MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS & 
HAPPY   NEW   YEAR 

"I am the light of the world:  he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."                 John 8:12

We are so grateful for our family and friends.  Our thoughts are with you at this time of year.  We miss you, but feel blessed to be serving the Lord, whose birth we celebrate.  May your days be happy and the New Year be full of many blessings.      

     Christmas of long ago!! 

 

Marlene & Darlene with Santa

(abt. 5 years old)   

Climax MN, Georgetown MN

December 6, 2012 we visited Climax, MN.  We visited Brother and Sister Gerla and their 15 year old daughter, Mary, who is their Seminary Student.  She is also home schooled and will be ready to start college courses next year.  Her 5 older siblings finished high school early and went on to college.  Her older brother will be graduating from the BYU Law School this year.  The class was held at 8:30 PM.  There was a warm, comfortable feeling in their home as Brother Gerla gave a lesson on the Holy Ghost.  They live on 14 acres out in the country.  Lots of farm land and open spaces.  Corn seems to be one of the main crops, but we will be able to tell more this summer.  Brother Gerla teaches part time at University of North Dakota.  Climax is just over the border from Grand Forks, ND. 
     The evening  before, Dec. 5th, we visited a Seminary class and an Institute class. They were both held at the church in Grand Forks, ND which is about 83 miles north of Fargo.  On our way home Thursday afternoon we drove to Climax so we would know where we were going that evening.  I took some pictures of the area.  On the route we saw a little town called Georgetown, MN.  It was even smaller then our Georgetown.

Sister and Brother Gerla, Mary

Gerla home in Climax.  They have horses, dogs and cats.

View while traveling,  very flat.

 

Icy "Red River" is border between North Dakota and Minnesota

GEORGETOWN, MINNESOTA

 OLD LUTHERN CHURCH AND CEMETERY est. 1872

This cemetery was on the highway before Climax, out in nowhere.  It was beautifully cared for with lots of headstones.  The arched gate was very unique. 

This was a large stone plaque in the cemetery.

December " Break the Fast"

Girl on the floor is the Harry Potter student.

December 2, 2012 was Sunday "Break the Fast" with the YSA Branch.  Fast and Testimony meeting was very spiritual.  Many of these young adults have strong testimonies.  Some will be leaving for college or marriage this month and won't be here next month.  One of the girls will be baptized this month.  I made a hash brown  potato casserole.  Sister Brayton made two pots of soup.  Nathaniel brought the bread we love to have him bring.  A few more items were brought.  They like to eat and stay and visit.  One popular conversation this time was "Harry Potter".  One of the girls is taking a Harry Potter class with her English major.  Wow!!! College seems different now than 45 years ago.  

Traveling to ABERDEEN, SD

November 29, 2012 we traveled to Aberdeen, South Dakota to visit Seminary and Institute teachers and students.  We traveled about 450 miles total.  There are 4 Seminary classes & 1 Institute class.  

A picture taken of the sunset on the way to Aberdeen.

November 30, 2012 we visited Sister Vassar's class in the Aberdeen church at 6:20 AM.  Her daughter and another girl are the students.  Her son is usually there, but had a HS speech competition he was involved with.  The girls are very pretty and involved in the lesson.  They did Scripture Mastery.  Sister Vassar told real life examples and had the girls figure out which scripture would help answer the problem or concern.
We always take treats.  We took orange juice and cookies.
     Then we visited Sister Gonzalez.  Her husband is the Institute teacher.  She has Hispanic and native American Ancestors.  She is super involved in genealogy.  She is putting in papers to be a Family Genealogy Resource Missionary.  She would serve about 20 hours a week on the phone and computer.  Spanish and English would be her special area.  She is so smart and loves to talk about her ancestors and Spanish history.  We hope to return before Christmas so she can make us a special Mexican Hot Chocolate drink.  We had a very informative and warm visit with her.  We took them a poinsettia plant to wish them a Merry Christmas. 

