Well, here we go again! It has been several days since my "every-other-day-posting".
Good reason though. Linda and Fred arrived here on Friday night.

As we walked into the office on Friday, I noticed this tree. I walked over to it and could not believe that blossoms were growing all over the trunk. OK all you horticulturists and gardners out there. What is the deal? It sure looks pretty though.

We got up on Saturday morning and went for a walk downtown and saw several of the significant sights. Walked into the old railway depot and were listening to an old man tell us about the depot, when Dad got a phone call and we had to leave to get him to the office to help some of the Sisters. We felt bad because it sounded like an interesting tour and he was dumbfounded that we all walked out. After Dad got the girls settled we headed for our Saturday tour. Off to Far West up north. That is a special place. You get a real reverent feeling there. And on Monday we found out that on Sunday a new ward was formed. The Far West ward. There is so much history connected to Far West. Dad and Fred found plots where their great, great greats lived.

This is a picture of Linda and Fred walking down the path at Adam-ondi-Ahman. Kind of a special walk.

We headed for Jamesport afterward and this is their country store. Everything is dried and in small packages. Everything!

This is shelves of jams and jellies. You could find whatever kind of fruit jams you could think of.

The last pic in the store. More containers filled with food stuff. There were a few Amish in the store, but they don't like their picture taken, so I did refrain. There was one table divided in sections and a PRODUCE sign hanging above it. Along the sections of dried goods was a container of something on the shelf. You could take the lid off and spoon out some of the goods inside to get a taste. The fresh produce was one stalk of rhubarb. Can't figure that out except that I think they probably grow their own fresh produce. We saw two horse drawn wagons passing each other on the road. Two small boys were on one wagon with ice cream cones in their hands. Overalls and straw hats on and they waved their cones in passing to the others in the buggy. It was so sweet. They were so excited to see their friends. They are a very calm and quiet people. Would love to get to know them better.

Whoops! I did get one pic of the back of a mom and small boy and someone they knew in the store. See the straw hat on the small boy

Next stop was in Richmond, Missouri. Here is the burial spot of Oliver Cowdery and Peter Whitmer Sr. Several old grave stones that they have laid down and put cement around since they were deteriorating so much.

Then downtown was a statue of Alexander Doniphan. When George Lucas wanted to kill the Prophet Joseph, Doniphan stood up and said that whoever killed the Prophet, he would see them in hell. He saved the Prophet's life. He was a champion for the cause. How would you like a statue like this with these words on it describing you! Yes, he was a great man and this was not put up by the Church. There were a few good Missourians!

Alexander Doniphan.

We went to the Bingham-Wagonner house with Linda and Fred. I believe I showed you pics of the house a long time ago. I am absolutely fascinated with these little doors in each room. Usually two doors in each room. A crawl space goes around the whole outside of the house. Kids could play and crawl through it and camp out or whatever. It was actually a storage place, but I have a feeling that kids played here a lot.

On Monday we went to Kansas City to the Steamship Arabia. Wow! this was great. A steamship that headed up the Missouri with 20 tons of goods on it and 11 stops to make up the river. It sank just 6 miles up the route and was buried for 132 years before it was dug up. We heard from one of the sons who was in on the dig and it was amazing. After being buried for that long they had to preserve the wood in a certain way. I bought a book about it. Pictures about how it was dug up, preserved and now displayed in the museum. All of the goods are still not cleaned up. They think it will take 15 more years to get it done. Some of the wooden buckets and slates on the Arabia.

I really can't get my pics right any more.

I even love the curtains in the Bingham Wagonner Estate. I was born in the wrong century!

This sign in the window tells the ice man that we want 75 pounds of ice today!

The actual stern of the Arabia. Amazing!

Beautiful dishes that came out of the ship.

Keys and more keys. This ship sank in 1856. These are old and completely preserved.

Food that was preserved in bottles. Yes, they actually opened some and tasted it. OK.

