July 17, 2012

Hey, Everyone!
It has been a very busy week.
On Wednesday we went to Kalamazoo to bring Elder Snow and Elder Reese, his temporary companion, to Battle Creek. We didn't think we needed the gps because we had been to the Kalamazoo elder's apartments before. I took us off at the wrong exit. In trying to get turned around the gps (Maggie) took us on a great big loop west of here. We finally called Elder Snow, I had not brought the address, I knew where the apartment was, right? Well, we had been to the zone leader's apartment in a different part of town. We laughed at our adventures.
On the way back to BC we stopped off in Climax to visit with Tommy Doan, one of our favorite people.

Sam, Elder H, Me, Zach, Jake, Lupe

 On Thursday our friends, Hannah & Mike McCouch, were able to go to the Detroit temple to have their son sealed to them. We were excited for them. Mike and Hannah were married a year ago last May. Mike has two daughters, Hannah has one son. Now they are having one together. "Your's, Mine, & Ours" all over again. Mike just recently graduated from college, too. Lots of good things are happening to them.
Also, on Thursday, we got our new elder, straight from the MTC. His name is Elder Patterson and he is from BOISE, IDAHO! He is an awesome elder and it is hard to believe he has only been out a few days. He is very prepared. He is six foot four inches tall and loves basketball. He hopes to continue playing at college when he goes home. He loves Coach Pete and the Broncos!

Elder Patterson & Elder Snow

Elder Patterson from BOISE, IDAHO!!!

Our thought and prayers were in Jerome with the Farnsworths all week, but particularly on Saturday as they gathered to celebrate Keith's life. We heard it was wonderful, and we are sure it was. We will miss him. We love Virginia and all of their family.
Also on Saturday, we were thrilled to have Zachary & Jake Clay get baptized. They love to wrestle around with the elders. I took them aside and asked them to try really hard to quietly reflect on their baptism and what it means, telling them that when it was all over, they could play with the elders all they wanted. They did a super job of being reverent. The spirit was strong. They were really happy.
Their dad, Michael, came. He is not a member of the church, but is very supportive of Lupe and what she is trying to do. He loves these boys. Afterwards, he commented that he had never seen anything like it. I told him that it was the same way that Jesus was baptized and so it was the right way for us to do it. He said, "It feels right." He is going to meet with us to learn more about the gospel. He also came on Sunday to see the boys get confirmed. They had other family there who are not active and not members. It was nice.
Lupe and I were talking after the baptism. I said that I didn't know how we are going to get along without them when they move. Jake says, "Mom already said that we are going to go to Idaho to visit the Hendricksons." We will love taking them to the mountains if they can come.

Jake, Michael (their dad) & Zach

Jake, Lupe, & Zach

Jake, Elder Snow, & Zach

Jake, Elder Jones, (back for the night from Wyoming) & Zach

Sam, Michael, Lupe, Jake, Me, Zach, Elder H

Sandy & Joe Cooper attended the baptism. (Sandy has now been cigarette free for eleven days! Her baptism is set for August 15th.)

Attitude!!!