      After lunch we traveled to Grodon, about 20 miles east of Aberdeen to visit Sister Holly Taylor and her husband who was home.  Her seminary daughter was at school.  We visited their class a few weeks ago.  They are bee farmers.  They have 3,000 hives that they move between South Dakota, California and Mississippi.   Their cream honey is delicious.  We also gave them a poinsettia plant.  She has sent us two thank you emails saying that this is the first poinsettia she has ever had and loves it.  They have a beautiful home.   
     Next we went back to Aberdeen for a 4:00PM appointment at the church with Sister Wiedrich.  She teaches her daughter at home in Roscoe,SD which is about 42 miles west of Aberdeen.  She has some difficult family situations and works all day.  So we wanted to meet her and it turned out wonderful.  Sometimes just getting to know someone helps so much in later communications.  She also loved the poinsettia we gave her.  All of these teachers work so hard to teach their children.  The Lord's work has miracles happening all over when you take the time to just look and listen. 

     On our way traveling out of Aberdeen, it was dark.  I took pictures of some of the Christmas light decorations we saw.  Thought it was just fun to enjoy!

The fast train home!!!!!

INSTITUTE CLASS

Megan, Karen, Nathaniel, Juvaughn

NOVEMBER 27, 2012 was our Tuesday evening Institute class with the YSA Branch.  We only had four attending this week, which is normal.  We are studying the New Testament.  Elder Berning is the main teacher and is doing a great job.  These are some of our most faithful students.  Megan is getting married Dec.28 in the Portland, OR Temple.  Her finance is in the Branch, but has to work on Tuesday evening. They are both returned missionaries. They will live here in Fargo and go to NDSU.  Karen has just come back to church and is so happy.  She just got a miracle job where she doesn't have to work on Sunday.  Nathaniel recently returned from a mission in Argentina and will go back to BYU-Provo next semester.  He came here to be with his younger brother who is less-active.  Nathaniel is the young man that helped to fix my computer. He brings bread, rolls, and cookies to church all the time.  He works at a bakery and gets the left overs.  Juvaughn is from Jamaica and is making plans to go on a mission.  He has one sister who attends a university in Alabama (I think) and has a scholarship with track.  She was in the national finals and did really good.  His mother remarried and lives in Canada.  He misses all his family. He wants to get a good education in the medical field.  We showed pictures of the flag painted on Todd's bedroom wall in Georgetown.  He was really surprised and liked it.  They are all great.

District Meeting

November 27, 2012 - District Missionary Meeting in Fargo.  Every Tuesday is District Meeting with the missionaries that serve  in Fargo, Grand Forks ND,and the Zone Leaders who also serve in Fargo,ND.  So there are 4 Sisters and 4 Elders and us.  The District meeting was getting acquainted with the new Mission Weekly goals for finding investigators and baptisms.  It's a funnel chart and a little complicated at first.  There was a really good discussion and setting of goals.  The missionaries are so wonderful to us seniors.  After the meeting we all went to Dairy Queen for lunch. 

Elders Sadlerd,Ostrom,Empy,Greco,Berning, Sisters Hutton, Carter, Kalio, Johnson

Elder Greco was just overwhelmed!!!!!!!

Lunch at Dairy Queen-Good Times......

THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING,  November 22, 2012.   We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at YSA Branch President and Sister Brayton's home.  We took some homemade rolls and a salad.  The Taylor's brought a pie and a relish dish.  The rest of the meal was prepared and served by the Braytons.  They are such friendly and gracious people.  They have 4 children.  A son died when he was a baby. They have a daughter that lives in England, another in Rapid City, SD and a son going to school in Arizona.  They are all married.  Others at the dinner were the YSA Branch missionaries, Sister Kalio and Sister Johnson.  Also attending were Pres. and Sister Taylor.  He is counselor to the Stake Pres and an administrator at a hospital in Fargo. She teaches speech therapy.  She didn't want her picture taken, so she took the picture.  President Brayton's father was also there.  He lives about 40 miles away.  It was a cold day with snow on the ground.  After everyone left, we stayed and visited for awhile.  They are a fun couple to be with.