completed and a little more outside cleaning we will scrub them well again, shampoo the carpets and treat for any bugs that may have wintered there.  We can remember questions we had a year ago and are all trying to answer those for those who are now facing what we once did.  We hope the mentoring provided will ease concerns and help them come well prepared.

The sister missionaries take turns decorating a bulletin board and the center table in the indexing room.  They try to tie all together with a theme around something happening in the month.  Marilyn’s turn is for the month of February so she got it all set up yesterday afternoon.  She is using a valentine theme for the table setting and "a heart like His" for her bulletin board.

A Heart like His

Heart Centerpiece

The men have been involved in a wide variety of tasks, some inside when very cold and others in the fields when weather conditions permit.  We are trimming branches from windrows of trees that have encroached upon the fields that shade outside rows and get in the way of the machinery. 

Large tree cut and  taken to the Mill to saw up
Elder Christensen wanted the men to count the rings of the tree.
How old do you think it is??

 When the frost starts leaving the ground it is too muddy to get in the fields for a while, gumming up the work boots and (after several hours) leaving the men taller than when they came in the morning.  We have also begun removing metal gates to repaint them.

We feel so wonderfully blessed to have been assigned to this special place.  We enjoy the spirit of the site very much, as we do associating with the other couples we have met here. 

January 25, 2016

Greetings from Adam-ondi-Ahman!  Hope you have all had a great week and that you are keeping warm.  The temperature has dipped and the humidity is high so when the wind blows across the snow and open fields we feel the chill of Missouri.  We have said before that every season here is so beautiful.  We love to see the contrast of the animals against the snow, especially the Red Cardinal birds.

Red Cardinal (Male)

Elder and Sister Christensen arrived Monday afternoon.  As soon as they turn onto the property they call to let us know they are here.  It is always so fun to have them here and they teach us so much.

Monday evening they had dinner with us.  Tuesday morning when we were at Prayer meeting Sister Christensen told us she had lost her watch and thought it was at our house.  We looked everywhere and Kevin sifted though the snow that had fallen Monday night after they had left on the front sidewalk. She told of a magician that had taken her watch off three different times at a show they had been to in Branson and she didn’t even know it.  She asked if Kevin had played his magic.  Luckily she found it on the floor of her closet on Wednesday evening but couldn’t figure out how it got there.

Tuesday morning Kevin and I went to the final hearing of Steve Anderson.  He got everything settled up with the judge and is coming back next week to get his car with some friends.  He has Kevin’s number and calls him regularly with many questions.  Hopefully he can stay on his medication and get the help he needs.  You wonder what goes through his mind….

Christensen’s ate lunch with Elder and Sister Zeeman on Tuesday.  This cute picture was taken of them before they left.  Elder Urie had given Elder Zeeman the pitch fork to roast hot dogs on so they got Elder Christensen to pose as the farmer and farmer’s wife.

Elder & Sister Christensen

Tuesday evening we had our “formal dinner” with Elder and Sister Christensen at the work center with the other missionaries.  I was in charge of the dinner and Sister Day helped with the decorating. 

Snowman Decorations

Decorated Tables   

After the meal Sister Christensen spoke about making New Years resolutions.  It is a time to start over and do better.  She said, “I hope your problems don’t last longer than your resolutions!” She encouraged us to start writing our life histories and that the longest range resolution we make should be to return to our Heavenly Father and become like him.

Elder Christensen talked on how we can become like the Savior.  He quoted Luke 2:52.  “And Jesus increased in wisdom, and stature, and in favor with God and man.”  This is the only scripture that tells about his development between the age of twelve and when he began his ministry at thirty. He increased intellectually, physically, spiritually and socially.  Then Elder Christensen asked what we were doing to develop in each of these four areas?  He always gives us much to think and ponder about.

Wednesday the farmers and their wives came over to our home for dinner with the Christensen’s.  It is always fun to get together with them.  They have a great relationship with the missionaries, Christensens, and Childs.

AOA Farmers & Christensens

Friday after work we went to the Kansas City Temple with the other missionaries. We always try to go the weekend after the general authorities are here.  We enjoyed a wonderful evening.

Kansas City Temple

I had some fabric scraps left from the last quilt I pieced that were given to me from Sarah at 7^th so I made a “scrappy quilt.”  I have just made the top so I need to pick out a backing and get it tied or quilted.  I still have a few scraps left that are calling my name so I will have to decide what to do with them. 

