December Blog

We had a busy December to conclude our work here for 2015. Our usual duties of visiting members and investigators continued. We also had responsibilities in the Branch during the week and on Sundays as well. In addition, we had a weekly meeting with the Elders and Sisters in our District, which generally required us to travel to Potsdam, NY, which is about 35 miles from Ogdensburg.

This month we also participated in a Zone Conference at the beginning of the month and we had a wonderful Mission-wide conference in the middle of the month. Then we concluded the month by hosting the Elders and Sisters in our District for Christmas Eve, which included a District Meeting, dinner, and some Christmas Caroling. It was a fun evening. Then on Christmas Day, we had the missionaries at our home for a big breakfast, gift exchange and gift openings. After that, we had a nice lunch and provided our computers so the Elders and Sisters could make their personal calls to their respective families.

We love the Elders and Sisters and feel blessed to associate with them. They are wonderful young people with deep faith and commitment to the Savior. While they have contact with their families via email and snail mail on a weekly basis, they only have the opportunity to talk to them on the phone or via Skype on Mothers’ Day and Christmas. Our capacity to help them with their calls was a privilege.

We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in Montreal. We were able to go to the temple, see a few sites and then have a wonderful dinner downtown. It's only a two hour drive from our place here in Ogdensburg so it seemed like a fun place to celebrate.

Our Charlie Brown tree and the Missionaries

Jim in front of the Montreal Temple

Group outside on Christmas Eve - not as cold as last Christmas but windy

Our District Missionaries at Christmas

The shoes lined up from largest to smallest - size 13 to 7

Missionary Pyramid

Missionary Pyramid

November Blog

November marked the one-year anniversary of our missionary work here in the New York Utica Mission. It doesn’t seem possible that we have been here that long. Fortunately, we enjoy the time here and the experiences we are having. We have come to love the people in this area and are glad to be here and able to provide some little measure of help and support.

During the month of November we continued with our routines. We visited with a number of people who seem to suffer from the difficulties that life can bring. In addition, we are both involved with helping our little Branch of the LDS Church here in Ogdensburg try to fulfill its mission. We were also able to help members and non-members with their family history research.

Early in the month we were blessed to have our daughter Michelle and our oldest grandson Ryan here to spend about a week with us. It was fun to have them here and Michelle was even able to get her work done while away from her office it Tucson. Technology can be wonderful!

One of the great blessings in our life is the time we are able to spend with the full-time missionaries in the area. These are wonderful young people who give eighteen months for young women or two years for young men of their lives teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are always amazed by their obedience and commitment and we even get to assist them on occasion when they are teaching investigators.

Of course, on November 4^th, Jim celebrated the 40^th anniversary of his 29^th birthday. Then later on in the month we celebrated Thanksgiving by serving a wonderful dinner at the Salvation Army and then enjoying a great meal with the Gaines family from our Branch. It was a wonderful time and we are so thankful for so many blessings in our life.   

One unusual but happy note is that we went through the month of November without any snow, and the temperatures while chilly, were unseasonably warm for this time of year in the North Country. We suspect that condition won’t hold much longer but we will enjoy it until winter inevitably sets in.  

The McKenzies from Gouverneur who spend 4-5 months in their native Jamaica. 

He is 82 and is always outside working on something in his yard or garden. 

They both have such a great sense of humor - we just love them!

Elizabeth enjoying the music.

Our newest member, Ayden. He is just the sweetest young boy!

We enjoyed having our daughter Michelle and grandson Ryan here for a few days. 

We treated them to lunch at Busters. Good times!

October Blog

Palmyra Temple grounds

We continued to attend to our normal routines throughout the month, which included visiting many members of our Branch and working with the missionaries when teaching some investigators. We also attended our regular meetings during the week and on Sundays so we stayed pretty busy with those activities. On October 23, we took three of our Branch Members to Palmyra to the Temple. It was such a beautiful day and experience with those good people.

Early in the month, we were thrilled to watch our General Conference proceedings from Salt Lake City. It was great. Then we had a mission-wide conference, which was led by Elder Randall K. Bennett of the Seventy, a General Authority of the Church. After that, we hosted Elder Marc Clay, an Area Authority Seventy here in Ogdensburg. We have known Elder Clay and his wife Kathy for over 30 years. In fact, we once lived in the same Ward in Columbus, Ohio. They have remained dear friends for all of these years.

Near the end of the month, we were excited to have one of our granddaughters, Courtney Seymour and her daughter (our great-granddaughter) McKenzie, come from Ohio for a short visit.  We had a great time with them. We were so glad that Courtney was able to make the trip with McKenzie. It was so much fun to have little McKenzie around and to get to know her a little better. She is two-years old and a total delight!

Fall colors & fun...

McKenzie (great-granddaughter)

Courtney & McKenzie at Alexandria Bay

PUMPKIN FESTIVAL

Over 6,000 pumpkins were used for this festival in Canada - about 30 minutes away. 

September Blog

With our missionaries

At the beginning of the month, we enjoyed celebrating Linda’s birthday by taking a quick trip to Watertown where we had fun seeing a movie and then going out for a nice dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. Of course, the normal activities of our mission continued. We love visiting the members and working with the less active and investigators. Then we attended our routine meetings as well. Those have been identified in previous posts on this Blog so we won’t repeat them here.

By the end of the month, we could feel the effects of the fall season. Our nights were cooling down and the leaves were beginning to change colors. We are sure that October will be spectacular. The days were also cooler but still quite nice, which we totally enjoyed. It sure makes getting out and traveling to make our visits easier and more pleasant. Another indicator that winter is just around the corner is the number of people closing up their “camps,” which are houses along the St. Lawrence River and pulling their boats out of the water. And of course, watching the squirrels gather their winter supplies is always a good indication of things to come.

There are other “senior missionaries” in the different Branches of the Church here and we have been meeting with them once a month to see their area and to exchange ideas and information about our different areas. This month we visited Saranac Lake and Lake Placid and had a chance to tour the 1980 Olympic venues and to see the fall colors in that area.

At the very end of the month, we were thrilled to have our daughter Michelle and her husband Dale come for a visit (pictures below). We filled their time here with some wonderful sights of upstate New York. We had a great trip and visit to Palmyra, the birthplace of our Church. While there, we visited the Temple, walked through the Sacred Grove, and toured the E B Grandin Print shop where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed. Then we also made a quick trip to Niagara Falls, which we had seen many years ago when we lived in Ohio. We had forgotten just how massive the Falls are. It’s such an amazing sight!

Our building was being cleaned one day, so the missionaries had to teach outside.

Fresh goodness at a Amish stand

Saw this sign across from one of the Amish stands

More missionary fun at our place

Missionary fun at our place

There is always someone who can play our piano

They are everywhere!

Seriously... EVERYWHERE!

On the Ferry - headed out to the castles on the different islands

Boldt Castle (on one of the Thousand Islands)

Singer Castle (again, on one of the Thousand Islands)

Niagara Falls

Visit to Joseph Smith's home in Palmyra with Dale & Michelle.

Lunch in Saranac Lake with the senior couples from our Zone.

Lake Placid Olympic Center - 1980 Winter Olympic Site

Skiing in the summer at the Olympic Park.  No snow to cushion a fall.

Beginning to look like fall in the Adirondacks. 

The sunsets on the St. Lawrence are amazing!