Week 53--August 23-September 1, 2020

The last week of our mission and home. 

One of Garnalee's final stops was at the Gilbert & Whitney Store to buy a few souvenir kitchen items. The current Gilbert &Whitney Store is located in the same site as the original 1831 Gilbert & Whitney Store that was the target of mobs in July 1833. 

A farewell picture with President and Sister Cannon at the Christus Statue in the Independence Visitors' Center after our final shift on Tuesday. 

Missouri is known as the "Cave State." It wouldn't be appropriate to leave without visiting at least one of the caves. On Wednesday, we visited Fantastic Caverns near Springfield which is one of only four in the world that is a drive-through cavern.
 

Picture in the Cavern of the Giants. 

 This tractor was originally a school bus.

 A farewell photo in the Pioneer area at the Independence Visitors' Center. 

Pictured: Elder Larsen, Sister Larsen, Elder Harrington, Sister Harrington, Sister McCulloch, Elder McCulloch, Sister Cannon, and President Cannon.

The Wizard of Oz Museum, located in Wamego, Kansas, was on our way home, and so a stop was necessary on Thursday.  

A giant Tin Man greeted us we entered the museum.

 

A fun reminder by the "Good Witch" to wash appropriately. 

Even Dorothy was required to wear a mask. .

The Wicked Witch was smashed by the house.

Garnalee with the Tin Man.

Tom with the Cowardly Lion.

Garnalee trying to avoid the Wicked Witch.

Garnalee and Tom with the Good Witch, Glinda. 

Garnalee is prepared to take off. 

A display case of Wizard of Oz memorabilia in other languages. The Wizard of Oz was popular throughout the whole world and was published in 45 languages.  

The tornado for the Wizard of Oz was created by a muslin sock sewn together with piano wire and was 35 feet tall.

A drive through Abilene, Kansas, brought us to the boyhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States. A library and museum are also located at the same site. However, everything was closed when arrived. 

We decided to take a side trip to Hutchinson, Kansas, to visit the Cosmosphere on Friday. We spent several hours there learning about the space race between the USA and the USSR.

We didn't see everything, so we'll have to go back someday.  We'll be sure to bring Quinton along with us.

Tom next to the statue for Gene Cernan, a Kansas native and during the Apollo 17 mission became the eleventh person to walk on the Moon. 

Tom next to the Liberty 7 spacecraft flown by Gus Grissom. 

Blast off cones of a rocket. 

Garnalee and Tom in front of the blast off cones. 

Tom next to the blast off cones of a rocket. 

A dinner with family to celebrate Quinton's birthday on the way home. We spent a wonderful weekend with the Snouffers.

Pictured outside The Roost Restaurant: Tom, Garnalee, Stephaine, Easton, Scott, Traci, Demiree, and Quinton, 

Garnalee, Scott, Quinton, and Easton. 

We had the opportunity to visit the place where Quinton works. 

A picture of the satellite that Quinton built a part of.  

This has been a wonderful conclusion to a wonderful mission. So we began our "lasts:" Our last FHE with the other senior couples, our last morning walk in the Woodlawn Cemetery, our last leaving our very pleasant apartment, our last farewells to the young missionaries and the office staff as we turned in our apartment keys, and our last virtual tour.  We have so many wonderful memories!

  

Week 52--August 16-22, 2020

A few last pictures of the flowers we helped to plant in May. They are gorgeous around the Visitors' Center.  

We especially love the coleus. 

The begonias are gorgeous also. 

Speaking of which, when we were initially planting the flowers, Mark asked Tom to go to the trailer and get one more begonia.  Tom's response was, "If there were one begonia, and a 2 x 4 in the trailer, and you said to bring the begonia, I would get it right, but I don't know a begonia from pansy."  Flower identification is much better now.

The Elephant Ear Hosta is as tall as Garnalee. Things grow amazing well in this area. 

You can see the Community of Christ Temple across the street.