Quilt Top

Close up pattern of blocks

That’s the news for the week.  Hope you are all well and happy.  You are always in our thoughts and prayers.  We love you!

January 17, 2016

Good afternoon from a wintery, windy day in Missouri.  A rather abrupt change in temperatures occurred this past week, sliding from 58 degrees only a couple of days ago to nearly 0 this morning.  The cold northerly wind that must have brought the front our way persisted, making it feel like 11 below.  The weatherman is predicting more snow Tuesday, followed by a warming trend.  We are grateful for that!  But even in winter, with a covering of glistening snow, the property is beautiful – especially when enjoyed from the inside of the partly frosted windows.

We have really enjoyed the vivid colors of the sunrises and sunsets. 

Beautiful Sunrise

Each day here has been full of opportunity and enjoyment as we have worked in this sacred setting and enjoyed those with whom we have been privileged to serve.  It seems that each visible rising sun serves as an invocation and each setting its benediction.

Preparations are being made for the new group of missionaries that will arrive on March 16^th.  Mentors have been assigned and communication is flowing regularly to assist them in their preparations.  We can sense of their excitement and, at the same time, remember how we were feeling a year ago.  My how time has flown.  As we look at the volume of work we know the coming spring, summer and fall will bring we are grateful to know helpers will arrive in time to share the load.    And as we review the talents and skills they will bring and the attitudes of willingness and devotion we are most anxious to become better acquainted with them while working at their side.

Early in the week, after unloading some firewood donated to a needy couple in Hamilton, Elder Day and I visited the J. C. Penney museum on Main Street.  While there we noticed a framed document on the wall, written by Mr. Penney and entitled “Faith Not Shaken”. 

Mr J. C. Penney

Faith Not Shaken

 That night, while reviewing the document, we learned more of the man who led such a large and successful company.  Hamilton Missouri was his hometown.  His father was a Baptist minister.  In the document he wrote of being “reared by parents whose faith in God and belief that right will triumph” offered him an abiding hope.  He wrote of this being “too deeply engrained” in him to not have stayed with him, influencing his thought patterns since.  We learned that (in addition to his retailing career) he had become very involved in farming and ranching and had owned much land in Missouri and a farming operation in Florida that covered 120,000 acres.  The framed thoughts displayed in the museum were a copy of an article written in the Freemasonry magazine of his day.  He spoke of his faith in God, his faith in his county, and his cause for optimism and hope.  Let me quote him directly, in regard to these feelings.  He wrote:

“Recent events have not shaken my faith in the ultimate triumph of Freedom and Justice… (it being) too deeply engrained in me to doubt its final victory.  I do emphasize the words ‘ultimate’ and ‘final’ for I am not at all sure we may not have to pass through a period of great trial.  I am of the opinion we are in prophetic days, when for a time Evil is to hold sway and apparently to override the Good…

“We have been told plainly that such a state would exist and I believe we must accept these conditions and possibly greater tribulations as part of the world’s destiny without losing faith that in due time right will triumph over Might.  As long as we believe in the existence, in the justice, and in the Holiness of God, we cannot believe otherwise… We should recognize them for what they are – times of tribulation, but not as an occasion for pessimism.  Such experiences should cause us to examine our faiths and reestablish our convictions more firmly, resolving to acquit ourselves like men who have a deep and abiding faith that cannot be shaken by outward events… As long as we have faith at all in God, we must know that He is All-Powerful, that His Will for the world is Justice and Right and that eventually His Purpose will be establish here on earth.  Good emerges slowly, but we must not doubt it final victory.”

He continued, writing of his faith in American, its people and its way of life.

