Rod's Mission Home

Mission Home then.

Mission Home Now.

It's A Wonderful Life

The last time we wrote on our blog it was Thanksgiving. Wow! Now it's already Christmas. I guess time flies when you're having fun & busy.

On one of our days off we went to the movie, "It's A Wonderful Life". That is one of my favorite movies. I cry every time. Well, it was advertised as a $2 movie with free popcorn & drinks. It was the middle of the day on Monday so we thought we would be pretty safe with no crowds. Wrong. It was packed. A couple of buses from Senior Centers were there & I was afraid we wouldn't get a seat. Anyway, we had a great time along with everyone else & enjoyed a great movie that gave us a lot to think about as we started into the Christmas season.

At the end of the movie, Clarence the Angel wrote a note to George (James Stewart), & said, "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends". I don't know what we would do without our friends. Our friends at home & in our previous life (before mission), have helped us through many difficult times & have always been there for us. We are also making eternal friendships here in New England. People are amazing, especially when there is a bond in the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we visit different wards, we think we don't know anyone & then it seems like we are always meeting people that either work in the Temple or are patrons & they are familiar.

That same day we were listening to the radio when a song came on & I loved the words. It said, "Life's not the breaths you take but the moments that take your breath away". That meant so much to me. Our Heavenly Father sent us to earth to gain a body & have experiences so that we can prove to Him that we want to live with Him for eternity. It doesn't matter how long we live but are we enjoying life to the fullest. We feel like we are doing what we have always wanted to do.

The important thing is that we do all we can to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ so that we can be with our families & live with Him again.

I love Christmas! I love the shopping, gift giving, decorations, trees, ornaments, songs, lights, nativities, baking, everything. I thought it would kill me not to decorate or have a tree. As my family knows, I probably go overboard, but I just love it! Well, I even loved the Christmas season without everything this year. We love being on a mission, serving in the Temple everyday, & we are especially thankful for our family & the birth of our Savior. We're thankful for this wonderful time of year that allows us to feel in our hearts a deep & abiding love & gratitude for Him who came & showed us how to love.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We Send Our Love.

Thanksgiving

I don't have much time before we go to the Temple but our hearts are full today & I wanted to mention a few things. I thought I wanted to talk about how great it is to be in the birthplace of our nation, especially during this Thanksgiving season, but over the past week my thoughts keep changing.

Our hearts are tender today as our thoughts & prayers go to our sweet daughter (in-law) & her family as they are burying her father today. He passed away too soon at the age of 53. He was a wonderful man. It has reminded me of when we had to bury Nathan. We haven't forgotten how hard it was but it has reminded me of the many sweet experiences we were blessed with.

During this week of Thanksgiving we are especially grateful to our Father in Heaven for the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, who made it possible for us to be with our loved ones again. Since Nathan passed away the Atonement has meant so much more to me in my life.

We are grateful to be able to serve the Lord as missionaries in the Boston Temple full time. The blessings & the Spirit that we feel there are beyond description.

I hesitate to mention all of the blessings we are grateful for because I don't want to leave anyone or anything out & I don't want it to be in any particular order, but I would be ungrateful if I didn't mention a few.

We are thankful for goodly parents who gave us life & taught us the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are thankful for our children & that includes their spouses who are ours now whether they like it or not. We are grateful for our 24 grandchildren & the love they bring into our lives. We are thankful for extended family & friends & the gift of love & friendship we feel.

We are thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ & all of the many blessings we have because of it, especially the opportunity we had to be sealed for time & all eternity to each other & our families.

I was told in my patriarchal blessing to be forever grateful for ingratitude is a grievous sin. President Monson said that we should develop an attitude of gratitude. I will always be forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of my many blessings.

We send our love.

Home Teaching

I suppose it's my turn to write in the blog. There are so many blessings & experiences that we are having lately. Sometimes I feel unworthy of it. I was assigned by one of the wards to train a new member of one week how to Hometeach. I know that sometimes I probably have not been the best home teacher, but so be it. I asked him to make the appointment & I would give a short lesson. We got in the car together, and I told him that we generally have a prayer prior to going, so we asked Heavenly Father to help us to be receptive to the Spirit as we visit this sister & her non-member husband. I found out beforehand that normally he disappears during visits from church members. We went & he came in, we got acqainted & it felt good. I started the lesson not knowing for sure what to say. We talked about leaving home when we were young & how we missed our families & were excited to return & then we compared this to the Plan of Salvation. They had both had that experience with their families. We talked about how it was important to be the best we can be here on earth so we can return to be with our Heavenly Father. Then we started talking about the Temple & he said he visited it during the Open House. He asked me what the oxen represented & I said they represented the 10 Tribes of Israel. Then he asked, "why oxen?" I told him that in the Temple & in life we are taught in symbols & Christ also taught in symbols. I said, "What does the heart represent", & he said love. As we get older we think of the heart differently. Some symbols teach us in different degrees & it depends on us & how we feel at the time. I asked him what he thought the oxen represented, and He said that he thought that the oxen lifted our burdens from us as we are baptized. I was so surprised that he said that, & he taught me something that night. He asked my companion to give the closing prayer, what a sweet prayer. Then I told him that he was a member of just two weeks. He asked us to come back and we thanked him and went on our way. On are way home the new member said that our prayers had been answered and that he was going to get them an anniversary card & send it to them after we both sign it. I feel blessed to have that kind of training from both a new member & a non-member.

This week we have three members of our Temple Preparation class coming to the Temple on Friday. We are so excited to have that experience with them.

A few days ago I recorded 2 cards that had been done & when I looked at the dates I was really surprised. Their birth dates were 1783 B.C. & 1483 B.C. We have been told that the Chinese keep excellent records especially for the men. I made copies of those cards because I wasn't sure anyone would believe me.

Last week we got to go down & touch the oxen. It was a special experience.

We are truly blessed to be in the mission field & to be a part of this work. We send our love.

He Made You

We have had the most beautiful fall. The colors have been absolutely gorgeous. There is some kind of a law that people cannot cut down trees even on their own property unless it's approved. Because of that there are trees everywhere. There are so many that when we first came here we wondered when we would get to the city because from the freeway all you can see are mostly trees. As we drive to the Temple each day we are driving under the trees that cover the road. I never really thought about it until the colors started changing & then you can't help but notice the beautiful foliage. One day I told Rod that we were literally driving under a canopy of colors. I miss the snow covered mountain peaks but we have been blessed to enjoy a beautiful New England fall.

A couple of weeks ago I was recording some work that had been done & one of the cards caught my attention. It was all Chinese characters. I mentioned how amazing that was & then I noticed that the birth date of the person was 181 B.C. I was showing everyone in the office & when the sister came to pick up her card I asked her if I could make a copy of it. I was so impressed & inspired. Dad & others have taken one of our lines back to 6 A.D. & I have always loved that.

Seeing that card brought so many things to my mind. When Nathan was in about the 5th grade he had to do a report. He chose to do it on geneology. He would get out all the geneology books that we had & lay on his stomach & study them to see how far back they went & read the names. He loved it. For a few years that was one of his favorite hobbies. I imagine him now, finding those people & getting to know them &
teaching them the gospel.

Another thing I thought about was how many people have lived on the earth & how much Temple work needs to be done. We need to step up our efforts & do all we can to keep this work going.

Our thought for the day:

As Lily Tomlin said, "No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up."

Our economy has been shattered by widespread corporate fraud; kids lie, steal, & cheat at unprecedented rates; & their parents beat up each other or referees at youth sports events or supply alcohol to fuel organized hazing.

Our confidence in the integrity of journalistic institutions, the accounting profession, stockbrokers, college sports, organized religion, & business in general is continually shaken by a relentless barrage of shameful behavior.

It's tempting to throw up our hands in despair & surrender to cynicism.

It reminds me of the tale of the pious young man whose car broke down on his way to his place of worship. He had to walk through an area where homeless people huddled against buildings for warmth, alcoholics & mentally ill adults wandered the streets, & crack dealers sold drugs to kids. He was overcome with a sense of despondency & doubt about the power & intentions of God.

