Pat and I are on the Stake Self Reliance Committee, which means we have been helping to train the ward and branch councils. We also train the ward membership in the third hour of the Sacrament meeting block so the members have an idea what to expect when they go to the devotionals. This initiative was first rolled out at the Huntington I and II wards as well as the Galipolis Ward on March 12th earlier this year. We are now in our second round of class offerings. We've just completed three Sundays away from our ward to do the trainings. We trained the members in Ashland, KY, Martin, KY, and Paintsville, KY. The devotional for folks to sign up is Aug 13 and 20 for the wards and branches in the Stake.
What a divinely inspired initiative ( FYI, the brethren don't call it a program). To have a spiritual component along with the temporal component is brilliant, in fact it is the Lord's way. Which is why it works. The Church has combined the Perpetual Education Fund and the Employment Services departments together to create courses to better the lives of everyone. The classes are 1- Finding a better job, 2-Personal Finances, 3-Education for better Work, 4-Starting and growing my business. These folks in this depressed area are so blessed to be some of the first to participate in this initiative. We also feel blessed to get to be on the Stake committee which is bringing it to the members.
We have finished the second semester of our Pathway/Insitute classes. We love these YSA's and they are so dedicated and devoted to the gospel. I as so proud of Jackie, Jamie and Haley to finish their year. That's real dedication. We now have 4 weeks off then will start up again in September. There are only a few Pathway programs that are on this January to December track.
Our stake had a stake youth conference this past weekend. As we have a Sam's Club card (evidently most folks don't, can't figure that out) Wednesday we took the planners of the conference to do shopping for all the food. We then spent a good part of Thursday, Friday and Saturday preparing or serving the food. One day we had the full time Elders and Sisters come and help us as we made Sloppy Joe's for 280 people. One of the activities for the youth was to go to 2 different homeless shelters and serve them lunch. So all the meat, buns, cold slaw, potato salad, chips, fruit were divided in two groups to go to the two shelters. Our youth's eyes were opened to how hard life can be and how blessed they are.
Our literacy learners are doing well. We enjoy our time with them. They sure try hard. Pat's is retaining a little bit more each week of what he has been learning. He has a happy spirit.
A real highlight Saturday was a visit from Scott Jackson. What a great fellow. He came to town to visit the Marshall Football Stadium and we felt lucky to get a visit too. We felt so loved to receive cookies, burritos, tortillas and a picture of the Savior from you dear family that I love so much. Scott is a stitch and we should adopt him into the family. I've already got the picture framed and up on the wall.
We love the mission, the people, not the humidity.
Almost Heaven, Traynors
Monday, July 24, 2017
Thursday, July 13, 2017
A new Mission President
Before I write about our new President I will talk about the 4th of July. We went to two ward cook outs. The gathering for Huntington 1st ward was a lunch at a place called Beech Fork. It's lake for boating and one of the greenest, most gorgeous places you've ever seen. We were at the picnic area and what a beautiful setting. There was plenty of grilled Burgers and Hotdogs and a ton of side dishes. There were folks swimming, people canoeing lazily down a river right beside our ramada. Men played horseshoes and children fished in the river and played games. Now comes the funny part. It was all done in the rain and folks here just keep doing what they do, rain or no rain. Great party though and good company.
Party number 2 was at the John II and Linda Perry home. The rain had stopped and the temperature was a little cooler, although the humidity was still quite high. These folks had opened up their home to friends and ward people for dinner. This family lives on a 52 acre spread of green rolling wooded hills. I'll say again that the grass cutting here is an art, and folks keep the lawns and green hills so well groomed. Before the dinner John III (he and his wife Sarah also live on the property) took us out on a tour of the property on a Polaris Quad runner thing. As it had rained so much in the morning everything was so wet and fresh looking. We went up and down the wooded hills and muddy ravines and even stopped several times to pick and eat a few wild blackberries that are all over the hills. The grilled burgers and side dishes again were great and the children had games to play and plenty of room to run around.
For days before the 4th and several days after you could hear fireworks going off all around town. It was a nice way to spend a Patriotic Holiday.
