Half Way Through August

It is so amazing to think that we have already been on our mission for one month. True, we have not been in New York quite three weeks yet, but yet we feel quite comfortable here already.

This has been a somewhat normal week of working in the mission office. We have both been able to sharpen our skills and are getting better. I pay bills and Kae does the correspondence and travel letters, etc. On Sunday night we drove 1.2 hours to the Dansville area to deliver some mail that had been overlooked. The two sisters there were grateful for the visit. While there they took us to a less active member's home. We had a nice visit with a darker sister and her two daughters. Two of them had amazing conversion or testimony stories. The older daughter had a personal experience of light in the Sacred Grove.

Thursday during the day Kent took his bike to the Erie Canal and rode alongside it for 1/2 mile. On Friday Kae and I walked along the canal in a different location in Pittsford. Thursday night we drove to the Palmyra Temple for a session. Kent was set-apart as a veil worker. After we move to the John Young home we will be ordinance workers. This temple has a wonderful large window in the foyer that overlooks the Sacred Grove. There are stained glass windows elsewhere with a tree theme. We are including a few more pictures of the area in this report.

This next week we have missionaries coming in and others leaving, hence transfers will be going on. On Tuesday our mission president will take us along as he gives his welcome tour of the sites to the new missionaries. He is a former Institute Instructor and Vice President of Utah Valley Univ. He has also conducted church history tours for years. We are looking forward to the tour.

Last night we watched church videos, including Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration. We were reminded of the persecutions that took place and the great faith that most of the saints displayed to survive and prosper. We all encounter our own trials and it is our faith that will pull us through. It is so great being on a mission and being able to be part of the work here in the "cradle of the restoration".