"God," he prayed, "how can you allow all this pain & misery & do nothing?" Receiving no answer, he became frustrated & raised his voice, "Lord, my faith is at issue! How can you allow all this suffering & do nothing?"

Then someone behind him whispered, "He didn't do nothing. He made you."

What a profound insight & daunting responsibility it is to realize that you are the instrument of reform, that your courage, compassion, & creativity in your own sphere of influence can set into motion a ripple effect of healing actions & attitudes to make a better world.

Are we being the best we can be & doing all the Lord wants us to do.

We send our love to everyone.

A Multitude of Blessings

We have had so many blessings in the last 2 weeks. It is amazing to me how often we feel the Lord's hand in our lives.

Our twin grandsons, Jake & Jordan, were born this past week on Oct. 27th. We are so grateful that they are healthy & are doing well & blessed to have them in our family. We love each of our 23 grandchildren so much!

Last week Amy, Natalie & Kaylee came for a few days. It was so great to have them here. We took the girls on a hayride, played games, went shopping & Amy helped us find a gym to join. We had so much fun just being together. Rod went to the Temple & Amy dropped me off a couple of hours later. They came into the foyer of the Temple to say good-bye & it broke my heart to see them leave.

Amy didn't go to church with us because the girls were sick. It was a good thing she didn't go because when we got to church there were 2 investigators there & the missionaries had others they were with so we were able to stay with these two men. Then after church there was a baptism. It was a good experience.

Two weeks ago we taught the last Temple Prep class in Central Falls. One of the couples were going on the following Saturday to receive their Endowments but on Tuesday morning she called & asked if she could come that day. Her husband couldn't get off work but she felt like Satan was pulling out all the stops to keep her out of the Temple. We told her to come & she asked me if I would be her escort because she didn't have anyone with her. What an honor. It was such a special experience. Then the next day her husband got off work & came to the Temple. Rod was able to be his escort & had the same special experience.

That night we had been invited to our first dinner appointment in Central Falls. The Portuguese missionaries came & also brought an investigator. After dinner we had a discussion about families & the Temple blessings. The investigator offered to say the closing prayer. It was pretty exciting. She is 20 & came with one of the families to their Primary activity at the Temple on Saturday. We went early & took her into the foyer & talked to her for awhile. She loves the idea of families being together for eternity & of course that is so close to my heart.

This last weekend was Stake Conference in the Stake we live in. Bishop McMullin of the Presiding Bishopric was our visiting General Authority. We left work a little early Saturday night so we could attend the adult session & it was such a great meeting. Sunday morning we went to Conference & that afternoon we went to our yearly Temple Devotional for all Temple workers. Bishop McMullin was our featured speaker again. We were on such a spiritual high from all of the meetings. We learned to love Bishop McMullin. He is a spiritual giant. The closing song was, "The Spirit of God". As we were singing we were both overcome with emotion. I think it took us back to the dedication of the Seattle Temple & the Anchorage Temple when we had the opportunity to be in the Celestial Room & feel the Spirit as we sang that song in the presence of Pres. Kimball, Pres. Hunter & Pres. Hinckley.

In D&C 24:90 it says, "And if he will do this I will bless him with a multiplicity of blessings, that he shall not be forsaken, nor his seed be found begging bread."

We are so blessed to have our family & the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives, to be able to serve in the Temple & to have these special experiences that strengthen our testimonies.

We send our love to everyone.

The Parable of the Carpenter

Well, Rod did such a good job writing last time that I feel a little intimidated, but I guess it's my turn anyway.

Two weeks ago we had the weekend off & stayed home & watched all the sessions of General Conference. It is my favorite weekend. I feel so refreshed & rejuvenated after listening to the General Authorities & especially our Prophet. It makes me feel so blessed & leaves me wanting to be better than I am. It's nice to read their talks but I especially love the Spirit I feel as I listen.

Last week we were especially busy at the Temple & we had the opportunity to help in the laundry. We love being able to do new things so we can learn all aspects of the work that is to be done. Yesterday I had the opportunity to be the Temple guide for a bride. I had never been able to do it before & it was great. She was so cute & excited.

Monday, the Temple was open for half a day because it was a holiday. We did over 2,300 ordinances. That may not seem like much to those in Utah but it was great for us. We LOVE the work here!



THE PARABLE of the CARPENTER:

A master carpenter who'd worked for the same builder for nearly 50 years announced he was retiring. The builder told him how much he appreciated his work & presented him with a $5,000 bonus. Then he asked if he would build just one more house. He owned a magnificent lot with a spectacular view & wanted to build a dream home there.

The carpenter was bitterly disappointed at the small bonus & extra project, but the building fee would help him buy a small cottage. He agreed to build the dream house.

He'd always prided himself on his uncompromising commitment to quality, but his resentment caused him to cut corners, ignore details, & accept shoddy workmanship from his workers. He even looked the other way when some of them substituted cheaper materials & pocketed the difference.

When the house was finished, the builder shook the carpenter's hand & with a huge smile gave him a thank-you card. The carpenter was disdainful - until he saw inside the card the deed to the house he'd just built.

The carpenter was ashamed to have misjudged his old friend & betrayed his own values, & he was remorseful that the house he would now live in for the rest of his life had been made so carelessly.

Our character is the house we live in, & it's built piece by piece by our daily choices. Deceit, irresponsibility, & disrespect are like shoddy workmanship. Whenever we put in less than our best & ignore our potential for excellence, we create a future full of creaky floors, leaky roofs, & crumbling foundations.

We hope that each of us are being the best we can be in all aspects of our lives.

We send our love to everyone.

A Day in the Temple

Terry writes on the blog all the time, so I guess it's my turn. I will try my best to let you know how I feel about my mission and the blessings that come through serving in the House of the Lord. I could not do this without a great companion, which I'm blessed to have.

As I enter the doors of the Temple today I wonder if my offering is going to be accepted by my Heavenly Father today. I know I try to do my best, but is that all I need to do.

I get dressed all in white with my white suit coat on. I look in the mirror and I look pretty good all in white but am I ready to serve. I guess. I go up to the second floor where I serve most of the time. Immediately I help someone get their clothes, and then the phone rings & someone wants to put a couple of names on the Prayer Roll. Sometimes they tell you the tragedies that these persons are involved in and I just listen and try to show compassion with words or by just listening. Then I collect all the names in the several areas of the Temple & take them to the altars and place them in the pouches and take just a minute to think of those persons. Then I go to the Celestial Room, and just sit and reflect and hope that my offering can still be accepted. Twenty minutes later I return to my desk, and record ordinances that have been done. Then I help someone get on the Family Search, and submit paper work so they can do their work for their mother, father, grandparents,or great grandparents etc. The look in their eyes tells you the love they have for their family. Sometimes I continue to help people get clothing and answer the phones. A brother wants me to help in the Initiatories, so I go, remembering that these blessings are for us personally. Each blessing is a reminder to me that Heavenly Father loves us. Today I did not officiate a session, but most days I do. I go back to my desk, and a sister wants me to help her get the card ready for her deceased parents, so she can be sealed to them. I cannot explain the spiritual experience that was to help. The Sealer asked me to go up to the Sealing Room and witness the sealing. After returning to my desk I am then called on to take four children to the upstairs waiting room to get them dressed in white so they could be sealed to their parents. These children were so excited. Today a baptism group came in, and there was no coordinator, so again it was given to me to perform this task. This is one of the special things that I have been called on to do, and I love to do it because I love working with the youth. This time each youth had family names of their own which made it even more special. This was a Portugese Branch so it was done all in Portugese. Most of them could speak English so I could communicate with them though. What a blessing to be with them. The time has come to record the last ordinance for the day, and return to the dressing room and change into my street clothes.

Each day in the Temple is different. That's what makes it special to me. Sometimes we need to be receptive to the needs of the patron because I'm sure that's what this work is all about. Each patron comes in with burdens from the world. Some are light and some are heavy. I hope I can do what my Heavenly Father wants me to do each day to help. As I leave the doors of the Temple today I hope my offering to Him will be accepted, and I know that I will get that confirmation someday. I love this Work!!!

