I was trying to show Bethany how my blog was not working and letting me post pictures, and then here was the picture.
So here is the first thing we saw as we crossed the desert and came into Arizona is September. This desert stuff is a far cry from the green of Missouri.

Jesus loves me, this I know
Jesus knows me, this I love

Happy Report:
I am happy to report that I had a pain-free night! Yesterday I went to the dentist in Gallatin. He determined that I had a cracked tooth and needed a root canal job. The sad part to me was that it could not be done for another eight days. I was feeling just terrible. There was plenty of medicines that our son-in-law, Rob, and the dentist here had prescribed for me, nonetheless they were just making me sick to my stomach because I could not get any food in my stomach first. I was in quite a whirlwind.
Some of the sweet sisters here brought over some soft food: rice pudding, Jello, and potato soup. I was able to eat enough to settle my stomach, the pills stayed down, and I was able to sleep throughout the night. Life looks so much more hopeful with a good night's sleep.
Rob called last night with some suggestions. He is such a wonderful son-in-law! I appreciate his tender care so much.
So I off this morning trying to get caught up with housework.

Once again my blog will not let me download any pictures. I would have shown you the float that Lloyd and I rode last weekend. This is the second float I have been on since coming on our mission! Who would have thought!
I have been suffering from a toothache for a couple of weeks. I do not know if I can last until my appointment with Dr. Matthews. This is not any fun. Then there are all the people that are wanting to say goodbye to us by having us eat with them...eating is no fun these days. With my luck, I won't even loose weight from all this.

A-Z's all about me
A- Age: 61 (for a few more days)
B- Bed size: king, of course
C- Chore you hate: Cleaning the shower, Lloyd has taken over that task
D- Dad's name: Lloyd
E- Essential start of your day: scriptures
F- Favorite color: red
G- Gold or Silver: I like them both
H- Height: 5' 8"I
- Instruments you play: Piano a long time ago
J- Job title: Mom
K- Kids: 5
L- Living arrangements: with my family
M- Mom's name: Marjorie
N- Nicknames: Grammy, Woo Hoo
O- Overnight stay in a hospital other than your birth: when kids were born- I have spent about 5 night there
P- Pet Peeve: People mispronouncing the word "Ensign"
Q- Quote from a movie: " We're walking, were walking"
R- Right or left handed: left
S- Siblings: 5 bro, 3 sisters
T- Time you wake up: 5:15 a.m.
U- Underwear: yes
V- Vegetable you dislike: Eggplant
W- Ways you drink your coffee: I don't, but I love really good hot chocolate
X-rays you've had: Lots
Y- Yummy food you make: cookies
Z- Zoo favorites: Giraffes
Now pass this on to three friends you want to get to know better.
I am tagging: Nelly, Paige and Lori (You are the only ones that I know that look at this. Sorry)

We got to go to our annual trip to the temple in Nauvoo this last weekend. I was surprised to discover these sculptures that had been added to our experience at the Visitors' Center. These pictures do not do them justice, but you can get an idea what they are like. There about a dozen of them depicting moments in the Savior's life. The details are just marvelous. Even the expression on Christ's face changes with what is going on. The work is done by a woman named Angela Johnson. I was told she is from Gilbert. After watching our daughter, Paige, work on some sculpting and the time it takes, I just cannot believe anyone was able to make these in one lifetime.

A few months ago when Elder Joe J. Christensen was at our home for dinner, I made my Navy Bean Soup. He liked it so much he asked me to fix it every time he comes. I have respected his request. I have never had a recipe for it. Many people have asked me for one. Today when Sister Christensen asked me to please write down some instructions, I just to do my best. I am putting a copy here on my blog. Let me know if you ever make it and how you like it.

Navy Bean Soup

Soak 2 cups of Navy Beans over night. Rinse the beans in the morning. Cover with about 2 or 3 inches of water. Put on stove and heat until the water boils. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add a ham hock, chopped onion, 1 grated carrot, and 2 stocks of celery. Cook for 3 or more hours. When meat easily comes off bone and beans are soft, remove ham and cut into bite size pieces. Return ham to soup. Season the soup with garlic salt and pepper. I often add a chopped green pepper and chopped basil or parsley.

Let me introduce you to Jeremy Hunter shown here with his two children, Lewis and Blythe.
I actually have written about him earlier. He was the person who had a "run-in" on the property here. He has a marvelous story, that we will be happy to share with you when we get home. We have had a great experience getting to know him and introducing him to the Church. He worked side by side with the men for two weeks. He became an honorary missionary, attended the Tabernacle Choir concert with us and is shown here on Father's Day at our home after lunch.

This is a test to see if things work.

