Week 18--December 23-28, 2019

The week started off with a wonderful Christmas Sacrament meeting. Our ward met with three other wards. We were spiritually fed with both word and song. President Cato the Independence Stake President told a story that President James E. Faust shared several years ago in which a woman was undergoing surgery to donate a kidney to her brother. She didn't know if the kidney would be accepted or not but she was still willing to make the gift. Our Heavenly Father is the same. He has given us the gift of His Son. He didn't know if the gift would be accepted by each of His children but he was willing to make the gift anyway.

The last concert held at the Independence Visitors' Center was the Ritchie, Cramer, and Johnston families from Liberty. They sang several songs as a family plus there were small group songs, and solos. A wonderful concert that started off light with traditional Christmas carols and ended focusing on the Savior and His birth.

 Christmas morning we got together with other senior couples and all of the sisters who serve at the two Visitors' Centers for breakfast.

We had a wonderful breakfast with fruit, breakfast casseroles, muffins, crepes, bread pudding, juice, and hot chocolate.

After breakfast we gathered in the upper level of the Visitors' Center where the sisters performed the Nativity Story. President Cannon was Samuel the Laminate.

 With a little make-up, Sister Morgenegg made a very convincing wise man.

 Sister Jones was very creative and used her long hair to create a mustache and beard for her role as Joseph with Sister Mickelson being a pregnant Mary.

 Ssiter Coronado was the star, Sister Salois was the donkey, Sister Nabhan and Sister Walker were the stable, and Sister Crandall was the manager.

We had three of the cutest sheet performed by Sister Nackos, Sister Smith, and Sister DeLeon. Their ears were black socks.

We had angels announcing the birth to the shepherds.
Pictured: Sister Hair, Sister Holdeman, Sister Barajas, and Sister Villegas.

 The shepherds came from their fields to behold the baby.
Pictured: Sister Durfee, Sister Alldredge, Sister Herrin, Sister Flindt.

The wise men brought gifts.
Wise Men: Sister Pomeroy, Sister Morgenegg, and Sister Smith.
Gifts: Sister Henderson, Sister Johnson, and Sister Grace.

A comforter and pillows make Sister Price and Sister Forbush a very convincing camel.

All gather for one last photo.

After the Nativity Story we gathered back downstairs where the sisters had a white elephant exchange. The senior couples who serve at the centers put together gift bags for the sisters which were presented to them . There were some necessities and some fun items--toilet paper, tooth brushes, tooth paste, a scarf, ear muffs, a bath sponge, and hot chocolate.
Sister Jones holds her new scarf.

Sister Herrin is holding her roll of toilet paper.

The sisters pose with their new ear muffs and scarves.

Excitement for the week was coming upon this car that was on fire with three police cars and a fire truck arriving with minutes of each other. From the look of things, I think this car is toast!

Week 17--December 15-22, 2019

We have two Christmas trees at the Independence Visitors' Center. This one is located on the upper level.

Transfers happened this week so the missionaries could be home to celebrate Christmas with their families. Many of the sisters gather for a group photo.

Sister and Elder Larsen visit with Elder Harrington on the cool morning.

 A photo of some of the elders. The short elder in the middle is Elder Bailey who was lovingly referred to in the mission as Elder Smiles. He always had a smile on his face. He went home and we will miss him.

These sisters all went home. We had the opportunity to serve with most of them at the Visitors' Centers.
Pictured: Sisters Horman, Barney, Dance, Taylor, Ireland, Spencer, and Ells.

 A sister in the Liberty area made these cute candy cane Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for the sisters at the Jail.

A photo of the sisters with their Rudolphs.

Picture: Sisters Mickelson, Villegas, Nabhan, Jones, Coronado, and Heiner. (Sister Heiner is a Visa-waiter going to Hong Kong.)

 We went to Union Station this week. The station was built in 1914.  Since the decline of the rail industry, the building has become a hub for many activities including a restaurant, gift shops, a science center, an escape room, a museum, and is currently hosting the Gengis Khan exhibit.

The Holiday Express Train had arrived at Union Station and will be here for a few days. The train takes short runs and they invite kids to ride.  {They also serve hot chocolate.)  The idea is a takeoff from the Polar Express.

The 40 foot Christmas Tree in the main lobby was gorgeous.

There were dozens of model trains set up throughout Union Station. The kids (and adults too), spent hours watching in fascination. The trains are privately owned and maintained by hobbyists who, dressed in engineer overalls, maintain the equipment. 

The detail for the villages, towns, shrubbery, and people shows the love and attention from many individuals who only care to share their love of trains with others.

Rather than set the trains up against a wall, here can be seen the detail of the miniature mountains.

There are a few of the original wooden benches throughout Union Station that would have been utilized by the many travelers who passed though the station.

