Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thanksgiving & Birthday Visit
This has been another great week here in New York. We had some busy days in the office and then got to have an extended weekend. Thursday was a nice sunny day. We worked around the house. Kent went for a 3 mile bike ride in the afternoon. Then it was time to drive to the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center for a nice dinner with many of the other senior couples. We had about 40 of us seated in the basement room. We had a very nice meal and our mission president shared a message of thankfulness with us. He wanted us to know that as the Lord's representative he wanted to tell us that the Lord was thankful for our service here. He also stated simply, "It's all true!" (meaning the restored gospel). It was great visiting with the other couples.
Friday was the big "66" for Elder Servoss, so we celebrated by getting up at 5 am and driving three hours to Erie, Pennsylvania. We met our cousins, Rod & Cathy Green, who are serving a mission in Wheeling,WV. We both had permission from our missions to travel there for a fun day of visiting. It was so good to see them after four months. They are doing well and have had a lot of success in reactivating members of the Wheeling Ward. They also volunteer at a hospital. We walked in the sand of Lake Erie and also did some shopping. At 3:15 we went to a buffet restaurant and had a very nice meal. At 6 pm we parted ways again, and both couples drove back to their assigned cities. Missions for couples are really great, and we are thankful for flexibility too.
Friday was the big "66" for Elder Servoss, so we celebrated by getting up at 5 am and driving three hours to Erie, Pennsylvania. We met our cousins, Rod & Cathy Green, who are serving a mission in Wheeling,WV. We both had permission from our missions to travel there for a fun day of visiting. It was so good to see them after four months. They are doing well and have had a lot of success in reactivating members of the Wheeling Ward. They also volunteer at a hospital. We walked in the sand of Lake Erie and also did some shopping. At 3:15 we went to a buffet restaurant and had a very nice meal. At 6 pm we parted ways again, and both couples drove back to their assigned cities. Missions for couples are really great, and we are thankful for flexibility too.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Baptism in Bath, NY & Visit in Buffalo
Saturday and Sunday were very busy days for us. We did a lot of traveling. It started yesterday, Saturday. We went to the Palmyra Temple in the morning, and then met one of the Sister Hill, one of our missionaries, who was released Wednesday, and her parents. At 3:15 we took another missionary couple and two Elders with us on a 70 mile trip to Bath, NY for a baptism. The Martins were baptized after a short three weeks of investigation, learning and prayer. They are a nice young couple. We attended to support some of our young Elders and their efforts. It was interesting driving there because over 20 miles of it was alongside Canandaigua Lake. It is one of the large finger lakes here in western New York. We drove through Naples and Italy valley also before reaching Bath. That part of NY has bigger hills (small mountains) than here in Rochester area.
Today we attended church and then drove about two hours to Orchard Park (near Buffalo). We went to visit a family friend, Mike Schaff. He and Jen live there with there three children. Mike was one of Trent's best friends and was in the scout troop when I was scoutmaster. It was great to see them. The drive there is on the toll road freeway, I-90. We passed through a lot of typical NY farm land, with red barns, open fields and wooded areas. This next week will give us a long weekend as the office will be closed Thursday and Friday. We will have a nice dinner with many of the other senior couples on Thanksgiving at the Hill Cumorah. There is a gathering area in the basement of the visitors center there that we will meet in. We look forward to that. Then on Friday we are driving 3 hours to Erie, PA to visit with Elder and Sister Green (Rod & Cathy). That is the half way point between our mission locations. It will be good to see them again. Our family members back in Utah are all getting together at Lance and Becca's home on Thursday. We miss all of our family and look forward to visits from them next summer. Meanwhile we are very much enjoying serving here. We learn new things all the time and are grateful that we are having some wonderful experiences. The gospel is true and we pray that all of you appreciate the great blessings that the gospel brings into our lives. We pray that you will all have a great Thanksgiving holiday time and that you will enjoy being with family, as your circumstances permit.
