January Update

Sunday January 18th we had dinner at the Roderick's.  This was our last dinner together prior to transfers.  One Elder went to Shelbyville and one was released and went home.  

Tuesday the 20th we went with the Elders and Sisters to the temple prior to their departure on Wednesday.  

Sunday, January 25th, was dinner at our house with our two new Elders.  

Monday, the 26th, we had lunch at the office and celebrated Elder Rasmussen's 21st birthday.  President Brough joined us for lunch.  

Thursday, January 29th, were district meetings near the office.  The Sisters were celebrating two birthdays.

Saturday, January 31st, Dillion and Brianna were baptized at the Shawnee Branch.  

The next picture is Amber, their friend who introduced them to the gospel. 

The Elders at our social after the baptism.  

We continue to keep busy.  The mission has dropped from 250 young missionaries to 226 and will drop further in March.  We are busy closing apartments.  The President decides which ones to close.  Elder Moulton works on getting out of the leases.  The Rodericks clean and bring back the furniture.  We are all working on what to do with the items being returned to the mission.   We are having a mild winter and are seeing some bulbs already popping up through the leaves. We see no promise of getting a new Senior couple when the Rodericks leave in March, so we are getting a little nervous about that! We love you all.   

A Busy December

December started with mission transfers,  Here Sister Moulton is posing with some of the great sister missionaries in our mission.

                                   

We had a very busy preparation day on Saturday, December 20th.  Us and the Rodericks (the other senior couple from our branch) got up at 6:00 am and left at 7:30 to pick young people up to go to Crestwood to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. We were excited to pick up a girl who just turned 12 so she could go to the temple for the first time. When we got to her home, her mom came out and said that she couldn’t go because she couldn’t find her temple recommend. We picked up two more girls and got to the temple about 8:30. One of those girls realized that she had left her recommend home on the table. They called our branch president who was visiting his family in Oregon, so it was 5:30 am for him.  He was happy to verify her recommend. We are always so excited for these young people to go to the temple and set their sights on being married there. Elder Moulton was able to do the baptizing.

We finished up about 11:00 and headed off to Costco in Crestwood. Because the branch President and his wife are out of town, we two couples are in charge of the branch Christmas party tonight. So we bought all the food for it at Costco: Ham, potatoes, beans, salad, rolls and cakes. We dropped the girls off at home and went to our apartments to prepare the food. At 3:00, we gathered everything up and headed to the church. We picked up one mother and her daughter to help us. We warmed all the food there and the men left about 5:00 to go and pick up everyone for the party.  The party started at 6:00. It was in our chapel/cultural hall. It was well attended with some tables even in the hall and YM/YW classroom. We served the food in Relief Society room and ate a bite in there as we served the desserts.   This is a picture of the branch members enjoying the meal in the chapel/cultural hall.

After the dinner Elder Moulton and Elder Roderick took everyone home while Sister Roderick and Sister Moulton cleaned up and did dishes.  Then we went home and fell into bed exhausted! 

On Monday the 22nd we helped with and attended the Mission Christmas party.  This is a picture of the missionaries enjoying their lunch.

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed a fun dinner with the missionaries serving in our branch at the Santos' house.

On Christmas day we flew to Utah to attend the funeral of Elder Moulton's mother. She lived a great life of 94 years and we will miss her.  Her funeral was like a family reunion.  Here we are posing with Elder Moulton's siblings and their spouses. 

It was wonderful to see 6 of our children again and their families.  This picture was taken at the funeral lunch in Heber City, Utah.

A visit from Derek

Our son Derek recently visited us in Louisville.  On Friday he arrived just in time to go to a birthday party for a girl in the branch who was turning 14.  Her mom made us lots of yummy Brazilian food.   

Saturday we took him and went to the Temple with a sister from the Branch who was getting her endowments. 

That evening we took Derek downtown to eat and to see the waterfront. 

Sunday we attended church then we had all the missionaries to dinner. After dinner we went to the new member fireside. 

Monday he spent the day hiking in some parks. We met after work and went to Franco's for supper. 

Tuesday was transfers. Derek came into the office to help with transfers.  It was raining and he had to help in the parking lot parking cars, and running the bike shed.   That afternoon we went with the missionaries to the temple.  Tues evening we went to a Cuban Restaurant in St. Matthews.  

Wednesday we took the afternoon off so we could spend some time with Derek.  We went to the Bernheim Forest.  It doesn't have evergreens like a Washington State forest but it was a beautiful place with lakes and the trees changing colors.  We also drove down to Bardstown and enjoyed seeing it.  

We also took pictures with Derek  in front of the mission sign and office.  We loved having him visit and were blessed with beautiful weather!

The Rodericks have arrived!

It has been a busy month.  The Lemmons returned to California on September 18.  We were alone for two weeks in the office. On Sunday Sept 28 it was just the Moulton's and the Missionaries for lunch.  

We were glad to have the Roderick's arrive on Tuesday Sept 30.  They are from a small town in Southern Utah and are getting used to the big city.  They have been here two weeks and have caught on fast.

 On Saturday morning Oct 4, we went to the St. James Art show in downtown Louisville, then to the office to listen to the morning session of Conference.  

We watched the afternoon session in our Apartment.  Saturday evening  Elder Roderick and dad went to the Priesthood session at the Shawnee Branch.  Sunday we attended both sessions at the Branch and made a sandwich lunch for those attending. 

On Saturday Oct 11th we went with the Rodericks to the Portland Art and Heritage Fair in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville. Many people in our branch live there.  This is Mom and Sister Roderick in front of the Marine Hospital which was built in the 1840's.  It was a fun event with a trolley ride and visit to the Portland Museum, a Catholic church, the locks and arts and craft exhibits. 

We serve in the nursery at church now and we added a picture from nursery on Sunday.  We have some cute kids.   It was our Primary Program which was nice and also pot luck Sunday.  We had a good turnout. 

Things are starting to get back to normal in the office and we are grateful that there are two couples and not just us! We have had some opportunities to go out teaching with the missionaries in the evenings, which we enjoy and Saturday evening we took some branch members to the movie "Meet the Mormons"!  Hope you get to see it! We enjoyed it.

Goodbye Lemmons

This was the last Monday for the Lemmons before they were released on the September 19^th. We will be missing them.  The Rodericks will replace them.  We expect they will be arriving on the 30^th of September.   We held down the fort but it is definitely a two couple operation.

We have two new missionaries in our branch.  The Greenie on the left is Elder Gaskin from Arlington, Washington.  Next to him is Elder Butterfield, Elder Loveall and laying down is Elder Thompson.  We enjoy having them in our home and in the Shawnee Branch.

Larry and Sheila were here for a visit on Sept 23-25.   It was fun to have them here for a few days.  They got to meet some people from the branch, see the office and they did a lightning fast tour to Frankfort, the temple, Madison, Indiana, and the west end of Louisville.

This is a family from the Shawnee Branch that we attended the Temple with on Sat. Sept 27^th.  The Father and his soon to be missionary son went through the temple for the first time and then the family was sealed together.  The missionary son is being set apart Sept 29 and departs for the Provo Missionary Training Center Sept 30.  He is going to the California Los Angeles Mission.  He is very well prepared.  His mom is from the Philippines.

 

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.