July Blog

Enjoyed the fireworks over the St. Lawrence River

We have enjoyed another wonderful month in the “North Country” as missionaries. Of course, we have continued with our usual activities that take us into the homes of our members and investigators. We now have a new Mission President and just like our past president, he is terrific. In addition, we continue to volunteer at the Salvation Army’s soup kitchen and food pantry. Both activities provide a lot of assistance to people who are struggling in one fashion or another. 

During the month, we were privileged to take a family from our little Branch to see the Pageant in Palmyra. That event is amazing and literally draws thousands of people from all over the country and even a number of countries outside of the U.S. It was an amazing production and we really enjoyed it.

On a more personal note, we had a visit from Linda’s brother and his wife from Aurora, Colorado. We were able to show them some of the sites in this area. It was fun and we really enjoyed having them here with us. Then, late in the month we were visited by our long-time friends, Tom and Pat Baca from College Station, Texas. We made another trip to Palmyra with them to see and attend the Temple there. We also visited the Frederic Remington Art Museum, which is right here in Ogdensburg. In addition, we took a day trip to Sharon, Vermont to see the birthplace of Joseph Smith. There is a wonderful Visitor’s Center there and it was great to see it. We learned that Tom has an ancestor who was from Kingston, Canada so we made a trip there with them to seek out some genealogy information. It’s a quaint little town and not too far from us. On our way home, we went to Alexandria Bay where we went to see the famous “Boldt Castle.” It is an amazing place with a great story and just 30 minutes from our house. There is much to see in this area and our guest room is just waiting for visitors!

We are really enjoying the weather as it has been in the low 80’s with some wonderful thunderstorms. It cools off into the high 50’s to mid 60’s at night. We are looking forward to the beauty of the fall in Upstate New York and a drive through the Adirondacks when the leaves are at the peak of change.

Mission office in Utica

Ausable Chasm in Keeseville, NY - they call it the Grand Canyon of the east.

Nope! Didn't even try that.

Didn't try that either. We were on the wrong side of the river, thank goodness.

Sacred Grove

Sacred Grove

Birthplace of Joseph Smith - Sharon, VT. 
The monument is composed of polished granite cut from a nearby quarry. 
Sitting atop a series of bases, an inscription stone, and a molded cap, the obelisk stone
rises 38½ feet, one foot for every year of the Prophet’s life.

Palmyra - Hill Cumorah Pageant

Remington Art Museum w/Tom & Pat Baca

Underground Railroad Museum - fascinating history of slaves headed to Canada.

Finally met Sister McCormies from Arizona!

There are many locals who rely on the food bank and meals provided by the Salvation Army. 

We are grateful to be able to volunteer with our missionaries a couple of times a week.

Missionaries playing on the beach

Alexandria Bay at sunset

June Blog

We had another wonderful month in the New York Utica Mission.  As usual now, our month was filled with active work with the less active members in the area and assisting the young missionaries with teaching some investigators.  We continued to serve as volunteers for the Salvation Army’s Soup Kitchen on Tuesday afternoons and their food pantry on Friday mornings.  All of those activities have kept us busy.  We feel so blessed to be having wonderful experiences as missionaries and have come to love the people here in our area. 

Salvation Army Captains Angela & Tim Shaffer.
They were just transferred last week to CT.  

Our building

We occasionally have a break in the action with the missionaries.  We have hosted an activity day on a Monday, which is P-Day.  You will see a picture or two of just such events.  Then, one morning before our District Missionary Meeting, we all went to breakfast at a restaurant that has a “Flapjack Challenge,” which five of the Elders tried to do.  They had 45 minutes to eat one pancake.  The catch was that the one pancake was enormous.  None of our big, strong, Elders could do it.  Again note the accompanying photos for proof of that event.  Apparently only one Elder in this Zone has actually completed the challenge and earned a t-shirt acknowledging his accomplishment.  It was really fun watching their smiles and enthusiasm at the beginning and then the looks of defeat at the end. 

Sister Johnson, Sister Munoz, Elder Peckham, Elder Geminert, Elder Wing & Elder Winkel

Elder Geminert - he's heading home on 7/8/2015

We had several brief excursions away from our area in Ogdensburg.  At the very beginning of the month, we enjoyed a brief visit to Utah where we witnessed the graduation of Victoria (Toria) Knight, our granddaughter, from High School. 

