Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Many Visitors & Activities
Since our last post we have had many visitors. The latest visits began with the arrival of Herman and Anna Van Beek from Rotterdam. He was in DC for a conference and made a two day trip to see us and the sites. We enjoyed going to the local Mendon sites with them. They had dinner with us and spent the night. They are some of the members of the Rotterdam South Ward that we were part of two years ago. Anna is Spanish, and lived in the northern part of Spain. She met her husband after they had both served missions. Herman is a new Doctor of Radiology.
Thursday night we went to dinner with some Utah friends, Bill & Cathy Lamb, their daughter Necia, her husband Scott Kagie, Scotts daughter Elie, and Steve Kagie. It was great to see them again. Scott just finished medical school in Wisconsin. He is here in Rochester to do his residency in anesthesiology. On Friday Kent met them at the Hill Cumorah and toured some of the sites with them. They were some of our Centerville, Utah neighbors. Since the rest of the office staff was at zone conference, Kae manned the office.
On Friday night we attended an Area Young Adult fireside. Our mission president spoke on the influence of music. It was a great talk about good music being the language of the Gods, and other music the language of Satan. He had Charleen Campbell, the Pittsford Ward RS Pres. (our Ward here) play a beautiful medley of LDS hymns on the piano. Alex Boye' was also there. He is a great singer, who is a soloist with the Tabernacle Choir and has several of his own albums. He sang one song at he end of the meeting. We got to meet him after the meeting.
On Saturday morning we met with our mission zone in the Sacred Grove ampitheater. It was nice being instructed about the value of the Book of Mormon and the Vision in the Grove that started Joseph Smith, Jr. on the road to being an instrument in restoring the gospel. Alex Boye' bore his testimony also. We then went to the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center basement meeting room. Kae and Sister Jensen provided the lunch for 50 missionaries, and then we finished the rest of the conference. We were all challenged to read the Book of Mormon as companionships between now and the end of August. We were given a reading schedule of 5 pages a day. We invite all who desire to join us in the challenge.
Sunday evening we were blessed with the visit of another cousin, Robin Miller Nielsen and her family. She is my 3rd cousin, and is the daughter of Kent Miller. It was great to see her and Cory and their 5 children. They live in Connecticut. It was fun showing them the Mendon sites. Cory's parents are serving as guides at the historic sites here. It is great having that connection with them.
Monday was another busy day. We went to a Ward picnic at a park on the banks of the Erie Canal. We enjoyed good food and socializing with the members. Then it was off to the Palmyra Temple site. We met the rest of the office staff for a hike around the eastern portion of the former Joseph Smith Sr. farm. We walked on an old Indian trail and saw the rock wall/fence that the Smiths had built in the 1820s to mark the boundaries of their property. Along the trail we found some wild turkey feathers. We also passed some trees that were 150+ years old. Next we drove to the Martin Harris farm for Family Home Evening with the other senior couples. We ate a pot-luck dinner outside and played some games. We got pretty good at throwing the frisbee through the hoops and walking the turtles. It was a long day.
Thursday night we went to dinner with some Utah friends, Bill & Cathy Lamb, their daughter Necia, her husband Scott Kagie, Scotts daughter Elie, and Steve Kagie. It was great to see them again. Scott just finished medical school in Wisconsin. He is here in Rochester to do his residency in anesthesiology. On Friday Kent met them at the Hill Cumorah and toured some of the sites with them. They were some of our Centerville, Utah neighbors. Since the rest of the office staff was at zone conference, Kae manned the office.
On Friday night we attended an Area Young Adult fireside. Our mission president spoke on the influence of music. It was a great talk about good music being the language of the Gods, and other music the language of Satan. He had Charleen Campbell, the Pittsford Ward RS Pres. (our Ward here) play a beautiful medley of LDS hymns on the piano. Alex Boye' was also there. He is a great singer, who is a soloist with the Tabernacle Choir and has several of his own albums. He sang one song at he end of the meeting. We got to meet him after the meeting.
On Saturday morning we met with our mission zone in the Sacred Grove ampitheater. It was nice being instructed about the value of the Book of Mormon and the Vision in the Grove that started Joseph Smith, Jr. on the road to being an instrument in restoring the gospel. Alex Boye' bore his testimony also. We then went to the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center basement meeting room. Kae and Sister Jensen provided the lunch for 50 missionaries, and then we finished the rest of the conference. We were all challenged to read the Book of Mormon as companionships between now and the end of August. We were given a reading schedule of 5 pages a day. We invite all who desire to join us in the challenge.