Silverware, coffee grinders, etc.

After the Arabia, we went to Linda and Fred's nephew's home for dinner. It was decided at that time that they were going to leave on Wednesday morning with Merilee, Fred's sister, and her husband, Norman. We went back to our apartment and at 10pm got a phone call that Tuesday morning would be better. Well, I did not have enough time to switch my thinking and so Tuesday morning was a very tearful departure for Linda and I. Oh, it was hard to say goodbye. We just had some very relaxing and enjoyable time with them. Felt like we had been with them just the week before, and hated the idea of it not happening again for several months. Goodbyes are the worst. I cannot think of anything fun about saying goodbye.

So they left and we left for work.

After work today, I went with four other seniors to the inside of a mountain. You actually drive in to the mountain and up to an orchid growing store. It was unreal. These are pics of some of the orchids. Not real good color because of the yellow lights in the place. They are unreal. So many varieties, colors, patterns.

Can anyone see the frog in this display?

Yep! That little green thing sitting on the leaf is a frog in the terrarium. You can see one black eye on the frog. In the middle of the pic just below the top.

Another beautiful orchid.

And yet another.

It has been a fun few days.

Must get to bed so I can face the day tomorrow.

Loves and hugs.

I'm baaackk!

Last week was nearly a wipeout for us in the mission. As we came to work last Monday we learned that one of our Elders had been sent home on Saturday. When we found out who, I just started bawling. I don't know, you just kind of get attached to these young missionaries. We love this Elder and he was actually scheduled to finish his mission on 29 April. Yes, three weeks away, but he is gone.

Then we are sitting in the office on Wednesday and the Pres. walks in with an Elder and he sits down and we learn that they are just there to pick up his itinerary. He is on his way home. He has only been in the mission since the end of January, so we are not sure what the circumstances are.

On Friday morning at 7:30, Dad gets a call from the Pres. Would he be available to drive an Elder to Nauvoo that day. Whew! Another one being sent home. He actually left from California and his mom moved to Nauvoo while he was gone. So he comes into the office about 9am and has an interview with the Pres. and is told he is headed home. So Dad and Elder Bouy took him to his apartment and he got packed and they left about 2:30. Got to Nauvoo about 6 and dropped him off. They said it was a very somber drive out. So they got a room at the Nauvoo Inn and spent the night and then went to the Land and Records Office on Saturday, took a carriage ride, and generally had some down time to enjoy Nauvoo a little. They came back on Saturday evening.

These releases really shook the whole mission up, because about 8 missionaries in one area have been very disobedient. Some were brand new Elders and were just being taught that this is what we do on the mission. The two that were sent home were very charismatic leaders and then there were a lot of followers. Finally one stood up and reported that things were not right. Thankfully. We do not know the whole story and maybe never will, which is fine, but it has sure been hard on us seniors. But eight of the eleven zones were affected. Missionaries moved and companionahips switched out. You would not believe what a process it is.

This is Elder Fackrell. He is the young man who came into the office two days a week for two years. He had driven some missionaries over for meetings and it was good to see him again. He is quite the computer wizard. Like all the young people now. We would save all of our computer questions for Tuesday and Thursday and Elder Fackrell would teach us what to do. Yes, he never did it for us. He would walk us through the process.

Friday was kind of a happy day after Dad and Elder Bouy left. This is Elder Smith and Eckern who came into the office that afternoon with their Title of Liberty written out on an old white shirt and at the bottom all of the Elders and Sisters in their district had signed it. See that look on Elder Eckern? He is a wonderful Elder. Asked Elder Snow what "exact obedience" was. He wants to be that kind of an Elder. And he really is.

This was our walk Sunday evening. Can you see that tree with the brown up and down the left side? Well, that goes all around the back of the tree and a hugh part of the tree broke off with the storm that blew through here a week ago. Did I tell you that it also blew out the back window of one of the cars parked at the stake center just below us? Yea, it was a storm that blew through for about 15 minutes and made us a little more aware of what a tornado could be like.

