January 2015

Here we are in a new year and woke to an ice storm on January 4^th.  Everything was covered in a sheet of ice, so our church meetings were cancelled for the day.  This was on top of about 6-8 inches of snow, which made travel in the area a bit precarious.  

We worked on some Family History and just enjoyed the quiet time to consider our mission responsibilities. 

Jim was asked by an elderly member of the branch to conduct and give the eulogy at the funeral of his wife on the 7^th.  It was a truly a wonderful experience and the family seemed pleased with all that was said. 

The community here is depressed economically, which puts most of our members at risk.  They are wonderful, but most are just “living on the edge.”  It is hard to know how to help them sometimes, but we know that the Gospel is the way to lighten their loads.  The difficulty is that many simply haven’t recognized that even in bad times, good things can be a part of their lives.  Thus, that is the “good news” we try to help them see and understand.

We’ve put about 4200 miles on our car since we arrived!  We drive several members to and from work on a regular basis and with all the visits and meetings it has added up quick.  We had snow tires put on the front after the first snow and that has sure been a necessary addition.  Looks like we’ll wear them out during the two winters we’ll be here. 

We are fortunate to be associated with two wonderful young missionaries on a daily basis.  They are such an inspiration to us as we watch how hard they work, how obedient they are, and how committed they are to serving for two years.  We had them and four other missionaries from the general area here for Christmas and had a wonderful time just being with them.  We are simply having a great time being missionaries. 

Christmas Day in our back yard with all the missionaries in our District.  No white Christmas for us.

Elder Knight, Sister Knight, Elder Hong, Elder Ounesavath, Elder Moore, Elder Hayes, Sister Hale, Sister Gelinas

Elder Ounesavath cooking made-to-order pancakes with pecans, blueberries, strawberries & chocolate chips.

Elder Hong is our official bacon fryer with his stylish apron.

Elder Knight is opening his ‘white elephant’ Christmas gift.
We had such a great time with all 6 missionaries here for Christmas Eve and Day.

Elder Ounesavath cooking our Christmas dinner!

Thank goodness this isn't our car!

The river has begun to freeze again with the sub-zero temps we've had for a few nights.

Squirrel in the backyard preparing for winter and watching me watching him.  So cute!

This is becoming a common occurrence.
We are fortunate to have a member of the church whose husband plows our driveway
by 6:30 am when it's needed - out of the goodness of his heart.

Ice on branches

Amish Buggy Parking at Walmart!

We met this Amish man, Brother Miller, and his son Sam who were selling baskets on the side of the road not far from Ogdensburg.  
We bought several items as gifts for family back home. 
(Shel's note: they are beautiful!)

Someone turning around in the driveway left behind this unintentional message.

No words needed.

So, this happened...