Another Lesson Learned

Fall is coming to New England! The leaves are changing colors & falling to the ground. Last year we traveled through with Mom & Dad which was so much fun, but this year we are looking forward to experiencing the whole season.

Unfortunately it is fall in Alaska too, & with a huge windstorm it blew 4 trees onto our house. Thankfully the damage wasn't as bad as it could have been & at least no one was hurt. Having our sons with the skills to fix our house is a bonus. There were many times when we would be sitting in the jacuzzi with the wind blowing the trees & I would tell Rod that I was sure they would fall. Well, it finally happened. Too bad!

Since we have had a normal week we would like to send a story.

The Cookie Thief!

A woman bought some cookies & a book at an airport & sat down to read & nibble while waiting for her plane. She soon noticed a man sitting next to her, who casually took a cookie from the bag.

Although shocked & seething, the woman remained silent as the man, without the slightest sign of shame or gratitude, quietly helped himself, matching her cookie for cookie.

When there was one cookie left, she watched in amazement as he picked it up, smiled at her as if he were being gracious, & broke it in half. He ate one half & gave her the other.

Congratulating herself for maintaining her cool, she said nothing to this rude cookie thief, astonished at the nerve of some people.

Later, when she was settling into her seat on the plane, she rummaged through her purse & discovered the bag of cookies she'd purchased, still unopened. The moral message is contained in the poem's closing stanza:

"If mine are here," she moaned with despair, "Then the others were his, & he tried to share." Too late to apologize, she realized with grief, that she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

The message that we got from this story is that we shouldn't judge. I have judged others, which I am not proud of & I have been judged, which hurts when others don't know the facts.

We should always be charitable, kind & loving to others.

"CHARITY NEVER FAILETH".

We send our love to everyone!

We have had so much fun the last couple of weekends. We went to Brewster Branch in Cape Cod to do a fireside. They had dinner for the Branch & then because it was late we got a motel. The next day we did some sightseeing. We went to Provincetown which is at the tip of the Cape. It is known for all of the gays that live there. We saw the Pilgrim Tower which is the tallest all granite structure in the U.S. at 252 ft. The Pilgrims actually spent 5 weeks considering Cape Cod as their home before deciding to sail across Cape Cod Bay where they found a more protected area for their settlement at Plymouth. We also saw a sign that said it was the farthest distance from coast to coast. From Long Beach, Ca. to Cape Cod it was 3,632 miles. We went to a Cemetery & walked around looking at dates. We found the oldest one at 1713. Then we went to Naussett Beach. It was beautiful & we would have loved to stay & spend the day but we had no chairs or blankets so we decided to go back another time. We spent another night in Cape Cod & came back in time to go to work. It was a long day after traveling for 2 hrs.

Sunday we went to Central Falls Ward in Rhode Island & taught the Temple Prep class & then went to Boston 1st Ward mtgs. Afterward we went to Cape Cod again & got a motel. Yesterday we went to the beach. It was a lot different from last week. The wind was blowing so hard & the waves were huge. There were just a few people on the beach so we put our backs to the wind & sat & watched the waves & the seals. After a while the windsurfers & kite boarders went out & it was fun watching them. We had to come home & wash our hair to get out the ground in sand but it was a very fun day.

We had a couple of neat experiences in the Temple last week. One sister came & wanted to do her father's work but needed help on the New Family Search. We are fairly new & there was no one else to help but we were finally able to print out his card. She was in the Baptistry when Rod took it down to her & he said it was such a special experience when he gave it to her. We also had a couple from Boston 1st Ward come in on Friday to receive their Endowments & on Saturday they came in to get sealed. It was really special to be a part of it.

In the August 2010 Ensign, Pres. Uchtdorf said, "While each temple increases the influence of righteousness in the earth, the greatest blessings, of course, come to those who actually attend the temple. There we receive further light & knowledge & make solemn covenants that, if followed, help us walk in the path of discipleship. In short, the temple teaches us about the sacred purpose of life & helps us get our true physical & spiritual bearings. For those who cannot attend the temple now for whatever reason, I encourage you to do everything in your power to hold a current temple recommend. The temple recommend is a symbol of our faithfulness & determination to serve the Lord. It is a symbol of our love for the Lord."

I will close with our testimony that the Church is true & the blessings of the temple will last for eternity if we remain faithful. We send our love to everyone.

Enjoying Life

Well, it's been awhile since I wrote in our blog. I get so frustrated when I lose my internet connection & I have spent a lot of time writing. Oh, well, live & learn.

We just had the BEST weekend. Since Amy & Brad now live in Rochester, N.Y., they are a 6 hr. drive away & they were able to come for the Labor Day weekend. They got here Friday night at 10:30 when we were suppose to be in the middle of Hurricane Earl but all we got was a little rain. We had fun playing games, relaxing & playing with Natalie & Kaylee. We took them to Lexington where the first shot was fired in the Revolutionary War but other than that we didn't do any sightseeing. We went to Boston 1st Ward on Sunday & were able to show them off even though there weren't too many at church because of the holiday. I had to give the lesson in Relief Society & Amy got to play the piano since no one else could. Monday morning there was a special session at the temple so we took them to show them around & introduce them to the people we work with & then did a session. It was so special to have them there with us. I was so excited that they got to see the Celestial Room. It is my favorite place because of the beauty & the Spirit that is there. They left about 6:00 so it was a long night for them.

Well, I had another homesick moment. Brad was trying to teach us how to Skype, so we got to see & talk to Jason & Ryan & their families. I thought I was doing okay but just seeing all of them made me realize how much I really miss everyone. It was really special to see Tyson for the first time & to see that he is the spitting image of Nathan. Now we are looking forward to "seeing" & talking to everyone else. When I was in 6th grade, we were told that someday we would be able to talk on the telephone & see the person we were talking to. I didn't quite believe it but through all these years I have always had that in the back of my mind & wondered if I would ever see it. Well, it finally happened & I couldn't have asked for a better time than on our mission. It's amazing the technology that we are blessed with.

We have been busy doing a lot of things. A couple of weeks ago we helped with a reception in our yard. We went to Tanglewood in western Massachusetts & watched a performance of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in an outdoor theater. The next day after we spoke in church, we drove to Maine & got a motel because on Monday we went to a Cabbage Island Clambake & cruise with about 30 people from the temple. It was raining most of the day but it was worth it. We each got 2 fresh caught lobsters, & so much food. I have never liked lobster but when it is fresh it tastes just like Alaska king crab. The next Monday we went to a friend's cabin in New Hampshire on Lake Winnepasauke. We went swimming, canoeing, ate & visited. It was so beautiful & we had such a good time. It was one of our favorite days. I knew the name sounded familiar but I didn't know how until we mentioned it to Jason & he immediately knew it from the movie, "What About Bob?".

It is finally starting to get a little cooler here. We are anxious to do some sightseeing now that it is not so miserably hot & humid.

Last week we went to the temple & in the first half hour I heard Nathan's name twice, saw it once & saw his birthday. The first thing I do when I get to work is take the names for the Prayer Roll off the answering machine. There were 2 Nathan's there. Then someone called & needed a Bishop's #. When I looked it up he lived on Nathan Lane. Next, we have a stamp that has the date & BOSTO on it. One of them was old so I threw it away & asked where I could find another one. When I went to the drawer, there were about 10 sitting there so I just grabbed one. I put it on the ink pad & stamped a piece of paper so that I would know what to change to make it the correct date. The date on the stamp was, 04 Nov BOSTO, Nathan's birthday. I literally gasped. I had to share it with our secretary. She said, "Wow! What do you think that's all about?" I feel like Nathan is letting me know that he is close & is thinking about us & he wants us to think about him. It is so amazing to me that we are blessed to feel so close to him.

Two weeks ago, one of the sealers lost his son. They don't know what happened. His wife just found him. They have a 2 yr. old son. It is so sad. It kind of takes me back to those first few days & weeks. I am so grateful that we are where we are now & that we are able to feel the blessings of the Atonement.

We had to come up with our favorite scripture. That's hard when you have 2 people & each one has their own favorite. But we finally agreed. Actually, it's mine & Rod went along with me. It is, Alma 5:16. "I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that you here the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day...Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?"

