• We went to the Prairie Grass Burning Demonstration. It is done in the early spring of each year.
• We had a surprise visit from Elder Jaster’s Navy buddy and his wife last week. He was a cook on their submarine so we put him to work in the kitchen. We hadn’t seen them for 35 years.
• We got word that two of our long time friends died last week. Makes us realize how important the blessings of the Temple are and that life on earth is part of our eternal journey.
• The mission had more visitor’s in March and early April during spring break than we are having now.
• Elder Jaster is staying busy in the motor pool.
• Some sisters are teaching me to crochet.
• We are serving with the granddaughter of the last living person to have personally known the prophet Joseph Smith. She lived to be 107 years old. She was known as the ‘Last Leaf.’ Her name was Mary Field Garner. I had the opportunity to clean a replica of the cabin she lived in.
• The single sister missionaries returned from their fields of labor all over the United States and will serve with us in Nauvoo for the next 6 months. They bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to our mission.

Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter

• We enjoyed a visit from dear friends from our home ward in Camp Hill, Pa. this weekend.
• On our Preparation Day last week we were in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois and saw a wild turkey, horses, cows and deer all in an afternoon.
• The Easter Concert by the mission choir was so refreshing with songs like “It’s a Grand Night for Singing,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “Whenever I Hear the Song of a Bird” and “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.”
• We enjoyed watching General Conference this weekend and hearing from our Prophet and other General Authorities. We are so blessed to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• We were on stage for the first time as “Jed and Annie” in Rendezvous and performed a polka "Down by the Riverside" with a foursome. Yes, we are doing things we never would have thought or dreamed we could.
• We met some of the new missionaries that came within the last few days. We’re not ‘greenies’ anymore.
• George Bernard Shaw: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
• Elder Jaster has been busy doing all sorts of things like inspecting vehicles, hauling gravel, maintaining roads and hauling old tires to waste management.
• I’ve enjoyed spending time working in the gardens preparing flower beds and weeding.
• Something inspiring we learned from General Conference:

Never let an earthly experience disable you spiritually.