Jake had a mullet. He cut his hair for the baptism. He is a great kid. He has personality plus.
We had a big crowd attend the baptism so we moved to the chapel. Elder Jones sang, Elder Hendrickson talked about baptism, and I talked on the Holy Ghost. We went to the basement font for the ordinance to be performed. and then came back to conclude the service. We had great refreshments. People stayed and visited. When were were just about through cleaning up, Jake came up and said, "Sister Hendrickson, you know how you said "when it's over..." I said "go for it, Jake," and the party began. They were pretty wound up so I suggested that we all go to the cultural hall. They had a great time. They ran the elders all around the gym over and over. I think it was good for Michael to see them enjoy the elders. Lupe sees that all the time.
Lupe was thrilled at the boys decision's to be baptized. Sam announced that he was going to get baptized as soon as they moved to Dayton, so that his surrogate grandpa can baptize him. We are happy for this good family.
On Sunday, Elder Patterson confirmed Zach and Elder Hendrickson confirmed Jake. It was very nice.
We had a fun time Sunday evening when we went to the Fletcher family's house for dinner. Sister F. is the new RS president. She is French. Bro. Fletcher is from Texas. They do not have TV in their home, I think, and they are really interesting and talented people. Kenneth, who just graduated from high school, and Ethan, who is a junior in high school, are very musical. They played violin and piano duets for us for a while before dinner. It was lovely. Kenneth really likes bluegrass and Celtic music. After his mission, he will be at the Y. He is going to come to Jerome and we are going to take him to Weiser for the Fiddler's Festival.
So, Bro. Fletcher cooks on Sunday. He is all Texan. We had amazing food, fried chicken strips, fried fish, fried corn fritters, with a hot spicy tarter sauce that was out of this world. We had a vegetable quiche and other delectables, including a rice/black bean recipe that was to die for. Their desserts are always wonderful, too. We had a great time with all of their children. They have two daughters and one more son. My guess is that he is about four. Loic is his name. The girls are Eloise and Ilianna. The first two kids had American names and Sister F decided the rest would have French names. Ethan attended the youth conference in Nauvoo this week. He bore his testimony about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and it was powerful. Then the elders followed up with a scripture. The spirit was really strong.
Monday was our preparation day. We have been wanting to go to Shipshewana, Indiana ever since we came. It has not worked out. So we jumped in the car and took off. We learned a lot about the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterite people. I was touched by the courage and strength of their early leaders. There is no doubt in my mind that they helped pave the way for the gospel to be restored. They first broke away from the Catholic and protestant churches because they did not believe in the baptism of infants. They thought there was an age of accountability and that one should choose to be baptized. Mennonites live in the world, but simply. They usually dress simply, but someone like us. They will drive cars and use more modern tech things. Hutterite people are quite strict and live away from worldly influences. There are about 30, 000 of them in the world, many of them living in the northwestern USA. They live communally and do not own individual property or anything. The Amish live very separate lives. The Mennonites and the Amish split in, I think, but can't remember for sure, the 1800's,  over the practice of shunning. They all worship Jesus Christ and he is the center of their lives. They do not like to have their photos taken as they consider them graven images. We were told that it was alright to take pictures from a distance. (We went through a history/museum that was wonderfully informative.) I loved seeing the children.  
 The carriages and buggies drive right down the road, using the shoulder. I laughed at the driving. It is just like people with cars, some are fast and some are slow.

 This quilt hangs over the first inside door of the museum. This center is very large. A combined group of Amish and Mennonite people raised it like the barn raising's of old, and finished the outside of the building in six days. It took a year, I think, to finish the inside. But six days. Wow! The ladies made this quilt in honor of it. There is a scripture on the bottom of it. It is hard to see, but the border has the outlines of the men's hands who raised it, with their initials inside.

 These people were persecuted greatly. This picture shows a pole that was used to catch them. They were burned at the stake and forked and all sorts of awful things. Still, they would not give in. They sang hymns of praise as they died. The priests and leaders of the other churches did not like that so they placed the screw, shown in the second picture below, on their tongues so they could not sing. I was horrified to even think of that.

I loved this sign below about Rook. This is for the Hendricksons, the Lotts, and the Lees. I am sure there were others who played hours of Rook, using President Lee's rules of Rook. They do not encourage card playing but they play a lot of Rook. The bottom of the sign says, "11th commandment: Where three or four Mennonites are gathered together in one place, there SHALL  be ROOK."

 The Amish live very simply. There was a sample home in the museum. The hat photos were taken there. It is common to have the boards with hooks on them all around the room. The rocker shown in the second photo was made by hand and they were for sale all over.

 We were told that as you drive through the country side you can tell Amish homes by the laundry hanging on the line and the pastures with lots of horses. This line was at the museum, but we saw one  house that must have had a big family. They had two sets of lines all filled up with laundry and a little girl, about, I would guess, AnnMarie's age was carrying a basket filled with more to hang up on a third set of lines. Their children all help out. They have private Amish schools, and they only go formally to the eighth grade. Mennonites can get all the education they desire and attend public schools.

 All throughout the area  you see garden quilts.

 These were teenage drivers. Do they say, like our kids, "Dad, can I borrow the buggy? (car?) 

 We wondered if they have to license the buggies. They do! They all have these orange caution signs on them, too. That is smart as there are a lot of cars, trucks, and buses in town.

 Dad, you need to get a bike for Mom, too! This picture could be you.

 I loved the crowded parking lot at the local dentist's office.

At the local dentist office

 Mark, this picture of a giant barbecue is for you!!!

At the gas station: What do the horses do there?

On the way back home: Gir-affic Jam
(Binder Zoo sign)

These videos are of the elders and the Clay boys that night after the baptism.