The tree fell on the corner of the house. There was wood lying all over the ground and a couple of lower level windows broken out. And guess what we did at church on Sunday? We had a tornado drill. Yes, the classroom bell rang for a long time and we all went out in the hallway and stood against the outside wall of the hallway. Ours is one of the churches in the round, so people were walking by looking for their kids and then standing against the walls. First time we have ever experienced a tornado drill!

Sister Stutz and I had planned to go to the 'free' one act play about Beatrix Potter on Saturday. So that is why Dad took Elder Bouy with him to Nauvoo, since I said I had a date at 2pm and could not be late! The play was a one person doing all the acting kind. She was delightful. We learned some more about Miss Potter and loved it all. We had Sister Bouy with us too. Afterward we went to an antique store and then to Clinton's Drug Store. Can you read the plaque out in front in the sidewalk?

I mixed my pics up again. This is Sister Stutz and I at the Trails Museum.

Someone please remove this pic. The one below.

Here we are in Clinton's with our yummy strawberry-banana and peach smoothies. Oh yes, my test results say I an not allergic to strawberries! Yea!

This is Sister Stutz outside having a brain freeze! There was a paper posted in the store that said if you are having a brain freeze to press your tongue on the top of your mouth and if that doesn't work to press your thumb to the top of your mouth. Didn't do much good for her though. She looks like she just had a good time sucking her thumb. We had a fun afternoon.

Such is the life of the missionaries.

Loves and hugs to all and we miss you everyday.

Time to show you a little about the office folks. This is Elder Williams. He is the office manager and in charge of housing. Finds apartments for missionaries and helps them move and delivers goods to them. He is fun but off in an office away from us. He reads and studies a lot. Knows the scriptures very well. He has taught snowboarding at Brundage by McCall.

This is Sister Williams, his wife. They are from Logan. They will be done in July. She is the secretary to the President and keeps his schedules and updates everything and keeps us up on what is going on. She is very concerned about the missionaries and we tease her a lot because she asks everyone where they are going and can they take supplies and mail to missionaries who are way out. She also takes all the phone calls from crying moms and other interesting people

This is Sister Miller. She is in charge of finances and has also been the mail lady, she also lives across the hall from us. When we were forwarding mail, she had quite a job every day. Now that we cannot forward, it is not such a big job. I am now going to do the mail. It will be fun. Today is basically Sister Miller's last day. She has been training a new man in our ward who is going to come in and do finances. Her daughter and son-in-law arrive tomorrow afternoon and then they will leave on Sunday. She lives in Turlock, California and they are driving it in two days. Sister Miller is so fun. She is a convert and her second husband was about 27 years older than she and he passed away in 2005 and she was doing this mission for both of them. We laugh a lot with her. She has traveled all over the world and someplace will be mentioned and she has been there! It is fun. We are going to miss her.

This is the mail man coming and dropping the mail at her desk.

This is Elder Bouy. He has come in and taken over the phones. No one was minding the cell phones and they were very out of control. Very, very out of control. We had Elders spending hours at night on their phones. It was sad to see what some had done. Elder Bouy is able to print out every cells history, every call they make and where to and for how long. WOW! Talk about being blindsided. Some of our missionaries were in shock. He is also going out and checking apartments. Not a real fun job. But some missionaries need to clean up a lot.

