Comings and Goings

The last few weeks have been full of transitions in the Palmyra New York Temple.  Our beloved temple leadership has been released at the end of August.  This past week we were able to welcome new temple leadership.  Now, the Palmyra Temple is closed for maintenance for the next two weeks.  With the upcoming dedication of the new Pittsburgh Temple, we also lost around 40 temple workers who are in that new temple district.  We did have the privilege to attend the Pittsburgh Open House just two weeks ago.  It was beautiful and sacred!  We also said good-bye to our dear friends, Elder and Sister Lamoreaux, who finished their mission and returned to their home this past week.

A beautiful photo of our temple leadership and us with E/S Bobo at the Pittsburgh Temple Open House

We have loved serving with this temple leadership.  They have been perfect for us!  They have taught us how to prioritize the patron experience.  They have led by example.  They have taught us in all of our preparation meetings and in special orientations.  Most of all they have loved us.

They have been aware of and accommodated Sister Rueckert's health challenges.  They have allowed us to assist our daughter and her family after our son-in-law passed away.  They allowed us to bring our grandchildren to Palmyra and gave us two days off of our mission at this time.

We can't imagine serving this mission without "our" temple leadership. They will always be part of our fond memories of Palmyra and our love for this special temple. 

As they completed their time, they had a farewell dinner with the missionary couples on August 19.  There we were able to enjoy a dinner, games and friendship. 

Dinner at the Temple President's Home with the complete Temple Leadership, including the Temple recorder and wife and the 5 missionary couples

Playing games after dinner

A photo taken at the farewell dinner by Brother Fergus, our temple recorder

Another photo taken by Sister Pitts with Brother and Sister Fergus in this photo

Six days later there was a reception held at the bowery behind the Palmyra Stake Center where all temple workers were invited to express thanks to the outgoing temple leadership.  Each brought food, which left more food than could be eaten.  It was a wonderful celebration for these leaders who have dedicated the last three years of their lives to the Palmyra Temple, their ordinance workers, and the temple patrons from throughout the world.

The bowery was not big enough to accommodate all.  Many ate on separate picnic tables outside of the bowery.

Food brought by all was amazing

President and Sister Pitts

President and Sister Clay

President and Sister Cooper

President and Sister Kimbler, new president and matron

And many more, including many friends who we normally see only in the temple

As of last week, President Daniel Kimbler and his wife Karen began their service in the Palmyra Temple.  Their counselors and assistants are President and Sister Wozniak and President and Sister Lau.  Each has served as sealers and ordinance workers, so we had already gotten to know each of them.  However, we now have the privilege to sustain each of them in their new roles.  It is amazing to watch the transition of leadership in the Lord's kingdom.  There are minimal distractions as those who are given keys to lead, do so without any contention or fanfare.  We are pleased to be able to finish our mission with these fine individuals.

President Daniel Kimbler and his wife Karen, the new matron

Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple:

There have been approximately 40 ordinance workers who have come from 3 or more hours to serve in the Palmyra Temple, usually on Friday nights and Saturdays.  As of this past month they have been reassigned to the new Pittsburgh Temple.  Several of them told me how happy they will be to only travel an hour and a half to go to the temple. One said "It will be wonderful to go to the temple, serve, and return in the same day".  Although we already miss them, we are thrilled that they can have a temple closer to their homes.  By losing their service, all of the missionary couples have been serving many double shifts on Saturdays, covering the morning and afternoon shifts.

In August a two week open house was held for the new Pittsburgh Temple which will be dedicated next Sunday, September 15.  We were privileged to take our P-Day on August 26 and travel with Elder and Sister Bobo to Pittsburgh for the open house, returning the same day.  The travel was long but the companionship of the Bobos made the time fly by.  It was a privilege to have the time to get to know them even better, including hours of doctrinal discussions.  A day very well spent!

This was a very interesting open house, our first to attend since serving in the Palmyra Temple.  We looked at everything with different eyes, knowing many of the space challenges that we have here.  We found the Pittsburgh Temple to be absolutely beautiful and a little more spacious than our temple.  We noticed everything in detail and fully appreciated it's beauty and functionality.

With Elder and Sister Bobo at the Pittsburgh Temple Open House

At the entry of the open house, "Holiness to the Lord - The House of the Lord" in gold print above

The two of us from the southern view of the Pittsburgh Temple

Enjoying Ice Cream together on the way home

Farewell to Elder and Sister Lamoreaux:

Elder and Sister Lamoreaux arrived with us at the end of March.  They have a daughter giving birth to her first child in the next week or two, so they elected to leave as the temple began their two week maintenance period.  We were able to have one last family home evening together on Labor Day.  We hosted a dinner at our home and we enjoyed socializing together.  Each shared memories of the past 5+ months.  We have grown to love these four missionary couples who have served with us throughout our time here.  We have developed a kinship which can only be understood by being here.  They are consecrated individuals who have gone out of their way to make us feel comfortable and to cover where our limitations required their help.  Each has their special strengths, but all are "Saints".

