September mission update

We went to the Kentucky State Fair after work on August 19th.  That night was senior night.  After walking around the exhibits and eating we attended  a free Kenny Rogers concert in the old Cardinal Stadium.  It was fun to be there and he sounded  great.  Most of the audience was our age.

 On Friday the Hiatt's came back to attend Christine's baptism.   We enjoyed spending time with them, going out to dinner and  visiting branch members.  The Baptism was Saturday at 2 PM.   Christine is a branch members sister. Christine has been waiting to be baptized for some time but has had many health problems.  The week of her baptism she had another finger amputated.   The missionaries put a waterproof bag over her arm to keep it from getting wet.  She is an amazing person who has a lot of faith.  

 Many of her family members attended.  

After the baptism we went with Hiatt's to Historic Locust Grove.  This home was built in the 1790 and was a large plantation. The first picture is the kitchen and out buildings and the second is the home.  The grounds were lovely and many Louisville events are held here.  

 Sunday following church we had all the Missonaries and the Hiatt's in our apartment for dinner.  

 That evening we attended the New Member Fireside where we had a young couple who are in the Louisville Ballet speak.  Elder Cardon from the First Quorum of the Seventy also spoke.  He is Amy Dean's Father-in- law.  We got to meet him and Sister Cardon.  On Monday we drove to Lexington, Ky to attend an all day Mission Conference with Elder Cardon.  We enjoyed getting out of the office and being inspired by all the speakers.   After the conference a big group of Missionaries wanted to go to Panda Express for dinner.  They pretty much took over the restaurant.  Because we were driving some of them we got to go to the party. Here is a picture of some of our amazing missionaries. We enjoy working with them. 

 When the Lemmons were closing an apartment in Indiana they heard about an Amish Quilt Auction in Cannelburg, Indiana and invited us to go there with them.   it is held every year the Saturday before Labor Day.  We got up early and took  HWY US 150 through the country and mountains to Cannelburg.   They host this event each year in their large community center.  We parked in the parking lot with buggies tied up around the perimeter.  

This picture was taken during the auction.   We enjoyed a plate lunch with traditional Amish food.   We visited some booths and bought some of their bakery items. 

 After the auction,  we drove to Washington, Indiana where we got to tour the Daviess County Museum.   The museum is housed in the old Mason's hall.  This picture was taken in a quilt store on the main street in Washington, Indiana where this John Deer Sewing machine was on display.  

 As we were heading home,  we stopped to take pictures of these John Deer Tractors on the side of the road.   The owner had restored 5 of them.  

Enroute home,  we stopped at the West Baden Springs Hotel in French Lick, Indiana.  This hotel was built in 1902 and was dubbed the eighth wonder of the world.  

We are pictured eating in the atrium under the six story dome.  It was a fun Preparation day and was fun to get out into the country.  

 

August Mission Update

Sorry we haven't written for a long time.  It has been a busy month working at the mission office and helping with our church branch.  It has finally slowed down so we took some time to visit some historical locations.  On Saturday August 9th we went to the Farnsley-Moremen  house. This is a plantation with 1800 acres located a few miles from our apartment on the Ohio River.  The home has been preserved from the 1800's.   The picture above is taken from the garden on the side of the home. The picture below is from the front of the house.

 This is a barge going down river as observed from the front of the home. 

This is us sitting at the visitors center enjoying a view of the river.  It was a lovely setting, we could live here. 

On Friday the 16th we left after work with the Lemmons and drove to Bardstown to go to the Steven Foster Musical.

It was very well done and featured songs written by Steven Foster.  Beautiful costumes and scenery.  This is a must see if you visit Kentucky.  Luckily we made it on the second to last night for the season.  Come and visit us next summer and we will take you to it. 

This is us at the Kurtz Restaurant where  we ate dinner.  This is located directly across the street from the Steven Foster  "Old Kentucky Home" and amphitheater. 

This picture was taken at Lariya's baptism on July 26.  She is a member of our branch.

The second picture is her with her grandmother and the missionary who baptized her grandmother. We drive this family to church each week.

This picture was taken on August 5th when we went to the temple with the departing missionaries.  We had 33 missionaries depart on this transfer.  Because of the numbers, we took pictures rather than being in the picture.

