Week #4 - March 18-24

What a week, jam packed with blessings. Can I just say right at the start that there is such joy in this "work."  It is truly a marvelous work and a wonder how the Lord is in the details of our lives.  Everyone of ours.  Truly I don't know how He does it.  I just know He does.  We are witnesses of His grace and tender mercies.  No coincidences.  We just have to keep our eyes open and our hearts sensitive to his love.

Today being Monday it was to be our PDay (preparation day of the week.)  Starting from this afternoon and working our way back, here is what we have experienced this week:

We have been here for one month and today we were able to participate in the baptism of a 15 year old young man into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He lives with his grandparents during the school year.  His grandmother, despite her own health issues, cares for him along with his grandfather.  We take no credit for his decision to be baptized.  We were just at the right place at the right time.  He was taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ by two different sets of sister missionaries who were here long before we got here.  His grandmother told me today that it wasn't until Elder Gibbons asked if he was ready to be baptized that he said yes. That is humbling to know the Lord can touch hearts and work through ordinary people to bring His children to Christ.  

 

Earlier this morning, the two other sets of missionaries came to our home for a District PDay.  Usually we have PDays on our own, but once a month we join each other.  We had a potluck and played games before getting dressed up for the baptism.  Umm, have you ever played "Pandemic?"  We hadn't either and to be honest we aren't likely to play it again, but the other four were having a great time trying to eradicate the world of the pandemic.  LOL.  

Two younger sisters apparently play jokes on other missionaries and when you aren't looking they pick up your phone and take pictures of themselves without our knowing it.

Meet Sister Froelich and Sister Radmall, both from Utah.  They are great missionaries with happy, positive energy!

     

This is the softest, most cuddly blanket ever and Sister Froelich couldn't help herself.  Thank Jenny Jolley for stuffing it into our belongings before we left Arizona!

Saturday, we drove two hours south to Traverse City and attended an Easter Musical Celebration put on by our Missionaries.  We drove mostly along Lake Michigan and amidst apple and cherry fields just waiting for Spring.  It was a beautiful drive and so worth it.  The program brought the Easter spirit into our hearts for sure.  I can't describe how beautiful the small choir was (it truly sounded like there were four times as many people singing with them... angels?)  Such talent.  Took this picture on our way home.

Doesn't do it justice though.  But it does prove we do have clear skies and see the moon some times.

When we were there, and Elder came up to us and asked if we had a Granddaughter named Roxy.  And we said, "Yes!"  He said he was from Gilbert too and went to Higley High School with her and Jaxen.  We took a picture with Elder Loar and sent it to Roxy and her family asking if they knew him.  Auburn, our daughter-in-law responded, "I am sitting right next to his mother in a church meeting right now."  Like I Said.  No coincidences.  Elder Loar's mom was so happy to see it and Bryan said she teared up seeing him.

What do you do when the visits are done for the day and it's Friday date night?  Order pizza and go home to eat it.

Thursday evening Michael Choules, the Ward Clerk of our home ward (Sonoran Springs) texted us with a picture of our missionary plaque that will hang in our Church building until we return.

Our Mission President, President Peckham, sent a Facebook Messenger Chat to the entire mission Monday night with a fantastic Grand Rapids, Michigan Temple update.  We are so excited.  When a Temple is announced and going to be built there are a lot of county and city codes that the Church must meet, of course.  Many times the community it is being built in has height restrictions and in the end what was submitted was approved.

I received a package in the mail this week that contained a beautiful cashmere sweater.  The only problem is, there was nothing indicating who it came from.  As I thought about it, it was like, "This person could have.  No that person could have."  And then I realized that any of our family and friends have the hearts to do something so thoughtful.  So anyone want to confess?  Whoever you are, thank you!  Here is a picture of it in the morning before we left.  It was a beautiful day.  Blue skies and 22 degrees.  The snow was glistening.

On one of our long drives, we listened to a BYU Speech given by David A Bednar given on January of this year called, "Consider the Wondrous Works of God."  Such a great talk!  Here is my big takeaway... YOU are God's wondrous works.  He leads us and helps us grow.  He doesn't do it for us because our work is to become like Him.  He left things unfinished so we have work to do.  Here is a quote for you to ponder from the talk.  Elder Bednar was quoting the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

 

Week #3 in the Field

Hello people that we love!  (That is how one of the young sister missionaries we served with in the Temple starts her emails and I love it.  So I am copying it)

Lots of wonderful firsts this past week.  Our third week here.  New people.  New places.  New experiences.

We don't drink the tap water here (like in Arizona.)  The pipes are old and rusty.  We learned about a spring that provides fresh water available free to anyone right outside a little town about 20 miles away.  The couple who own the house we live in, Brother and Sister Olson, are in our Branch and they took us to the Spring, and we are so grateful.  We bought four, 5 gallon jugs and filled them up.  We will go by this spring every other Wednesday on our way to Petoskey for District Council.  There are very specific rules for using the spring.

