SPECIAL FRIENDS

The second week we arrived in New York we went to visit some members of our assigned congregation, the Rochester 2nd Ward.  When we arrived at their home, we were graciously welcomed by this kind family! 

As we visited them in subsequent months, we had many wonderful times together, culminating most recently in the baptism of the two oldest children this past Sunday, October 24.  When we met this family, the parents had been members of our church for less than a year and their oldest two children, who were older than 8 were not yet baptized.  Eight is considered the age when children are old enough to be accountable for their actions and can therefore by baptized.

During the next few months the children were taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ by several Sister Missionaries, including Sister Valele and Sister VanDenberghe.  Elder Watts and I also met with the family to teach gospel principles and share Family Home Evenings.  We all became good friends.

In the Book of Mormon, in Mosiah 18:11, Alma asked those he had taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ if they want to be baptized.  They said, "This is the desires of our hearts."  Likewise, this has been the desires of the hearts of these wonderful children for some months, so we were  excited when it happened.

We weren't the only ones that were excited, so were their parents.  In Mosiah, when the people contemplated their baptism, they clapped their hands for joy.  I think this entire family felt like clapping their hands for joy.  I know we felt like it!

We have so many sweet memories of times shared with these friends, including watching the Hill Cumorah Pageant with them, attending church together, sharing meals, and sharing Family Home Evenings. We look forward to spending many more happy times together!

Perhaps Alma expressed our thought best when he said in Alma 30:34: 

 "An now, if we do not receive anything for our labors in the church, what doth it profit us to labor in the church save it were to declare the truth, that we may have rejoicings in the joy of our brethren [and sisters]?"

We are thankful to be friends with this family and to share this joyful, sacred experience with them!

Coming next: Our move.

FALL LEAVES IN NEW YORK

As we have enjoyed the magnificent fall leaves here in New York I am reminded of this verse in Psalms 19:1:

" The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."

I  hope you enjoy viewing some of the photos I took of the beautiful fall season.  In this first clip you will see some pictures from the Church Historic Sites.  The trees with the brilliant orange leaves are at the Peter Whitmer Farm.  The views of a forest and all close-ups of leaves come from the Sacred Grove, and this first picture was taken by Elder Watts, out our back door, looking into the Sacred Grove.

This next clip has pictures of leaves we took when driving along one of the Finger Lakes, Lake Candandiagua,  south of Palmyra.
"There is an old Indian Legend that the Finger Lakes came into being when the Great Spirit placed the imprint of his hand in blessing on the Upstate Land."  Arch Merrill, Slim Fingers Beckon.
Certainly, as we drove along the shores of Lake Canandiagua, we saw great beauty in the fall leaves reminding us of the Divine and wondrous creation of this earth.

This last clip shows leaves around Palmyra, including the beautiful Palmyra Temple.  All of this beauty in nature reminds me of the hymn, "For the Beauty of the Earth".

For the beauty of the earth, For the beauty of the skies,

For the love which from our birth, Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise.

May we always remember to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the beauties of the earth!

FIFTEEN MILES ON THE ERIE CANAL - Part 2

When our children were in grade school, they had a yearly musical program where they performed songs that they learned in music class. I was especially impressed by one song that they not only sang, but also added actions. It was the Erie Canal song and when they sang, "Low bridge, everybody down" all of the students ducked as they were singing. Little did I realize those many years ago I would be living so close to the Erie Canal later in my life.  The song was written in 1905 by Thomas S. Allen to memorialize the canal's early heyday when barges were pulled by mules.  Listen to the song at this link.

We have learned while serving our mission here in Palmyra to love and appreciate the Erie Canal.  In fact, each time our family members come to visit we take a ride with them on the Erie Canal.  As you view the pictures of the Erie Canal and our family (narration typed in black), I will explain some of the history of the canal and why it is so important to New York and to the beginnings of our church (typed in blue).

We like to ride the Sam Patch Erie Canal boat that leaves from the Village of Pittsford.  It is a replica of an early canal boat and is run by a non-profit organization.  The Erie Canal was began in 1817 and completed in 1825, opening shipping lanes from the east coast to the Great Lakes.  It was originally 363 miles long, spanning from the Hudson River at Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo.

Our daughter and her family from Oregon came to visit us in May.  They wait on the bank of the Erie Canal to begin their boat ride.  The boats are now powered diesel engines, but originally they were pulled by mules, horses and oxen driven along a towpath by a young boy called a "hoggee".

When it was under construction it was called "Clinton's Big Ditch" named after New York Governor, Dewitt Clinton, a strong supporter of the project.

The Erie Canal was an engineering marvel when it was built.  It was dug by men using shovels.  Originally it was 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide.

Elder Watts and our newest grandson enjoyed their ride on the canal.

Isn't the canal beautiful? (above) These two grandsons came with another daughter and her family to visit in August. (below)  When first constructed one of the beauties of the Erie Canal was that it cut transportation costs by 95% and fostered a population surge in Western New York State.  New York City became the chief US port.

Our granddaughter (above) and her entire family (below) pronounced the ride a great success!  The canal was also a great success, recently recognized as the most successful and influential human built waterways and one of the most important works of civil engineering and construction in North America.

Below are more beautiful pictures of the canal, now called the barge canal after it was enlarged to carry barges in the early 1900s.

These next five pictures show us going through lock 32.  It is quite an experience as the boat enters an area enclosed by doors on both ends.  When the boat is working its way upstream, as in this case, the lock water is poured in at an amazing rate to bring the water level in the lock up to the same level as the water on the other side of the lock.  Once the water is the same level, the door is opened and the boats continue on their journeys.

The original canal had 83 locks to help the boats navigate up and down the river.  There is a rise of 568 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.