We know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church upon the face of the earth & we look forward to being with all of our family & friends in the presence of our Heavenly Father & our Savior.

"What trains?"

Another week has come & gone & there's not much news to report. It's still too hot to go out & about, sightseeing, so we can't tell you about interesting things that we have done. As we have tried to decide what we could write about we came up with an idea.

We are very blessed to have as our Temple President an Emeritus General Authority. Pres. Wood is an amazing man. Every week he prepares a message for our Preparation Mtg. & we love listening to his messages. We decided that since we don't have that many new or exciting things to write about each week, we would share some of the spiritual thoughts we receive from Pres. Wood.


Comments by Pres. Hinckley at the dedication of the Bountiful Utah Temple.

Now my mind has gone back to some of the previous dedications. I have been to many of them. It has been a great blessing. The other day there was handed to Sis. Hinckley a letter from one of the brethren who has been serving in this temple at these dedicatory sessions.

Dear Sister Hinckley;

I would like to thank you for the influence you have had in my life. Ten years ago after the last dedicatory session of the Stockholm Sweden Temple, we had two hours to get all the chairs out, vacuum, and place the furniture so the Temple would look normal again. I was the construction representative at that time. When everything was about done, I walked into the celestial room and there were President Hinckley, you, and Brother Arthur Haycock.

Brother Haycock made the remark that he had heard every train going by during the dedication. True, there was one coming by every ten minutes, and we had discovered a noise problem the week before. President Hinckley remarked that he also had heard some trains go by, but you said, "What trains? I listened to the speakers."

Sister Hinckley, you cannot imagine what help this has been to me during the last ten years. When I sit in sacrament or other meetings, on the stand, or in the audience, when children make noises, I hear your sweet, gentle voice saying, "What trains? I listen to the speakers."

About two weeks ago I was struggling with a problem, and I needed the help of the Lord. Earthly things kept me from getting through, and again your words were setting my priority straight. "What trains? I listen to the speakers."

Thanks with all my heart. Sorry it took this long to write.
With gratitude and devotion, /s/ Henry A. Haurand.

I guess there is something to that. Most of us listen to the noise of our lives - the trains going by, the noise of the freeway, the noise of our homes, the noise of our work --- and we do not hear the voice of the Lord, because we are not tuned to it. We are thinking of something else.


We can't say more than what the Prophet has said, but we do bear our testimonies that if we get rid of the noise & listen to the Still Small Voice in our lives, we will be blessed.

The other day, Rod asked me if I have as much joy here on our mission as I would if we were at home. My answer was, "YES". Of course I miss my family & my home, but we are receiving so many blessings & I wouldn't trade this experience.

We send our love to everyone.

Wonderful Parents

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since we wrote in our blog. We had a lot of problems last week keeping logged on to the internet. We really didn't have any news anyway. It's been another quiet week again. We are on the morning shift at the desk this month. We really like mornings but each shift has it's benefits.

We love checking our emails & the mailbox. Sis. Dory is my visiting teacher & she sends me messages every month. Then last week we got a manila envelope in the mail & there was a big poster that had been signed by members of our ward. It was very exciting & reminded us how much we appreciate & love our ward family.

We have gone to the Central Falls Ward in Rhode Island for the past 2 weeks. Yesterday we spoke in Sacrament Mtg. & taught the youth during the 3rd hour. It was a little distracting giving our talks because the missionary was translating into the headphones to Portuguese. I had to try to block him out & keep my focus.

When we taught the youth, there were only 3 young women & 1 young man. One girl had to leave at the beginning & the boy had to leave for about 1/2 the time. The only leader that was there is from Alaska & is Bishop Wilde's grandson from Willow Ward. What a small world.

We talked to the youth about how our parents made the decision to get married in the temple & how many lives have been affected by that decision. We added up how many they have of their posterity & multiplied that number by 6 generations. There will be millions affected by their decisions. Then we told the kids that if they continue to make right choices & get married in the temple then they will be able to affect millions of lives also. It's amazing how many people we each have the power to affect.

We love our parents so much & are grateful for all they have done for us. We are thankful for their wonderful examples.

Reunions!

We have been thinking about our family this weekend. Five of our children & their families are at a family reunion. There are 30 members of our posterity that are together! We would love to be with all of them but we are hoping that our grandchildren will remember that we were serving the Lord on our mission. We always hear that if we serve the Lord we will receive blessings. Our greatest hope is that we will be able to set a good example for our grandchildren & that our blessings will be transferred to our children & grandchildren. (For future reference, our sons & daughters-in-law are automatically our children. Thank goodness!)

We are not working at the desk this month. Our assignment is to work from 11 - 5, doing ordinances. Last week we were so busy. On Friday they asked us to be the shift coordinators. That means to organize all of the workers & tell them what to do when & make sure that everything runs smoothly. I have always said that I was glad I didn't have to do that job. Before the shift started, I was literally sick because I was so nervous. We didn't have as many workers as we were suppose to but everyone was so sweet & helpful. We had a wedding, a new endowment & a baby in the nursery. I was glad when the day was over & everything went well without too many glitches. Rod did much better than I did & he wasn't even nervous. He handles stress a lot better than I do.

I had some special experiences last week that I would like to share. One time I was sitting by the chapel reading the scriptures. I was the only one around & it was so peaceful as I was listening to the quiet music in the chapel & reading. All of a sudden the song playing caught my attention. It was, "I Have A Family Here On Earth". The peace that filled my heart was amazing. That was the song that we sang as we surrounded Nathan after dressing him & that we sang as a family at his funeral.

Another time I was sitting in the Celestial Room by myself. It is my favorite place to be. I was thinking about the previous experience the day before & as I picked up the scriptures I wondered if I would ever have the experience of just opening up the scriptures & there would be something just for me. I opened the scriptures & read, "And they that have slept in their graves shall come forth". I burst into tears. As soon as I composed myself I finished reading, D&C 88:97. I know that I was suppose to read that scripture. I always think of Nathan & I can see him preaching the gospel but to have such a forceful reminder that I will be able to hug him again is a great comfort.

We went to church on Sunday & this was the spiritual thought in the bulletin. Ensign, Aug. 2008, "May We So Live", by Pres. Thomas S. Monson.
"How fragile life, how certain death. We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence. And so I ask, "What are we doing with today?" If we live only for tomorrow, we'll eventually have a lot of empty yesterdays. Have we been guilty of declaring, "I've been thinking about making some course corrections in my life. I plan to take the first step tomorrow"? With such thinking, tomorrow is forever. Such tomorrows rarely come unless we do some things about them today. As the familiar hymn teaches: "There are chances for work all around just now; opportunities right in our way. Do not let them pass by, saying, "Sometime I'll try", but go & do something today."

The last night I had with Nathan, I was SO mad at him for something, & I thought, "I just won't talk to him all the way home. He has got to learn to pay attention." Well, when he got in the car he was so happy & talkative & I couldn't stay mad at him. We had the best talk for that 20 min. ride. It was the last time I ever talked to him. I will be forever grateful that I didn't let that opportunity slip by.

Don't let those special moments pass. Take advantage of them. Let those around you know you love them & do what our Heavenly Father wants you to do so that we can all be together for eternity.

We love the gospel. We are grateful for the blessings that it brings in our life. We are grateful to be serving a mission for the Lord & we are especially grateful to be serving in His House, the Temple. We look forward to an eternal reunion!

We send our love to everyone.

Summer Vacation!

When I was growing up, we always had the best vacations. When we got married we were able to continue that tradition. Some of our best memories are of the things we have been able to see & do & the people we have been able to be with. When we came on our mission we knew it would be a couple of years before we would be able to go on vacation, but we were fine with that & knew that at least we could go sight seeing on our day off.

Well, guess what? Every 6 months the temple closes for 2 weeks for cleaning & our temple got new carpeting this time. So---we went on vacation!!! We got permission to leave our Temple district so we took advantage of the time we had to go to Virginia & spend some time with Dad & our families in Charlottesville. We visited Mom in the senior center & Rod had a very good experience with her. She was really tired but when he sat down next to her, she slipped her arm through his & laid her head on his shoulder. She would tell him she liked him & it was a sweet experience.