Next we had an activity with the five other senior couples in our Zone and President & Sister Wirthlin at the Eisenhower Lock on the St. Lawrence River.  We were able to watch a cargo ship make its way through the lock.  It is really an impressive work of engineering and is only about a half hour drive from our home.  You may have heard in the news about the small cruise ship out of Montreal that hit the edge of the lock as it was entering – well that happened at this location.  

Then at the very end of the month, we made a quick trip to Saratoga Springs, NY to attend a fabulous concert presented by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Along the way, we were able to spend a little time traveling across Lake Champlain in a ferry and then driving through the northern area of Vermont and New York on our way back to Ogdensburg.

Most of you probably heard about the prison escape in Upstate NY.  That took place about 2 hours east of us and so we were very interested in the daily updates.  We were in the town of Malone (where much of the drama took place) the day after one was shot and killed and the day before the other was captured within a few miles of the town.  What a blessing it was that no one else was hurt during that 3 week ordeal.

The spring and summer months here are spectacular!  It is so green and beautiful it helps to make up for the significant winter months.  As we’ve mentioned previously, we live right on the bank of the St. Lawrence River, which is absolutely beautiful.  The St. Lawrence Seaway connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and we love being so close to such an important corridor of commerce.

May 2015

May was nothing short of wonderful.  Of course, we continued with the basic activities described in the March entry to this Blog.  We stay very busy but it is just such a positive and joyful work that we are simply enjoying the ride.

With the weather now solidly in the “nice” zone, we totally love seeing all of the green wherever we go.  In fact, we have decided that we prefer the green to the white.  It is interesting that places we go throughout the area look so different that on occasion we have actually missed a turn because we no longer recognized the area.  That is a good problem to have.

We have met so many wonderful people and we are just having a fabulous time getting to know them and helping to fill the gaps for the Church where needed.  One of the highlights of the month came when Jim took Elder Geminert and Elder Hamilton to Cooperstown, New York where they went to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Of course, Jim loved the trip as much or maybe even more than the Elders since he has been a baseball fan since he was a little boy.  It was a great experience.  Elder Geminert, who is from CA, was a high school baseball player before coming on his mission so President Wirthlin gave him permission to go see it before his mission ends in July.  How cool is that?

One of our favorite members (don’t tell the others) is Crystal.  She is 32 years old and lives in a full time care facility about 20 minutes from here.  She undergoes kidney dialysis every Monday, Wednesday and Friday but never complains.  She has spent many days and nights over the years in our local hospital for a variety of health issues.  She lifts OUR spirits every time we visit her and never fails to make us laugh.  The smile on her face when we walk in to see her is imbedded in our hearts forever.  The missionaries see her every week to share a Gospel message with her and play a game of dominoes.  We were blessed to show up the other day just as they were beginning so we got in on the action. 

Missionaries playing lawn darts!

Participating in "Red Nose" day for a good cause!

With the grass comes mowing.  Jim loves the riding mower!  I’m sure he mowed one day last week before he needed to but that’s beside the point, apparently.  The other mower is a different story and I’ll be taking over that task since it really hurts his back (all that snow shoveling sure didn’t help but will be turned over to the young missionaries next winter).  

Sunset - New York style

April 2015

We had another wonderful month in the mission.  With the improved weather, we are enjoying our work as missionaries even more.  It was nice to see the country without snow completely covering it – green has replaced it!  Our work routines continued to be the same but we did have a break to make a quick trip to Colorado where Jim was recognized by the Department of Agricultural Resource Economics as an inductee into their Hall of Fame.  Jim was totally surprised by the fact that both Brian and Michelle came with their children to be a part of the festivities (along with a few other family members).  When that was over, it was back to New York and the mission responsibilities, which we have come to love. 

Right after our return to New York we learned that the University of Arizona Alumni Association had also selected Jim to receive the Swede Johnson award for his work with students.  Therefore, we made another quick trip, this time to Arizona to receive the recognition.  Then it was back to New York for much more important work.

During the month, we traveled to Hermon, a little town about 25 miles from Ogdensburg where we have a number of members.  We try to get there about once or twice a month.  We also found ourselves going to Gouverneur several times where we are involved with members and investigators (people who are interested in learning more about the church) as well. 

It was a great month and as the month “screamed” by, the weather got better and we just continued to develop a love for the people we serve.  We have especially enjoyed the work with the full-time missionaries, who are terrific.

Shel's Note: Mom sends lots of pictures of her "critters" - I'm thinking she misses her dog, Sugie. (see below) 

HAWKS! Sugie would be running for cover if she'd gone with them!