CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP -- Part C

CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP - Part C

On to New York!

On our trip across the country, we saw a lot of motels........

.......and a lot of "rest stops." We found it interesting that the farther East we drove, the nicer the rest stops were. Starting out, rest stops were few and far between and consisted of restrooms, maybe a drinking fountain or bottled water dispenser, and a map on the wall.

Later, they were more frequent and consisted of restrooms, a picnic area, and a "Travel Plaza" where your could buy food and drinks, even from some well-known fast food places.

Closer to New York, the rest stops became large and beautiful parks and picnic areas...........





.....and large, beautiful buildings with marble floors, several restaurants, internet areas and several pay telephones and souvenir shops.




Then, when we got to Canada.........."What's a Rest Stop?"


On travel day seven, we drove from Kirtland, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York, where we spent a wonderful weekend with our children and grandchildren, Marcel, Jackie, Rianne, and Dallin. We watched "Dynamic Dallin" in gymnastics, saw "All-Grown-Up Rianne" go for and land her first job, learned about card-making and blogs from "Very Creative Jackie," mowed lawns with "Green Thumb Marcel," attended a ward picnic and church services, visited and visited and visited, and ate and ate and ate GOOD food, both at their home and at Red Robin (where we were introduced to yummy veggie-burgers). We had not seen them in almost three years, and it was a great visit!

STAY TUNED: NEXT STOP--Palmyra and the Sacred Grove, then on to Canada!

CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP - Part D

CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP -- Part D

Palmyra, the Sacred Grove, and then CANADA!!

We left Buffalo on Monday, travel day ten. We drove to Palmyra, New York, and caught a session at the temple. Then we visited the Joseph Smith home/farm and the Sacred Grove.

Elder and Sister Wright in front of the "First Vision" statue in the Palmyra Visitor's Center.

We took a tour of the Smith homes and farm.

This is the bedroom, in the Smith log cabin restoration, where Joseph Smith was visited by the Angel Moroni. The day we visited there was Monday, September 22, 2008. The missionaries who took us on the tour pointed out that it was on the night of September 21 and the morning of September 22, 1823, when the Angel Moroni came to Joseph Smith three times and told him about the gold plates and taught him many principles. And we were standing in that exact same space exactly 185 years later!

This is a picture of the Smith family farm, looking toward the Sacred Grove. Notice the split-rail fences. It was while crossing one such fence, having not slept and then having attempted to work on the farm, that Jospeh fell in a state of exhaustion, and was again visited by the Angel Moroni. It was later that same day (still September 22) that Joseph saw the Gold Plates for the first time, at the Hill Cumorah.

Sister Wright with the missionary tour guides, in front of the frame house.

Alvin Smith built the frame house for his parents and family. It was here that many events pertaining to the obtaining and protection of the Gold Plates occurred. Later, the family fell on hard times and lost the frame home, and moved back into the log cabin. The frame house and the Smith farm were purchased many years later by George Albert Smith and donated to the church.

On top of the dresser is a replica of the chest that was built by Hyrum Smith to hold the Gold Plates.

This is the fireplace and hearth in the restored frame house. At one time, Joseph removed the bricks from the hearth, hid the Gold Plates beneath, and reconstructed the hearth, to protect the plates from the mobs.

This picture of the Palmyra Temple was taken from the road between the log cabin and the frame home. Inside the temple, there is a large picture window from which you can see the Sacred Grove.



THE SACRED GROVE

This is the path leading into the Sacred Grove (just beyond the signs where we're standing.)

A pathway deep in the grove.



We had a wonderful experience while in the Grove. It was was a beautiful day, and it was easy to imagine how it must have been the day of the First Vision. We walked quite a ways into the Grove and found a place like this one pictured, that we thought might have been similar to the actual spot where God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, and sat on a bench and prayed together. We expressed gratitude for Joseph Smith and for the restored gospel. It was wonderful! The Spirit was very strong! We are so grateful we were able to have the experiences of that day.

It was less than three hours from Palmyra to Watertown, New York, where we had arranged to spend the night. We got there in the early evening, found our motel and got a bite to eat, then re-packed our car and suitcases in anticipation of crossing the border the next day!



On Tuesday, September 23, we dressed in our best missionary "duds," put on our nametags, and headed for the border. We drove through beautiful, lush green countryside from Watertown to the Canadian border in about an hour and a half. We got to the border at 10:55 am. One of the reasons we chose that particular crossing is because someone told us it would be one of the minor, or less busy, crossings, with maybe one guard booth. Wrong! It was huge! Seven or eight booths, and a huge administrative building. If that's "minor," spare us from "major."

The girl at the check station booth asked us the standard questions: why are you coming to Canada, are you carrying any firearms or liquor, do you have any pets with you, and are you carrying more than $10,000 in cash. Elder Wright said something like "we wish we were carrying more cash than that," and she didn't think it was funny. We remembered you're not supposed to joke with them. She filled out a yellow form and told us to pull of to the left and take the yellow paper into the administration building through door #1.

Door #1 turned out to be "Immigration," where we quickly learned that it's better to explain that you are "volunteers" than to say you are "missionaries." The agent had NO concept of "missionaries." He took our passports, asked us questions about why we were coming into Canada, what we would be doing there, and how long we would stay. Then he told us to go sit down and wait. So we did.