When we left Boston it was at the beginning of a week long heat wave. We thought we might be able to leave it behind but it was all along the east coast. At one point our car said it was 115 degrees. Talk about HOT!!! Thank goodness for air conditioning in our car & in our hotels.

We put about 2,000 miles on our car. We saw the Empire State Building from a distance, took Dad to the Washington D.C. Temple & went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, & saw the Amish in their horse drawn buggies. We loved it so much there that we went back after going to Virginia. On our 2nd trip there we went to a Sight & Sound Theater production of "Joseph & the Coat of Many Colors". It was 2 1/2 hrs. long, & had live horses, sheep, goats, a donkey & even a camel live on stage & going up & down the aisles. It was a great show.

We headed up to New York & wanted to see where the Priesthood was restored on the banks of the Susquehanna River but we couldn't find it so we went on up to Rochester. Brad had just moved there for his job & was in the process of getting an apartment for them when Amy comes out. It was so good to be with him & take him to the Sacred Grove & the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Rod served his mission in Cumorah which covered all of New York, except New York City, so it was fun for him to be able to go back & show me some of the things I hadn't seen. We went to the Peter Whitmer farm where the church was organized. It has changed so much since Rod was a tour guide there. We decided to go back down to the Susquehanna River & we finally found the sight & saw the gravesites of Joseph & Emma's infant son, Alvin, & Emma's parents. Then we went to church in Schenectady, New York, where he served his mission for 5 months.

I had my second homesick moment. The first was when Tyson was born. The next was when we were watching the fireworks on July 3rd. I was thinking about the tradition we have of going to the Eagle River fireworks with everyone early, visiting, playing games & how I usually have a couple of grandkids on my lap. Boy did I miss them all!

July is a hard month for me with all of the memories of Nathan. From the 1st to the 18th I am always thinking about what happened 3 years ago on each day. It's not something I plan to do but it just happens. I am doing okay for the most part but some days are harder than others. On the 13th we went to the play of Joseph because I wanted to do something memorable. When Jacob was crying & said he had already lost one son & couldn't lose Benjamin too, it was really hard. Then when we went to church on the 18th, it seemed like all of the songs brought my feelings to the surface. One night I was thinking about him I guess before I went to sleep & sometime in the night a thought came to me. It was that knowledge brings peace.

Knowledge of the gospel brings peace.
Knowledge of the Plan of Happiness brings peace.
Knowledge of families being together forever brings peace.
Knowledge that we will see Nathan again brings peace.
Knowledge that the Savior lives, brings peace.

This is our testimony! We send our love to everyone!

High's & Low's

I love celebrations, so to have Father's Day, our 36th anniversary & my birthday all in one week is fun. When we were deciding where to go for our anniversary we were asking around & Sis. Wood said, without even hesitating, that we should go to Woodstock because it was such a quaint little town with cute shops, etc. Rod asked her if it was Woodstock, N.Y. She laughed & said it wasn't that one. Well, we got sidetracked, she went home & we were talking to someone else & they said there was a Woodstock, Conn., so that must be the one. They also said that close to there was the Old Sturbridge Village. It is a village that is set in Pilgrim times, with candle making, horse & wagon rides, etc. We thought that sounded fun too, so we might get to see a couple of different things while we were south.

On Sunday we went to church in Oxford Ward, & then relaxed at our hotel & played games. On Monday, we decided that we wanted to go to Woodstock first. We ended up driving for about 3 hours looking for cute little shops. The best thing we found was a little bakery so we decided to stop & ask questions & get a treat. When we got out of the car we were hit with the worst smell!!! Come to find out, the dairy farm across the street was spraying manure through the sprinkler system. Talk about losing your appetite! We obviously had the wrong Woodstock, so we decided to go back to Sturbridge Village. By the time we got there & looked around in the gift shops a thunderstorm came up so we decided not to go into the village this time. The day was kind of a bust as far as doing anything exciting but it was relaxing & at least we like to drive & see the country & now we can say we've been in Connecticut on our mission. When we went to the Temple & asked Sis. Wood, we found out it was Woodstock, Vermont. Oh well, next time we'll go to Vermont.

At church in Oxford, I was in Relief Society & the teacher said the lesson was about the Atonement. My first thought was if I should talk about Nathan & my testimony of the Atonement. I decided I wouldn't. She taught the lesson for about 20 min. & then said, "I would like to ask for personal experiences but first I would like to ask Sis. Metcalf if she would like to say anything?" It was so strange but I knew I was suppose to talk about Nathan & my testimony. After the meeting, a sister came to me & said she needed to hear what I said because her brother had died & she & her mother were having a hard time accepting it.

Sunday, in Boston 1st Ward Relief Society, the lesson was about parenting. Something was said, & my heart was beating so fast. I knew I was suppose to talk about Nathan & how we do the best we can as parents but they also have their free agency & through the blessings of the Temple we can still have our children with us for eternity. I KNEW I was suppose to say that, but with all of the translating & the late time, I didn't. I felt bad because I should have listened to the Spirit.

We also had our high's & low's at the Temple. On Friday, Rod was at the front desk & 3 people from Nepal came in & wanted to know more about the gospel. He was able to talk to them & send the missionaries to visit them. It was a neat experience for him.

That night a couple was getting sealed. She was the stroke victim that I had met a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, I was asked to sit & visit with her 77 year old sister & her grandson who were non-members. I took them a packet with a picture of Christ, The Proclamation to the Family, a booklet about the Temple & about the New Family Search. I talked to them mostly about genealogy & then asked them if they had any questions. The 18 year old grandson did but when I tried to answer him the grandmother became very angry. She wanted to know why she wasn't allowed to witness the sealing, & didn't we think she was just as good as we were. I finally ended up changing the subject & talking about her life which was very interesting. Then I went to get Rod to help me visit with them & Sis. Chatfield came & visited too. She & her husband just got back from their mission to Albania, & this woman was from Macedonia, which is around southern Turkey. It helped to have others to talk to her. It was pretty draining on me emotionally. I decided that was why we didn't go on a proselyting mission. (ha, ha!)

The next day my first phone call at the temple was someone calling to see if we gave tours through our beautiful building. When I told her we didn't she said they live close & always look at the beautiful angel & if we are going to build such a beautiful building we should show off the workmanship. I told her she was more than welcome to come into the foyer & talk to the person at the desk. She was not impressed & was pretty angry as if being angry would get her in. I talked to someone & she gave me a great analogy. She said to tell them that we have MIT, Harvard & all of these great universities but in order to get in to them there are certain requirements that people have to do. They just don't let everyone in because people have to be prepared. I thought that was a great analogy. Anyway, it was a pretty stressful couple of days.

Our spiritual thought last week was, "Add to your faith - brotherly kindness." Peter characterized the household of faith as of one mind, compassionate, loving, tenderhearted, courteous, without guile or gossip, & not rendering evil for evil but seeking peace--in a phrase, brotherly kindness. In the Temple we should feel more powerfully the compassion of the Lord & kindness of our brothers & sisters.

We send our love to everyone!

New Experiences

We've had some good experiences this week. Last Monday we rode the subway, they call it the "T", to Boston. Someone in the ward had free tickets to Fenway Park, so we decided it was a good opportunity to go. Just getting on the T was an experience in itself. We knew what stop to get off but then we had no idea what we were going to do. We had to switch trains & when we did, this tall black guy let me have his seat. He & Rod got to talking & come to find out he lived just across the street from Fenway so he said we could walk with him. We would have NEVER found it unless we asked every couple of blocks. It was sure a blessing we found him. With his long legs we were almost running to keep up. Rod told him we were missionaries from the Church working in the Mormon Temple in Belmont & we were from Alaska. It is amazing how many conversations start up when we mention Alaska. It would be nice if they were as interested when we mention the church, but at least when we talk about Alaska they are always interested & we are able to have good conversations.

Anyway, back to Fenway Park. It was fun to be there knowing that's where Babe Ruth was. It didn't look as big as I thought it would be but I guess I was comparing it to the Kingdome. It is the oldest operating stadium & it has the big green wall that they call the "Green Monstah". Anyway, that's how they pronounce it. It was a fun day & we felt proud of ourselves that we rode the T & survived.

