Wow – what a week! We are so blessed & grateful . . . . .

Dearest Family,

    Happy 1st Birthday to Neil on Friday, September 30th! 

 

    Wow – what a week!   We are so blessed & grateful for the amazing experiences that happen in our lives!  We have skyped with several, had ‘one on ones’ with some, & phone call training,  just to names some of the training this past week. 

    Monday  Dad called in to WebEx support to see if they could help with the problems we have been having with that program, after several hours, they were finally able to correct the  problems!?!   Another day, I went to the FHC at the church & we experimented with it!  WebEx just takes a lot more band width than we have here at home. Finally it worked! 

    Had a wonderful group of quilters here & we are definitely making progress!  Dad & I were able to go to Billings on Wednesday to the temple afterwards did some training with a couple who are FH consultants.  it just happened that they were working with a youth group that very night! 

    Our Skype Trainings where so special this week,  Two Youth consultants! So excited! They helped us today with a ward we were in!  We also worked with a brother on Skype & his wife on the phone later in the week!  She has been very hesitant to do anything plus works & has 4 children, so very busy! I think she was much more comfortable after we worked on the phone & her computer. It is so special to see the Holy Ghost work in the lives of people!!!! The wife was in our sessions to today also!

    Had a special time with Marlene & Gaye on Friday!  So great to do more FH with them!  I got a new hair cut on Thursday sure feels good!  Visiting with Jane in Denmark via Skype was wonderful as always. . . . technology is the best.

 

    It has been very wet week, over 2 inches of rain here at the house and lots of snow across all the mtns. Due to the snow on the Big Horn Mtns we drove to Sheridan via Billings another 120 miles, giving us our longest wkend training of over 600 miles. round trip. We had rain on Sat but dry sunny travel on Sunday, the Lord blessed us so it didn't seem as long as it was. We're grateful for the blessings that allow us to serve Him and others! We enjoyed the sacrament meeting in the Gillette 4th ward as the Bishopric was reorganized . . . .  . brought back lots of memories to us. Our class time was shorter but worth it, the Stake Pres came to our class as well as the Ward Council folks. We will do some extra training via Skype to finish the class. Really as I told the group we watched FH happen the past hour, a wonderful spirit filled day!

    We also had a couple from the Wright Ward, still farther from us, visit with us. They were wondering when we would be coming there? They attended one of the group classes & we were able to visit about other training options! It was just a wonderful contact for us to help that little ward in  central Wyo!

    The greeter at the door of the Sacrament mtg which we attended was a full time missionary! I asked him about Family History & he shared his excitement for it.  He had found it a wonderful way to visit with people, open doors & share the gospel!

     We see miracles & the tender mercies of the Lord every day! 

                   Our Love,   Mom & Dad

We have Skyped with 6 people . . . .

Dearest Family,   

    Happy Birthday on September 20, Tuesday, to Krysta!   Have a great day!   

    We have so enjoyed this week – there have been many opportunities to share this great work!   We have Skyped with 6 people, an Area Mgr in Ohio who trains others like us, a Primary president in Gillette, she will help us next week with her Ward council, & 2 Youth Family history Consultants in another Gillette ward.   The sister printed out a name while we were working!!!!! The youth were all so amazed at what can be done using their smartphone .  It was a first time experience for them, neither had any experience with actually doing FH & they were very excited.  It was also a busy week for follow-up phone calls!!!!

    Had a fun week quilting – Wednesday & Friday afternoons ladies came & helped!   We are really making progress!  I so appreciate them sharing their time & talents, serving in this way!

    Also had over a half inch of rain that was greatly appreciated since its been so dry!  The harvest is well underway with dry beans, alfalfa seed and sugar beets. They were cooler days which was nice.

    Stake Conference was wonderful!  Dad went to Sat 4pm leadership meeting for himself and to take notes for Rob since he was on HC assignment with the Area Single Adult Conf in Billings. It was great – Elder LeGrand Curtis, a member of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy was our visitor. We were taught about the things we need to do to draw near to the Lord on Saturday evening & then on Sunday  we were taught about Passing the Gospel on to the next generation!  So much insight & wisdom!  And a good review & reminder of the things we already know!  He is very gifted at using personal stories to teach the principles! The music was amazing & also touched my heart! It was so nice to enjoy dinner together & spend time with the Grants this afternoon. 
Bob & I had a nice morning on the lake on Friday morning, the catching was great then on Saturday attended the funeral of Jay Partridge 93, who served as Bishop in Powell 2 times plus Dad worked with him at the Univ of Wyo experiment station in Powell as a boy as well as Northwest Analytical Lab.

Love you all  Mom & Dad

Let’s see – now where to start

Dearest Family, 

    Happy Birthday Rhonda on Saturday, September 17!!!   Have a great day!

    Let’s see – now where to start, maybe with Monday September 5, Labor day! We had planned on just being at home!  I spent time putting together a new set of slides to teach from.  It seems there are just little changes in the program & eventually we just have to redo our slides so that they are accurate when we teach! I am so thankful for the help I receive when I do this!  It seemed that on that day I was guided to names that would show all the different examples which we needed to show! We then visited at Rob & Michelle’s to see how the hydroponic gardens were doing, then Rob came out here, did some Family History, had lunch, looked at Dad’s hydroponic gardens!   Went to the Grants to visit, they had been gone for the weekend. Whitney & Nathan had visitors there who had went to the Big Horns with them for the weekend.