Sunday evening we were blessed with the visit of another cousin, Robin Miller Nielsen and her family. She is my 3rd cousin, and is the daughter of Kent Miller. It was great to see her and Cory and their 5 children. They live in Connecticut. It was fun showing them the Mendon sites. Cory's parents are serving as guides at the historic sites here. It is great having that connection with them.
Monday was another busy day. We went to a Ward picnic at a park on the banks of the Erie Canal. We enjoyed good food and socializing with the members. Then it was off to the Palmyra Temple site. We met the rest of the office staff for a hike around the eastern portion of the former Joseph Smith Sr. farm. We walked on an old Indian trail and saw the rock wall/fence that the Smiths had built in the 1820s to mark the boundaries of their property. Along the trail we found some wild turkey feathers. We also passed some trees that were 150+ years old. Next we drove to the Martin Harris farm for Family Home Evening with the other senior couples. We ate a pot-luck dinner outside and played some games. We got pretty good at throwing the frisbee through the hoops and walking the turtles. It was a long day.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Brent Hutching's Visit
Our visit with another cousin is coming to a conclusion. Kae's cousin, Brent Hutchings, arrived here last Wednesday night from Utah. He had ridden his motorcycle the entire 2,000 miles + in 3.5 days. He was glad to be with us, but he could probably have ridden further had he wanted to. This was his first visit to the sacred sites of Western New York. He was surprised that there were great historical sites here in Mendon too. We took him to the Tomlinson Inn, and the Tomlinson Corners Cemetery that first evening. The next day we made a 250 mile roundtrip to Wellsville, NY to check out possible apartments for his sister and brother-in-law, Shirlee and Gary Best, who will be serving a mission here starting next month. We think that we found them a place to live. It was very unique that he could be involved in the apartment search. We then drove to Palmyra and the Welcome Center at the Smith farm. We went on a tour of
the cabin and frame home. It was so amazing to be inside those
structures while trying to imagine what life with the Smith's must have
been like. They were such industrious people and endured so much. We
then walked with Brent to the Sacred Grove.
We enjoyed the time in the peaceful Grove. It really is a place where you can feel the Spirit very strongly. Our mission president, Jack R. Christianson, said that the Grove is essentially like an outdoor temple.
Saturday Brent cleaned his cycle and I went for a 2 mile bike ride. Then Brent took me for a fun ride on his big motorcycle. It was quite exhilarating. Kae visited some antique and fabric stores and returned before lunch. We then drove to Waterloo and bought sandwiches at the Amish store, Sauders. Then it was another 5 miles to Fayette. We had a tour of the chapel and the Whitmer home. Brent could still remember that special Sunday, April 6th, 1980, when Pres. Spencer W. Kimball conducted the Sunday session of General Conference via satellite from the Whitmer home. Brent had a great time talking with Elder Jeffs, who lives there at Fayette and serves with his wife as a Site Couple. They had some Utah State government ties.
Today we went to church and then visited with Brent as he packed up his gear in preparation for his return trip tomorrow. This has been a great experience for him and us. He is a really great guy and we loved having the chance to associate with him during this special visit. We will miss him and pray for his safe journey.
We enjoyed the time in the peaceful Grove. It really is a place where you can feel the Spirit very strongly. Our mission president, Jack R. Christianson, said that the Grove is essentially like an outdoor temple.
Saturday Brent cleaned his cycle and I went for a 2 mile bike ride. Then Brent took me for a fun ride on his big motorcycle. It was quite exhilarating. Kae visited some antique and fabric stores and returned before lunch. We then drove to Waterloo and bought sandwiches at the Amish store, Sauders. Then it was another 5 miles to Fayette. We had a tour of the chapel and the Whitmer home. Brent could still remember that special Sunday, April 6th, 1980, when Pres. Spencer W. Kimball conducted the Sunday session of General Conference via satellite from the Whitmer home. Brent had a great time talking with Elder Jeffs, who lives there at Fayette and serves with his wife as a Site Couple. They had some Utah State government ties.
Today we went to church and then visited with Brent as he packed up his gear in preparation for his return trip tomorrow. This has been a great experience for him and us. He is a really great guy and we loved having the chance to associate with him during this special visit. We will miss him and pray for his safe journey.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
An Amazing Amercian - Korean Weekend
We sent this message out to our family and friends via email and decided that we would like to also have it as part of our blog. Our appoligies to those who have already read the email, but we wanted to add some more pictures here.