One of the couples that works in the Temple has been to Israel several times. They had a mini fireside & we were invited. We got to see some of their slides. It was very interesting. They are getting ready to go on a mission & they are hoping to be able to go back. We would love to go to Israel sometime but I would have to study more about the life of Christ before we go.

Saturday night the youth from Boston 1st Ward came to the Temple to do baptisms. We got permission to turn off the phones at 8, so that we could go down & watch them. It was a neat experience. Sunday when we went to church they recognized us & we were able to talk to them easier. There is one sister at church that is so shy. I sat by her last week & she barely talked. This week when we walked into the chapel she smiled & waved. When I went over to talk to her she was so cute.

I wanted to tell about what happens when we are singing at church. Have you ever felt like you were singing the wrong verse. That's how I feel all the time. It finally dawned on me that it's because English & Spanish are being sung similtaneously. It's a different experience.

Sunday night we went to the baptism of the Harvard professor. It was a special experience. He spoke after he got baptized. He will be a strong member of the church.

We are amazed at how many colleges & universities there are here. We are out of our league. We thought it might be interesting to let you know about some of them. They are: Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, UMass, Boston U., Tufts U., Bentley U., Wellesley, Boston College, Brandeis U., Northeastern U., & others I have never heard of.

Yesterday we had a fun day. We went to John Alden & Priscilla Mullins home & grave sites. John Alden was the first Pilgrim to step off the Mayflower onto American soil. Their home is a National Historic Landmark. There are engraved bricks on the walkway from donations. We saw some from a Potter family, a Metcalf & First Lady Barbara Bush. It was cool knowing that I am a direct descendant of theirs. I am their 10th great-granddaughter. John Aldens grave is where he is buried but they don't know exactly where Priscilla is buried so they just have a headstone next to him. Duxbury is a beautiful little community & is close to the ocean. We walked along the beach & I put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful day but we decided to go to Plymouth Rock another time.

As I was reading this week I came across the quote that our dead cannot be saved without us & we without our dead cannot be saved. I have thought a lot about that. I know that we are doing the saving ordinances for our dead because they can't do it for themselves. I'm not sure how we can't be saved without our dead, but I know it is a blessing to do their work & I feel a great love for our ancestors & all they did for us.

Our doctrinal instruction for last week was, "Add to your faith Patience". Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: "To fill the measure & purpose of our mortal probation, we must have patience. This mortal existence is the Lord's sifting sphere, the time when we are subject to trials, testing, & tribulations. Future rewards will be based on our patient endurance of all things."

We send our love!

Pressing Forward

We have the craziest weather here. I have never seen it thunder & lightening so much & rain so hard. It is almost scary sometimes. It can be blue skies & the rain comes in so fast & then blows through right away. It usually, (but not always), has the thunder storms at night & the lightening just lights up the room. I love listening & watching it. I really need to buy an umbrella & carry it with me. You never know when you will need it.

The man that Rod was helping to teach is getting baptized next Sunday. We are really excited about that. That means that we will still be here in a year when he goes to the temple.

We went to our new ward today. There are 2 sister missionaries & 2 elders & all of them are Spanish speaking. Today was Testimony Mtg. & some of the people spoke Spanish & only 1 had an interpreter. Then Relief Society was an experience. The sister conducting would give an announcement & then another sister would translate. The whole meeting was like that. It took 25 minutes just to get through the announcements & good news minute. I had such a headache afterward but I guess I'll get use to it. There was sure not a problem getting sisters to participate. They are so friendly & humble & sweet.

The lesson in Relief Society was on Visiting Teaching so they had all the sisters go to R.S. & the Priesthood took care of all the Primary & youth classes. Rod taught the Young Women & the lesson was about journals. He had a really good experience with them. Our ward is coming to the temple to do baptisms next Saturday so it will be good for us to see them there.

Tyson was blessed today. It was pretty emotional for me to know that we haven't even seen him & we are missing that sweet experience. We don't regret being here though. We know we are where we are supposed to be & we are grateful for the blessings that Heavenly Father has given us both here & there.

We send our love to everyone!

Haitian Mother's Day!

We wrote on our blog last Monday night but for some reason it didn't get posted. I still don't know what happened but I didn't realize it until a few days later. By that time I decided I might as well wait until this week. I am not a great writer & I really struggle trying to think of something interesting to write that people might be interested in. Even if no one reads this, it will be a good journal for us.

Last week I wrote on Angie's birthday. We were reminiscing about how we didn't know anything about raising our children but we were so blessed to have each one of them & they even turned out to be such great kids in spite of us. What a great blessing to know that we will all be together for eternity because of the blessings of the temple.

Our title for last week was, "Go Celtics!" We are so excited that they are in the finals. We have always liked the Celtics but it is so exciting now that we live in Boston.

Last Sunday we went to Concord, New Hampshire, with the Spears & listened to their talks. Then we went to Sharon, Vermont, which is Joseph Smith's birthplace. We fell in love with it when we were there last fall with Mom & Dad. There are some sculptures of Christ & his ministry & in June they are going to go to the Washington D.C. Visitors Center. They were beautiful. You can see them if you google, "Angela Johnson sculptures". It was well worth the trip to see them in person.

Rod has been helping the Elders teach a man who is 61. He is a professor at Harvard & it has been a very interesting experience for Rod. The last time he went the Mission President was there. This man is very smart & hopefully he will decide to get baptized.

There is a man that we have met here & his 13 year old son committed suicide about 18 months ago. Their family is really struggling & he asked us if we would go with the missionaries & talk to his 7 & 9 year old daughters & his wife. We are going to go tomorrow afternoon. I hope we are able to say the right things to help them a little.

Pres. Wood talked to a Stake President who wants us to go to Boston 1st Ward. We went to their Sac. Mtg. & Sunday School today & they were so friendly. We each felt the Spirit & felt so good about being a part of that ward. After Sunday School we went to the Haitian Branch in the same building. We had promised a brother at the temple that we would go to his branch today. Anyway, it was very interesting. It was their Haitian Mother's Day so I got another flower. They spoke French, & there were hymnbooks in English, French & Portuguese. The youth were giving talks about mother's & half were speaking English & half French. One of the missionaries was translating for us & at one point he said, "They are speaking Portuguese. I don't know what they are saying." I don't know how they know when to translate or when to wear the headsets. It was a good experience for us. It sure makes you realize that we are all children of Heavenly Father & He doesn't care what language we speak.

We had a couple of good experiences in the Temple this week. Rod went up to help with a session & realized that it was all in French & those who spoke English had the headsets on. He said, "I can't speak French." He was a little worried & then someone told him that he only had to help in English. It was pretty funny how worried he was.

A sister came in to do some work for her mother, sister, & several grandmothers. She had a stroke 3 years ago & could barely walk, talk, & couldn't swallow so we kept kleenex's & a garbage can close to her. She told me that she had prayed that morning that she would be able to do some of their work. When I pointed to her mother's name, she said, "That's my mother. That's my mother." It was a very spiritual experience. It brought tears to my eyes. She was only able to do her mother, sister & grandmother. Then she had to quit. While we were waiting, the sister who brought her told me her story. After she married her husband he became inactive because she wasn't a member. After being married for many years, she had the stroke & he asked sisters in the ward to come & read to her because he thought she was going to die. Instead of dying, she asked to be baptized & then he became active. They were sealed in the Temple 2 weeks ago. It was a wonderful experience for me.

In June we start working the night shift from 2-10 pm. I can see benefits to all of the shifts. This will be good because we won't have to get up at 5 am.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. We have been thinking about this weekend in past years & how we have gone to Chena Hot Springs & Homer for so many years. We sure have had some fun times together. We will be remembering Nathan & wishing we could visit his grave. It gives me comfort to go to that peaceful & beautiful place.

Well, it's late & I've gone on too long. I sure hope this works when I post it. We send our love to all of you.

Tender Mercies!

