SEPTEMBER HAPPENINGS!!!

9/8/14 Our Monday Night Get Together At Zion's Camp:

Elder Mayo has an audience he can entertain.

Of course there was more food than we could eat...and Elder Reynolds had his hat and boots on.

 Sister Henderson was examining the relish dish to share with a friend she brought.  While Elder Brimhall looked on.

We had all the missionaries back from the two week break and we were all glad to be together. 

 Elder and Sister Johnson and The McIntire's were waiting for desert.

Cowboy Elder Jon & Sister Lynnette Neeley had baked cherry and peach cobbler.  I was so full I couldn't try any, but they had no leftovers when they added ice cream to it.

 They declared it to be yummy!

 The evening was perfect in the 60's and there were no mosquito's to torment us.

 Sister Bushman was still chilled and had on a jacket...this winter should be interesting.

 Elder Charles and Sister Patricia Morris sat by the Bushman's.  Sister Mayo is trying to figure out how to work her camera?

  Arizona cowboy, Elder Charles and Sister Karen Weaver, look thrilled that Elder Bushman wants to photograph them!

 President and Sister Broadbent wouldn't look up.  They were already worrying about all of us and were in a deep discussion.

We enjoyed the fellowshipping.  Tuesday we are all back to serving and no play.  This is serious business to be missionaries in this beautiful gospel.  As you can tell we are all dedicated and ready to begin again.  Life is good.  We drove home with a full moon and peaceful hearts.

 We have a screen on our window...I like the image of the moon, do you?

It was a good day today, 9/9/14 Tuesday, Elder Bushman served in the office and I served out on the floor.  This evening our son Todd phoned and told us he loved us.  He is lacking in sleep as he now teaches early morning seminary.  We are sure he will be a great instructor...we are blessed.  

We read in the Deseret News that Conference will be a bilingual meeting this time.  Times are a changing...but the meetings will be the same.  Let's prepare to listen to our prophets.  Sustaining in Hebrew, Spanish & French & German etc. are the same as sustaining in English...Oh My Yes!

Remembering 9/11/14 today.  It is hard to be in New York and remember the sorrow of 2001 and the sorrow that accompanies my birthday the next day.  The sky was cloudy all day today in Upper New York.  It was a good day to be serving in the temple today.  I am in the office all day.  There have been many names placed on the prayer roll.  There were many people in the temple today...a place of refuge from the storms of life.

Sister Griffeth took this beautiful picture of the temple grounds.  If you look back in the trees you can see the deer watching her.  Even the animals like to be on the temple grounds because of the beauty and peace they can find there.  So far we have not encountered skunks like the ones around the OKC Temple!

Tonight Houston & BYU play football...so Elder Bushman will be down watching the game on the big screen, in the diner, as soon as we return from the temple this evening....Go BYU..RAH, RAH.   We were joined in our cheers by the Christensen's and Sister's Read and Griffeth.  ***We just won this game by "the skin of our teeth".  BYU 33, Huston 25.  I got such a stomachache as the tenseness of this grew close.  I had to take alka seltzer so I could sleep last night.  Oh my, BYU, give us old folks a break...that clock took forever to run down that last quarter.

Because we like them!

The game ended around midnight here.  I got up at 5:30 AM and went to the pool.  It was closed because of CanalTown Days...so I drove back to the Inn and slept till 8:00 AM...Happy Birthday to me.  Thank's to each of you for the birthday greetings.  I share my birthday with my twin sons Todd and Troy, my granddaughter, Lauren and daughter-in-law Sarah's dad Denton.  It is another cloudy day here, but it is a day of celebration.  Happy Birthday to all born on 9/12.  Such a day of memory now after the sorrows of 9/11.    

So, we went on a tour of Everson's Maple Farm in Clifton Springs, NY on our way to my Birthday Lunch.  Joseph Smith's family made part of their living by tapping trees for sap.  I felt like we were seeing the way they faired as we purchased this maple butter, candy, syrup and maple coated peanuts.  The Everson's are a religious family who praise The Lord for their livelyhood.  Thank you for showing us your farm.  We pray The Lord's blessings to be with you always.

This building is the Sugar Shack where the syrup is cooked.

These are some of the vats that collect the syrup when the buckets are full.

 
The Everson's use only wood to cook the sap.  They cut their own trees and prepare for the sap collection.  I thought my son's would enjoy this line of wood...there is another the same length on the other side of this road!

The man in the brown jacket is Mr. Everson.  Elder and Sister Christensen brought us here for my birthday.

This is the way they hang the buckets onto the tree to catch the sap.

 These are samples in the Sugar Shack where the sap is cooked down to make maple syrup.  "The trees of the Lord are full of sap" (Psalms 104:16)

The sap begins to appear around March.  These are all the buckets in storage now.  "While the earth remained, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22)

The Everson's have a shop to sell their wares in the back of their home.  These bottles shine in the window and are for sale.  Each tap yields approximately 98% water, 2 % sugar.  It looks like water and tastes slightly sweet.  They cook it down to this delicious consistancy.  The syrup is graded by color with the lightest a delicate flavor and the extra dark a heavy flavor.

This picture was inside the Everson's Maple store.

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." (1Peter 2:24)

We then drove into Clifton Springs, NY for lunch.  First we again toured the former residence of Doctor Henry Foster that I posted information on in the Aug 19th blog.  We walked the gardens to the sulphur pond and enjoyed the ducks and swan's and fish again.  Only this time we had Elder & Sister Christensen to enjoy it with.    Elder Bushman tried on Dr. Foster's top hat.

The swan's were still beautiful.

We could really see huge..huge goldfish this time.

Then we went to Warfield's for lunch.  I bought deserts to eat in the evening after we returned from the temple service.

Sister Dawson, whom I serve in the office with, sent me a cake for my birthday...how blessed am I?  Thank you for your kindness Sister Dawson!  My birthday was wonderful. 

 I appreciated all the cards, phone calls and facebook messages from all of you.  As I told my friend "another day older and deeper in debt".  I am in debt to each of you for your kindness.  Blessings to each of you.  My poem from daughter-in-law Amy.  Thank you Amy!

Genie, Genie, what's the wait?

Don't you know you're 68?

Go out there and have some fun,

And don't you stop until you're 101!

Now to end this epistle of the week...we went to the 47th annual Canaltown Days in downtown Palmyra.  They had a car show on Main Street and then vendors were on all the side streets.  There was a live band in the park.  We took the opportunity to go inside three of the churches on "the four corners."  They each are beautiful inside.  There were glass windows that are so awe inspiring.  Elder Bushman got to ring the tower bell, several times, in the Palmyra Zion Episcopal Church.   He thought that was the best!  The windows surrounding this chapel depict the life of Jesus Christ in vivid glass colors.  The First Methodist Church has beautiful sapphire seats and multicolored windows.   The Western Presbyterian Church has clear windows and a beautiful massive pipe organ in their chapel.  A 88 year old man named Bob showed us through.  The door to the First Baptist Church was blocked so we could not enter, but I'm sure it is beautiful inside too.  We will check that one out another time.  

 Elder Bushman loved looking "under the hood".

A family station wagon?

Now that is an engine!

This is a 1946 Ford...built the year Elder Bushman & I were born.

 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.  2 Kings 2:11

Just a final thought....prepare!