Our two granddaughters from Minnesota (below) came to visit in September and they enjoyed their ride on the canal.  Their ride wasn't as long as Governor Clinton's ride in 1825 when he sailed from Buffalo to New York City.  On that occasion, the opening of the totally completed canal, he ceremonially poured Lake Erie water into the New York Harbor to mark the "wedding of the waters".

Our daughter and her husband enjoyed the ride too, and our granddaughters enjoyed their grandpa.

The building (below) is an original barn from the horse, donkey and oxen days of  the Erie Canal.  The animals would walk for 15 miles on the towpath, a 10 foot path along the banks of the canal.  After 15 miles they were allowed to rest in the barn and new animals were brought out to pull the boat.

Each time we have been on the Erie Canal we have enjoyed the beautiful wildlife.  This blue heron was fun to watch land and sit on the post.  Another one was busy looking for dinner.

This family of ducks were quick to swim out of the way of our boat as we moved through the water.

Lost of ducks make the canal their home. 

The Erie Canal also played an important role in early church history.  As you can see from this map below, Palmyra was an important city along the route of the Erie Canal.  In fact, the original canal was very near the E.B. Grandin bookstore, bindery and print shop where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were published.  Because of the fact that the Erie Canal was finished just 4 years before Joseph Smith approached E.B. Grandin to ask him to print the Book of Mormon, it made it possible for supplies, including Grandin's new press to be shipped to Palmyra for a fraction of what the cost would have been prior to the canal being finished.

It is also believed that Alvin, Joseph Smith's older brother helped build the Erie Canal to make a payment on the family farm. 

One of my favorite miracles in early church history also involves the canal.  Lucy Smith, the prophet Joseph Smith's mother, was helping a group of Saints move from New York to Ohio.  They rode the canal to Buffalo, being stopped on the way because of a break in the canal. When the group arrived in Buffalo, they found that ships were unable to move on the lake because large pieces of ice jammed the harbor. Lucy had faith that the Lord would help them. When the Saints got on board a ship the next morning, she persuaded the group to unite together in faith and pray to the Lord to break the pieces of ice. She explained, “A noise was heard, like bursting thunder. The captain cried, ‘Every man to his post.’ The ice parted, leaving barely a passage for the boat, and so narrow that as the boat passed through the buckets of the waterwheel were torn off with a crash. … We had barely passed through the avenue when the ice closed together again” (Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith, pp. 204–5).

This miracle and many others blessed the early Saints as they strived to live the principles of the Gospel.  Learn more about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ by going to http://mormon.org/.

15 MILES ON THE ERIE CANAL - Part I

Palmyra was founded in 1789 and the Erie Canal played an important part in its early history as well as much of the early history of upstate New York. In fact, even today Palmyra is often referred to as "Canaltown".  Last weekend, September 18 and 19 was the 43rd Annual Canaltown Days here in Palmyra, complete with a parade on Saturday. 

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Elder and Sister Werner, one of the senior couples here at the sites thought it would be a good idea if the local missionaries entered a float in the parade.

So Elder Werner drew up some plans with the help of his computer, and the missionaries started to work.  We projected the words, that were to carry our message on the float, onto a wall and traced them onto freezer paper.

Tables were set up in the basement of the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center, and as missionaries had time, they painted in the letters.

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We are blessed to have Sister Weber, an art student, here on a mission. She did a large part of painting the frame divider for the float.  The front half of the float had a living room scene of a pioneer family and the back half a scene of a modern family.  The following message was on the side of the float:

"STRONG FAMILIES STILL BUILD STRONG NATIONS".

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On Saturday morning, the senior missionaries that weren't working at the sites met together to assemble the float.

We pounded and wired and stapled and taped!

We climbed ladders, draped crepe paper and had a good time!

Then we rested a little!

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The parade took place on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 PM in downtown Palmyra.  Elder Watts and I didn't get to watch it because we were working at the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center, so Elder Hales, a fellow senior missionary took pictures for this blog post.

The family dressed as pioneers rode on the front half of the float . . .

. . . the modern family rode on the back half of the float. . .

. . . and six young missionaries walked beside the float handing out free copies of the DVD,

Together Forever and the pamphlet,

The Family, A Proclamation to the World.

AND . . .our float took 3rd place! 

BEST OF ALL, we were able to share a message about the importance of families!

To get your free copy of Together Forever call the number on the sidebar of this blog.

Next post - more about the Erie Canal

A BAPTISM

In Preach My Gospel, a guide to missionary service, it states that our purpose as missionaries is to invite 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.  So, Elder Watts and I were excited yesterday to participate in the baptism of our friend Jim.  We met Jim several weeks ago when he attended Church and sat by Elder Watts.  He was seeking for a place to worship so we invited him to stay for other meetings and he did.

The next day we went to visit him with the sister missionaries who serve in our ward, Sister VanDenberghe, and Sister Valele.  Jim expressed a desire to learn more, so the two Sisters taught him, with our support, when we were able to have time away from the Sites. 

Last week we were also able to take Jim on tour of three of the sites where we serve.  We started at the Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site.

From there we went to the Smith Family Farm and the Sacred Grove.

After a picnic lunch, which we ate indoors because it was cold, we spent some time at the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center.  It was a wonderful day!

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It has been a blessing watching Jim grow in knowledge and testimony.  Yesterday was a real highlight for us when he was baptized.  Elder Watts baptized Jim and both Sisters spoke at the service.  Many members (about 40) of his new ward family and Jim's friends and family members attended to show support.

Baptism is an essential ordinance of salvation.  Christ set the example for us by being baptized.  We are excited to see our new friend, Jim, begin the process of being born again and becoming a spiritual son of Christ.