I hope you are all having a fun time on this day.
Our hearts and prayers go out to the people on the east coast and know that some of you have family and friends there. We hope for the best.
We have had a busy week.
We have been out visiting people, as usual.
On Wednesday, among other things, we had family home evening with Emily Danger and her children. The lesson was on consequences of our actions. We had a great time playing, "DON'T EAT PETE!" after the lesson. Also, on Wednesday, Elder H and I went with Bro. Kinghorn to give a blessing to Nichole Rivera and her baby. Kailee has cystic fibrosis. She is only two months old and is still at her birth weight. Her mom takes real good care of her. She has a cold right now. It broke my heart to hear her wheezing and coughing. She is so fragile...reminds me of a china doll.
I spent a lot of time on Thursday and Friday working on my friend, Janet's, skirt remodel. It turned out to be such a joke. I can't remember what I have written about it, but long story shorter, I told her, when she asked me, that we could put put a new lace overlay on her black skirt. I asked her if it had a waist band or elastic. It had elastic so I thought it would be easy. It would have helped if I had looked at it. When I took it apart, it was cut on the bias. Yeah... at first we went ahead and cut it straight, hoping it would work. Let me tell you that straight over bias does not work. I went and got more material and pattern paper, made a pattern, cut it out, sewed it and it was still awful. I felt TERRIBLE! At least before, she could wear it, even if it was getting old. I looked online for some like it. She has had it awhile, so there was nothing like it even online. I book-marked some dressy skirts and was going to order one for her. She came over for dinner on Sunday and low and behold, she had bought a new skirt. It was one from JC Penney's I had book-marked. I quickly paid her for it and breathed a sigh of relief. I learned a lesson about looking before I leap. It is funny because I replaced all the buttons on a suit jacket for a K-zoo elder. He wanted me to do some work on an other jacket. I remembered my lesson and refused to get involved in another remodel job. I will mend all they need me to, but no more remodels!!! I will learn to look before I leap!!! On Friday I went visiting teaching with Tammy Schaffer. It is her first time in several years. We had a good time visiting our sisters. Sister Fletcher is letting me go as her partner for a while until she feels comfortable.
On Saturday we went to Detroit temple for the sealing of some special people, Brother and Sister Snowberger. He received his endowment. They were sealed after that. It was cool, because their grandson has a mission call to Ghana. He received his endowment in the same session and was able to be there for the sealing session.
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| We watched the sun come up on the way to Chicago. |
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| Snowbergers and their family |
That night we had a ward Chili Cook-off and Trunk or Treat. It was really fun and we had lots of people there who do not regularly attend. Hurrah!
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| Dan, Tammy, & Thomas Schaffer |
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| Janet Torrance won "Best Traditional Chili." |
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| Kiery (Hermione) Wilson won "Best Chicken Chili." (It was WONDERFUL!) |
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| These are the people who met us at the back door with guns that time. |
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| Leah & Ellie Kinghorn |
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| Aleya Brandon |
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| Nicole & Kailee Rivera |
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| Our own Captain Jack Sparrow, Bro. Lowe |
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| Thomas & Jill Schaffer |
Our ward mission leader is trekking to Florida for the winter. We will miss them. We are blessed to have a new young family in the ward. Their last name is Taylor. His first name is John. That's a nice Mormon name!!! He has been called to be the new ward mission leader. We met for the first time last night. I was really impressed. The work is going to really go forward...especially as we will be getting more elders or sisters.
Monday I took Carol Miranda to her doctor appointment. She hoped to get results today, but instead had more tests ordered. So, we took her back for tests on Tuesday. I will take her again next Monday for the results. She is the owner of the dogs that love Dad so much. Do you remember Abby? Well, here in Battle Creek, it seems that folks decorate more for Halloween than they do for Christmas. The neighborhood around Carol's house has several fun decorations.
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| This is my favorite! |
I was glad I took photos as the rain/snow/sleet storm yesterday wrecked a lot of them.
Monday afternoon, since it was our preparation day, we decided to take a tour of the Seventh Day Adventist Village. The Seventh Day Adventist Church began here in Battle Creek.