Elder David A. Bednar gave a talk about tender mercies & we have had a few of them. They happen too often to just be coincidental. I am amazed at how simple they are but how close to the Spirit it keeps us. For example, on Saturday, Pres. Wood was talking to us & going through the Baptismal book at the same time. He said, "Here is a talk that was given on November 4th." Since that is Nathan's birthday it was just another sweet reminder of our dear son!

We decided to visit the Peterboro Branch yesterday in New Hampshire. When we got there a Sister was giving her farewell talk. We had helped her with her clothes at the Temple this week & had no idea where she was from. It was strange that we had just seen her & out of about 130 Wards we happened to go to her Branch. We found out that it is the oldest organized Branch in the church. It was organized in 1841. It was a beautiful day to go for a ride for about an hour & a half. When we were almost there I told Rod that there were actually some hills. It was a nice country ride.

Every week at our Preparation Meeting we are given a spiritual thought. This week it was so good that we would like to share it with you. Since we are doing basically the same things & there's not a lot of new things to tell you about our job (except that we love it!!!), we decided that we might share a spiritual thought with you each week if it's appropriate.

S. Michael Wilcox writes that, as his children entered their teenage years, he was concerned about the evil influences & dangers that might beset them. While in the temple, he told the Lord that he was prepared to sacrifice anything to protect his children from Satan's power. He said the Spirit whispered to him, "This is the sacrifice I ask of you. Be in this house frequently, constantly, & consistently, & the promised protection you seek, which this house has the power to bestow, will be extended to those you love."

Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone said, "that all who faithfully attend to temple work will have unseen angels watch over [their] loved ones when satanic forces tempt them."

The more we work in the Temple, the more we KNOW how important this work is!

We send our love.

On Our Own!

Well, it was our first week on our own. It was really pretty good. We made some mistakes each day but we are learning from them. Actually I was the one who made most of the mistakes. Rod tried to teach me the cash register & he couldn't figure out why it took me so long. I would think I had it & then there would be people waiting & I would get flustered & push the wrong button. Oh well, at least they were patient with me. Then there were the few times I hung up on people, or transferred them to the wrong extension. I wonder how long I can blame it on being new? We are enjoying it so much & are working hard each day. Saturday was the busiest day we've had so far.

Along with all the work, we are having some special experiences. Saturday, I was told of 3 children that had passed away that week. I felt like I was in the right place at the right time & was able to explain that we had lost Nathan & how the book, "The Gateway We Call Death", by Elder Russell M. Nelson, & the book, "Life Everlasting", had helped me. Each of them asked me to write down the names on a paper so they could give them to their brother & friends. It broke my heart knowing what they are going through & how hard it is at times. I cried on the way home, thinking of them on Mother's Day & missing my kids.

We still haven't been assigned a ward yet so we've decided to travel around & visit different wards. Yesterday morning we checked the gps & found a ward not too far from here. When we got there, there was a big cross on the building. We could tell it was an old LDS building that had been sold to another church. So we got on the freeway & headed toward Boston & then went south. I kept checking the gps & no LDS churches were coming up so we just kept driving. Pretty soon we saw a sign that said, "Rhode Island - 33 miles". We decided that we might as well go to Rhode Island to go to church & as soon as we crossed the border there was a church 3 miles away. When we got there we thought it might be a false alarm again. There were about 25 parking spaces & it didn't look anything like an LDS church. Then we saw the sign so we went in. It turned out to be a Portuguese & English ward. There were headsets, hymnbooks in both languages & a missionary translating into the headsets. We gave the prayers & had a very good Sacrament Mtg. We met a man who is the grandson of Bishop Wilde in the Willow Ward. What a small world.

Last weekend it was so hot & when we watched the news we found out that Lexington had set a record at 91 degrees. Along with the humidity it was miserable. We were beginning to think that if it was this hot this early we were in for a miserable summer. These past few days have been a lot nicer for us but everyone else thinks it's cold & wear their coats.

Saturday night we went to Gloucester (pronounced - Glawster), with our landlords. It is the home of Gorton's fish company, & was where the movie "Perfect Storm" happened in real life. We had a lobster - clam bake. I want to learn to like lobster while I'm here & I actually liked it. It tasted a lot like Alaskan king crab. It tasted different than I have ever had.

A few people have been asking so we want to give you our address. It is:
17 Holland St. Apt. 3, Lexington, Mass. 02421

We hope all the mother's in our lives had a wonderful Mother's Day!

We send our love to everyone.

We survived our week of training!!!

What a week! We had one of the most exhausting weeks we've had so far but we also had some of the most amazing experiences.

We worked Tuesday - Friday from 7-2, & Saturday we worked from 2-9. I haven't had to train for a job since high school & even then there wasn't so much to remember. We had to learn things like how to turn the phones off & on (which sounds funny but there is quite a process), how to transfer calls & all the extension numbers, how to do the cash register in clothing (which I've never done), how to help people with their family search, & how to record work that is done & file everything in the right place. We were so busy everyday & would practically crawl home & just crash. One day we were climbing our 33 steps & Rod said, "You've never worked so hard in your life have you?" I reminded him that I worked hard raising 7 children but the difference was that I could always sit & relax when I needed to. I also didn't have to remember so many things. Having our brains overloaded was really what was the most exhausting.

Throughout the week I kept thinking about when Pres. Logan set us apart as missionaries & blessed me with a keen memory. I was grateful at the time for that blessing because I don't have the best memory. I am even more grateful now because I know it will help me to remember what I have learned this week when I need it.

Our schedule for May is Tue.-Sat. from 7-2. We have to be there by 6:30 so I get up at 5. I am not an early morning person but it is really refreshing to be outside that early in the morning.

The first thing we did on Tuesday morning was go on a tour of the Temple. Pres. Spears, a counselor in the Temple, told me that the Celestial Room reminded him of King Solomon's Temple. I didn't really understand it until we walked in. It literally took my breath away. We just walked around in awe. It is the most beautiful room I have ever seen! It reminds me of what it might be like in Heaven & the feeling there is even more indescribable.

We were able to do everything this week. I helped in a session where thlere were headsets being used for Spanish, Portuguese & Russian. I had never seen that before. A family brought in names to be baptized & Rod was able to be baptized for the male name they brought in. It was special to see things like that happen.

The highlight of our week was when Pres. Wood set us apart as Boston Temple workers. He is so great & is so personable. We just love being around him. He talked to us for awhile in his office & then he gave each of us the most beautiful blessings. He promised each of us blessings that we will be eternally grateful for. It was a very spiritual experience.

We look forward to another great week & hope we remember all the things we've learned since we are basically on our own, even though there are great people around who are willing to help if we need it.

We send our love to everyone & hope you have a great week also.

We're finally in Boston!

After 6,200 miles & 5 1/2 weeks we are finally here. It has been a great journey but we are ready to get to work.

Last week we got to Charlottesville, Va., on Wednesday morning & stayed with Rod's Dad until Friday morning. It was so good to see him again. We also went to see his Mom. She was having a bad day but it was good to see her & also the rest of the family.

We made it to Boston in 1 day. It was 600 miles. We were so tired but went straight to the Temple & saw it all lit up. It really was beautiful. Then we came to our house & met our landlords. They are so great & they had worked so hard on our apartment. The house is 110 years old. Our apt. is on the top floor & we have to go up 33 steps. It is hard to carry luggage up that many steps. We did enough to get us through the night & the next morning Rod woke up earlier than me & when I woke up he almost had the car emptied. I was more excited about that than just about anything he's ever done for me. We are unpacked & settled in which is a good feeling.

There is a huge oak tree in the back yard that we can see from our living room window. It reminds me of the movie, "Pollyanna" because we are so high up but her tree was a little closer to the house. There are woods & hiking trails behind our house so we don't feel like we are in the middle of the city. It is really nice. Some of the streets are so narrow. They say that they just paved the cow trails.

Our church is at 2:00 & everyone was so friendly. We heard that we may be assigned to one of the Wards in the Stake that needs more help, so we'll see.

We had dinner tonight at Pres. & Sis. Woods home with the Presidency & their wives & the other 2 couples that are full time missionaries. The Wilson's are from South Jordan & the Mitchell's are from Maine. They are all very good people & we are really going to enjoy working with them. It was nice for Rod to reminisce with the Wood's about old times & friends.