The sisters in our apartment building performed a "heart attack" on our door. 

The Spanish speaking sisters serenade us to "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" in Spanish. Tom has been giving Spanish lessons to Sister Winder and Sister Brown. 

Pictured: Sister Winder, Sister DeLeon, Sister Romero, Sister Galvan, and Sister Brown. 

A final farewell picture with the sisters who live in our building after dinner at the pavilion. 

Pictured: Front: Sister Romero, Sister Flindt, Sister Pryde, and Sister DeLeon. 

Back: Tom , Garnlaee, Sister Hopkins, Sister Brown. Sister Pulley, Sister Galvan, and Sister Winder. 

We arrived at Liberty Jail on Wednesday to the arrival of a ladder to replace the rope that been there for the prisoners to come from the lower level to the upper level of the jail. It came wrapped in bubble wrap. The sisters were extremely excited to see the ladder. 

The ladder has been placed in the Jail. Research was done by the History Department of the Church, and it was determined that it wss more likely a ladder would have used instead of a rope. We would have to concur with this as we know that Emma Smith and Mary Fielding Smith both visited their husbands while they were prisoners at Liberty Jail. The women would not have been able to up and down a rope. 

A final picture with the sisters we served with at the Visitors' Center. 

Pictured: Sister Brock, Sister Burdge, Sister Anderson, Tom, Garnalee, Sister Greenwood, Sister Kinikini, Sister Randall, and Sister Kinne. 

A final picture with all of the sisters we served with in June, July, and August. 

Pictured: Sister Martin, Sister Galbraith, Sister Anderson, Sister Kinikini, Sister Bates, Tom, Garnalee, Sister Kinne, Sister Randall, Sister Greenwood, Sister Brock, Sister Burdge, and Sister Wilson. 

 Every Sunday morning is the President's Devotional.  On the 16th his address centered around, "The Five Elements Necessary to Receive Personal Revelation,"  

1)  Faith

2)  Sincerity

3)  Humility

4)  Desire

5)  Purity

He backed up each point with a scripture, beginning with Jacob 4:6, to better describe the attribute.  The president's messages are always very inspiring.

Sunday:  Elder and Sister Brown left to go back to Kanab, Utah for the pending funeral of Elder Brown's mother.  We are covering shifts until they return.  

Tuesday: Mike White had a doctor's appointment in Kansas so Tom took him.  The field trip was Billion Graves recovery again in Washington Cemetery.

Wednesday is dinner and a movie night with all the missionaries (junior and senior).  Dinner was chicken ulam over rice (Chinese Haystacks), and watermelon.  Really good.  The movie was "Emma Smith:  My Story."  Loved it!

Thursday is our sites missionary enrichment meeting from Salt Lake.  Today's presenter was Laura Howe, the Church curator, who talked about First Vision Art.  There were many beautiful examples from stained glass windows to sculptures.  Very informative.

Friday was our shift at Liberty Jail from 10-5.  We took the four junior sisters assigned there, to dinner at Raising Cain's.  We had intended to eat inside, but that wasn't yet open, so we picked up our meals and returned to the Jail.  There's a downstairs area we can eat, so we just socialized over dinner.  Sister Bates asked each of us to share a blessing we had received by coming on this mission.  My story was gaining a stronger testimony of Joseph Smith.  Garnalee shared how she found my half-brother and sister who live in Texas and Georgia.  The sisters asked about our first date and steps leading up to our getting married.  That story always talks about Calvin's (Garnalee's brother) introduction and his asking me repeatedly, "When are you going to get married?"  Each of the sisters also shared a spiritual experience they have had while serving at in Missouri. Had we been able to go into Cain's dining area, that spiritual time would not have happened.  Another blessing!

Saturday Our last shift at the Historic Liberty Jail.  The sister were booked all day long with virtual tours.  The only bad thing was that the AC wasn't working again, so it got up to 82/8 degrees.  It was repaired for our last 20 minutes, but we all survived.  We'll miss the Jail sisters.