Today we attended church and then drove about two hours to Orchard Park (near Buffalo). We went to visit a family friend, Mike Schaff. He and Jen live there with there three children. Mike was one of Trent's best friends and was in the scout troop when I was scoutmaster. It was great to see them. The drive there is on the toll road freeway, I-90. We passed through a lot of typical NY farm land, with red barns, open fields and wooded areas. This next week will give us a long weekend as the office will be closed Thursday and Friday. We will have a nice dinner with many of the other senior couples on Thanksgiving at the Hill Cumorah. There is a gathering area in the basement of the visitors center there that we will meet in. We look forward to that. Then on Friday we are driving 3 hours to Erie, PA to visit with Elder and Sister Green (Rod & Cathy). That is the half way point between our mission locations. It will be good to see them again. Our family members back in Utah are all getting together at Lance and Becca's home on Thursday. We miss all of our family and look forward to visits from them next summer. Meanwhile we are very much enjoying serving here. We learn new things all the time and are grateful that we are having some wonderful experiences. The gospel is true and we pray that all of you appreciate the great blessings that the gospel brings into our lives. We pray that you will all have a great Thanksgiving holiday time and that you will enjoy being with family, as your circumstances permit.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Mark's Visit, Sacred Sites & Servoss History
This past week was very memorable, since we had our first visitor from the Netherlands visit us here in New York. Mark Vander Donk came for four days, as part of his US trip. He and Elder Servoss went to the sacred sites on Tuesday, while Sister Servoss carried on at the mission office. We had a wonderful time walking through the deep leaves in the Sacred Grove. We could barely discern the trails beneath 1 to 2 inches of leaves. It was an amazing site. We stopped and sat to contemplate the wondrous event that took place there 191 years ago. President Christianson tells us that the Grove and the Hill are outdoor temples. You can feel the spirit of the Lord as you visit those places. We also had the tours of the Smith homes. We sat in the log cabin upper room where Joseph was visited by Moroni. Technically the Smith cabin and the Whitmer cabin were both reconstructed on the exact original sites and built using old methods and tools. Presidents Kimball and Hinckley both said that they were built in the same airspace as the originals. It is amazing that one can feel the spirit so strong in those cabins.
On Wednesday the three of us drove to Niagara Falls. Mark was very impressed with the falls, since Holland is so flat and they don't have waterfalls. We enjoyed our time there. We obtained permission from our mission president to make a trip into Ontario, Canada. We knew that we had Servoss ancestors who had lived in Niagara-on-the-Lake (25 miles north of the falls on the edge of Lake Ontario). We went there not having much family information with us. We knew that Daniel Servos (they used only 1 'S' then) had lived there, and that there was a Servos Burial site somewhere close. I said a silent prayer, pleading with the Lord to help us find some information on my family, since we had come so far. He listened and my prayer was answered within only a few minutes. We stopped at the Niagara Historical Society Museum to ask questions. When I asked the receptionist if she knew where we could find the Servoss burial site (pointing to my name tag), she said, "Of course, it is close to here, but we have a lot of Servos items here in the museum. Turn around and look at the display cases of Servos items." Wow, we were stunned! We walked over to the cases and looked at the uniform of Captain Daniel Servos. We then saw Servos silverware, a wooden scoop shovel, a baby bonnet, and other small items. We did not have much time, but she said that they had a lot of documents in the other room that listed histories of the Servos family. One document was a 200 page doctoral dissertation that had been written in 2006 about the Servos family in Canada. I took some notes and had a few copies made. It was very hard to leave the treasure trove there. We knew that we only had about 1/2 hour of daylight to try and find the small cemetery. We then went on a road search and after driving around a mile square area, within which was the cemetery, we found the Falk home with its fruit stand. We were told that the graveyard was back through the vineyards of the farm. We could not find anyone home, so we had to end our search. Later we learned that the Servos homestead called Palatine Hill had been located about 1/4 mile away. We will go back a few times more while we live in this area. It was an amazing place to visit.
Thursday we had to get back to the office and get caught up on the work. In the afternoon we went to the Mission Home for the MLS Senior Missionaries (Member & Leadership Support) training and dinner. Mark attended with us. We had some great training and were told by President Christianson about the great value of the senior couples in the Wards and Branches here. We then enjoyed a delicious meal and then had time to visit and share stories. It was a great week. We are so blessed to be here.