This is a picture of the road coming down the hill from the small chapel in Petoskey.

We spent Friday in a little town called Alpena about 65 miles away and so enjoyed having lunch with two fantastic Sister Missionaries there.  Elder Gibbons asked if they had any appointments that we could join with them.  They were going to make a second visit to a woman named Phyllis who resides in a nursing home.  What fun!  As we arrived, they had just finished a St Patrick's Day program and Phyllis was sitting amongst several of her friends so we struck up a conversation with them as one of the Sisters taught Phyllis about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Phyllis is the woman in the red jacket.

This woman called Elder Gibbons over and just needed some attention too.  She gave him a gift.  He is kinda cute afterall.  She told Elder Gibbons, "I just want to walk."  Elder Gibbons promised her that one day she would.

We continue to visit members of the Branch.  We have been challenged to meet each one within the timeframe of two transfers (about 12 weeks.)  There are 62 members in our Branch and we have met 20 so far.  Without fail everyone we have visited has been friendly, even if they aren't at a time in their lives that they want to participate.  Yesterday we had 21 people at Church.  

One little family that recently moved into our Branch came.  They have been less active, but when we learned about them we went to meet them and they expressed a desire to get back to church.  Last week they asked us for lunch and made homemade chicken tenders and french fries and we taught them about ordinances and covenants and The Covenant Path.  They asked us to come tomorrow and demonstrate a Family Home Evening with them.  We are going to talk about the meaning of Easter.  They have a two year old daughter.  The mother grew up having FHE, but the father is a convert from a few years ago.  

This is a picture in the town of Indian River where this family lives.  They have big fish here!

The Friend we met while visiting her husband in the hospital came to Church for a third week in a row.  If you have been a missionary, you know that this makes missionaries really happy.  We are meeting with her again on Tuesday afternoon in our home, and although her husband isn't yet coming to Church, we hope he will come again to our home to learn.  Please help us and pray for Arthur and Sheree. 

One of the speakers yesterday wasn't able to come so Elder Gibbons threw me under the bus and blessed me with the opportunity to speak.  Fortunately, we both decided to carry a talk in our pockets just in case.  I was carrying a copy of a talk I gave in our home Ward before we left for our mission about the blessing and importance of having a testimony of the Savior that can be gained through reading scriptures.  Wouldn't you agree that it's his turn to talk next?!

It is customary here (and I think in many missions) for the missionaries to put pictures of the Savior up on their walls.  When we are on Zoom meetings with the Mission, we can often see them.  So wanting to be like these amazing younger missionaries, we did the same.

The three papers underneath are things we have been asked to memorize.

Many of the sisters in our Branch have good husbands who are not members of the Church.  We feel like this is surely something for us to pray about-- one home at a time, and seek the Spirit to find the time and a way to invite all to come unto Christ.  We know that God loves all of them, and each of us.  One such sister's husband loves to paint abstract pictures using a really cool process.  This is a picture of one we have in our home that we put on our kitchen counter.  Talented, huh?

We pray you each do what you can to seek a personal relationship with our Savior.  In the Book of Mormon, Ether 12:41 says, "And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever."  We promise as you do so, you will feel His love and watchful care for you.

Scenes Around Town

 We have been snapping pictures of the things we get a kick out of as we drive around town.  I am sure we will see more.  Hope one or two of them put a smile in your heart too.

Notice the eyes on the fire hydrant.  We thought maybe it was just this one, but no they are like that all over town.

This sits in the harbor here just down the street about a mile from us.  We will explore further when its not so windy cold.

You don't see this much in Arizona.  But lots of trucks and cars have this kind of damage from the salt they put on the roads after it snows.  We will probably spend more at the car wash here than on food.  LOL.

Love this one!  You see them on some streets, but this one is on the bridge that goes over the Cheboygan River on our way to our church building.

We saw this on the road not far from our house.  When we turned down our street, there were three more in our back yard, but by the time I got the camera ready they heard us and left.

We saw this on one our drives out of town and took it in memory of one of our grandson's, Riggs.  He is on the other side of the veil and we'd like to think he is "assigned" to watch over us from time to time.

What kid wouldn't like this for their backyard slide?  Someone is really creative.  To be honest, one of the things we see most in people's yards are old boats, not on a trailer, just in their yards.

This was the price of gas all over the area for the first couple of weeks.  It just went up to $3.69.  

One night it rained all night.  We decided to drive about 16 miles out to one of our branch members home to meet their 15 year old grandson who is special needs, but ready to be baptized.  As we got closer this is the road we traversed.  When we drove into the "driveway" the grandfather was out on the driveway with a shovel trying to reroute the water off the dirt.  They are a really sweet, humble family.  They have their share of challenges, but they are kind.