I did get this one picture of Sister Moulton with the Sisters who we drove in our car.  We took 6 vehicles to get this group to the temple.    Most of these sisters were Spanish Speaking.  It was a wonderful experience.

A visit from family

Barrett, Beckie and family arrived shortly after Midnight, July 18th and spent a few days with us in Louisville.  After a late  breakfast on Saturday we went across the street to the vegetable farm and bought some produce for our dinner. 

 Later that day we went to the Slugger Museum in downtown Louisville.  We took a tour of the museum and got to see how the Louisville Slugger Bats are made. Each of us got a miniature bat to keep.

 Sunday we went to church in the Shawnee Branch.  Barrett and family followed us and went on a tour of the branch picking up those who needed rides. 

Mom had a nice meal prepared after church.  We had all the missionaries join us for dessert. (They ate at the Lemmon's house).  In the afternoon we rode over to the Locks with our family and Elder and Sister Lemmons.  They took this picture of us.

Monday, Mom and I worked at the office in the morning and were joined by Barrett and Beckie at noon.  We went to the new KFC store, bought lunch and took it to Tyler Park.

After lunch we went to the river and walked across the big four bridge to Indiana.  It was one of the hottest days we had this summer with high humidity!  We came- home had  supper and took the kids swimming at the pool.  Tuesday Mom and I went to work.  Barrett and Beckie came by and brought Amelia to stay with us.  She worked with us on Tuesday while they went to tour the Toyota car factory in Georgetown.  They make a car there every 43 seconds.  We had a lot of fun with Amelia at the office.  She was definitely a hit.  Wednesday morning they left for Nauvoo, Illinois.

They were able to take in pageants on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings and then drive to St. Louis on Friday to catch a plane back to Seattle early Saturday Morning.  


On Friday, the 25th we decided to have a pioneer day celebration for the missionaries who came into the office. We barbecued some chicken, had corn, beans, watermelon, brownies, etc after their District Meeting. They are Spanish-speaking missionaries. 

The last picture is us hanging out in Louisville on Saturday prior to going to the Slugger museum. We really enjoyed Barrett, Beckie and family visiting.  Their family has really grown up while we have been gone. Love to all!

Fourth of July in Kentucky

 We had a great 4th of July and weekend.  We worked in the office on the 4th.  It was fun to put up the American flag in front of the office. 

 We were visited by a group of Elders and Sisters who are all Spanish speaking and work with the Louisville 5th Branch.  They were at the nearby chapel to have a district meeting.  

After taking their picture they wanted to spell out AMERICA using body signs.  The Sister on the end was the exclamation point.  

We left work a bit early and went home to enjoy a few minutes of the holiday.  We had a lot of fireworks in the neighborhood.  We watched a new BYU movie on the internet entitled "We the People" about the creation of the Constitution of the United States. 

Saturday we were out shopping and ran into a caterer who was selling barbecue pork with all the trimmings.  We bought some and then brought it home and ate it on our patio.  

The Last picture is a map I had made of our mission showing the branches and wards.  It goes from Olney, Illinois, to Beattyville, Kentucky.  The drive time from one end to the other is roughly 8 hours. 

Sunday Mom and I taught Gospel Principles and had a investigator in our class who had been talking with the Elders in our branch months ago and then stopped.  He said that on the Saturday he was walking down Bardstown Road praying to know what God wanted him to do.  Two of our Sister Missionaries came up behind him on their bikes and started to talk with him.  He took this as a sign that God was trying to tell him something.  He called the Elders to get the address and came to church.  We hope he will continue to be taught.  

We had a small group at church but still had  a wonderful testimony meeting.  It was the Lemmons' turn to host lunch for all of the Missionaries.  It was a real treat  to have someone else do lunch and have it at their home.  In the evening we visited a Sister in the Branch who is having some health problems.  She just got home from the hospital and needed help changing the bandages on her arm.  I was glad I've had some first aid training. 

Today we took our next door neighbor who is 80 + years to visit his wife who is in a rest home nearby. He has a friend who is able to take him a few days a week. We had offered to drop him off any time on our way to work so he took us up on it in order to go with his wife to some Dr. Appointments. So we are able to spend some time talking to him about we do.