“America was founded by our forefathers in prayer, in faith, and in the heroic spirit of sacrifice.  Lives of comparative ease in their own country might have been theirs had they been willing to surrender their convictions.  They chose the hard right rather than theeasy wrong and were ready to lay down their lives for freedom to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences… 

“Yes, our country is great.  It could have been mightier than it is had not some throughout every period of its history retarded its growth by greed, corruption in high places, petty partisanship in crucial periods and by individual selfishness.  Selfishness, of course, is the festered spot in every evil situation whether world, nation or individual… As a Nation, and as individuals, our fate will be determined by our choice of the hard right over the easy wrong.  Softened by comfortable living in easy-going periods, our spiritual and physical muscles tend to become flabby.  We need reversions to difficulties to toughen us up.  Periods such as the present are testing times.  The harder they become, the more determined we should be not to be swept aside by the fears and doubts that bedevil the world.  We must return to the right principles in our thinking, in our beliefs and in our practices, putting aside negativeness and self-indulgence… In such times those who are too soft, who lack the courage and stamina to strive, slacken effort.  Real men tighten their belts, throw their full weight into the harness of their daily activities and pull with all their might and main… Let us choose for ourselves the hard right.  If individuals in sufficient number will gird themselves and play their part as men, our America will be made safe for its own people and will stand as a beacon light of Hope to this war-torn and war-weary world.”

Good advice, from a well-known and (evidently) good man; and certainly applicable in our day.  We were uplifted by his viewpoint as we hope you likewise will be.  It speaks also of the faith of others impacting ours, and of it giving hope and encouragement.  We thank you each for that impact upon us. 

Elder and Sister Christensen will be arriving tomorrow afternoon.  We are looking forward to their visit.  They always bring wonderful spirits and share inspiring messages.  Also on the docket (Tuesday morning) is another (and hopefully final) court hearing for the man from Iowa we have written of before.  We hope he can return to his home and take his colorful car with him, and that he will be able to receive the help needed in his condition.  Sadly, the lessons he learned from his Missouri experience were painfully instilled.  To have seen him go through them has been a new and challenging lesson for us too. 

We hope you have a great week, that you stay warm and comfortable, and that you remember our love an appreciation.

January 10, 2016

Hope all of you are enjoying the New Year and keeping warm.  Kevin took a picture of the green lawn after the snow had melted the other day, but this weekend reminded us that it is still winter even if the snow is gone and the sun is shining!

Looks like 16 degrees but feels like 1 degree!

Kevin has been busy this past week after receiving all the information about the six couple missionaries that are coming in March.  He now has them assigned a Mentor couple that will keep in contact with them before arriving and then will train them when they arrive.  These next couple of months will be busy making preparations for their arrival.  It is amazing how many talents and how much experience they will be bringing.  Hopefully we can learn much from them.     

We had a visit this week from a member of the church real estate department. He was looking at a couple of pieces of property in the area and told us some interesting stories of how some of the land is acquired for church buildings and other properties.  He mentioned they are ten years out in planning for other temples.  You can really see the hand of the Lord in all that they do.

This week I indexed “Hugo” the circus giant.  He was the tallest man in the world at 8’4” and weighed 536 lbs.  He died at the age of 47 from Pneumonia.  (Kevin said it is good that he could be baptized by proxy.)  It is really interesting to learn about others lives.  Today in Sacrament meeting they talked about Family Research.  One of the sisters said you don’t learn much about a person with just names and dates on a piece of paper, but how much better if you have a story you can relate to.  We are so grateful for the stories Marsha has researched and shared with us over the past few months so we can get to know our family better.

Spike from the Old Wabash Railroad

This last week Kevin found a spike from the Wabash Railroad, ground off the rust and painted it for me as a memento of the railroad that passed through Adam-ondi-Ahman.

The Wabash Railroad was a Class 1 railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area. The Wabash's major freight traffic advantage was the direct line from Kansas City to Detroit, without going through St. Louis or Chicago. The leg of track that ran through Jameson was abandoned in the 60’s, after the depot burned down.  Today some of those rails are used on the property as a framework for the carports at various homes.

Hope you all have a great week!  We love you and appreciate  your example and all you do for us.

January 3, 2016

The relatively moderate and unusually wet weather that kept lawns green so late in the season changed dramatically right after Christmas.  Although only a few degrees cooler, even the slight drop in temperature brought snow in the place of rain and, with it, a beautiful wintry landscape.  The colors, so vivid with countless shades of green earlier in spring, summer and fall could now be captured just as accurately painted in black, white and grey. 

