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.