Now that spring is here we are starting to receive visitors here in the mission. It was our privilege this past weekend to host two Korean couples, the Kims and the Mins. The Kims are the parents of our friend Yeagi, whom we met in 2008 in the Netherlands, who was working on her masters degree in violin there. She finished the degree and moved back to Utah to pursue her doctoral degree in violin and music. She lived with us 2 or 3 nights a week while we were home in Utah. We met her parents at her wedding last July in Provo, Utah. Steve and Abbie Kim picked their friends, the Mins, up at the Chicago airport, upon their arrival from Korea, and headed east.
They had made stops in Nauvoo and Kirtland, then Niagara Falls before coming to Mendon, NY. After their arrival, we had dinner and then took them to see the Mendon LDS historical sites. They really enjoyed seeing the place where Brigham Young and 30 other Saints had been baptized. They also thought it interesting when we visited the Tomlinson Corners Cemetery and saw the headstone for Solomon Kimball, the father of Heber C. and great grandfather of Spencer W. Kimball. Miriam Young, Brigham's first wife, is also buried there. Our next stop was the Tomlinson Inn, where Samuel Smith sold one of the first copies of the Book of Mormon to Phineas Young (introducing the whole Young family to its truths).
They were excited with seeing all of those things and then to be able to sleep in the 185 year old home that we live in and that John and his son Brigham built. We wondered if they would rather see the Palmyra sites on their own, but they soon let us know that "they would be honored" if we would escort them. On Saturday morning we drove to the Welcome Center at the Smith Farm to start our tours of those sites. While waiting to start, a young family walked in to join us. The husband was obviously Asian. When we mentioned that our guests were from Korea, he came right over to Brother Min and said, "Are you President Min?" He said that he had been born in Korea, adopted by an American family, and then went to Korea on a mission. He first learned the Korean language at that time. He had known Pres. Min during his service there. Pres. Min is currently a Stake President, and was recently an Area Seventy. So, that was their first opportunity to speak Korean with others that day. We had a wonderful tour of the Smith cabin and frame home led by Sister Lovell. We then walked through the Sacred Grove on our own. That was such an amazing experience. Sister Min has an excellent voice and began singing, "Oh How Lovely was the Morning" in Korean. Her voice echoed through the Grove and added to the Spirit that was already there. She sang a few other songs, and got our group to join her is singing, "Nearer My God to Thee". It was a great experience. The Grove probably had not heard such good singing in a while.
Next it was on to the Hill Cumorah. We drove to the top of the hill and walked around the Moroni statue. Of course Sister Min had us sing, "An Angel from on Highl", which talks about Cumorah's lonely hill. We then walked to a vacant picnic table and ate our lunch. Sister Servoss drove the car to the Visitors Center at the bottom of the hill, while the rest of us hiked back along a lesser known trail through the forest. We then toured the Center and enjoyed talking with the missionaries there.
We then drove half an hour to Fayette and the Peter Whitmer farm. There is a sister missionary from Korea who lives at the farm and was on duty there that day. We had told her several days before that we would be coming there to see her. She spent extra time studying the tour guide information and translating it into Korean. She was so delighted when we arrived and she was able to greet and hug her fellow countrymen and women. She really lit up and was almost bouncing around with joy. She then proceeded to give her tour in Korean. It was a wonderful time. Before we left her, she was given some Korean food by our guests. They promised to share some kimchee with her later.
In the Fayette church parking lot we met some men from Utah that comprised the singing group, "Octapella". One of them stepped up to our guests and started speaking in Korean. He had also served a mission there.
Our final stop for the day was to drive back to Palmyra and the Grandin Press or Book of Mormon Publication site. We had another great tour by one of the Senior Elders, Elder Nielsen. He had to pause often so that Steve Kim could translate into Korean.
Brother and Sister Kim and Brother and Sister Min were very impressed with all that they learned. At each of the sites they could feel the Spirit. Pres. Min told us later that it had been such a highlight to visit the sites. He has taught about these sites during his time with the Church Educational System (CES). It was so great, he felt, to finally be able to visit those sites. What a day it was!
Sunday morning after breakfast, we had a short discussion about their experiences here, then Pres. Min offered a prayer in Korean (we later were told the interpetation of it). The Korean people are so humble and sesitive to the Spirit. We were soon at church meeting members. After Sacrament Meeting, we were standing in the foyer before their departure. The Elder's Quorum President, Trent Sutton, approached us and started speaking in Korean. We had forgotten that he had served there. So, as our guests left, they left with a new appreciation for the historic sites in this area and a sense of belonging with all of the Korean speakers they had met. We really enjoyed having them visit us and we appreciate even more this area and what it means to all of us. IT IS ALL TRUE!
