Hill Cumorah Pageant -- 2013

Lots of people came to town during the two weeks of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, in Palmyra, New York (part of our mission).

Vernon Law, 1960 World Series Champion and baseball Hall of Famer, was in town during Pageant and was the guest speaker at a fireside in Rochester on Sunday night. He spoke of "how living the Gospel of Jesus Christ has helped me realize my dreams".

 

Vernon Law being presented an original 1960 baseball program
by Elder Snarr, the senior missionary who made this event happen.

 

 The next day, we picked son Philip up from the airport, and attended the first annual "Mormon Night", baseball game in Batavia, home of the "Muckdogs", where Vernon Law threw out the first pitch.  Philip rooted for the "Tri-City Valley Cats", a farm team for the Houston Astros, who won the game. The only other people rooting for the opposing team, was a family from Buffalo, who -- oddly enough-- were Astro fans. We had a fun visit with them and invited them to Pageant.

The next night we took Philip to the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  He was a toddler the last time he saw it.

Carl and I attended Pageant almost every night and were amazed to run into so many people we hadn't seen for a while.

One of our first surprises was in literally running into our daughter-in-law Nicole's parents, Michael and Rochelle. Last time we saw them was at Jeremy and Nicole's wedding.

 

 

 

We ran into some folks from our home ward in Friendswood, Texas.  These two couples were in the cast.

Lydia and Dick Rowan

David and Ingrid Frey

Another surprise was running good friends we haven't seen for a few years, Marta Bourgeois (Rudy there also, but not pictured), and Eileen Peterson, a member of our Texas ward.

Marta, Eileen, Carl and I (Rudy B. was there too, but not in photo)

We were also delighted to see Shelli Horman, from our home ward, who flew in from Texas with her husband and children.

 
One of the biggest surprises was running into Steve Robinson (whom we have known since he was a boy) and his wife Sara and their young children. Steve had just gotten a job with Corning, which is in our mission. They didn't expect to see anyone they knew at the Pageant in Palmyra, and were totally shocked to see us.

It was so much fun to see some of our former missionaries, who came back for Pageant with their families. They were surprised that we were still here (a 23 month mission is a long time!)

"Elder" Caldwell

"Elder" Hoffman

"Elder" Anderson, who was one week shy of getting married.

Sadly, one of the Pageant performances got cancelled, due to lightning storms which were a threat the entire evening. It was very disappointing for many people, who had come from great distances. We worked at one of the information booths that night, and got to visit with a few of the cast members while waiting for final word on the cancellation of the show.

Jordan Davis, a member of our Brockport ward, Carl, and another cast member

"Nephi", who is portrayed by a recently returned missionary.

It's been such a treat for Carl and I to have attended the Hill Cumorah Pageant for two years in a row. This amazing production portrays scenes from the Book of Mormon -- from Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem, arriving in a promised land, and showing Christ's visit to these people, his "other sheep", following his resurrection.
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Changes in our mission

On July 1, we said our final farewell to President and Sister Christianson. It was very sad. I am forcing a smile for this picture.  Carl and I have worked with the Christiansons for 18 months, most of our mission.

From left to right:  Elder and Sister Willyerd, Pres. and Sister Christianson, Carl and I,
Sister Allred, and Sister Harris (who is Sister Christianson's sister).
One of the blessings of serving a  mission has been working with such
great senior missionaries. We sure do love them.

It was a privilege to greet the new mission president, Arthur Francis, and his family, who had just flown in from the airport, and were picked up by the Christiansons. On the way to the mission home, they dropped by the office to meet us.

 

Here they are with their boys (the 4th one is out of the picture). What a change for these boys, who have left all their friends and familiar surroundings to come out for 3 years to the New York Rochester Mission.  These boys, who are part of a family of 7 boys and 1 girl, range in age from 9 to 16 yrs. old. In case you are wondering, President Francis is 6' 7" and his wife is 6'.  We look like a bunch of pygmies next to them.

This is the office where we meet every Monday morning for staff meeting.

so sad to say good-bye to our mission president

Tomorrow is the last day of a 3 year mission for President and Sister Christianson. Tomorrow afternoon, they will be picking up the new president and his wife (President and Sister Francis) at the airport. After spending a few hours with them, the Christianson's will head off to a hotel and then fly home to Utah early Tuesday morning.

 All of us in the New York Rochester Mission love them so much and will miss this dynamic duo!