Now to the New Mission President. On July 6th our Zone met President and Sister Lindhardt and family. The Lindhardt's came from Ephriam, Utah where he had been an Institute Instructor at Snow College. They brought their 4 children with them to West Virginia to tour the mission with the parents as a family. Only one of the children, a 16 year old boy, will stay here in the Mission. A daughter leaves on a mission to California in August. Another daughter returns to Utah to finish a nursing degree and the oldest daughter and her husband leave to return to school in Utah.
We sure felt President and Sister Lindhardt's testimony, love and commitment to this work as they told us of their interview with Elder Renland and their call from President Eyeing. He has our support and devotion. He will be a great leader here.
Other activities these past few days have been preparing for and presenting the Self-Reliance initiative to Ashland ward in Kentucky. The next two Sundays we have two more Wards to present to, also in Kentucky about an hour and a half away. This is a divinely inspired opportunity for those that need and want to be more self-reliant.
Our Pathway /Institute classes are doing well. This semester seems to be flying by. Our YSAdults are so bright and it keeps us on our toes to be prepared to teach them. Our testimonies are being strengthened as we learn and prepare to teach this semester's lessons on the Book of Mormon.
Monday the 10th was baking/meet and check on folks day. We have had 4 new couples move into the ward to start medical school at Marshall, two new babies born in the ward and some of the ward widows that we met and visited.
We are loving the people here and we are missing our people elsewhere but we are happy and healthy. Pat has recovered from his fall and head injury and all is well.
We love you all and are grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission.
Almost Heaven, Traynors
Party number 2 was at the John II and Linda Perry home. The rain had stopped and the temperature was a little cooler, although the humidity was still quite high. These folks had opened up their home to friends and ward people for dinner. This family lives on a 52 acre spread of green rolling wooded hills. I'll say again that the grass cutting here is an art, and folks keep the lawns and green hills so well groomed. Before the dinner John III (he and his wife Sarah also live on the property) took us out on a tour of the property on a Polaris Quad runner thing. As it had rained so much in the morning everything was so wet and fresh looking. We went up and down the wooded hills and muddy ravines and even stopped several times to pick and eat a few wild blackberries that are all over the hills. The grilled burgers and side dishes again were great and the children had games to play and plenty of room to run around.
For days before the 4th and several days after you could hear fireworks going off all around town. It was a nice way to spend a Patriotic Holiday.
Now to the New Mission President. On July 6th our Zone met President and Sister Lindhardt and family. The Lindhardt's came from Ephriam, Utah where he had been an Institute Instructor at Snow College. They brought their 4 children with them to West Virginia to tour the mission with the parents as a family. Only one of the children, a 16 year old boy, will stay here in the Mission. A daughter leaves on a mission to California in August. Another daughter returns to Utah to finish a nursing degree and the oldest daughter and her husband leave to return to school in Utah.
We sure felt President and Sister Lindhardt's testimony, love and commitment to this work as they told us of their interview with Elder Renland and their call from President Eyeing. He has our support and devotion. He will be a great leader here.
Other activities these past few days have been preparing for and presenting the Self-Reliance initiative to Ashland ward in Kentucky. The next two Sundays we have two more Wards to present to, also in Kentucky about an hour and a half away. This is a divinely inspired opportunity for those that need and want to be more self-reliant.
Our Pathway /Institute classes are doing well. This semester seems to be flying by. Our YSAdults are so bright and it keeps us on our toes to be prepared to teach them. Our testimonies are being strengthened as we learn and prepare to teach this semester's lessons on the Book of Mormon.
Monday the 10th was baking/meet and check on folks day. We have had 4 new couples move into the ward to start medical school at Marshall, two new babies born in the ward and some of the ward widows that we met and visited.
We are loving the people here and we are missing our people elsewhere but we are happy and healthy. Pat has recovered from his fall and head injury and all is well.
We love you all and are grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission.