THE CHINESE FARMER
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
A Chinese farmer lived on a farm in a small village. He had one son who was old enough to help him with the hard work he had to do in order to make a humble living from the soil. He was very fortunate that he also owned one horse, which did much of the heavy labor in the fields.
One night accidentally, as they finished working and put the horse into the pasture, the gate was left unlatched. During the night, the horse went out through the gate. Next morning the farmer discovered his horse was gone. His neighbors were asked but they did not know of its whereabouts. His neighbors expressed their sadness for him and further mourned that without his horse he would not be able to earn a living. “You will be without means, how unfortunate, all is lost for you,” they said. The farmer replied, “I do not know that. I do not know that there is no hope. I am not wise enough to know those things.”
Several nights later, while the farmer and his son were sleeping, his horse returned to the farm drawing with him a herd of wild horses. They went into the unlocked pasture and were there in the morning as the farmer arose. These fine animals were now his. When they learned about this good fortune, his neighbors came and exclaimed, “How fortunate you are. You are a wealthy man. Oh, how blessed you are! Now you can have anything that you want.” The farmer replied, “I do not know if this is good fortune. I do not know that these things will be. I am not wise enough to know this.” And he continued his work.
His son was attempting to train the new horses. One day there was an accident and the boy was thrown from a wild horse. He received a very serious injury to his leg. He was unable to work and suffered great pain. The neighbors came to the farmer and said, “Oh how tragic, your son will never be able to walk. He cannot help you with the work as before. You will not be able to enjoy a bounteous harvest. You are most unfortunate.” The farmer replied, “I do not know if this is bad fortune. I am not wise to know if what you say will be so.” And he continued to do what he could do.
Then one day, a warlord of the providence in which they lived sent out a decree that all young men of the providence would be conscripted into his army, to fight his enemies of a neighboring land. Soldiers were sent into the farmer’s village. They gathered all of the young men of the village. Because of his injured leg the farmer’s son was of no use to them so, he stayed home with his father.
Within a short time, news of a fierce battle was received in the village. It reported that all of the young men from this village had been killed.
Are any of us wise enough to know what good fortune is and what is not?

Here are a few of the wild flowers we have seen this spring. Aren't they beautiful! See what a lot of water can do.

These are the visitors for this week. The Wagoners came out of their way to visit. We so enjoyed being with them! These people are world travelers and we felt quite honored that they would come to see us. The two men sat outside for hours solving the problems of the world. We gave them a shot of our hot humid weather, which was too bad because it has been so lovely until just the day they came. They will be glad to get back to Arizona.

It felt so wonderful to spent time with my dear friend, Lori. She is so wise and helps me see the world through clear lenses. It just seems like we talked and talked. I was so happy to get to share our experiences with her. If you want a treat, check out Lori's blog. She always has something fun to share.

So often when we have a church leader that we only see in his dark suit and white shirt, standing in front of a congregation, we think that they are always that way. I can remember when people would be surprised how fun Tom Jones would be at a party after thinking of him has their spiritual leader. Pres. Wes Wagoner showed his "other side" while visiting us. He is having his turn on our swing.

"We can't predict all the struggles and storms in life, not even the ones just around the next corner, but as persons of faith and hope, we know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the best is yet to come."
L. Tom Perry, "Let Him Do It with Simplicity," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 7

We received two calls that there were two calves out of the fence. The farmer when we have called him before doesn’t show much concern. He said that when they get hungry enough, they find their way back to their mothers. The sister that called us was practically in tears, so Lloyd said that he would go see if he could get them back. We drove down there and sure enough, the calves were out and the mother cow was bawling at them. The calves kept running back and forth along the fence line. Lloyd really did not know what to do. We just drove back and forth along with them. We were there about fifteen minutes and we could see no way to get them back. There was no way that they would let Lloyd just catch them and lift them back over. It was getting dark by now. I just thought the Lord know how to get them back. I started saying a prayer out loud and just explained the situation and asked Him to help them get back. Lloyd said amen. It was not 5 seconds and one of the calves just hopped through the fence and was gone. Lloyd said we are going home. It was a wonderful answer to our prayer.

Our latest visitors were the Dastrups. Jeff and Sherry were traveling with Jeff's parents helping them celebrate their 50th wedding aniversary. It is always fun to get our arms around people from home.

Storms in the Midwest

Storms in the Midwest

When you see clouds like these, first you think of their beauty, then you realize it might be time to take action and take cover.

Out here in the Midwest storm watching is very serious. TV programs are interrupted. People have radios in their home that tell 24 hours a day what is happening in the weather. If your county is in the path of a severe storm, the radio will come awake and sound an alarm. Each town has a siren that goes off when a storm is coming. There is a Mormon lady that is a professional storm watcher and goes out and watches the storms movement and report them. She is good to call us when we are in danger. We start a "calling tree" that makes sure that all the missionaries are aware of what is going on. When we receive a tornado warming, we are all to go to the water treatment plant on our property that is built underground. Last night we went down there for the fifth and sixth time since we came here. We are told to just drop everything we are doing and go! Some of us were in our pajamas (like myself) last night. We are driving through rain and sometimes hail. When we arrive at the water plant, we count noses and wait out the storm. It is like a huge party. Everyone is so excited and no one is lacking in someone to listen to talk.