 

On June 18, the entire mission gathered at the Hill Cumorah study shelter for President Christianson's last transfer day.  Emotions were very tender. Testimonies were shared by departing missionaries and President and Sister Christianson.  The Spirit was strong.

 

 

We also assembled for a huge group picture at the Hill Cumorah.

It was quite a task.

Check out "face book" for the finished product. Copyright laws prohibit me from posting it on my blog.  Carl and I are on the front row, to the far right, standing up (on the face book photo).

 

This Monday we had our last staff meeting with President and Sister Christianson. Carl and I  have been so blessed to have had 18 months of inspirational weekly staff meetings with the Christianson's (along with two other office couples, who are also senior missionaries). We dressed very casually since we headed to the mission home after the meeting to help deep clean the home.

Sister Christianson removing photos, from the office bulletin board, of her and her husband
with groups of new missionaries

President Christianson gathering the last of his personal desk items 

 

 

It seems strange to think that tomorrow afternoon, we will be greeting President and Sister Francis,  and saying "good-bye" to Jack and Melanie Christianson. They have given it their all these past three years and have been valiant in their testimony of the Savior and have had a huge positive impact on the young missionaries who are their main responsibility. We all desire to be better people for having known them.

Good times with old folks and young folks

A few weeks ago, a group of us senior missionaries took a day trip.

Here we are on the banks of the Susquehanna River, in Harmony, Pennsylvania.

This is a very important Church historic site and where the Aaronic Priesthood was restored.

Before taking off to see other historic church sites in this area, we enjoyed sitting on the banks of the river, where several knowledgeable men spoke to us.  

 

The couple on the very far left (standing up) are Elder and Sister Searle,
 the awesome Site Directors for all the historic places in Palmyra.
 They formerly served  as mission president of the New York City Mission.
 How we admire them and all these other wonderful senior couples
 that we had so much fun spending the day with.

On this trip, it was great to meet up with Elaine Sherman, an extended family member whom we spent Christmas with. Elaine and her husband are the volunteer caretakers/tour guides of the  historic sites in Colesville (near Harmony), the site of one of the earliest branches of the church in New York in the 1800's.

 

 

It's nice to get together with other senior couples, but we seem to spend most of our time with the junior missionaries.  We recently went to the Palmyra Temple with our Brockport District, an awesome group of young missionaries, whom we call our "Brockport sons and daughters".



Our "sons", Elders Hill,,Gurr, Wilcox, and Kelly (who is one of our first 18 yr. olds
 to enter the mission field).

Our lovely "daughters"--Sisters Gillespie, Johnson & Johnson



Every time Elder Wilcox is with Elder Ellis,
 he gives him the biggest bear hug, lifting him
 off the ground. Sadly, (but luckily for Elder Ellis' back) he just got
 transferred to the small town of Bath.

 

Since January, we have been spending so much time obtaining and setting up so many new apartments for the large influx of new missionaries. It's been a lot of work, but the reward is seeing the smiling faces of these sweet sister missionaries, who are so appreciative of the comfy new beds in their new apartment in the small country town of  Dansville. The third sister (in green shirt) is a "visa waiter", who will be heading off to Brazil. She has to sleep on an air mattress, since she is here only temporarily, and the bedroom is too small for a third regular sized bed.

Recently, we have spent 6 awesome days in zone meetings with all of our missionaries, young and old.  Sadly, it was President Christianson's last zone meeting.  The Christiansons will complete their 3 years of service on July 1. They are very dear to us and everyone in this mission.  How we cherish our close association with them. In the mornings, we all met in the Sacred Grove, followed by tours of the Grandin Building, where the Book of Mormon was first printed in 1830.  How fortunate Carl and I are to be serving our mission  here in the " Cradle of the Restoration". It has been an amazing experience.


We ended the early morning portion of zone conference in the Sacred Grove, with our mission president pointing out some of the centuries old trees, that were standing at the time of the First Vision, when Joseph Smith entered these woods to pray.

President is telling us about his favorite tree,
 which recently had to be cut down for safety reasons.
 When President Christianson's father died, he couldn't leave the mission,
 and while his wife went back home to attend the funeral, he took solace in the Grove.
 While there, he noticed this ancient, decaying tree, which had a new tree growing up from the
roots of the parent tree.
 He calls these two trees, one of which is dead and the other alive, the "Jack trees" -- Little Jack (Pres. Christianson's first name) and Big Jack (his deceased father's first name.)