    Received word this week, that a cousin, Bob Jones passed away at age 85. He is the only son of Uncle Haskin Jones, who was a brother to Grandma Petersen. We also attended funeral services for Norald Emmett.

    This week was a busy week for Skype Training, always fun,  when it works, & also fun & interesting when it doesn’t!?!?!

We also had some first!   A High Priest group leader set up an evening activity for members of the Ward Council in his ward.  The week we were in that ward, we ended up with only 15 minutes of class time, just not adequate for teaching hands on.   He & Dad spent one morning getting the bugs worked out of it – the group was going to be at the church in Sheridan & he hadn’t used Skype very much.  Then on Thursday evening, 7 people came. We felt it was very successful – and also learned some things to make it better next time!  That’s what life is all about isn’t it?  Doing our best, learning, & discovering what will make things go better next time!

    We also had some very successful times with a High Councilor over FH & the Stake Presidency member over FH, both in the same stake.  We pray the future finds them working together, teaching others in their stake!  That is the perfect way to have it happen!

    I found some time to do some hand quilting – I am beginning to find it quite relaxing & Dad has been working on his greenhouse & other outdoor projects.  It seems like lately there are t-o-o-o-o- many wasps & he is always headed somewhere to spray another nest of them.  Friday was finally a prep day.

    Saturday, 7 a.m. found us heading to Sheridan – Ky was playing tennis there & we enjoyed watching his doubles match at 10am!  He & Miles did great & won again.  We need to see more of these so that we know more about this sport!  Also had some time to visit with him.    Saturday afternoon we visited with Terry & Elsie Peters, friends of ours who moved to Sheridan a few years ago.  We had been helping them with FH via the phone & it was great to do it in person for four hours.  Went to Arby’s for supper, shopped a little in Walmart.  Visited with a few people from Lovell while we were there!  Also had a nice visit in the evening via phone with Tchae, Joy, Daeja, & Kenya!

    Then Sunday, left Sheridan at 7 a.m. for Gillette where we visited Gillette 3 & 4 wards. Two brothers at the Bishops.  The internet in those Gillette buildings is very up/down too making for some frustrations for them and us. The visits went well even with the challenges we had today! In two weeks we’ll go back & do the hands on training.  They and us have stake conferences next weekend. We had traveled 300 miles by the time we arrived home tonight at 5:30pm. (400 miles for the weekend trip) There were vehicle harvested animals eg: mule and wt deer, rabbits, coons, porcupines, skunks and antelope on the road this morning, We have wondered for years why some nights so many animal get killed on the highways?? At 7:30 we visited with Pres James Boulter and family of the Ranchester branch via Skype about the FS apps. They have a branch social for 3 hrs this Wed evening where they eat together and do indexing or FS. We will officially visit their branch next month. We have been close friends with his parents since college days. They now live in Casper and we see them serving in the temple. Love you all Mom and Dad

Every day is busy in a special way!

Dearest Family,   

 

    Happy 4th Anniversary to Micah & Kirena, have a wonderful day on Thursday!

     Every day is busy in a special way!  I enjoyed marking a quilt for Josh & Krysta & also getting it on the frames.  It is started but isn’t progressing very fast yet!  but it will soon!  Dad has been busy getting things going in the green house – he now has tomato cutting that are rooted & will be producing this coming winter!  We had a fun evening on Monday with the Brother Checketts & his family!  They came down to fish in the pond!  We also enjoyed on Thursday afternoon going to a Middle School cross country track meet here in Lovell. It was fun to cheer for Melvin!  He was running his very first race in middle school & did great!  It sounds hard to me – but he said he really enjoyed it! We have visited with Phil & Emma Lynn this weekend while they have been here working on their home – it looks as if they will be moving back! I am so excited to have them here – Emma & I had such a good time together!

    We enjoyed boat fishing on Friday, lots of catching again but all too small to keep, under 5 lbs. We will start plainer board trolling soon now its fall, we enjoy that alot! The whitetail deer are still coming into the orchard most nights, mostly a group of all ages of whitetail bucks. The early season for us starts on Oct 15.

    It has been a very busy week this week with lots of Skype training!  We did 6 in preparation for Sunday to get several of the leaders more familiar with the process so they could help each others today!  Again we say, “It is fun to see their excitement!” (I know, we say that every week, but it is so  true & the blessing are so special.) Then today we were visiting in the same wards again & the ones we Skyped with were helping the others, so all learning & getting excited about the possibilities to use it in their wards!  We also did a Indexing Lesson in one Relief Society for their 1st Sunday Lesson!

     Today was quite a day traveling home!  We returned the Tensleep way, traveling from Gillette to Buffalo, then to Worland.  Over the mountain it was rainy on the east side & we were in the clouds literally with almost zero visibility!  We were very blessed that it was only for a short distance, then I think we climbed in elevation & were above them.  On the west side of the mountains it was sunny for a little ways!  Enjoyed dinner with Allen & Amber & family! Great food & the company was even better!

 

Sorry I am slow getting this sent but remember:  We love you all & have a great week!   Mom & Dad