"There is Beauty All Around"

We have been enjoying our trips to Lowville to attend our branch every Saturday and Sunday.  We have driven through the most beautiful country; rolling green grass hills everywhere.  I have never seen so much beautiful, well groomed, green lawns.  Every home we pass, no matter how far away it is from a town, has a lawn you just want to stop and sit on.  It's like green carpet. And many places have acres of lawn with trees and the people mow around the trees; so well groomed. It does rain here a lot, so I am sure that has something to do with it.  We don't mind the rain at all, when you see the fruits of it's labor.  Early Thursday morning, with our bedroom window upon, we could hear the rain coming down in torrents.  But the thing that really got to me was the thunder.  It was magnificent.  I have heard the term "rolling thunder" before, but never experienced it until Thursday.  It was not at all frightening but amazing.  I didn't think it would ever stop.  I didn't want it to.  It was a beautiful sound.

We have experienced the most friendly attitudes from everyone.  We wear our missionary tags, so everyone knows who we are, and they treat us with great respect.  I wasn't expecting that.  Wednesday, I was at Walmart shopping.  Durg usually takes one cart and goes in the direction he needs to (flour aisle) and I take my own cart and go to areas I need to.  I was in an aisle where the item I wanted to look at was on the top shelf.  There were three rough looking young men in that aisle.  I asked them if they could help me.  They were so kind and respectful, saying, "yes, of course, what can we do?"  I guess I was just testing them, but their response just made me feel happy.  Even the people here are beautiful.

We had a great outing Thursday.  We went to the George Eastman mansion in Rochester, New  York.  The mansion is only 50,000 square feet.  Mr. Eastman is the Eastman Kodak inventor who invented film and cameras.  Remember the brownie camera?  The mansion was incredible and so were the museum pieces in the mansion.  Everything had been restored to the time when Mr. Eastman lived there.  He died there in 1932 and so all the furniture, rugs, china, everything in the house is of that era.  It really was beautiful.

After that, we and two other couples, the Reynolds from Salt Lake and the Morgans from Richfield, Utah, drove to the outlet mall in Waterloo, NY.  It's huge!  We each went our separate directions and met at the car an hour later.  Everyone bought something.  Then on to Sauder's, the Menonite Store so Durg could buy more flour.  Seriously, you would think we had a bakery, for as much dutch oven bread he makes.  He takes bread to the temple for the break room, where everyone congregates to eat some.  He asks people what kind of bread is their favorite, then he makes them their own loaf.  There never is any left for us!  So we buy our bread at Sauder's!  He just began making home made tapioca pudding with tapioca pearls, not instant.  That is a huge hit also.  We were able to get some little gelato cups and so we make individual servings and put it in the refrigerator in the break room, so everyone can have some.  We got the cups, because the McIntire's heard us talking about the tapioca pudding and how it would be good if we could get some little cups.  We were eating gelato at the time.  Brother McIntire went to the clerk and bought 20 cups.  I guess he wanted to make sure he got some.  President Cahoon had some on Wednesday and he said "it was the best tapioca pudding he had ever had".  At that moment his wife came in and he said, "next to my wife's."  What a beautiful way to be of service when everyone appreciates what you do.
 
After the shopping excursion, the Morgan's and Reynold's came over for dinner.  We had put a roast in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots and gravy before we left for Rochester. It was all ready when we got home.  With Durg's dutch oven bread (some he hadn't given away YET), salad and watermelon, we had a very nice dinner with some great people.  Later we went on a tour of homes, so to speak, because the Reynold's had not been to see where the Morgan's live and we and the Morgan's had not seen where the Reynold's live.  I don't know how we have been so blessed to live where we live.  We have a two bedroom apartment.  The Morgan's live in a dormer bedroom in a bed and breakfast and the Reynold's live in a motel, the Palmyra Inn, where most of the temple missionaries live.  No one has a kitchen, except us.  So if we can have someone for dinner and make bread and desserts for others, then we feel like we are expressing our gratitude to Heavenly Father for our blessings.  He has been so good to us. 

This is such a beautiful experience being here with beautiful people in a beautiful place doing a beautiful work.  There is beauty all around us.  We are blessed.

We leave you, as Durg puts the finishing touches on the tapioca pudding, and we get ready to go to the Palmyra temple to serve from noon to 10 p.m.  What a wonderful place.  We LOVE it here.  WE LOVE you too.