When we left, he gave us a dozen eggs and introduced us to his pet turkey.  Her name is "Sweet Pea." 

 But, here is her portrait.  We make new friends everyday.

Oh, and one last picture.  Elder Gibbons has not forgotten how to shovel snow even if it has been over 40 years!!

Our First Zone Conference

This was our email to our family and friends on March 11th:  (pictures updated on 3//18/24)

One of the highlights of this week was attending our first Zone Conference.  Favorite parts were:

*  All the Elders and Sisters (young and senior) singing the opening song, "We'll Bring the World His Truth/Armies of Helaman).  Between the message of the song and the strength of their voices, we couldn't sing through the lump in our throats.  Where else can you find 18-26 year olds leaving everyone and everything behind and devoting their lives to serving God to bring His children to Christ?  Sure gives us hope for our world.

* Feeling the joy and energy of Elders and Sisters (maybe not so much from the seniors, LOL.)

* Being taught by the Mission Presidency First Counselor, President Gentile.  What a powerhouse and dynamic teacher.  He started by telling the true story of two Delta Force soldiers (Gordon and Sanderson) who risked (and one gave) their lives to rescue fellow soldiers on the ground...another group of people who care about the one and leaving no one behind.  And he tied it beautifully into the way missionaries commit to do whatever it takes to help others.  We know our mission and we will do it.

*Meeting Elder Plowman, from Gilbert, Arizona (whose family we know)

*).

                          

This is our district.  We all dressed in blue.  LOL.

Elder and Sister Gibbons, Sister Radmall, Sister Froelich and Sister and Elder Rollins

                                                                                                The entire Zone with President and Sister Peckham, second row and the fourth and fifth from the left.                                                                      

                            

The Awesome Elders! 

The Amazing Sisters!

At every Zone Conference the Elders and Sisters must bring their cars cleaned and maintained and they are inspected.  Elder Gibbons (in spite of it being windy and cold asked to help with the process.  You know how he is 💙  Its a cool sight to see all their "chariots" lined up (and this picture doesn't show them all)

 

We have settled into our morning routine of personal and companion        scripture study, prayers and planning for the day.  Elder Gibbons didn't

know I was taking this picture, but I wanted to capture the snow outside.  

We are still learning all the technology and resources.  We have iPhones, but had to purchase an inexpensive Android to download the "Preach My Gospel" app which was developed to keep track of people we meet, what and when they've been taught, and invitations, commitments, follow up.  We won't bore you anymore with the details.  Just suffice it to say we continue to be amazed at how much the Church has developed for the sole purpose of helping find any and all of God's children who want to learn about the Savior, Jesus Christ and His gospel of peace.  It's kind of like President Gentile's teaching at Zone Conference.  We can more effectively find the "one" who is waiting to hear these truths through dedication, sincere love and effective habits and use of resources.

Friday night we went to our Branch President and his wife's house for dinner.  He lives 45 miles away and the drive took us along Lake Huron.  It was cloudy on the way, but by the time we headed home in the dark, it was snowing.  (This refers to the subject line of my email.  We have had sunny days with highs in the low 50's and next thing you know there is 3 inches of snow on the ground which melts the next day.  Love it!)  

As a result, yesterday there were 13 people attending Sacrament Meeting.  Many of the members live miles away, some down dirt roads so it is safer for them to stay home.  Elder Gibbons blessed the Sacrament and I led the music.  I never got a chance to do that in Arizona, but here they need me!  

Last evening we had our new friends, Arthur and Sheree, over to our home for dinner.  They are the friends who we met while he was in the hospital.  They are asking many great questions.  They have tender, truth-seeking hearts.  It's kinda fun cooking in a kitchen with limited gadgets, pans and tools, but everything turned out edible.  I'm glad I bought my recipes.

I will attach a few pictures to this email and then update the blog with more.  Thank you to those of you who take time to email us back to say hello.  We miss you and love you!  

We hope you each know how much God loves you.  We invite you to read, 2 Nephi 26:24 in the Book of Mormon.  "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him..."  Our testimony is that we (you and me) are His world.

The Great Lakes!

So much water all around.  We can't wait to see it in summer.  We have a chance to drive around a bit and can't help but take pictures.  Here's a sample of the surrounding lakes and river.  

About one mile north of us here in Cheboygan is Lake Huron, parts of it along the coast is still frozen.  We are falling in love with lighthouses!

Head northeast, you see much more of Lake Huron.  It is 206 miles long from northwest to southeast, and its maximum width is 183 miles, maximum depth 751 feet.

We drove 45 miles Friday night to have dinner at our Branch President's home.                    The drive took us along Lake Huron and on the way it was cloudy and windy.  

On the way home, it was a bit of a snowy blizzard.