This is Sister Bouy and she is the mission nurse and what a job she has. The Bouys are from Syracuse. She worked at Primary Children's and knew Adrian a little. And their son is a PT and landed a job at Primary when Adrian left. He is now in Washington however. Sister Bouy is inundated with phone calls. All sorts of problems for these young missionaries. Some are pretty serious and some are kind of like they need their mom to wipe their noses and bring them orange juice. It is crazy what they call her about. And I don't know much about her calls. Have to tell you about one call though. The Elders had gone to dinner at someone's house and they served menudo. I believe it is a Mexican dish made out of awful things like tripe (cow's stomach) and pig's feet! Yes. The missionaries described it as ball of fat in a broth. They choked it down and one Elder got violently sick. He called Sister Bouy and threw up twice while he was on the phone with her. She nearly got sick! The Elder also said that the house was very dirty and there were cockroaches crawling around on the counter and on the bread. I could not believe it. I would have died. I don't know what the answer is, but you won't catch me eating anything like that. I would have to dump it in my purse or down the front of my shirt before I could put it in my mouth. Good news is he felt better in a couple of days! Sister Bouy spends lots of time on the phone all hours of the day and night with the missionaries who are far away and then has to decide what kind of care they need. She has to find doctors and other help for them. I would not touch her job with a ten foot pole. She gets pretty wiped out.

Ah, SPRING is finally showing its face. All over are these beautiful trees covered with white blossoms. It is very pretty and so good to see. We still have signs of winter however. Right now we have our heat on in the apartment. Go figure. And a couple of nights ago we had a rain storm that was quite amazing. We had put ourselves into the car to go to the office to see if the last two cars had been removed. Oh yea, six of Dad's cars were picked up on Tuesday and hauled to Mississippi. Sold to a broker who sells them to car dealers. We are hoping he wants seven more! OK, on the way to the office it was raining so hard and made so much noise hitting the car. The raindrops were about the size of a 50 cent piece. At one point Dad said, can you see the road? I quickly said NO. The streets were like little rivers that were full of water. Then it stopped in about 15 minutes and sprinkled for awhile. This is a place for changes in weather that go from one extreme to the other. And yes, on Wednesday we hear the practice tornado sirens go off. Every week. Everyone in our building says that they will come to our apartment in case of a tornado! I hope it does not happen. The tornado, I mean.

Another look at beautiful white trees.

And these trees are unbelievable! Pink magnolia. There are a lot of them. And they are beautiful. I had Dad grab me a blossom off a tree and we brought it home and in water it opened up and was probably six to eight inches across.

A closer look at magnolia tree.

Even closer...........

Quite amazing wouldn't you say.

These little signs of spring have perked up our spirits. We have had a tough week in the mission. Cried tears and been disappointed and heart broken about the actions of missionaries. One Elder was sent home and four days later another went home. We really don't know much about it all, but it does make your heart ache.

We are well and happy. Dad went and hit some golf balls last night and is golfing on Saturday. He also plays racketball three times a week. I am still walking and trying to lose some weight. Ya, since we left at the end of September, I have gained 10 big lbs. (lbs. is a more descriptive word than pounds, don't you think. it actually creates a picture for me. Yuck!) Quite discouraging. They have got to go. (Dad is trying to lose some too and never find them again.)

Loves and hugs to all.

Here we have some senior missionaries who have completed their mission. This Sister and Elder Tubbs. They have been out in the field the whole time. They have done so much good. They actually live in Kansas, but left their home and rented an apartment in their area. They have had several baptisms and have helped to reactivate many people. They are great people. And Sister Tubbs has a complexion like you see in the magazines of the young people. She does not have a wrinkle on her face and I don't think she ever knew what a blemish was in her whole life. When I sit by her at Zone Conference at lunch, I honestly just stare at her beautiful face! The mission is going to miss these two.

This is Sister and Elder Wright. They are from Blackfoot and he has been a farmer/cattle man. They have been what we call F/M missionaries. I think that means facilities management, but I could be wrong. They do get to wear levis and tennis shoes and sometimes we are envious of that, but the work they do---they shovel snow, a lot of it by hand and have kept our parking lot clean all winter, often starting very early in the morning any day of the week. They mow lawns, plant flowers, take care of church buildings, keep the grounds at Far West looking beautiful, they basically work as grounds keepers, and they are too old to be working as hard as they do. And Elder Wright had a knee problem several months ago. They wanted to send him home for surgery and he said no. So he had his knee scoped and arthritis cleaned out and has been in a lot of pain ever since. I talked to him last week and he is headed to Dr. Bertin in SLC for a couple of new knees! I told him to get it done soon so he can enjoy the rest of his life. And Sister Wright is the kind that is almost laughing whenever she is talking. She is so happy and also very fun to be around. Everything is always good for her.