Our first call to go to shelter was about 8:00 p.m. The storm front was passed us about 9:00 and we all went home, some to bed. At 10:30 we received word that the worst part of the storm was heading right toward us. Once again the calling tree was put into action. This time people were woken from a deep sleep. It was a scary drive to the shelter this time. The rain was coming down so hard. It was hard to even see the road. I was totally soaked by the time I was in the shelter. We were there until midnight that time.

The next day on TV we learned that there was grapefruit sized hail reported to have done a lot of damage just six miles from us in Gallatin.

Storm damage

After the storm comes the cleanup. Trees are blown down and clog streams. The dirt roads are washed away and the elders get to work. The poor farmers have been waiting to get their fields planted but because of the rain, they have not been able to get into the fields. This last week most of the fields were planted. This rain might have washed the seeds away. Time will tell in the next few days.

June is going to be the month of visitors it is turning out. We started by having my brother Ted, his wife Patti and daughter Eden come for a visit.

Ted arrived about 6:00p.m. Satruday evening with Patti and Eden. It was so fun to have them here. Ted and Patti have not changed at all, but sweet Eden has turned into a lovely young lady. She will be twelve this August. I fed them a dinner of roast pork, wild rice, and asparagus. We went for a drive and we first showed them Jameson and their fifty-cent mall. Then we went for a drive around AOA. We were able to see quite a bit of wild life as well. We saw about 20 deer, but no fawns. (There have been some spotted, but not by us). When it got dark, (after 9:00 p.m.) we were driving home and we saw many fireflies. They are so much fun to see. It was hard to stop talking and go to bed.
It is always fun to take family to church at the branch. Everyone is so friendly and excited to meet new people. We had gotten word that Brad and Lori Nally were willing to drive up from Liberty with their nine children to come visit us. I just had to promise them food for doing that! When we got home from church the Nallys were sitting in their 15-passenger van waiting for us. We all ( sixteen of us) drove over to the Work Center where I had sloppy Joes, potato salad, Jell-O salad, chips, chocolate cake and the fixing of homemade ice cream waiting for us.

I just have to write about the Nallys. Everyone was in the Sunday best. They all got along so well after traveling for a week. The children ate everything I feed them. The boys all waited until all the girls and women had been served before they got their food. The older children helped the little ones. After we were through eating, the kids all just stepped up and started cleaning. Lori and Brad were able to visit with us while the kids worked. We took everyone down to Preacher’s Rock and Lloyd explained Adam-ondi-Ahman and its roll in the history of the world. It was a very pleasant afternoon. The Nally were on their way about 4:00.
Ted and Patti went to the fireside with us and then we went home, got comfortable and sat outside watching Eden on the swing while we visited and ate popcorn. It was such a perfect day.

Gardening, gardening, gardening!!! May is the month that we Missourians put our gardens in. It has been so muddy that it has been hard to get the job done. Yesterday was the day for us. We are sharing our plot with Jamie and Buck Wright. We all put in SIX hours yesterday. Needless to say, we were four tired people. We will think of you all as we eat of our labors come August.

May 22 we traveled as missionaries up to Winter Quarters and got to attend the temple. With only two chances to attend the temple each year, we were all so pleased to be able to attend. Afterwards, we went to the Visitors' Center. I have three relatives that are buried there, the most direct being my third Great-Grandfather Horace Datus Ensign. He died on his 48th birthday. he had five sons and one daughter that traveled on to Salt Lake the following year. One of his sons traveled into the Salt lake with Brigham Young and rest of them were there in September of 1847.

Oreo Returned

For a few days we did not see or hear from Oreo, then one afternoon there were two of him. I think that Oreo found a mate and brought her over to meet us. They have made a nest up by our chimney. I can often hear them singing up there.

Come meet our new little friend, Oreo

I wanted to write to you about my friend I call Oreo. He is an oriole bird. His feathers are black and a bright orange. Oreo has decided that he wants to be part of our family.
One day he just flew into our window because he wanted to be inside. Of course, he could come in, nevertheless, he keeps trying. He likes to just look in the window and watches us. We first met him Sunday afternoon. I was excited to take pictures and thought I might scare him away, but he seems to like the attention. After he watches us for awhile, he will sing the most beautiful songs. He seems to be talking to us. When it got dark we closed the draperies and went to bed.
The next morning Lloyd and I were reading scriptures together and I could hear Oreo singing good morning to us. I opened the draperies and there he was! He would fly from the window over to the bird feeder. I was out of seeds and it was like he was letting me know I need to put more out. One of my friends gave me some and this afternoon he is still singing and watching me.

Patriarchal Blessing

The reason the Klippels came out here for such a short visit was so that Tanner could receive his patriarchal blessing from his grandfather. It was such a marvelous experience for us all. When Adam was 927 years old, he called his righteous posterity to the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman where he blessed them. The six of us gathered at a sight over looking the Valley and Tanner received his blessing.