Almost Heaven, Traynors
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Farewell to President and Sister Salisbury
We had our final zone conference with President and Sister Salisbury Monday June 26th. What fine people they are and have worked so hard for these past three years. They have blessed the lives of the West Virginia, Charleston Missionaries. Truly the statement, "Well done thou good and faithful servant", applies to them.
The first part of the conference was spent on training and motivation. Then after lunch the feeling changed and it was as if a humble father was teaching his sons and daughters to prepare them to go out into the world. President Salisbury's love of and testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ is so strong and we all felt is love. The Salisbury's have made good use of their consecrated time in serving the Lord here in West Virginia.
My heart thrills to think of that reunion with the Salisbury's as they fall into the arms of their children and grandchildren after having been away for so long and serving so well.
Our new mission President is now here in West Virginia and we will meet President and Sister Lindhardt and their family on Thursday July 6th as they go around the mission zones to meet all their missionaries. The work of the Lord, to bring souls unto salvation goes on, without a hiccup, as we all learn to love another of the Lord's servants.
Tuesday had us with our Literacy learners again. We are enjoying our time with Keith and Antoine and recognize their efforts to learn, something that a lot of us take for granted, healthy, smart brains and the comforts of life that allows us to be able to use them.
Wednesday was a really cool opportunity. I had been asked to speak at the Wednesday evening devotional at our Stake Girls camp. Our stake holds camp in Olive Hill, Kentucky at a place called Carter Caves State Park about an hour from Huntington, WV. My talk was to be in the "Salt Peter" cave. This is where Saltpeter was mined, which was used for making gun powder for the war of 1812 against the British. You get into this cave by going down 30 narrow steps, some concrete, some wood, some rock, about 16 feet down to where it opens up in a big open cavern. There are many trails and holes to be explored, we didn't. We kept the girls together as our guide took us on a narrow trail deep into the cave where there was another open area. We had our devotional message there. There is some lighting and the temperature is only 47 degrees year round. Having ones own flashlight was a smart idea. We did.
My talk was on "Having faith in Jesus Christ and asking in faith". I started out by singing silly camp songs with them and telling them some of my memories of being a first year Beehive at camp 55 years ago. We sang, and learned and laughed and cried together. I had asked Pat to speak also. It was a great experience for us. And then I was glad to get out of that cave.
Thursday evening was our Institute/Pathway night again. My goodness we love these young people. We are in the English portion of the curriculum. They have been required to write several types of essays. This week is the personal essay. They edit each others essays in class. What is really cool is that they all want Patrick to edit their papers and he is very thorough and gives them good feedback. His bazillion years of writing legal briefs benefits them.
Friday was a slower day. We were happy to have a little nap. We visited a little widow in our ward. You have to go down through a holler then up on top of the hill to get to her house. She has become a good to us.
The work goes on here and we love these people. We love and miss you all.
Almost Heaven, Traynors
The first part of the conference was spent on training and motivation. Then after lunch the feeling changed and it was as if a humble father was teaching his sons and daughters to prepare them to go out into the world. President Salisbury's love of and testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ is so strong and we all felt is love. The Salisbury's have made good use of their consecrated time in serving the Lord here in West Virginia.
My heart thrills to think of that reunion with the Salisbury's as they fall into the arms of their children and grandchildren after having been away for so long and serving so well.
Our new mission President is now here in West Virginia and we will meet President and Sister Lindhardt and their family on Thursday July 6th as they go around the mission zones to meet all their missionaries. The work of the Lord, to bring souls unto salvation goes on, without a hiccup, as we all learn to love another of the Lord's servants.
Tuesday had us with our Literacy learners again. We are enjoying our time with Keith and Antoine and recognize their efforts to learn, something that a lot of us take for granted, healthy, smart brains and the comforts of life that allows us to be able to use them.