We loved seeing all of your Fourth of July pictures and hearing about your Holiday. We miss you all but are grateful for our opportunity to serve here. We are also grateful for the wonderful country that we live in and  the sacrifices of all who have come before us.

Mom's birthday and saying goodbye to the Woodbury's

I had a wonderful birthday last Friday. Thanks for your love and support. Here is a picture at the office with some of the missionaries who came in on my Birthday. Dad brought me roses that you can see behind my head and he had the missionaries sing to me. 

That night, we went out to eat with two missionaries. One is in our branch and his birthday was last week also. 

I got lots of calls and texts with singing and birthday wishes from the family and the missionaries.    

Saturday, the 21st, we took a ride to Brandenburg and then down to Madisonville to deliver mattresses to missionaries. We are getting a lot of new elders this transfer and so they are forming a few threesomes.  It was a long day. We took the van and drove 400 miles but we got to see a lot of the mission country. Both towns we went to were pretty small but they both had a chapel, which we went to see. It was very hot that day and were glad to have the missionaries help to unload.

One day Dad and Bro Lemmon went to set up a new apartment and left Sister Lemmon with me in the office. She was trying to catch everything up before they left for a week for a medical apt in California.  We had six phones to answer and it became pretty comical which one to answer, because they all look alike. 

Tuesday was transfers.  I put in a picture of the parking lot with dad putting a bike rack on the back of a senior couple's car. It was a crazy day- but we did it!  We had a car transport come right after the parking lot cleared from transfers to pickup two cars sold by the church.  We just barely got them loaded when it was time to drive the departing missionaries to the temple for a session.

We have a picture of the Woodburys - their last time to be at the temple. This is a bitter sweet time for them. They will leave on Friday. They have been great and we wish them the best!  

The Woodbury's and Assistants went to pick them up the new mission president the next day. President Brough (the new mission president)came into the office on Friday afternoon, so we got to meet him for a few minutes. Saturday morning, Jason went over to the mission home and set up the computers for the new President. He dropped me off at the office to pull Media (sister Lemmon's job) because we were getting so behind. I also had lots of baptismal forms still to be processed. It was our best month in the number of baptisms .  When he was done setting up the computers we went out to lunch and then we went grocery shopping and did laundry and cleaning in the afternoon.  

June update

Earlier this month the Halvorsen's ended their mission and headed home.  They have been working with us in the office since we started our mission and will be missed.  This is a picture from when we went out to dinner with the Halvorsen's at O'Charley's.

  On another day we took 2 of the Elder's from our branch out to dinner because one of them had a birthday. We took them to Franco's.   We do a lot of eating out, but I'm sure you've noticed. 

One fun thing we got to attend recently was the high school graduation for a boy in our branch. We took his younger sister with us and then brought them both home.  We enjoyed it and there were excellent speeches given. This picture shows a cross section of who was there. We felt bad that the boy's mother wasn't feeling well and decided not to go.

On Friday June 13th we celebrated our Wedding Anniversary. 

After work we drove southeast and spent a few minutes at the Abraham Lincoln Birth place.  They have a memorial building that covers the spot where he was born. They have an old cabin inside that is representative of the cabin he would have lived in.  

Years ago, the Nancy Lincoln Inn was built near the site with several small cabins for guests.   

This is a cabin built about 9 miles away where Lincoln was raised as a boy.  

We ate dinner at Colton's Steak House and Grill in Campbellsville on Friday Evening.  

Here is Barbara with some cowboy friends.  Can you see the guy checking her out through the window?

Saturday morning we met the Lemmon's at Russell Springs. The picture shows the mission van at the apartment we were closing.  The Senior couple who lived here went home at the end of their mission and we had no one to replace them so we had to close this apartment.  We were able to get all the furniture in the truck and trailer.

Here we are at Betty's OK Café in Columbia.   We ate here after we got the van and trailer loaded and were headed back home.  

This is a picture of the smokestacks for the electric generating plant a couple of miles from our apartment.  We went on a walk by the river where they are located and the sunset made a beautiful picture with the steam coming from the plant. 

Finally we had a nice Father's day.  We served dinner at our apartment with the six other missionaries assigned to the Shawnee Branch.  Barbara fixed a great meal with ham, potatoes and all the fixings. Notice the cute Father's Day Cake, and one of the Elder's making music with our glasses.