We will miss these people, but already a new couple has arrived from Chubbuck, Idaho to live in the Wrights place and take over their work. The work just keeps going forward. All kinds of work.

Love and hugs being sent your way.

Today is the last day of March and the temperature is 78-80*. Unbelievable when one and a half weeks ago we had 8-10 inches of snow. I guess Missouri does not have spring!

I have talked to several people and must report that my back is doing better. I still have that pain about 3 inches over from my spine, but it no longer goes down my leg. I am very careful about bending over because that seems to put something out and then it takes a while to get it back where it belongs. I am going to see my therapist one more time.

But I have to tell you about the crazy thing that happened this past Sunday and Monday. I actually took a pic of my face but decided to delete it. No one should see that face! Anyway, on Sunday evening I started getting bumps all over my body. Welts, you know, like hives. Around my waist, under my arms, between my legs and halfway down to my knees, under my breasts. I was a real mess. They itched a little. That afternoon Doug and I had both had way too long naps. So when I finally went to bed at 11:20, I could not sleep and neither could Doug. I finally got up at 12:57 and came out to the computer to try and find out what was wrong with me. As I sat here I could feel a wave start at my chin and go right up my jaw nearly to my ear. It felt like slow moving water just running slowly under my skin. I got up and looked in the mirror and sure enough, my jaw was swollen and my lower lip looked like all those lips of women who pay money to get their lips plumped up! and I didn't have to pay for it!

So I spent two hours looking up everything I could think of that might be wrong with me. At 3am, I laid on the couch and slept till 7. Got up and Doug looked at me and whoa! I started to talk and could not talk. I tried to clear my throat and could not do that. My voice was nearly gone. Tried to bite my cheek like I do a lot and could not do that. My breathing was never affected, but my throat and vocal chords definitely were.

I was sitting in the bathroom once again trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Suddenly a word popped into my head. It was STRAWBERRIES! I walked out and said to Doug, I am having an allergic reaction to strawberries. I knew that was it. We started eating strawberries on 4 March for Dad's birthday and have had them in our frig most of the time this month. We got some beautiful ones at Costco on Friday and on Sunday I ate quite a few. But all month I have had swellings in one jaw or another, one eye or another, little finger tip size itchy places under my arms and didn't really think much about it. The swelling would go away during the day and that was it.

I was feeling fine and following a good itch after my shower, I got ready and went upstairs to Sister Bouy who is the nurse. She said to take 2 Benadryl and so I did. Went to work and everyone there said I need to go do the doctor, so Doug called and we went. I did not want to go because I believe I had learned my lesson. The doc took my temp, BP, weight, looked at ears, listened to heart, pushed on belly and that was it. Then I had a little blood drawn to test a couple of things. Didn't look at anything on my body and the swelling on my jaw had gone down a lot by then. She just sent two prescriptions to the drug store and said bye. We went to Walgreens to find out what the Epie pen would cost and found that we would have to pay $42 of the $200 cost and I thought we have one of those already, we don't need another that will expire and the other prescription was for steroids. Well, I told the druggist I was not going to take that. So we left. The swelling is gone, I am not eating strawberries right now but feel confident that I can eat them in moderation in a while.

I told you about Elder Snow coming and trying to teach us to listen to the Spirit. I have thought about that a lot for the past week, and for the past few years I have really been trying to see the Lord more in my life and giving Him credit and thanks and taking action according to the promptings. Trying to be aware of when He is prompting me and helping me make decisions. Well, the word STRAWBERRIES popped into my head out of nowhere and I recognized immediately that it was the spirit telling me what was wrong. I know that he used strawberries,
to show me that even in the physical and temporal things, He is there to help me. Elder Snow said we just need to be quiet more and pause and not just blurt out an answer that we already know, but listen and maybe we will learn something else. The Spirit speaks in quiet times and is soft, but you definitely get it in your head and heart.