View of the pond from our home

 On a day or two only the color white would best describe our view with nearly white-out conditions that made driving on the unplowed roads an interesting challenge.  One of the Elders directed his wife (who would follow him a few minutes later to the work center in their car) to simply watch for and follow the tracks his pickup left somewhere nearly half way between the two long rows of (also white) fence posts.  Only the barbwire was a contrast, and the comparatively obscure outline of the silhouette of dormant shade trees in the distance.  But how grateful we are for the changing seasons, each uniquely beautiful and with the experiences that accompany them

Barn by the 4-plex

Work duties during the week included year-end tasks needed to properly complete and clear the books (both financial and historical) for the fresh start of January 2016.  Expenditures that needed to be posted to appear prior were carefully entered to match the year the supplies were received or the services rendered.  We hoped the computers would cooperate and the approval processes in the Salt Lake City offices would quickly follow so that checks could be sent in a timely fashion or electronic transfers result as promised.  With only a couple of exceptions all happened as planned, now only a small residue of details remaining which we hope will be resolved within the next couple of days before a final closing of the books.  

The sisters continually worked on their indexing which opens a door to further research and temple work follow.  One of the obituaries Mom indexed listed the cause of death and an attendant detail, stating:

     “Amelia Dudler Fredickson takes too much Poisonous Drug.     Investigation:  She never tried to poison anyone but her husband and was sorry she did not do so.”

They also worked on documenting the activities of 2015 as they combined all their photo journals and included appropriate descriptions in the mission history.  We have both been preparing for the missionaries who will arrive in March.  Having now received each of their resumes, we now are able to assign mentoring couples and begin sharing more information with them.  They all bring many talents.  We have now conversed with each couple over the phone to congratulate them, welcome them, and wish them well with their preparations.  We have also been removing old tile from one of the public restrooms to get it ready for new ceramic tile – lots of backbreaking work.

Our dear friends, Elder and Sister Urie, who had been with their daughter’s young family in Polson, Montana during the final days of her husband’s life were joined by the remainder of their supportive family for his funeral services Monday.  As a member of the Indian tribe, whose college he presided over, his funeral was symbolic and long - less, they said, than the customary three day services, but including both tribal, collegiate and family segments.  Even as amended it lasted several hours.  We are grateful they could be there to support and accompany her though the difficult period.  Details are now being considered for longer term plans.  Soon they will return to their missionary service here and continue to assist her, as best they can, from a distance.

Some of our missionaries attended a funeral Tuesday of a ward member who we knew only as “Chief”.  His family has lived in this area for generations and is well known throughout the community.  Soon after we learned of his death, and while cleaning an old file cabinet, we encountered a pamphlet that told of an infamous crime and hanging in the late nineteenth century.  A man’s remains had been discovered in a well shaft, the evidence followed, and the two culprits apprehended and found guilty of robbery and murder.  Sandwiched between the pages was a single sheet of paper – a pedigree chart of the man for whom the funeral services in our ward were being held.  The mystery of its placement was solved when we discovered that one of the hanged criminals written of in the historical narrative was Chief’s great grandfather.  The instructions given by the judge to the guilty and to those who attended while the verdict was being announced were very interesting.  They counseled the condemned to strive to repent as best they could during their remaining few days and for the family members (also a sorry lot) to resolve to also amend their wrongful ways. 

The patriarch of the Far West Stake invited the missionaries assigned to Adam-ondi-Ahman to join his family and invited neighbors to a New Year’s Eve Mexican dinner.  The food was delicious and the company choice.  He presented a “Family Home Evening Lesson” on marriage.  As we were leaving Brother Bonnett presented each couple a lovely wrapped and framed gift. 

Entitled “Oblations”, it described pledges he had made earlier in his life that had guided and governed him throughout the ensuing years.  

What a wonderful creed, well worth considering often and also committing to.  It reminded us of a similar philosophy penned on a plaque on Grandpa McCracken’s office wall that guides and defines his life likewise.  

Friday and Saturday were spent in household duties and in preparing a lesson on the 138^th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants we are scheduled to share during the next few scripture study sessions.  Sunday we attended the monthly Fast and Testimony Meeting.  There is never a moment without someone at the Pulpit.  Young and old testify humbly and boldly.  We are always edified and encouraged by the expressions that are shared.  Both before, during, and since the meeting we have contemplated on the wonderful blessing given us of testimonies of the gospel.  We are so grateful to each of you for sharing yours with us over the years, both verbally and consistently in exemplary lives of devotion and worthiness.

We wish for each of you a joyous and prosperous New Year.