The first building is about John Kellogg. He was a famous doctor. He ran a sanitarium for rich people. It was owned by the church. He coined the word "sanitarium" from the word "sanatorium." People went to sanatoriums to die. He told the people that they would come to a sanitarium to get healthy. He was ahead of his time. The pictures I will post are exercise equipment which he developed.
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| Elder Hendrickson & John Kellogg |
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| On the left: foot and leg massager On the right: massage chair |
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| Light box for depression. People in the area are beginning to make these again. |
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| Light bed for depression |
I will refrain from putting more pictures. You get the idea. Eleanor Roosevelt came here as did many other famous people. Some were having trouble chewing because their teeth were bad, so John experimented with making healthy flakes for them to eat. He and his brother, William, made some one day and left. When they came back they were perfect, but they didn't know how they did it. So, they went back to work. The first corn flakes were developed. William could not talk John into marketing the flakes. He was too busy with medicine. So, William bought him out, and he founded the Kellogg's company that we know today. Kellogg is really the center of Battle Creek business.
John Kellogg was eventually excommunicated from the Seventh Day Adventist Church. As he became more and more famous, he took over the hospital. He filled the positions with "his" people. He no longer worshipped God, but thought that God was everywhere, in the grass, in the trees, and in him. His pride separated him from his religion.
They have a lot of houses, with displays like we have in Nauvoo. They are from the same time period. Our guide was very enthusiastic and spend two hours with us explaining everything. When we first arrived, with our badges on, the lady seemed uncomfortable. But we had a great time. It was just the guide and us. He invited me to play one of their pump organs...a treat for me!Some notes from it:
We currently have around 58,000 missionaries world-wide. In one year, it is estimated we will have 90,000. The Michigan-Lansing Mission (MLM) will increase in the coming months from 122 missionaries, not counting seniors, to about 250. We will open up 43 new areas. The president is going to have 43 new apartments to find and furnish very soon. The largest influx will be about the time we come home in the spring. We may be helping with some of the preparations.
We love President Hess. He is really outspoken about not worrying and stressing in our work. He tells us all to enjoy the people. He told us a story about Elder LaGrande Richards. Elder R was very stressed out and ill. The doctor told him he needed to be released as an apostle or it would kill him. He said he would rather die doing the work. But then he made the decision not to worry any more. A couplet he used to keep calm: “For every worry under the sun there is a remedy or there is none; if there is a remedy hurry and find it. If there is none never mind it.” This may be my new motto!
He taught us to base our teaching on the Book of Mormon. He said that the "elect" who are being gathered will recognize the Book of Mormon, as if they were remembering it from before. You will know the elect by how they respond to the Book of Mormon. The elect will resonate with the Book of Mormon. Sister Hess taught this last principle. She shared an object lesson they had in Kirtland during the mission president's training a few weeks ago. A man held up a tuning fork. It made no sounds. He played some tones on the piano, still to no avail. He played middle C. The tuning fork began to resonate and ring out. The elect of God will resonate when they receive the Book of Mormon, read it, and pray about it.
President Hess said, "This work is purifying. It's not easy. When you lift heavy weights, you get strong. It's the hardest work I love." I like that.
I frankly don't know how they do what they do. Well, I do know...they are blessed and strengthened from on high. They have not been in their home more than to sleep for weeks. They had the mission president's training for a week in Kirtland. They had missionary interviews mission-wide for a couple of weeks. They are having zone conferences all of this week and part of next. They are speaking at most of the stake conferences taking place around the mission. They are wonderful, wonderful people. They love and teach the missionaries, applying the teachings not only to the mission but to their life after the mission.
I know the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God. I have felt the power of it in my life since I first began a serious study of it when I was a freshman in college. It has changed my heart. It is a testament of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and proves the Bible to be the word of God, also. I love this book.
We love you and hope you are doing well. We see great blessings happening with all of you. AND just in case you cannot think of any, just think about how many blizzards Dad will be buying all of you soon. The World's Series was awful, and he had to back Detroit out of loyalty to our friends here. Have a great week!
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