We looked out the window, and two people in uniforms were searching a van. The van's contents were totally stripped and laying on the ground outside the van. The people in the uniforms were crawling in and out and under the van with flashlights. The didn't leave a thing unchecked. We anticipated how fun it was going to be to unpack, and then re-pack, our crammed car.

After about a 30-minute wait, however, the agent called us back to the counter, showed us a "Travel Plan" document that said we could be in the Canada for 18 months, but could only do volunteer work, not work for money and not go to school. He had us sign the documents, stapled them in our passports, handed our passports back to us, and we were DONE!

They never even looked in our car, at least as far as we knew. We decided they didn't think our little Sentra full of plain-colored clothing and religious books constituted much of a threat. We were at the border only 45 minutes total. What a relief! We had heard all kinds of horror stories about crossing the border, and had been more than a little apprehensive. The Lord blessed us.


We didn't DARE take any pictures!!



So! There we were in Canada. Now What?!?


STAY TUNED: Next Post: Montreal and the Mission Home

THE MISSIONARY TRAINING CENTER

"Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work We Go" -- The Seven Dwarfs, in Snow White

On the morning of September 8, we said good-bye to our family, our home, our friends, and pretty much everything in our "comfort zone" and headed for the MTC. It was hard leaving all that behind, especially the grandkids, who will grow and change so much while we're gone.

We were excited and anxious at the same time, to check in at the MTC. We had no notion of what we would be doing, what would be expected of us, or even, at that point, what kind of mission we would be serving.

Once we were settled in our room at the MTC, we "hit the ground running." We had classes all day long, French tutoring in the evening, and homework when we got back to our room. We soon found out that, at least at the MTC, we were assigned as "Proselyting/Leadership" missionaries.

OUR ROOM

Our cute little bed.........................

Our cute litte desk........................

........and our cute little vanity......

One of the best parts of the MTC experience was meeting and working with the instructors (most of them young, enthusiastic, experienced returned missionaries).........

.........and the other senior missionaries. Many of the senior missionaries had served one or more other missions, and their perspective and mentoring was invaluable.

Here we are with our "small group" instructor, Elder Salmon, and two members of our small group, Sister Shaw and Sister Brooks. Theirs is an interesting story: They grew up together in a small town and were best friends. They married, went their separate ways, and lost track of each other. Years later, both widowed, they ended up in the same town and in the same ward! Friendships were renewed, and now they are serving as companions on a mission to California!

Starting with our Tuesday classes, in "small group" studies, we studied a section of "Preach My Gospel," created a lesson plan, then went to our rooms where we were visited by "investigators" to whom we were to teach the lesson. Of course, the "investigators" were volunteers, but they surely played their roles well.


Tuesday evening, there was a "devotional." Everyone was invited, and the "Seniors" were given the best seats in the house. What a thrill, to sit in the center of this huge hall, completely surrounded by young missionaries, as we all sang "Called to Serve." The speakers were Elder Uchtdorf and his sweet wife. We received excellent advice and encouragement, and at the end of his talk Elder Uchtdorf pronounced an apostolic blessing on us. What a thrill!

THE CAFETERIA

We ate every meal in this awesome cafeteria--a virtual "sea" of white shirts. The food was very tasty, the menu was varied, and the service was incredible. Also, most of the young missionaries had obviously been taught to respect their "seniors", because most of them let us go ahead of them in line, and many of them would take our empty trays to the conveyor belt for us. It was in the cafeteria where we ran into several familiar faces--Sister Richards, Sister Romney, and Elder Martineau, all from our home town.

THE GREEN MILE

(or so it seemed, when walking down this long, long hall to get to classrooms, on the right, or the careteria, on the left.)

On Wednesday, here came the new missionaries--with all their luggage! It was incredible to see all those missionaries, and all that luggage, all over the place, and by evening everyone was snugly in their rooms and all the luggage had disappeared from the halls.

LANGUAGE TUTORING

Our French Tutoring group: Elder and Sister Hymas, on their way to Switzerland, our instructor, Elder McDonald, and Sister and Elder Wright. Can you guess which one in this picture (hint: in a blue blouse) didn't have a CLUE what everyone else was saying in those tutoring sessions?

We had tutoring Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evening. At the end of the Friday session, all the language learners met for a testimony meeting, each testimony being spoken in the new language. It was amazing how we could all pretty much understand each other!

And that was the end of the MTC experience. We learned a lot, cried a little, met some wonderful people, and walked our legs off!

WHO NEEDS A BARBER, WHEN THERE'S A MISSIONARY IN THE HOUSE?


This "post" will be totally out of sync, but the grandkids were dying to see Grampa's "Missionary Haircut."

You have to be careful what you wish for.............. One day Elder Wright asked the missionaries where they get their hair cut, because he sure did need to get his cut. The Elders replied that they all cut each other's hair. Upon examination, that's pretty obvious. They have good, short missionary haircuts, all pretty much identical.


Like we said, you have to be careful what you wish for...... because just a few evenings later, the Elders showed up at our house, clippers in hand, prepared to give Elder Wright a haircut. How could you say "no" to such a nice, free offer?

So! Here are the results!


















Elder Hess: "Let's see....how do these things work?"

















Here we go!! Buzz, buzz, buzz.

















"What have I gotten myself into?"

















Elder Johnson:
"This is a two-Elder
job. Let me see what
I can do with it."

"Good grief! Are they STILL cutting?"

"Hooray! I think we're done!"

And there you have it!!

Grampa's first

"Official

Missionary

Haircut."