The Christmas SeasNeon

This Christmas season has been one of wonder, surprise, and awe.  I have met and visited with more people than ever before.  The children have come with wonder in their eyes at the lights and the magic 3D glasses, the treats and the animals.  The teens have come just to partake of the beauty that the lights show.  The adults have loved it all.  Watching the kids of all ages love the Christmas season has been fun for me.

We have had people say "Who is this Joseph Smith?" One woman asked who the picture above the fireplace was; Roger explained,  "it is the Lord Jesus Christ."  She said, "Oh, I thought it might be. I have heard of Him."  We have a lighted simulation of a covered bridge.  It is everyone's favorite.  One couple, who looked down on their luck and hard in their countenances, came into the residence where we have refreshments, and said "We have walked through the covered bridge; do you know there is a special spirit there? We would like to stay there forever." There is a way they can feel this all the time.  They must seek for Christ in their lives.

The Joseph Smith Birthplace Monument

There is a quote by Joseph B. Wirthlin of the the Council of the Twelve Apostles;   

 "Next to Bethlehem where the Savior was born, this site, the Birthplace of Joseph Smith, is one of the most sacred spots on the face of the earth, and if we are worthy, we would see the angels that hover over the trees protecting this spot and those who are here."

I know this to be true.  I have felt the spirit of the Lord moving me in ways to greet and love all of his children who have come here. I know he is no respecter of persons and I am blessed to be able to bear testimony of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith bears solemn testimony of the Savior also along with Sidney Ridgdon:

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father-

That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters of God."

I know this to be true!  It is the hastening of the work!

December 15, 2014

Today is special. We have two birthdays in our family.  Elisabeth was born in our old age and quickly became a wonderful blessing to us. Emily is 20 today and is serving a mission teaching the people in Lima, Peru, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

                               HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I thought today I should document our living accommodations, since we are praying for a change to something above ground.

The fourplex we live in is on Carron Circle in South Royalton.
(Phil), upstairs to the left, smokes, mostly outside, but a lot and loves to talk to Roger about being a Vietnam Vet. The woman (Merideth) upstairs, from us has a grandchild on the weekends. The running and jumping that children do, sometimes sounds like she is coming through the ceiling. She is nice to us but does not like the other neighbors. The man that lives across the hall from us owns a Pizza place in Royalton and is gone most of the time.  He is not very noisy but has not won Merideth over.  They all need the gospel in their lives, but are not interested.

We have basically four rooms, seven steps and you can be in any of the rooms. 

The living room.  We have three recliners, each look like they came from a Goodwill store.  They are clean, I know because I have cleaned them. The computer is acting as our TV right now.

The kitchen is barely adequate.  The stove is new but the fridge is making a sound like an airplane flying through the room each time it turns on.  The table and chairs are nice (the nicest furniture we have).  The little machine on the floor to the left is a dehumidifier. I guess they become a coveted commodity in the summer.

The bedroom is mostly bed.  There are about 18 inches that surround the bed.  There is a little ledge that goes along the outside wall that we put some of out things on (watches, phones, etc.)

We do have a second bedroom that is a little smaller than the master.

This is our Christmas Tree for this year.  It is small but we have two absolutely beautiful trees we see and are around most of the time. We will be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the Visitors Center.  We look forward to this wonderful way to spend our Christmas.

We are keeping our eyes open for an apartment above ground.  I love the light that can come into my house when I can keep the window covers open. 

We have had a very busy time since coming to Vermont.  We usually have a six hour shift each day to greet people and take tours through the Visitors Center.  This Joseph Smith Memorial Birthplace has a special spirit about it.  It is set in the mountains, surrounded by forests.  

New England is just what I thought it would be.  The mountains are not the tower craggy type in wide open spaces that we can see from our home in Utah, rather they are rolling with trees, and small towns nestled in among the trees. 

At Christmas time, for the month of December, the Visitors Center is lighted up just like Temple Square in Salt Lake (only on a smaller scale).  People come from all over New England to see these lights.  Thursday and Friday nights after Thanksgiving, we had the lighting ceremony and program.  The local Stakes put on a live Nativity each of those nights. They were touching.  This is open to the public and over 750 people attended the two nights. There are many now who come and drive by to see the lights and if they stop and come in. We have cookies and cider for them.

 
This picture shows a very few lights.  The white lights in the back are made to look like a covered bridge.

I love this nativity in front of the monument.  It looks cold with the snow.

These cute little animals are here too for the little kids to touch.

I am loving this experience.

(This is Roger.)  I have been studying the history of this monument since coming here.  The question is: exactly where was the Prophet born?  A great Master's thesis was done by Keith Erekson.  Junius H. Wells was appointed by the First Presidency to determine the exact location of the birth before the Church purchased the property.

Brother Wells did his research well.  Joseph and his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, both said Joseph was born in Sharon, Winsor County, Vermont.  But determining the exact spot was tough because the county line between Sharon and South Royalton ran right through the Smith Cabin.   So, it came down to whether Joseph was born in the bedroom (Sharon County) or the kitchen (South Royalton).

