Meetings, Meetings, and More Meetings!

 AND they were all wonderful!!  The meetings, that is.  It has been a really special weekend here in New England.  We have been blessed to have been a part of a wonderful regional conference.  It started on Friday for us.  The Young Adult branch was one of 4 wards that was invited to the Joseph Smith Birthplace memorial for a special meeting with President M Russell Ballard (acting president of the quorum of the twelve apostles) and Elder D Todd Christofferson (an apostle) along with the North America Northeast Area President Elder Randall K Bennett of the Seventy.  It was a small gathering in the chapel and we had GREAT seats.  In fact, we were lucky enough to be able to shake hands and speak with both of them and their wives as they were leaving the building.

 Elder Christofferson commented on how rare and unusual it is to have two apostles at one time for a regional meeting, because they usually go with a companion from the Seventy.  The meeting was wonderful.  I posted a video on FB about it, because there are a lot of people in it that we know and I want to have it for my memories. As a side note, Sherri Dew was there in the audience.  I really wanted to meet her, but she slipped out quietly after the meeting and disappeared.  I wonder if she is working on another biography maybe?

Ken took this photo.  That's our stake president between Elder Ballard and Elder Christofferson.

I know this photo doesn't mean much to others, but right in the middle is the Elders sitting by two young men who have baptismal dates coming up soon.

We arrived really early to the meeting and caught the sun just right.  It was BEAUTIFUL.   This is Elder Ellsworth and Elder Edstrom with Kieron who is being baptized next Saturday. I have really grown to love these to dedicated and hardworking elders.

I didn't take these two pictures, I stole them from the Church News about this big event.  Elder Ballard was so touched at being here. He is a direct descendant from the Smiths and so it was very personal for him to be at Joseph's birthplace. 

On Friday morning we met with the other missionaries in our district in the ward high council room for missionary training.   The meeting was broadcast from the visitors center at the memorial and went throughout the whole northeast region and included 19 missions!  It was a great learning experience to be taught as missionaries by two apostles.  Two of our sisters were invited to sing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" as part of the program so they attended in person.

That's sister Wharburton shaking hands with Elder Ballard.  On her left is sister Hendricks.  She is brand new as a missionary and is such a sweetheart.

These two have BEAUTIFUL singing voices.  Sister Hendricks (right) is in our district and she has one of the most beautiful soprano voices I've ever heard.  Lot's of voice training I'm sure.

When you see how small this group is you realize how lucky these missionaries were to be able to attend this event.  And we personally know and work with 6 of them.  I'm just so happy for them!

After this meeting on Saturday morning there was a Young Adult Fireside on Saturday night that was broadcast to all the buildings from Cambridge.  Then today all the wards had just Sacrament meeting so everybody could travel to Boston for a large fireside this afternoon.  We watched it at our chapel here in Essex, but many of the Stake members did travel the 3+ hours down and 3+ back.  We had permission to transport YSA members if we needed to but I was grateful that the ones who wanted to attend managed to get other rides.

This meeting this afternoon was amazing.   I hope I can get a copy of Elder Ballard's talk because it was a real history lesson, and then a voice of warning--sort of like the great preaching of Alma in the Book of Mormon or many of the prophets in scripture who review with the people the great blessings and hand of the Lord in the lives of their ancestors and then appeal to them to REMEMBER and to serve God and keep the commandments.  

As tired as I am from all the meetings and travel, I can't imagine how 91 year olds (Elder Ballard) manage.  I know that these men are sustained by God to do the work they do.  His schedule was exhausting and rigorous.  I really felt the hand of God and His voice as I listened to him today.  I need to not complain so much about being so tired!🙁  I can do better and I must do better.  (my pep talk to myself)

Other random stuff:

We drive past this tower often.  The picture on the right is what we see and the picture on the left is the artist rendering of what it looked like when it was built.  I guess it is part of Fort Ethan Allen.  But now it sits in the middle of nothing but industrial buildings.  It's kind of cool, but you'd think it would be better preserved.

Ken took this photo on the golf course.  He said that this turtle is about 3 1/2 feet long and that's hard to tell from the photo.

 I blogged a while back about Ashley who is a knitter.  Well, she finally finished this sweater and has started a new project.  I'm SO impressed with this.  I can't even imaging knitting something like this.

Ok, this next picture is a quiz.  What is the farmer growing here?

(I know but want to know if you do.)  You can answer in the comments. 😁 (this was my way of sneaking in another leaf pic!)

We are staying busy, and putting a LOT of miles on this vehicle.  We've done 5 apartment inspections and have one more to go.  We love seeing this state while we search for the lost sheep of our fold. We get a first hand feel for the missionaries as we knock on doors in search of the YSA's that are on the rolls but sort of lost.  Some times we get invited in and have a wonderful conversation.  Other times we get the cold shoulder.  This past week we pulled up to a home in the middle of nowhere and there was a big NO TRESPASSING sign with warnings.  We sat in the car for a minute wondering what to do.  We pulled out and left. 😳

The branch is off to kind of slow start because the branch president has had some previous travel plans for his job that could not be changed so he hasn't attended except for the first meeting.  Poor first counselor has carried the load, but he has done a great job.  Today's meeting was sparse with people but thick with the spirit.  Did I ever blog about Stewart Wright from Salem being in our ward? It's been fun to have him around.  Right now he is the only pianist we can find in the branch and he is moving to England after the first of the year.  We will miss him!

It's kind of crazy, because we can't get records moved into our branch.  So right now there are only 4 members on the branch list.  The clerk is working on it, but there is no easy way to do it besides each ward clerk going through the ward directory and moving them one at a time.  It's really frustrating.  But I have spent a lot of time compiling my own list and when it is done it will give us a better idea of who is out there.  I can really see this branch turning into a ward if we can just spark a desire in these wonderful young adults. 

We're looking forward to a baptism next Saturday and then a Halloween activity at the Goodrich Farm.  They produce THE BEST maple syrup in Vermont--and that's saying a lot cause there is a lot of maple syrup produced around here. Yum!  There are also a LOT of apple orchards here.  So Fall is a bustling time here in Vermont!