The next day, September 3, we held a special sealing session in the temple with the 10 of us. Elder Bray and Elder Rasmussen are also sealers, so they took turns performing the sealings and all participated.  The joy of being together in this holy setting with these special friends cannot be described in words.  We were able to seal several families together with multiple siblings, some with 4 or 5 children.  We had one family that had 11 siblings.  It took a few ordinances but the entire family was sealed together.  Elder Rasmussen shared special insights about the sealing ordinance that we will never forget.

Dinner in our living room using a card table and chairs from three of the couples.

Our ten second timer to take this photo together.  Direction of the camera was weird, but it captured all of us.

A photo of Elder Lamoreaux watching our friend Charles Osborne as we played one more round of golf the week before the Lamoreauxs left.  Charles turned 91 years old this past week.

Serving in the Temple:

During mid August we served as endowment officiators 10 times in three weeks, which we absolutely love doing.  However, the last week in August and the first few days in September, we served exclusively in other roles.  One of the recurring roles was in the sealing ordinance assisting patrons.  Some of the others were in the baptistry.  There we witnessed several special moments relating to performing ordinances for families as follows:

• In one session, I was able to be the spouse of a sister who was proxy for her grandparents.  Her emotions were strong and the Spirit was felt by all that were present. After the ordinance, she took time to share her memories of her grandmother and grandfather.  The Spirit was so strong in that session, it was heavenly.
• At the end of the last session of August, I was able to be present as President Pitts performed the sealing of a sister to her deceased husband.  Present was her mother, three sisters and a brother-in-law.  This was President Pitts last official ordinance as the President of the Temple.  His words of love to the participants were profound.  Again the spirit was strong.
• On the same day, I had the privilege to be involved in two young men bringing their wives-to-be through the veil, prior to their sealing in the temple that very day.  I had never done this before and  had the chance to assist in the short veil ceremony twice in the same day.
• In the baptistry a few days earlier, we were helping a stake from Brooklyn, New York that was here doing a youth conference.  This stake has 3 Spanish wards, 4 English Wards, 1 Chinese ward and a branch that speaks Creole.  The first hour was primarily the Spanish speakers.  Many ordinances were performed in Spanish.  The second hour included the Chinese ward.  One of the young men was proxy for his grandfather and baptized another who was proxy for his grandmother.  Debbie was at the font and described the wonderful emotion of this moment.
• Three days ago, on Thursday, we were aware of an older gentleman who would be coming to the temple to perform baptisms for his deceased wife and his father.  We met him at the recommend desk before he went to the baptistry.  He was 80 years old and had recently received the Aaronic , Priesthood even though he has been a member for 42 years.  His wife was a pastor in a spiritualist church.  He waited until she passed away recently before he pursued advancing in the priesthood, not wanting to create confusion in their marriage.  He came from 150 miles away without proxies to help him.  In the waiting room, there was a sister from Utah and her son, who is beginning his mission tomorrow.  They agreed to help with the baptisms.  I was able to step into the baptistry and see him baptize this sister in behalf of his wife.  He also baptized this young man for his father and for the young man's maternal grandfather.  That same day, the future missionary did the initiatory work for his grandfather and came back that night to be proxy for his grandfather's endowment.  We were privileged to be on that same session as patrons.  After the morning shift, we were able to spend some additional time with this older brother as he told us all about his story.  He was inspiring and his ability to now perform these ordinances for his deceased wife was inspirational.

The 80 year old man who was able to baptize a proxy for his recently deceased wife

I also had the privilege to help train new ordinance workers.  Again it was two brothers, one who just came home from a mission in Layton, Utah.  The other will be leaving soon for a mission in Piracicaba, Brazil.  These young brothers learn fast and are extremely diligent.

In a recent endowment session, I was privileged to say the prayer in the prayer circle.  When I invited patrons to come up, a brother who cannot walk on his own, came up with his wife.  Before I knew it, she invited a patron who was blind to also participate while her husband stood next to a single sister.  I realized that in that circle we had the lame and the blind,  joining in the prayer for those who are sick. This is the dedication that we see every day in the temple.