Head northwest and in 16 miles you arrive at Mackinac City.  It's pretty much a ghost town during the winter, but it is a happening place we hear during the summer.  There is a long span bridge at Mackinac City that connects lower Michigan to upper Michigan (also known as the UP.)  You can also take a ferry during the summer to Mackinaw Island (where the huge hotel there was used to film "Somewhere In Time."  There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island.  We can't wait to go visit it!

Lake Huron connects with Lake Michigan at the Straits of Mackinac.

Head west from Cheboygan and the drive is beautiful too.  Trees of all kinds line both sides of the road.  We headed to the town of Petoskey on Lake Michigan to meet and visit our Elders Quorum President who was in the hospital and introduce ourselves to a new friend who is asking questions about the Gospel.  Lake Michigan is 118 miles wide and 307 miles long.  There is more than 1,600 miles of shoreline.  The average depth of the lake is 279 feet, but at its deepest point is 925 feet.  Here are pictures of the Petoskey area.

Head south from the town of Cheboygan and you drive along one of the many little lakes.  This is Lake Mullett.  We visited one member this week whose husband is in the hospital too.  Her front window looks right out on it.  Who wouldn't love that?  Well, maybe not us because of the months of snow.  Afterall, we are used to Arizona, right?

 

First District Council

Our first Wednesday here we kept really busy.  We learned more technology (now on Facebook Chat), learned procedures and how to decipher acronyms.  Our District Leader is Elder Rollin.  He and his wife have mentored us all week long.  They are from Canada and will be done with a two year mission here in April.  More wonderful people!

Our District consists of two Senior Couples and a set of Sister Missionaries.  They all serve in a Branch 50 minute drive away called Petoskey.  We took turns planning a lesson and teaching each other and giving suggestions about teaching more effectively.  It's a learning process to know how to follow each other's words, sometimes having to change the direction of the lesson and always bearing testimony, extending invitation to action and promising the Lord's blessings if they do.  You should have seen Elder Gibbons.  He stays so quiet and then all the sudden when he speaks, people listen.  He reminded the four others (who were pretending to be inactive members of the Church and not attending because they didn't feel welcome or treated kindly) that the Savior suffered unfair treatment as well.  The Spirit was there in an instant.  The Sisters expressed how powerful that moment was.  Such amazing experiences!

The only day it's been cold here was Wednesday, the day we had to go out for our first District Council.

The agenda for the meeting.  We had to learn what all the abbreviations mean.

Elder Gibbons, Sister Gibbons, Sister Rollin, Elder Rollin, 

Sister Radmall and Sister Froelich

Our email from March 4th...

Today marks the end of our first complete week of being in "the field."  What a blessed and wonderful week. We have already met so many people and now keep a detailed list of who, when, where and what we learned.  Feeling the Lord's love for His children when we meet anyone is powerful.  So many more people to meet!  Speaking of meeting others... we invite you to look around your neighborhood and find someone to smile at, talk to, and help brighten their day.  Everyone can benefit from an act of kindness.  "Scatter sunshine all along the way "  Scatter His sunshine.

We attended our small Branch Church meetings yesterday.  There were about 25 people and 3 of them were just visiting a family member for this week.  The meetinghouse chapel is small with stackable chairs that get moved when the room needs to double as a cultural hall for an activity.  The people are wonderfully simple, live in humble circumstances, and very friendly.  It was obvious the word got out that a new Senior Missionary Couple was headed to Cheboygan and it was almost uncomfortable to see and feel how truly excited they were to have someone new here.  There will be an abundance of opportunities to love and serve.

We have already had our own tender mercies and miracles happen.  You know, the ones where you feel you aren't doing anything special, but the Lord steps in and through the spirit touches someone's heart and they desire a change in their lives.  So grateful and humbled to have experienced it first hand.  We are promised that if we just love and open our mouths, He takes care of the rest.  Can I share an example?

We visited a hospital about 45 minutes away in a beautiful little town called Petoskey. We went to meet our Branch Elders Quorum President who was having some health issues.  We also were told of a man, not of our faith, who has been talking with the missionaries and asking questions, who was in the hospital as well.  Really nice and interesting man.  As we were getting ready to leave, his wife came in.  We briefly met and spoke and then excused ourselves.  Well yesterday, she came into our Sacrament Meeting arriving a bit late and sat in a chair in the back next to our Relief Society President.  Long story short, she stood up to bear her testimony at the pulpit and referred to our visit to her husband saying she instantly felt the spirit when she met us.  She said she wants to be part of a community that takes care of one another.  We absolutely take no credit for anything, but are so grateful to know her and to be able to answer both of their questions going forward as they desire.  If we can in any way help them feel God's love for them, we would be amazed.  God is good and He wants to be part of each of our lives.  We may get distracted and forget him, but He never forgets us.