 

Here President is telling us about the "Apostle" tree, a 400 year old ironwood tree,
 which at one time had a total of 12 branches.
 This tree is badly decayed inside, and probably won't be standing for too much longer.

We are amazed at how quickly these 23 months are flying by. We are entering the home stretch now, with barely 6 months left til we go home.  Now that things may be slowing down a bit for us, I plan on posting more than just once a month. Stay tuned.

enchanting forests

Two weeks ago, while checking out a lead on a missionary apartment in the town of  Nunda, we took our lunch break in nearby Letchworth State Park, known as the "Grand Canyon of the East". (There is a huge waterfall in back of Carl.)

 We are continually amazed at the beauty within our mission here in upper state New York.

 When we returned this week to move all the stuff into this missionary apartment, we visited Letchworth Park again, and finished the day with a picnic supper.  This time, things had begun to green up a bit, and we witnessed a hot air balloon launch right across from our picnic table.

                                                                          UP

                                                                        UP

                                                                       UP

                                                                 
                                                                  AND AWAY!

 Equally as breathtaking, was the sight of a very long train slowly going across the spindly bridge spanning the width of the canyon.

 Meanwhile, back in Palmyra, Spring is starting to bloom in one of our favorite places, the Sacred Grove, where on a beautiful Spring morning in 1820, the prayers of a young boy were dramatically answered.

Do you see the spider?

Another enchanting forest is this "fairy garden", created by sweet Ali, her mom and her sisters, who are in our Brockport Ward.
 We had a Relief Society Enrichment night on gardening and this delightful creation was on display. Cute little Ali is even more delightful.  She loved posing for these pictures, and is hamming it up for the camera (which is so funny because she is very quiet and shy).

I love Spring in New York!

Spring celebrations

 For the past 16 weeks, Carl and I have been  super busy -- finding, furnishing, and moving stuff into 16 new missionary apartments. Call it "pre" and "post" March madness.  This is all part of a huge wave (or Tsunami) of missionaries flooding the earth due to the recent change in ages that they can serve. As a result, all missions have enlarged their missionary forces, and 58 new missions have been created throughout the world. We've been riding the wave, paddling furiously, and are just now approaching some calmer waters. Thankfully, we've had a few occasions, to kick back, and catch our breath a little.

Such as, taking the time to celebrate Elder Gurr's  20th birthday. He came out not too long ago, and is part of our Brockport "family" (the elders and sisters who live close-by us)

left to right: Elder Wilcox (Idaho), Elder Gurr (Arizona), Sister Hawkes (Utah), Sister Johnson (Colorado), Elder Robertson (Utah), Elder Hill (California)

Easter weekend came at the chilly end of winter. We had a nice ham dinner with our little missionary "family". We are all "homeless", in a far-away part of the country, but felt a lot of joy in celebrating this special time of year together.  We are out here because of our love for the Savior. We celebrate His triumph over death and the grave.

The food and plates have been cleared away for the encore--our traditional Easter  bunny cake, which Sister Hawkes and Johnson decorated.



Next came General Conference -- a whole weekend to recharge our spiritual batteries! Also, another occasion to enjoy a meal together. We enjoyed our traditional "potato bar" dinner, following the Sunday afternoon session of conference.

from Left to Right: Elder Gurr, Elder Wilcox, Elder Robertson, Sister Johnson, Sister Hawkes, Elder Hill, and Casey R., a  fairly recent convert in our Brockport Ward, who will be attending BYU in the Fall (her last conference with us!)

Everyone ate up all the food, and are waiting for the traditional Conference dessert to be served.


On April 9, we celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary by going to the Palmyra Temple.  After that, we spent some time in the Sacred Grove, where the trees are still bare, but the first flowers are beginning to bloom. 

That  evening, we  were going to celebrate at a great Italian restaurant in Rochester, but instead headed out to Buffalo to pick up Philip, who flew in for free at the spur of the moment (the perks of working for an airline).  The next day, Philip joined us for a morning of specialized training with 4 zones of our missionaries and got to hear and meet our awesome mission president, Jack Christianson. Then, we had lunch in Niagara Falls at Buzzy's (New York style pizza and real Buffalo chicken wings). Before taking Philip back to the airport, we took in the sights at Niagara Falls. It was freezing cold and rainy, but Philip wanted to take his jacket off for the photo.

That was the icing on the cake, to have a visit from a bona fide, real flesh and blood family member!  Hope some more are able to make it out for Hill Cumorah Pageant this year.