On the same day that we performed sealings with the other missionaries, we had an old friend from High School days come to Palmyra and perform baptisms in the temple.  As we left the sealing session, we were able to locate him and his wife, who were still on the temple grounds.  They came back into the temple and we were able to catch up a little.  This is certainly one of the blessings of being in Palmyra. Members come from all over to visit this sacred place.

With Ken Searles and his wife.  We hadn't seen him in more than 50 years

In our last cleaning session in the temple, we were given two carrot cake cup cakes as a thank you.  Perhaps our time of leaving is coming.

Coming home with a kindness treat from the cleaners in the temple

Some other Temple Friends:

We want to put photos in our blog of some of the special people that we meet.  Their personalities and dedication have made a strong impression on our hearts.

Brother and Sister Hale, ordinance workers and patrons, highly dedicated

Debbie with her friend, Sister Prince.  She had served in years past as a shift coordinator.  She now has difficulty in maintaining her balance but that doesn't stop her from coming.  She and Debbie have developed a special relationship together.

Debbie with Sister Bolton, an extremely dedicated Temple Worker is in the temple multiple days of the week.  She has a lively but pleasant personality.  Again, her and Debbie have developed a strong relationship.

Bishops Storehouse:

As we served last Friday in the Bishop's Storehouse, we were training a new church service missionary. He will cover the shifts of the missionaries during the two weeks that the temple is closed for maintenance.

Training the first church service young missionary from the Rochester Stake.  He was a fast learner and had a great attitude.

The produce that we put into 1 or 3 lb. bags

Penn Yan Branch:

We continue to love serving in the Penn Yan branch.  Our special friend Peggy has attended Church with William for four weeks in a row. We pray that they both can continue to progress as they come closer unto our Savior.  In May, soon after we arrived in the branch we met Lucas, a member who had come for the first time in several years.  He has been a special friend to me.  His attitude towards learning and growing in the Church is just amazing.  His countenance lights up the room. I finally was able to get a photo of the two of us together.

With my dear friend, Lucas, who uplifts me every time that I see him.

LeRoy, New York - home of Jell-O:

When traveling with the Bobos, they told us about LeRoy, New York, which is close to the branch where they attend.  It is the home of Jell-O which was first invented in the late 1890s by a local resident. He was selling it around the region, but was not a strong marketer.  After a few years, another individual bought his rights and equipment for $450, enough for him to buy his own home.  Thirty years later, the Jell-O brand and company was sold for $60 million.

There in LeRoy, they have a Jell-O museum which tells this story and has many artifacts from throughout the years.  It made for a delightful visit.  The old factory is also nearby, but not available for visits.  Also in LeRoy are paintings on many of the barns.  They call them Barn Quilts.  There is also a small replica of the Statue of Liberty, just a few blocks from the museum.  It made for a very enjoyable Friday afternoon after serving in the baptistry for the Brooklyn, NY Stake that morning.

One of the painted barns in LeRoy. 

In front of the Jell-O Museum

The Jell-O Cow in front of the Museum

Our hostess at the Jell-O Museum.  She is wearing a 2002 Salt Lake Green Jell-O Olympic pin 

Everything Jell-O

A hippopotamus is one of the Jell-O Animals

A section of the museum devoted to Utah.  Salt Lake City consumes twice the per-capita national average of Jell-O

Jell-O Baseball Cards

Even replica Jell-O delivery cart in the basement of the museum

An old bicycle also in the museum

Some of the Barn Quilts in LeRoy, NY

By the Statue of Liberty replica in LeRoy, NY

Sweet Corn:

Sweet Corn is a big deal in western New York.  It is grown everywhere and can be bought at many local unmanned fruit and vegetable stands.  It is delicious!  It has become our constant side for our Sunday dinner.

We see these corn fields everywhere that we drive

They go on and on

One Saturday night, I realized that I didn't have any corn for our Sunday dinner.  I drove just outside of Palmyra, a couple miles from our home and found some available . . . 

at a local fruit and vegetable stand . . .

Prices are posted . . . 

and cash is accepted in the box or it can be paid by Venmo . . . 

 

and corn for Sunday dinner picked up without hassle

Big, Green Lawns:

Many homes in the Palmyra Area come on a five acre lot.  That leaves a lot of ground to be covered with lawn.  Nature is the watering system and it works, with enough rain throughout the summer.  The challenge is keeping it mowed.  Riding lawn mowers are used in most cases.  The following photo gives a feel of this unique landscaping which has intrigued me.

A lot of lawn to be mowed.  Photo taken in late August, the large lawn is still green.

Birthdays:

Our grandson, Liam celebrated his first birthday two weeks ago.  This is a screen shot of our FaceTime celebration with Liam, with his sister, Sophia.

Liam enjoying his birthday book