On Wednesday the three of us drove to Niagara Falls. Mark was very impressed with the falls, since Holland is so flat and they don't have waterfalls. We enjoyed our time there. We obtained permission from our mission president to make a trip into Ontario, Canada. We knew that we had Servoss ancestors who had lived in Niagara-on-the-Lake (25 miles north of the falls on the edge of Lake Ontario). We went there not having much family information with us. We knew that Daniel Servos (they used only 1 'S' then) had lived there, and that there was a Servos Burial site somewhere close. I said a silent prayer, pleading with the Lord to help us find some information on my family, since we had come so far. He listened and my prayer was answered within only a few minutes. We stopped at the Niagara Historical Society Museum to ask questions. When I asked the receptionist if she knew where we could find the Servoss burial site (pointing to my name tag), she said, "Of course, it is close to here, but we have a lot of Servos items here in the museum. Turn around and look at the display cases of Servos items." Wow, we were stunned! We walked over to the cases and looked at the uniform of Captain Daniel Servos. We then saw Servos silverware, a wooden scoop shovel, a baby bonnet, and other small items. We did not have much time, but she said that they had a lot of documents in the other room that listed histories of the Servos family. One document was a 200 page doctoral dissertation that had been written in 2006 about the Servos family in Canada. I took some notes and had a few copies made. It was very hard to leave the treasure trove there. We knew that we only had about 1/2 hour of daylight to try and find the small cemetery. We then went on a road search and after driving around a mile square area, within which was the cemetery, we found the Falk home with its fruit stand. We were told that the graveyard was back through the vineyards of the farm. We could not find anyone home, so we had to end our search. Later we learned that the Servos homestead called Palatine Hill had been located about 1/4 mile away. We will go back a few times more while we live in this area. It was an amazing place to visit.
Thursday we had to get back to the office and get caught up on the work. In the afternoon we went to the Mission Home for the MLS Senior Missionaries (Member & Leadership Support) training and dinner. Mark attended with us. We had some great training and were told by President Christianson about the great value of the senior couples in the Wards and Branches here. We then enjoyed a delicious meal and then had time to visit and share stories. It was a great week. We are so blessed to be here.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Kent's Eye Miracle
Pictures above are us with Elder Gudgell, us at the office, and us at Lake Ontario.
In January of this year, I was noticing a change in my vision. I could not see very well out of my right eye. I put off going to the optometrist for a few weeks. When I finally went to see him and had an exam I was surprised to find out that I had three burst blood vessels in my retina. He told me that I needed to see a retina specialist. Three days later I was being examined and was told that I had a major problem and could have lost my eye had I not come to get help. My vision was 20/50, he recommended a treatment. I asked our son Trent to give me a priesthood blessing. Our prayers concerning my eye increased over the next few months. The doctor told us that we would need to serve in North America, so that I would be near the proper caregivers. Over the next few months I had two shots of Evaston in my eye. It seemed to help, and my vision improved to 20/30. The doctor recommended that I have a special laser treatment, which I then had done. He burned 240 tiny holes into my retina to allow oxygen to get into the affected area and help heal the eye. A few weeks later I had a vision exam that showed that I could now see 20/20. I was so amazed and so was the doctor. A month later I took my divers license eye exam and passed without corrective lenses for the first time ever. Since arriving in the mission I have had two follow-up exams and during the last one my vision was again verified as being 20/20. The nurse said that she had been working with retina doctors for 19 years and had never seen anyone recover from that condition like I had. She and the doctor agreed that my recovery was a miracle. We were so pleased and also felt that I had been very blessed. The Lord has been so good to me. A miracle has taken place and I am so glad to have great vision once again.
In January of this year, I was noticing a change in my vision. I could not see very well out of my right eye. I put off going to the optometrist for a few weeks. When I finally went to see him and had an exam I was surprised to find out that I had three burst blood vessels in my retina. He told me that I needed to see a retina specialist. Three days later I was being examined and was told that I had a major problem and could have lost my eye had I not come to get help. My vision was 20/50, he recommended a treatment. I asked our son Trent to give me a priesthood blessing. Our prayers concerning my eye increased over the next few months. The doctor told us that we would need to serve in North America, so that I would be near the proper caregivers. Over the next few months I had two shots of Evaston in my eye. It seemed to help, and my vision improved to 20/30. The doctor recommended that I have a special laser treatment, which I then had done. He burned 240 tiny holes into my retina to allow oxygen to get into the affected area and help heal the eye. A few weeks later I had a vision exam that showed that I could now see 20/20. I was so amazed and so was the doctor. A month later I took my divers license eye exam and passed without corrective lenses for the first time ever. Since arriving in the mission I have had two follow-up exams and during the last one my vision was again verified as being 20/20. The nurse said that she had been working with retina doctors for 19 years and had never seen anyone recover from that condition like I had. She and the doctor agreed that my recovery was a miracle. We were so pleased and also felt that I had been very blessed. The Lord has been so good to me. A miracle has taken place and I am so glad to have great vision once again.
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