OUR TRAVEL TO ... AND OUR ARRIVAL AT OUR MISSION DESTINATION

Hello Family and Friends,

We just wanted to give you an update about us. We pray that you are all doing well, even with the challenges we all have to deal with as part of earth life.

As we mentioned before, the week at the MTC was indeed incredible. The weekend after completing the MTC we spent getting together with family in the Salt Lake Valley. Saturday we went  to the Aldridge family reunion. Dan's brother and sister-in-law, LeGrand and Charlene, were in charge of it and their children helped a lot.  It was wonderful to interact with extended family. 

We left bright and early from the MTC on Monday morning, the 13th of June. We were on the road by 6:30.  We find it fascinating to drive across the country and enjoy the countryside. Monday night we stayed in Sidney, Nebraska. It seems to be a pretty depressed area.  Tuesday night we stayed in Coralville, Iowa.  We ate dinner at a Jimmie John's Sandwich shop.  They have a drive-thru, and while we were eating a little boy on a bicycle drove across the drive-thru area.  Dad waved at him and in a couple of minutes he came through the front door.  He was alone.  He asked the clerk at the counter for a drink of water.  He kept hanging around and smiling at us.  We struck up a conversation. We found out his name was Boston and he was 5 years old.  He has two brothers 9 and 10 and a baby sister that doesn't live at their house, she lives with his Mom somewhere else. He and his brothers live with their Dad.  He has a babysitter named Brandi.  We asked if his Dad knew where he was and he was very vague, and it seemed like he made a habit of wandering around on his own. I thought of Dallin and even of Cooper, how scary.  I asked him if he had eaten dinner and he said no.  I asked him if he had had lunch and he said no. Dad asked if he had lunch the day before and he said he had. We asked if he was hungry and he enthusiastically said yes.  We found out what kind of sandwich he would like. He had roast beef with lettuce and tomato. It was an 8 inch sandwich and he quickly ate about 7 inches of it along with some chips.  The female clerk asked him about his parents and when she found out he was alone she called the police.  The policeman came, loaded his bicycle into the car and asked Boston to show him where he lived.  It was a very sad experience. I thought a lot about Boston, and it was a reminder of all the children across the world that are hungry and uncared for.  We are all truly blessed.  Things aren't always easy in our lives, but we have so much to be grateful for.

Wednesday night we stayed in Mentor, Ohio. We were only about 25 miles from Cleveland.  The scenery is getting much more green and so so many trees. Nat would have loved the sight. We have had a couple of pretty bad thunder storms and heavy rain, but  feel grateful that it didn't last too long.

Thursday we were able to go to the Church site for the Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood.  It was an incredible place. The church has restored two homes on the property that is in Harmony, Pennsylvania.  This is where Emma's parents lived. Emma's father was very well respected in the area and was quite well to do.  He never did like Joseph too much, but he invited Joseph and Emma down to stay with them.  There was another house on his property that other Emma's older brother had lived in, but was available for Joseph and Emma to move into.  It was here, in this home that about 70% of the Book of Mormon was translated.  Oliver Cowdery had come to meet Joseph and became his scribe.  It was across the road from Joseph and Emma's home that Joseph and Oliver were given the Aaronic Priesthood by John the Baptist and then they baptized each other.  The church also owns the area down the road that leads to the Susquennah River where the baptizing took place.  It is an incredible place.  The spirit is so strong there.  They show a film that isn't shown anywhere else about this process.  This is also where Joseph and Emma buried their first born child, a son.  Joseph and Emma are truly amazing people.  Not only was Joseph the Prophet of the Restoration with all that entails, but when you realize all of the problems, challenges and heartache they endured during their earth life experience, I admire them even more.  We can all do whatever the Lord has in mind for us to do. We must build our faith, seek to feel the Spirit and strive everyday to put our will on the altar.  The sister missionaries serving there are so great, they have so much knowledge and their testimonies strong. They are such valuable assets in this great work.

Thursday night we spent the night in Vestal/Binghamton, New York.  On Friday morning we drove to the New Hampshire Mission office. We met two couples that work in the office and picked up some supplies.  We were also able to meet the AP's as they came into the office while we were there (one is from France, but going home 6/21).  The office was pretty much a BIG MESS.  They are going to be moving the office into a Church building, just like we did in the Roseville mission while we were serving there.