Now that spring is here we are starting to receive visitors here in the mission. It was our privilege this past weekend to host two Korean couples, the Kims and the Mins. The Kims are the parents of our friend Yeagi, whom we met in 2008 in the Netherlands, who was working on her masters degree in violin there. She finished the degree and moved back to Utah to pursue her doctoral degree in violin and music. She lived with us 2 or 3 nights a week while we were home in Utah. We met her parents at her wedding last July in Provo, Utah. Steve and Abbie Kim picked their friends, the Mins, up at the Chicago airport, upon their arrival from Korea, and headed east.
They had made stops in Nauvoo and Kirtland, then Niagara Falls before coming to Mendon, NY. After their arrival, we had dinner and then took them to see the Mendon LDS historical sites. They really enjoyed seeing the place where Brigham Young and 30 other Saints had been baptized. They also thought it interesting when we visited the Tomlinson Corners Cemetery and saw the headstone for Solomon Kimball, the father of Heber C. and great grandfather of Spencer W. Kimball. Miriam Young, Brigham's first wife, is also buried there. Our next stop was the Tomlinson Inn, where Samuel Smith sold one of the first copies of the Book of Mormon to Phineas Young (introducing the whole Young family to its truths).
They were excited with seeing all of those things and then to be able to sleep in the 185 year old home that we live in and that John and his son Brigham built. We wondered if they would rather see the Palmyra sites on their own, but they soon let us know that "they would be honored" if we would escort them. On Saturday morning we drove to the Welcome Center at the Smith Farm to start our tours of those sites. While waiting to start, a young family walked in to join us. The husband was obviously Asian. When we mentioned that our guests were from Korea, he came right over to Brother Min and said, "Are you President Min?" He said that he had been born in Korea, adopted by an American family, and then went to Korea on a mission. He first learned the Korean language at that time. He had known Pres. Min during his service there. Pres. Min is currently a Stake President, and was recently an Area Seventy. So, that was their first opportunity to speak Korean with others that day. We had a wonderful tour of the Smith cabin and frame home led by Sister Lovell. We then walked through the Sacred Grove on our own. That was such an amazing experience. Sister Min has an excellent voice and began singing, "Oh How Lovely was the Morning" in Korean. Her voice echoed through the Grove and added to the Spirit that was already there. She sang a few other songs, and got our group to join her is singing, "Nearer My God to Thee". It was a great experience. The Grove probably had not heard such good singing in a while.
Next it was on to the Hill Cumorah. We drove to the top of the hill and walked around the Moroni statue. Of course Sister Min had us sing, "An Angel from on Highl", which talks about Cumorah's lonely hill. We then walked to a vacant picnic table and ate our lunch. Sister Servoss drove the car to the Visitors Center at the bottom of the hill, while the rest of us hiked back along a lesser known trail through the forest. We then toured the Center and enjoyed talking with the missionaries there.
We then drove half an hour to Fayette and the Peter Whitmer farm. There is a sister missionary from Korea who lives at the farm and was on duty there that day. We had told her several days before that we would be coming there to see her. She spent extra time studying the tour guide information and translating it into Korean. She was so delighted when we arrived and she was able to greet and hug her fellow countrymen and women. She really lit up and was almost bouncing around with joy. She then proceeded to give her tour in Korean. It was a wonderful time. Before we left her, she was given some Korean food by our guests. They promised to share some kimchee with her later.
In the Fayette church parking lot we met some men from Utah that comprised the singing group, "Octapella". One of them stepped up to our guests and started speaking in Korean. He had also served a mission there.
Our final stop for the day was to drive back to Palmyra and the Grandin Press or Book of Mormon Publication site. We had another great tour by one of the Senior Elders, Elder Nielsen. He had to pause often so that Steve Kim could translate into Korean.
Brother and Sister Kim and Brother and Sister Min were very impressed with all that they learned. At each of the sites they could feel the Spirit. Pres. Min told us later that it had been such a highlight to visit the sites. He has taught about these sites during his time with the Church Educational System (CES). It was so great, he felt, to finally be able to visit those sites. What a day it was!
Sunday morning after breakfast, we had a short discussion about their experiences here, then Pres. Min offered a prayer in Korean (we later were told the interpetation of it). The Korean people are so humble and sesitive to the Spirit. We were soon at church meeting members. After Sacrament Meeting, we were standing in the foyer before their departure. The Elder's Quorum President, Trent Sutton, approached us and started speaking in Korean. We had forgotten that he had served there. So, as our guests left, they left with a new appreciation for the historic sites in this area and a sense of belonging with all of the Korean speakers they had met. We really enjoyed having them visit us and we appreciate even more this area and what it means to all of us. IT IS ALL TRUE!
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