 There was an exhibit of Genghis Khan at Union Station when we went. He was a very interesting individual. The exhibit explored the culture, conquests, and heritage of the world's greatest conqueror...the man Time Magazine and The Washington Post names "The Most Important Person of the Last Millennium."

 A  model yurt that he would have lived in and is still the home for many Mongolians today.  We saw hundreds of these yurts when we were in Mongolia.

 Stringed instruments played by the Mongolians.

There was a show put on by a man who travels with the exhibit that played the instruments and performed throat singing, an art that hasn't been embraced by any other culture.

This mask of an Old White Man is worn during a dance to fight off curses.  He dances with his eight children who wear the masks like the one below.

This mask features three eyes, one looking into the Past, Present, and Future. The five skulls are meant to protect us form the Human Sins: War, Greed, Gossip, Adultery, and Theft.

Masks and art work were available for purchase.

After the Genghis Khan exhibit we went to Jack Stack for dinner. Our dessert was warm carrot cake with a warm cream cheese sauce and pecans. Very yummy! We had to share this one as we were so full from the wonderful barbecue dinners we had just eaten.

We ended our day by going to see the Piano Guys. A wonderful concert filled with Christmas songs and humor.  The sold out auditorium which seats 3000, was built in 1927 and is as elegant as we've seen.

Week 16--Dec 8-14, 2019

These five wonderful sisters are going home next week . They had the opportunity to share their testimonies at their final Friday Morning Training Meeting. We have come to love each of them. We will miss them.
Pictured: Sister Ireland, Sister Taylor, Sister Spencer, Sister Horman, and Sister Ells.

Friday night was the first of several Christmas concerts at the Independence Visitors' Center. It was Hispanic Night with Victor Olvera and the Santa Fe Ward. Three of our sisters performed with the group.
Sister Barajas and Sister Herrin on the left back row. Sister Villegas is the right of the back row.

Sister Villegas (on the left) and Sister Taylor (on the right) were soloists for a number. Sister Taylor doesn't speak Spanish but with coaching from Sister Villegas she was able to pronounce the words correctly and did a wonderful job. She also had never performed a solo before.

Saturday night the sisters from Independence Visitors' Center and Historic Liberty Jail performed. They have been practicing for several weeks. They sounded like angels from heaven.
Both sets of sisters performed several numbers together. Sister Morgenegg was the soloist for the number. Front Row: Sisters Ireland, Price, Durfee, Villegas, Barajas, Smith, Nackos, Morgenegg, DeLeon, Pomeroy, Taylor, Horman.
Middle Row: Sisters Nabhan, Flindt, Mickelson, Walker.
Back Row: sisters Holdeman, Jones, Coronado, Sotelo, Henderson, Smith, Ells, Spencer, Herrin, and Salois.

The sisters from Liberty Jail performed "A Mother's Christmas Lullaby", "If I Were a Shepherd", and "What Child is This."
Front Row: Sisters Villegas, Sotelo,  Henderson, Pomeroy, Horman, and Taylor.
Back Row: Sisters Jones, Coronado, Ells, and Walker.
Sister Daniels was the chorister.

Sister Spencer performed a solo.  We had no idea she had such a beautiful voice.  Her rendition of "Some Children See Him," was angelic.  She is from our home stake in Blackfoot.

 Sister Ells performed "Angels We Have Heard on High."

 The sisters at Independence Visitors' Center performed "Nativity Medley", "Where You There", and "Shine for Me Again: Star of Bethlehem."
Front Row: Sisters Durfee, Barajas, Ireland, Price, Mickelson, Nackos, Smith, and DeLeon.
Back Row: Sisters Holdeman, Nabhan, Salois, Flindt, Spencer, Herrin, Smith, and Morgenegg. 
Sister Cannon was the chorister.

All of the sisters sang "Mary's Boy Child" with Elder Dunn. 

 A few sisters from the VC perfrom "Mary Did You Know" together.
Pictured: Sisters Holdeman, Durfee, Ireland, Nackos, Smith, and Herrin.

Sister Horman brought her viola with her on her mission. She has been able to use it several times in Sacrament Meetings. She performed "O Holy Night."

The Spanish sisters perform "Campana sobre Campana" (Bells Upon Bells) together.
Pictured: Sisters Villegas, Sotelo, Coronado, and DeLeon.

Sister Smith was the accompanist for several of the numbers. She is assigned to our Ward (Hill Park), and is an excellent missionary.

Sister Cummings, the mission secretary, was an accompanist also.

The concert was well attended, and was a huge success.  The future of this concert seem in doubt, as the sisters assigned to serve in the visitors' centers starting in 2020 will serve only during the busy summer months. They will then go to another mission to complete their missions.











On Thurssday we went to see "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood." Tom Hanks did a great job of portraying Mr. Rogers.  We loved the message, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. We  recommend it highly.