We have been so blessed. 

We have our ups and downs, 
but keep learning wonderful life lessons.
  
I keep having to remember the talk by Pres. Uchtdorf

STOP IT

On a mission it is easy to have all sorts of concerns.  I need to stop it and rely on the Lord. 

I then see my blessings and see how I am helped.  
I don't need to worry.

Temple Trip with Kim and Carl Lewis

We went to the temple with a wonderful couple who were recently baptized.  They were baptized for our family names.  We all so enjoyed it.  Wonderful Trip!!!

On the Friday after Halloween, to celebrate Ron's birthday, we went to the Nauvoo Temple.  Friday night we did initiatories and Saturday we did an endowment and 3 hours of sealings.  We were very tired, but I felt such joy in my heart.  Many of the names gave me a special feeling. 

 It was a glorious day.

We are now filming in the courthouse of Muscatine.  

We arrive on Monday - work, check into the Fairfield Inn, and work and stay until Friday, then drive back to Oskaloosa where our apartment is. 

  

Friday I do laundry, Saturday, we pack and prepare meals for the next week, and Sunday we do missionary work - visiting people and going with the missionaries. 

It doesn't always work that way. Today, a Saturday, we went to a missionary discussion and had a family and the elders to supper.  Going with the flow works well too.

In the Muscatine Courthouse

We started filming in this room, but too may people needed go into it to file etc.  So we moved the camera into a very, very small room - more like a closet where they kept a computer.

The lights to the room are up those stairs, so when filming there we would need to turn the light on for people who needed to use the area - which was a lot.  So up and down and up and down we would go, turning it on for people.
I am glad we moved! 

Stairs to the attic where over a hundred very large books are that we have to film.

We are Blessed

We have had a lot of very spiritual experiences.  

We have been able to visit people and be guided in what we should say and do. 

We have been directed to go places and see people.  

What a blessing to be able to experience such wonderful promptings by the Holy Ghost.   

Nelson Farm and Museum

After the Oskaloosa, Courthouse we got to film at the Nelson Farm and Museum just outside of Oskaloosa.   What fun!  Hard work of course and hot at times, but what a setting.  We could wander and look at the museum when we weren't filming.  Amy the person in charge of the Museum was great.  She had us help out with activities for their big celebration, and we got to give tours of the 1940's store to the home school children.  The missionaries helped out also. They helped us with games, and the people and children loved them.  We did egg toss, three legged race, etc.  I have great memories of filming there.  It took us about 7 weeks. 

Amy (the person in charge of the museum) In Her Office

She knows everything about museums and how to take care of things.  She hums everywhere she goes.  She says it warns people she is coming.  Fun!

Ron looking cool in museum

Ron putting on a hair cutting apron we bought.  Works great to keep us cleaner.

We filmed on the second floor and the bathrooms were in the basement.  Good exercise.

Centerville Branch - Will miss them

A lot has happened.  We are now in Oskaloosa and already done with the courthouse. In the courthouse we filmed from 3 different offices and the attic.  We were set up in a mediation room that had no windows - so it was great for us.  The only problem was that when it was very hot outside 90's to 105 (which has been most of the time), it was very hot in there.  The people were nice though and it went ok.  Our camera equipment had some malfunctions so they sent us new parts.  We hope that eliminates the problems we have been having. 

 The attic was unique.  It had a dirt floor from years of dust and bats etc.  The books have gotten very dirty on the outside, but on the inside the pages are still pretty nice. 

Attic of Courthouse

 We are moving to a living history farm museum to film tomorrow.  That should be fun also.  We will be in a storage area - very close quarters.  The lady in charge is nice and was going to work in Great Falls, but changed her mind.  We will work Tuesday - Saturday.  Fun change.


We went to the corn festival on the square.  The only problem is that the corn harvest is terrible because of lack of rain.  It has been the worst drought in 50 years.  The corn instead of being green and tall is all yellow and brown like it would be in the late fall. 

One of the few that tried to fill with hot air

We went to a balloon festival in Indianola.  Winds made it so they couldn't fly.  We also went to the state fair with the other senior missionaries and had a barbecue and testimony meeting.  It was very spiritual.  It really makes it nice to be able to talk to people who understand what we are going through and to just have fun. 

Famous butter cow

Biggest pig

Famous Chocolate moose

We Love our new apartment. 

We have our own laundry plus two bedrooms.  

We have a king size bed and nice living room furniture. 

 It is a joy to come home and relax. 




We have been having a great opportunity going out with the missionaries.  We are their ride to visit investigators out of town which has allow us some great spiritual experiences.  We get to listen to the spirit and bare our testimonies.  The couple we are visiting are so wonderful and sincere.  We are in a branch with a new church building.  What a blessing.  We got to talk in sacrament meeting which made it my 4th talk since I have been on our mission.  I taught RS Sunday and Ron taught Sunday School a couple of weeks ago.  We have gotten to help with a wedding, a baptism, moving people, and cleaning the church.  There are a lot of people investigating the church which makes the gospel essentials class great.  We have many teachers from the local college here - William Penn, and now the students are arriving.    The people are so varied.  It is a great branch.  The people are nice and loving.

Here are the school kids from Pella Iowa parading in Dutch costumes during the celebration of Tulip Days in this very Dutch city.  Listen to the words of "We are from Pella Iowa".  A heartwarming tribute to midwestern pride here in Iowa.

Can you believe these skies over Corydon, IA before a front moved in.  When I was in the barbers chair he went out to roll his windows up, and then started taking pictures of the sky.  I went and joined him and am glad I did.  This are common in Iowa but not in Montana, to my knowledge.

This is an acrylic I did from our home in Humeston, IA looking at the pond.  I've never painted a scene that took longer, going from snow and bare leaves to grass and leaves on the hickories and oaks.  Sis. Frank from 1st Ward suggested to me that I should post my artwork as I do it.  She has a degree in art from BYU-Idaho and gave me some pointers before our mission.

After watching Dutch descendents wash the streets and then have Dutch dancing and crowning of the Tulip Days Queen at Pella IA we were treated to what seemed like all the school kids from Pella dressed in native Dutch garb.  Listen to their words showing their midwestern spirit.

We're nearly finished at the Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon, IA, having photographed about 10,000 images of probate records weekly(actually weakly initially) since February.  We will move to the local Wayne County courthouse for 3 weeks photographing divorce records and court minutes.  Then off to Oskaloosa.  We will miss our many friends we've made at the museum and at our Centerville Branch.  Finally making some good contacts with less active members.  Will try to put on this blog some video we took at the Pella IA Tulip Festival of school kids singing they were from Pella Iowa all dressed in Dutch costumes.  Place was founded in the 1840's by Dutch immigrants, and they've had a tulip festival for the last 70 plus years.

We are just leaving for work. We will be living in the cottage in June (building see first)

Springtime at the Bed and Breakfast.

Ron eating frogs legs and kimchi. Yuck!

We went to the Nauvoo Temple yesterday. We got to climb to the bell tower. (around 75 spiral steps up.) We were right below the statue of Moroni. The view was beautiful. We went on the spiral staircase 5th floor to the basement floor where the baptismal font is. When at top floor (5th) you can look down all the way to the basement. I climbed a lot of steps that day. I am amazed I could do it

Being pulled by tractor. You can see Mormon Trail

At Mount Pisgah you can see the Mormon Trail, dugouts, a replica of a cabin, ride behind a tractor to see how big an area it was.  See the spring.  He uses wires to find out where graves and cabins are.  It is like water witching and really works.  We tried it, and you can see where small graves were compared to big graves.  It is very interesting.