Tomorrow is our first day & we are anxious to get busy. I can't wait to see the inside of the Temple & feel the Spirit there. We feel so blessed to be able to serve in the Temple. I can't imagine that we ever thought that we might like to serve somewhere else. We'll close for this week & we send our love to everyone.

Our Last Week @ the MTC

We had the most wonderful week! Monday we spent the morning @ the Temple for training & that afternoon we had more training @ the MTC. Then on Tuesday & Wednesday we spent 8 hours each day in the Temple for more training. Thursday we were in the Temple again from 8 am - 1 pm. Our instructors this week were Rex D. Pinegar & his wife, Bonnie. When I saw their names on the schedule I wondered if it was "The" Pinegar's. Well, it was! They were so humble & amazing! For those of you who are too young to remember, he was in the First Quorum of Seventy about the time we were first married. Rod remembered him being the Mission President in Richmond, Virginia, when he was a teenager & listening to him speak at firesides. Anyway, they teach the Temple training once a month which is the only time they have Temple missionaries.

At the Temple we visited the laundry, Baptistry, youth center, Bride's room & went up to the 4th floor & walked on the catwalks to see some of the inner workings of the Temple. The Provo Temple is the busiest Temple in the world. They are able to perform sessions in over 80 languages. We heard from the Temple Recorder, the engineer & had a couple of special speakers. One of them was Bro. Walker. He is the head of the Temple Committee for the Church. We felt very privileged to be taught by him & the Pinegar's.

There were 9 couples in our group. Two of us are going to Boston, & the others are going to Sweden, Finland, England, Spain, Mexico, Germany & Washington D.C. We learned to love them but we are especially happy to be going to Boston with the Wilson's.

Tuesday night there was a fireside at the MTC & the speaker was Elder Glen L. Pace. It was so good. It was such a personal & spiritual subject that he requested that it not be recorded. We felt blessed to be there.

We were counseled during our time at the MTC & the Temple that we have to be very careful not to share spiritual things over the internet. Not because they are secret but because they are sacred.

We were able to spend time with Amy, Brad, Natalie & Kaylee on some of our evenings after classes & it was so nice to relax with them. The last night we were there, Jamie & Lacey were able to come to Amy's & we spent the afternoon with them too. It was so nice to see them again.

As good as it was to be in the MTC, the Temple & be able to spend time with Amy & Brad during some of our off times, we are glad to be on our way to Boston & on the last leg of our journey from Alaska.

Friday we drove from Provo to Denver. As I was driving through Vail, Rod said that my face was all red. I didn't think too much about it. Then later he was driving & I noticed that his face & neck were red. I looked & I was still red. Then just before we went through a tunnel I saw a sign that said we were at 11,600 ft. elevation. That is high & is over 2 miles. Mount Rainier is 14,000 + in elevation. Anyway, we wondered if it was the elevation that made our blood pressure rise or something. It was wierd.

Saturday we drove to Topeka, Kansas, where we went to church this morning. Then we drove to Liberty, Missouri, where we went through the Visitor's Center & saw the Liberty Jail where Joseph Smith & 4 others were imprisoned for 4 months. Some very important revelations were given to the Prophet during his time there & are found in D&C 121,122 & 123. We were glad we went out of our way to see it.

Tonight we are in Columbia, Missouri. Our thoughts & prayers have been with a couple of our family members and we hope all is well for them. We love you! We are excited for all that is to come, we are excited to serve & we send our love to all of you!!!

The morning we went into the MTC.

This is our District at the MTC

Our 1st Week at the MTC.

We have finished our 1st week at the MTC & it was amazing. I have a feeling that "amazing" is going to be the word of choice throughout our mission so if you get tired of hearing it you'll just have to forgive us.

I had been looking forward to the MTC but as Brad was helping us set up our blog the night before I was trying to learn how to do it & all of a sudden I just couldn't hold back the tears. Then as we went to bed I felt like a little girl on Christmas Eve. I was excited, anxious & my mind wouldn't turn off so needless to say I didn't get much sleep. The next morning I was excited but I could feel the Spirit & didn't dare talk much on the ride to the MTC for fear I would burst into tears.

Everyone was so kind as we had orientation. There are a total of 38 couples & 4 senior sisters in our group. It is the largest group of seniors in over a year. There are 5 couples in our district & there is one other couple going to the Boston Temple with us. We are staying at the Super 8 Motel since the housing for seniors is being expanded.

Along with our classes on Tuesday, they gave us about an hour to prepare a 45 min. discussion on the Restoration. Then we went to a church bldg. & had to teach a stranger who was to pretend to be an investigator. As we got to know her we found out that her husband passed away 5 years ago & she has been battling depression. We shared our experiences with Nathan & our testimony of the Plan of Salvation & it was a very sweet experience. We didn't exactly teach the lesson we were supposed to teach but the Spirit directed us to go a different route & instead of helping an investigator we were able to help a sister feel better. We all agreed that we were supposed to meet that day.

That night we went to the fireside given by Elder L. Lionel Kendrick & his wife. He is an emeritus Seventy. They remembered us from our cruise to Australia & New Zeeland & they also know Pres. & Sis. Wood, our Boston Temple President. It was amazing to see & hear about 2,000 missionaries file into the fireside & sing, "Called to Serve".

Tuesday we had more classes & taught another lesson about the Plan of Salvation. At lunch we saw my cousin, Terry Potter. I haven't seen him for about 17 years. I didn't even know he lived here or worked part time at the MTC. He invited us to go to his daughters wedding at the Salt Lake Temple this morning (Saturday).

On Wednesday we were in the lunch line & I saw an Elder & he said, "Oh, my goodness, I can't believe it. Hi, Sis. Metcalf, I'm Elder Metcalf." He was so excited. It was cute. We had more classes all day Wednesday & Thursday & taught more lessons, but what I got most out of those days were the relationships & friendships that we are building. The quality & dedication of these couples are amazing & they are literally going all over the world. Some of the places they are going are, Russia, Phillipines, Taiwan, Africa, Sweden, Mexico, Greece, Brazil, England, New Zeeland, Canada & several in the U.S. They are doing welfare & humanitarian, Temples, office, Visitor's Centers, proselyting & probably others I can't remember. Anyway, we are growing to love many of them.

This morning when we were in the waiting room for weddings, I heard, "Terry Metcalf?" I turned around & there was Cindy Hopper from Georgia. She was a dear friend in Alaska & they moved about 10 years ago. What are the odds of going to the Temple in a different city & running into someone from across the country who is there at exactly the same time & you knew them years ago? It was a very tearful reunion! Another thing that happened this morning was when the Sealer came in & he said, "Hi, Bro. Potter, I'm Bro. Potter". He told us some of his ancestors so I'm going to see if we are tied together. One thing that we are starting to realize is that nothing is a coincidence. I always knew that but it has been very evident this week. I know that we were supposed to meet all of these people here & have these experiences & it has been a very wonderful experience. It makes me wonder who else we will meet on our mission that we feel a connection to? Cindy said it best today when she said that it will probably be like this in the Celestial Kingdom as we meet our families & friends again.

We hope you are all well & happy. We love you!!! Rod & Terry.

Tomorrow's the BIG DAY!!!

Well, we've waited for tomorrow for a long time & it's finally here. We know there will be a lot of new experiences for us & we are so excited! We can't promise to make this blog very interesting. We aren't the best writers in the world. That talent escaped us, but we hope that as we grow & experience new things we will be able to share them with you as much as possible. We hope you will feel our love for the gospel, the Temple & our family & friends. This has been such an amazing journey thus far. We have said good-bye to our family & friends in Alaska, there was our trip down the Al-Can which was amazing, we said good-bye to some of our family in Seattle & Idaho, we have seen friends in Utah, & stayed with Amy & Brad in Provo as we prepared for the M.T.C. We have felt the Spirit as we listened to General Conference this weekend & were blessed to attend the Saturday afternoon session. Our hearts are full & we are ready to begin this journey. I bought some vinyl lettering to put in our home in Boston & it says, "Enjoy the Journey". That is what we plan to do.

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