The controversy has never been settled.  But, since both Joseph and Lucy said it was Sharon, I guess Joseph was born in the bedroom.

We are here!  The road was long, long, long, but the Lord cleared the way each day.  There were mornings when we would start out and the sky would be cloudy and looking like a storm was coming; then the clouds would part and the sun would shine and we would drive on dry roads.

We saw many things:

Trucks

Signs: like Des Moines, Iowa

Beautiful farms and country sides

Wonderful Kirtland Ohio

We are happy to be here in little South Royalton, Vermont.

Today is our last day at the Provo, Missionary Training Center.  We have had an incredibly enlightening experience that has touched our hearts deeply.  We have met many other wonderful couples called to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. There are seventy couples in our large group preparing to serve in seventeen different countries.  We have made wonderful friendships.  As we each part ways today we will each be "inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." There is a hastening of the work.

We were divided into district groups of six couples where we learned a great deal of how good these people really are.

Our District
Left to right: The Hart's, Petersen's, Sanders, Sister McAdams, Lee's, and Daly's

We each taught non member/ less active people from the community.  These were wonderful people who had life stories that touched my heart.  I was very apprehensive and a lot scared.  I was amazed how the Lord blessed our lessons and we felt His guidance as we taught.  When I read Alma 14 my heart was broken and the tears softly fell.  The scriptures have always been dear to my heart but when I read this story I gain a deep assurance that God lets these things happen to bring about his righteous judgments.
  
Yesterday, (Monday the 17th) we met at the Salt Lake Temple Visitors' Center to have the young Sister Missionaries give us a tour of the center.  I don't believe I have ever seen the display on the "Family."  It was very tender; in fact, the whole tour was.  These two sisters, one from Thailand and the other from Japan, were able to convey the Spirit of the Lord.  My heart is full to bursting,  I wish I could have everyone I meet have these sweet feelings and know that God is in the Heaven and Jesus Christ is our Savior.  I love them with all my heart. Susan

Sister from Thailand, Susan, Sister from Japan, Roger

Susan asked me (Roger) to tell this story from Monday.  As we were finishing our tour of the Salt Lake Visitors' Center.  A young man came up to our small group.  The sisters immediately knew him.  He was a recent convert to the Church.  He was very bright. His father was Jewish and his mother a Catholic.  He had studied carefully both cultures.  In his studies he found that the Jewish scriptures talk of a Messiah who has already come.  He talked to the Rabbis and showed them the scriptures.  They told him not to come back.  He went to the Catholic priests and read with them for a while, but here he found scriptures that said the priests should be married.  He told them so.  And they asked him not to come back.

He then began to travel across the the United States looking for answers.  He came to his mother's house.  On TV he saw an add for a free Book of Mormon.  He sent for it, and when it came he read it from cover to cover.  He noticed the many Hebraisms in the text, and he read it with great interest.  When he came to Moroni 10 he actually prayed about the truth of the book.  He received a powerful answer.  So, he called the Call Center at Temple Square.  A wonderful sister began talking to him.  By this time he had come to Salt Lake City.  He was sitting on the reflecting pool at Temple Square and he was talking to this sister.  He didn't know where she was located.  He thought she might have been answering his call from a foreign country because she was a foreign missionary.

He finally said to her, "Where are you speaking from?"  She answered, "I'm in Salt Lake City."  They were only 100 yards apart. She immediately came out of the Call Center and met him for the first time.  To make a long story short, he was baptized on 26 August of this year.  And he just received the Aaronic Priesthood last week.  To hear his story was truly an inspiration. 

Susan and I had an interesting discussion tonight.  It began when we were trying to anticipate a lesson we're going to teach in class. We began reading the lesson diligently; suddenly we asked ourselves what we believed, personally.

We are supposed to teach the concept that God is our Heavenly Father.  I asked Susan how she knew God was her Father.  How so I know that!  We have two kids who are asking themselves this same question.  I finally answered Susan that I knew God was my Father first because the scriptures testify that He really is our Father.  1 John 3:1-3 says "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see him as he is."

When Anne died I was devastated.  So was Susan.  There was no way to face the reality that she was gone without believing in God our Father.  we reached a level in our prayers that we had hitherto not known.  Since that time we have had communications with her from the Spirit World.  Like Joseph Smith we KNOW.  And we know that God knows that we know,

So that's where it begins.  The scriptures teach us what is right, and then our own personal experience with the Holy Spirit confirms the truth.    

Roger and I have been called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We have prepared our whole married life for this opportunity. 

With this call we will be leaving our home and family and our normal everyday life.  We will be leaving this beautiful Morgan Valley and this view from our deck.  However, we will be in another part of this amazing nation where trees are thick and change to beautiful colors in the fall.  We are excited.

                                               Our Mission Begins November 10th 2014.