I have felt so good about the experience and hope that I can pause and be more aware in all aspects of my life.

Loves and hugs to all. All is well.

As we were leaving for church this morning, Sister Howe saw a cardinal in the tree. I was able to get my camera out and get a pic. I tried all winter to get a pic of one against the snow, but only saw one on a bush as we stopped for a STOP sign and was not quick enough to get it. It happened today.

Then we spotted another in the next tree. Pretty good, I'd say.

Loves.

I have not reported anything about our meeting last Monday. We had a general authority here in our mission again. He was Elder Lowell Snow. He is in the Quorum of the Seventy and goes out and visits missions to see how things are.

We first met he and his wife the night before at the Liberty Jail and heard both of them talk for a few minutes. His wife reminded me of my sister Barbara. She had that kind of rare smile that some people seem to have on their face all the time. Just a pleasant, happy look.

The fireside was at the Liberty Jail and newly baptized members come and share their testimony with everyone there. There were three people who shared their testimonies. The first was a young, 36 year old guy who had a white long sleeved shirt on. His hands and fingers were covered with tats and also his neck. I am sure that his arms were probably covered too and who knows what else. But I wish you could have heard him. He was raised by a mom who was a Mormon and even went to church, but dad would not let the kids be involved. He had an extended family who were also in the church and cousins who went on missions and to church and so he knew quite a bit about the church. But he left home and had all sorts of experiences. He was into drugs, alcohol, the whole nine yards. Married and divorced and finally hit bottom and decided that his life was not what he wanted or what it should be and that Heavenly Father was missing from his life. He had been in Colorado and came back to Independence and about a year ago married again a Mormon girl and then invited the missionaries. They were in his home and he told them he wanted to be baptised. They asked him what he knew about the church. After 20 minutes of telling what he knew, the missionaries just looked at each other and Elder Taylor said, "I don't know what to say". They were amazed. Well, they taught him the rest of the lessons and he was baptised. He tried to explain what his life was like now. His wife has three teens and they are doing so much better. Well, it was quite a story and he probably talked for 15 minutes. It is just amazing how the Gospel changes lives. You really get to see it up close and personal in the missionfield.

Our meeting on Monday started at 1pm and did not end until after 5. It is amazing how you can sit for that long and just try and absorb what is coming at you. Elder Snow said that we can have life changing experiences not because of what we hear, but by what we feel and learn. I guess the Seventy just go all around and try and teach us all how to be better missionaries. A lot of the Elders and Sisters had life changing experiences.

He said yielding is being submissive and how do we become submissive, by loving something more than yourself, by wanting something and trusting. It is an act of faith. He had the AP's take over and start the discussion. They knew one hour before that they were going to do this. But he was trying to teach us how to listen to the spirit and teach with the spirit. He said over and over, don't just tell me what you already know or what you think the answer is. Pause and listen or ask a question. It is quite amazing to hear some of the Elders and Sisters ask questions and then almost a light come on as they understood what was happening. Elder Eckern asked, what is exact obedience? He wants to be exactly obedient in all things truly. The answer was that we don't want to obey the rules because they are there, but we want to be obedient because that is what the Lord would want us to do. We have a change of heart.

It was a good meeting and actually was counted as our Zone Conference for this month. We had seven zones together on Monday and then they went to Topeka and had the other five zones over there. So no car inspections for Dad this time. Whew! And he sold a car on Friday. The Presidents Toyota Avalon is not in the garage of our stake president. Dad was happy. Not we are waiting to hear if the guy in Mississippi is going to buy the other 13 cars or not.

Loves and hugs.