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.