We arrived in Portland, Maine at about 5:00 PM.  We went to the apartment that we would be moving into the next day.  We met Elder and Sister Adams, the couple we are replacing. They showed us the apartment and answered many questions.  They showed us where the church house is, just up the street from where we live.  They showed us where they grocery shop and we even went up to the famous landmark, "The Portland Head Light". They were very nice and very helpful in familiarizing us with the area and some to the responsibilities they had that we would need to follow through in also doing.

On Saturday morning we attended a baptism at 10:00.  Two men in their 50's were being baptized.  One man was from Angola, Africa.  While he was in Angola he pretty much had the missionary lessons over the phone with sister missionaries in Salt Lake city.  When he moved to Portland, ME, he walked over the bridge to South Portland, ME to find the church house.  He told the missionaries he wanted to be baptized.  He speaks Portuguese as his first language, then French next and a little English.  The second man being baptized has been having lessons and dealing with the missionaries for 5 years. He was a former Methodist minister. It was a great baptism.  We were able to meet a few people from the ward. They asked Dan to give the closing prayer. Since he had one baptizee that spoke French and the other one spoke English, he gave the prayer in both languages. According to his wife :-), he did a very good job and Christian, the man from Angola, was very appreciative.

Sunday morning we had Church at 9:00.  We both certainly had butterflies.  We met and greeted many people.  While Dan was still talking to people, Barbara went into the chapel and sat by a lady she was sure was from Africa. Her name was Beatrice and she is from Rwanda. She was very nice and worked hard to speak English.  She is taking classes to learn English and also classes to get a job.  The ward had no deacons to pass the sacrament and no priests to bless the sacrament.  We don't know if there are any in the ward and were just not there today or what.  The Bishop was conducting and announced that he would like us to come up and bear our testimonies.  Barbara reflected that she hadn't  been called out of the congregation to bear testimony, not knowing beforehand, for about 55 years.  It was an experience ... but a wonderful one. Barbara is well received here and people from Africa and others of local origin have already expressed their love for her (not a surprise to her husband :-).  

Following Sacrament meeting. we attended the Gospel Essentials in French.  The lesson was all about the Sacrament.  Barbara couldn't understand most of the words, but was able to follow somewhat in English from the manual. According to Barbara, Dan did a great job of interjecting comments (also, according to his wife).  The African people seem to be so appreciative of Dan and his ability to communicate with them.  We were both surprised at the level of education of the people from Africa.  They speak well and look sharp.  Yes, as foretold, they are quite well educated people. We are anxious to get better acquainted.  The missionary that is the most fluent in French goes home on Wednesday morning. The other two French speaking elders are very nervous to take over that responsibility.

We are getting settled into our home, here in Portland, ME, which is in a lovely, well established neighborhood, about 2 miles from the famous "Portland Head Light" (see pictures below). It is a beautiful area (see some pictures below). It is kind of fun building our new "nest" together. But, so much to do and we are so tired and "hurting", especially very late Saturday night. We live in a 2 bedroom home with a relatively small kitchen a dining room (where we have to eat all meals) and a quite large living room that adjoins the dining room (which we could use for meetings in our home overflow seating). We are on the main floor of this building, that was probably, originally a large home that has been made into 3 separate apartments, one on each level. The home also has a basement. That is where we have a nice washer and dryer. What more could one ask. Though quite dated, it is wonderful. So grateful.

     IN FRONT OF THE NEW AARONIC PRIESTHOOD HISTORICAL RESTORATION SITE

  JOSEPH AND EMMA'S HOME & PROPERTY THAT THEY WERE BUYING, CLOSE TO HER                             PARENT'S HOME (HALES) IN HARMONY, PENNSYLVANIA

                        EMMA'S PARENTS HOME (HALES) - HARMONY, PENNSYLVANIA

      THE GRAVE-SITE, AND RESTORED HEADSTONE, FOR JOSEPH AND EMMA'S FIRST                                                                          CHILD (A SON)

SITE WHERE THE RESURRECTED "JOHN THE BAPTIST" RESTORED THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD UPON JOSEPH SMITH AND OLIVER COWDERY

THE SITE, ON THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER, WHERE JOSEPH SMITH BAPTIZED OLIVER COWDERY, AND OLIVER COWDERY BAPTIZED JOSEPH SMITH

Love you all.