December 28, 2012

THEY'RE HERE!!!!!!  Kerri, Aaron and the kids are finally here!  We have looked forward to this weekend ever since we arrived.  And the best part is we get to take them on tours this weekend.  We have had about 16 inches of snow and more to come, so hopefully we will be able to walk in the Sacred Grove while they are here.  Needless to say, the kids all have grown a foot and I am still the "runt" in the group.  At least Jack is still shorter than I am, but I am sure that will not last long.  Looking forward to great weekend together.

December 28, 2012

December 25, 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  Cannot believe it is Christmas already; time is really flying for us.  We had a very good (and busy) Christmas Day.  It started off with us having breakfast at the Bishop's home.  There are six young missionaries and four senior missionaries serving in the Lyons Ward, and we all came for breakfast.

Sis. Fetuli & Park

Sis. Park & Butters

After breakfast, we hurried back to apartment and I got to Face Chat with my Dad.  It was WONDERFUL to be able to see him and talk!  We will definitely do this again.  Then we provided lunch for the the four sister missionaries in our ward.  After a short break we were off to the Rossells for dinner.  It was a very busy day, but one that I will always remember. Everyone here has been wonderful!  If we cannot be with my family, then this was the best place we could be.  Tomorrow will be back to our regular schedule and hopefully some visitors at the sites.

December 24, 2012

All the senior couples gathered in the basement at the Hill Cumorah for dinner tonight.  We had approximately 40 people attend.  You know if the Strouds are involved, there will be food...hehe.  We enjoyed some great food, then Elder Poulson sang a solo, Sis. Searle played a beautiful piano solo, and then Lee read the Christmas story from Luke.  My mind drifted back to other Christmas Eves when he would read that story to the grandchildren.  If we could not be home, then this was the best substitute ever.

Elder Fuller

Lee

December 22, 2012

Winter has definitely arrived in Palmyra, NY!!  Started snowing last night and snowed most of the day.  We had about 14 inches of snow!  This southern girl is definitely not accustomed to this!  At least the state has enough equipment to keep the roads clear, and the church has contracted with a company to keep our driveways and walkways clear....even if they do come at 5 AM to start plowing.

December 22, 2012

We had a ward assignment at the Bishops Storehouse this morning.  We helped fill orders for families needing assistance from the Church.  It really made me thankful for all my blessings.  I have done a lot of thinking about our mission and how we prepared temporally to serve.  If Lee & I had not had great retirement benefits we would not be able to serve this mission.  How grateful I am for this opportunity.

December 18, 2012

Started  today by attending our Mission Christmas Devotional.  It was awesome!  Pres. Christianson is a terrific mission president and an inspiring speaker.  I am always uplifted when I hear him speak.  The theme for the devotional was Jesus Christ as a missionary.  The scriptures are loaded with examples.  He was the greatest teacher of all time!  We left our devotional at 12:15 PM, grabbed some lunch at Wendy's in the drive-thru, then headed to the Hill Cumorah to do our afternoon shift.  Left the Hill at 5 PM, changed clothes, and arrived at the Lion's Club at 5:30, ready to serve them their Christmas Dinner and clean up afterwards.  We arrived back at our apartment at 10 M - exhausted, but feeling very blessed.

Today I was fed temporally and spiritually.  I am truly a very blessed person!  It is ALL ture!  I KNOW the Book of Mormon and it is TRUE!

December 17, 2012

Today is the start of a very busy week for us.   We completed our regular shift at the Peter Whitmer Farm and were trying to leave a little early (4:30 PM) in order to make our Family Home Evening event at the Smith Farm by 5:30 PM.  Well a couple of sisters arrived at 4:20 PM....we are missionaries first!  We gave the tour and arrived at the farm late.

Each year our mission has a family home evening during December at the Smith Farm.  We invited three stakes to attend.  There is a couple sitting in the log home reading Luke 2, and a couple in the frame home reading "The Night Before Christmas"; each dressed in period clothing.  A set of sister missionaries takes a group and they carol from the log home to the frame home and back; then we had hot chocolate and cookies in the basement of the welcome center.  We had over 400 people attend.  It was a great evening!!

December 8, 2012

Today was suppose to be our Preparation Day, but we are doing a morning shift at the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center for the Heyns (have family visiting); so we did not get off until 3 PM.  During our shift we had seven professors from Rochester visit.  All were nomembers except one.  All are professors of religion, anthropology or philosophy.  Sis. Gillespie and Sis. Jones took them on tour.  Tours and the Hill are usually short, but this one lasted about 1 1/2 hrs. One of the professors was from Ghana and Sis. Jones was able to find him a Book of Mormon in is language.  He was thrilled to be able to have one he could read, and I think he will "seriously" read it.  After our shift we headed to Canandaigua to see the Christmas decorations at the Granger Homestead.  Unfortuately, they were about to close when we arrived so we did not get to see much.