Transfer day for the young missionaries

Last Tuesday was transfer day for the young missionaries.  Elder Kitt, who has been with us since we arrived, was transferred to the Warsaw Ward.  Here is a photo of the missionaries in our district (the Freedom Branch and Cattaraugus Branch) right before the transfer. Left to right:  Elder Neilson, Sister Neilson, Elders Allen, Inkley, Kitt and Richardson, Sister Jeppesen and Elder Jeppesen.  We had dinner last night in our apartment for the new missionary, Elder Munnerlyn, along with Elder Richardson and our new converts, Mike and Marlene Sternisha.  It was a great night, good spirit, and seeing the Sternishas already so strong in the gospel was inspiring.  The two are preparing to speak in Sacrament meeting in a couple weeks, and Mike will be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood next Sunday.  Elder and Sister Neilson have become our great friends.  They are newlyweds of a year and a half.  Each have six children and numerous grandchildren back home and are serving a six month mission that ends in October.  Elder Neilson, as you can see, is someone to look up to!  Both are dedicated missionaries and we've enjoyed getting to know them.  The leaves are starting to turn already.  It's going to be incredibly beautiful here in a couple weeks.  Four months into our mission.  The blessings still coming in rich abundance.

Senior Training In Palmyra

Last weekend was a great time for us and a good break from the proselyting and teaching regimen.   Thursday we attended a training session with President Jack R. Christianson at the John Young Home. He is always inspiring.  (So much so, in fact, that we ordered several of his lectures on CD. )  For this training he showed the video of Elder Bednar's address in the MTC speaking about Christ's ability to "turn outward" rather than inward by always thinking about what others need rather than selfishly thinking about himself. President Christianson's comments together with this inspiring talk made a deep impression on all of us.  On friday, several senior couples met at the Erie Canal for a tour and presentation about the history of the canal while riding a boat through one of the lochs. After the tour we had dinner at Uno's with the Servoss', the Bests, and the Barlows, laughing and sharing experiences. It was so relaxing and fun to be socializing with great friends.  Saturday morning was Cattaraugus Branch's time at the Bishops Storehouse.  This storehouse is located in Canandaguia, just a few miles from the John Young Home in Mendon so we were able to help there before we headed back.  It made for a couple of hours of hard work but so good to see the welfare plan in action.

A Visit with Wic

It was EFY (Especially For Youth) week for Wic at Palmyra, New York last week.  We were able to pick him up and spend a few fun days with him before he flew back home.  Looking forwards to having a great weekend together, we started out by once again visiting the sacred grove, then driving along Lake Seneca and hiking through Watkins Glen.  Following this side trip we headed to back to Hamburg to take in the Erie County Fair.  In the Indian Village at the Fair we bought a Tshirt for Wic with the Wampum on it.  Sunday, Wic went to church with us as Grandpa Jeppesen confirmed Mike and Marlene Sternisha.  Following church we were all invited to join the Atkinsons and Grandpa Hugh Jones for dinner at the Campbell's.  It was a gorgeous Sunday and we enjoyed another scrumpdelicious  meal.  That evening Wic, Grandpa and I drove out to Sunset Beach on Lake Erie, just a few miles from where we live.  Monday morning we headed for Old Fort Niagara.  After enjoying the tour there we drove back to the airport and bid our goodbyes to Wic.  It was a great change of pace for us and so fun to spend time with our grandson.

Mike and Marlene Sternisha are Baptized and back home Ben is too!!

Our grandson Ben was baptized this year.  Even though we weren't able to be there, we know what an important event it was for him.  What made it even more special was that not long after his baptism, way out in New York our friends the Sternishas were also baptized.

In the MTC we were told, "The Lord is preparing the people you will teach.  The Holy Ghost will be the one who converts them.  Just make sure you are obediently doing what good missionaries do and you will have success."  This was made apparent early on in our experience with our friends the Sternishas.  Mike and Marlene had already been doing their own searching, studying and investigating.  We met them in church even! We sat down in back of them our second week at the Cattaraugus Branch, became acquainted, and the rest is history.  We connected with them so quickly and really have always enjoyed being together.  Not only were we praying for them, but some of our family members were fasting and praying for them too.  Last Friday night, August 10, they were baptized.  We had a nice program in the chapel:  Elder Jeppesen and I gave the talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost; Ira Jones conducted; President Jones, his father, and his three sons sang, in beautiful four part harmony, "Come Unto Jesus."  Following the baptism several bore their testimonies. With the help of some ladies in the Branch, a nice meal was provided afterward.  It was a special, memorable night for the Sternishas and for us.  Many prayers have been answered and continue to be.

Inspired

As we sat in Sacrament meeting last week I was overcome with gratitude and filled with a testimony of the truthfulness of this work we are engaged in.  We were sitting next to our dear friends, Mike and Marlene Sternisha, who had just recently set the Aug. 10th date for their baptism.  I looked over the congregation and, surprisingly, there was not one face I didn't recognize.  As the speakers addressed the topic of the Restoration I reflected once more on Joseph Smith and the events leading up to the restoration of the gospel.  We had just returned from Palmyra, having enjoyed the Pageant and stayed at the John Young home, and even done a session at the Palmyra Temple.  Serving here in the cradle of the restoration, and more recently, reflecting often upon the great things that transpired here has been a powerful boost for my personal testimony.  I am so grateful for my knowledge and for the Prophet Joseph.   We are so blessed to "be enlisted."  "Happy are we, Happy are We."

An amazing fact about Southwestern New York that we had not anticipated is that it is made up of countless small towns, each with their own antiquated town center. As an example, here is the town center of Cattaraugus.  Each rural town also has it's own cemetery.  I'm not used to seeing such big cemeteries in such small towns, but I have to remind myself these communities have been populated much longer than those I'm acquainted with in Utah.  As we drive through our branch district it seems the minute we leave one township we drive into another.  Our Branch area includes twenty of these small towns within a 50 by 50 mile area.  This mission requires a lot of driving.  Our first month we put 2500 miles on our car.  Thank goodness we can gas up on the reservation where they don't collect state taxes so we get our gas at quite a discount.

Wampum

Every morning as we leave our apartment at the old schoolhouse we see this wampum sign sitting in the lawn across the street.  The Wampum is important to the Iroquois people.  Hundreds of years ago, back before any Europeans even knew about the new world, five Iroquois tribes, the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk, agreed to stop warring amongst themselves.  They buried their weapons of war  (sound familiar?) under a great pine tree and covenanted never to fight amongst themselves again.  The original Wampum was a wide leather belt made of white and purple shells.  This belt reminded them of their promise.  Later, the Tuscarora tribe joined their confederacy, so later on it was called the six nation confederacy, but this symbol of the Wampum is found everywhere here on the reservation as a reminder of their past.  You can find it on their advertisements, their clothes, public buildings and even on their homes.