 Week 51–August 9-15, 2020

We only get to attend Church every three weeks.  Today was our day.  We pick up a recent convert, Mike White, on the way.  We have become really good friends since his baptism in February.

Sunday evening we did a Zoom call with Tom's newly found half-brother Jim and his half-sister Margarette.  We had planned to visit them on our way home from the mission, but reconsidered until after the Covid scare has been contained a little better.  Margarette lives in Texarkana, Texas.  Jim lives in Georgia.

Every other Monday all the senior missionary couples get together for FHE.  The Claesens were in charge and we played a Tree of Life/Hold to the Iron Rod game which is fun for any age.

These Surprise Lilies have been blooming all over Independence for a couple of weeks. They're about two feet tall and would be beautiful in our flower bed back home.

On Tuesday we visited the Battle of Lexington Museum which happened on September 18-20, 1861. The battle was a victory for the Confederates. Tom is actually smiling, but Garnalee took her mask off for the photo.

The Anderson Mansion was used as a hospital. Possession of the mansion changed hands three times between the Confederate and Union troops on September 18, 1861. Bullet and cannonball holes are still visible in the walls.

Here you can see evidence of the fierce  battle in the mansion walls. The holes are left by a couple of those cannon balls.  

Burial site in remembrance of five unknown U.S. soldiers in Battle of Lexington. 

President and Sister Cannon at the battle site with Sister Burdge next to the cannon at the battle site. 

The remains of the Union trench line is still visible on the battle site. The Confederate troops deployed water logged hemp bales as a breastwork. The troops rolled the bales towards the federal line. The Union forces were forced to surrender. 

Hemp that would be used to make a rope. 

Diorama inside the museum showing the Union trench line and the Confederate troops behind the hemp bales. 

Tom and Garnalee at the battlefield. 

Tom found this weed that looks like the bug we put the picture of in the blog last week. 

Selling of slaves was common in Missouri and other southern states which lead to the Civil War.

As we approached the back side of the cemetery for our morning walk we saw this little fox running across the lawn. It stopped at the rise in the lawn and watched us. As Garnalee moved in to get a closer picture he took off. A site we didn't expect to see in Independence. We have seen several cottontail rabbits in the neighborhood, but not lately, so maybe it's because of the fox.

Walt Disney was born in Chicago but moved to Marceline, Missouri, when he was four. His uncle Robert had purchased land there and Walt's father wanted to get his children out of the big city. They only lived in Marceline until 1911, but Walt considered his boyhood hometown to be Marceline. When a new elementary school was built, the Disneys chipped in.  The school was equipped with all the latest audio/visual equipment.  It was named after him. 

He created a midget Autopia in Marceline based on the Autopia at Disneyland. In fact, the cars and tracks came from Disneyland when they remodeled the attraction in Los Angeles.

A visit wouldn't be complete without a picture with Mickey. 

This TV brought back many childhood memories of watching  "Wonderful World of Disney" on Sunday evenings with the family and eating popcorn. 

 

If you get tied of washing your hands to the Birthday Song you might try the Mickey Mouse song. 

Wednesday night is dinner and a movie night.  We seniors saw Legacy in Theater 1 and the junior missionaries saw Cars in Theater 2.  Dinner was Little Caesar's pizza and brownies.  I saw Legacy when it first came out years ago, but after having been exposed to the area, during this mission, where the history actually took place, it was much more enjoyable.

As we draw close to the end of our mission (only 10 days left), a young sister asked if we were considering another mission.  The answer is, "We don't know."  Our replacements, due to arrive the first or second week in September, have been put on hold indefinitely for the safety of anyone over 60.  So, we're not sure we'll be able to go again.  There will still be plenty of service opportunities at home, so maybe we're done with full-time missions.  That's sad because we have so enjoyed these missions.