Wednesday was a really cool opportunity. I had been asked to speak at the Wednesday evening devotional at our Stake Girls camp. Our stake holds camp in Olive Hill, Kentucky at a place called Carter Caves State Park about an hour from Huntington, WV. My talk was to be in the "Salt Peter" cave. This is where Saltpeter was mined, which was used for making gun powder for the war of 1812 against the British. You get into this cave by going down 30 narrow steps, some concrete, some wood, some rock, about 16 feet down to where it opens up in a big open cavern. There are many trails and holes to be explored, we didn't. We kept the girls together as our guide took us on a narrow trail deep into the cave where there was another open area. We had our devotional message there. There is some lighting and the temperature is only 47 degrees year round. Having ones own flashlight was a smart idea. We did.
My talk was on "Having faith in Jesus Christ and asking in faith". I started out by singing silly camp songs with them and telling them some of my memories of being a first year Beehive at camp 55 years ago. We sang, and learned and laughed and cried together. I had asked Pat to speak also. It was a great experience for us. And then I was glad to get out of that cave.
Thursday evening was our Institute/Pathway night again. My goodness we love these young people. We are in the English portion of the curriculum. They have been required to write several types of essays. This week is the personal essay. They edit each others essays in class. What is really cool is that they all want Patrick to edit their papers and he is very thorough and gives them good feedback. His bazillion years of writing legal briefs benefits them.
Friday was a slower day. We were happy to have a little nap. We visited a little widow in our ward. You have to go down through a holler then up on top of the hill to get to her house. She has become a good to us.
The work goes on here and we love these people. We love and miss you all.
Almost Heaven, Traynors
A Challenging Time
We had a nice Fathers Day and Pat was happy to hear from our children. We are so thankful for our family that are so supportive of us being away from home and serving a mission. We love hearing from and seeing them often via FaceTime. We are grateful for modern technology that allows us to stay close and watch our families grow up while we are away.
Yes folks, we have definitely had some challenges this past week. So for Father's Day dinner I made Pat, Chicken Marsala which is one of his favorites. Well we must have gotten some bad mushrooms because by 1:00 AM he was in the throngs of the worst food poisoning episode I have ever seen. This poor thing was the sickest that I have ever seen in our 46 years together.
Morning eventually came and I was able to get to Walgreens early and get him some Immodium and Emitrol which finally slowed things down a bit. I also called our sweet zone leaders and they came over Monday morning and gave Pat a blessing that helped too. Pat was finally able to get a couple hours of sleep.
I had not eaten the mushrooms so we thought that's why I did not get the poisoning, but Oh contrere, I had eaten the sauce that the mushroom were in and by afternoon I was affected too. But certainly not as bad as Pat and we had the Immodium so my episode was not as bad. By nighttime we were both feeling better but Pat was very week.
The next day Tuesday we had our Literacy tutor assignment and although we would like to have stayed home another day we went on to the Library to meet our learners. My fellow did not show up but Pat's did and they had a nice lesson together.
The light bulb over the kitchen sink had been out a few days, but we didn't care much about changing it the day before so upon arriving home from the Library I asked Pat to change it. He had taken off his shoes. He pulled up a chair to climb up to change it, yes, you can see it coming, and as he stepped up on the smooth wooden chair with his stocking feet, they slid right out from under him and he fell backwards and landed flat on his back with his head hitting the tile floor really hard. The impact on his head split it open a bit and he was bleeding as well as had a bad concussion. We have watched him carefully and have talked to health care people. He didn't break anything but has to take it easy and let his brain settle down. His recovery is slow but is steady. He stayed pretty calm the rest of that week. The moral to this story, don't let old folks change light bulbs in stocking feet. When I told our kids about the mishap they have been very thoughtful about checking in on their dad. Then cute Brian said," mom, how many Senior Missionaries does it take to change a light bulb"? So funny.
On Thursday we had our Institute/Pathway lessons. Pat worked to prepare his lesson but just wasn't up to going out. So that night at our class I taught my Institute lesson and I divided Pat's lesson into 3 parts. I assigned a third of the class to each part and ask them to study it for 10 minutes then present it to the rest of us. These students we have are wonderful and they did a terrific job. They are knowledgeable and willing to share and work together. Their love and concern for Elder Traynor was evident. We appreciate their support .
It's a good thing this week is finished. Things are getting back to normal, slowly, but its happening.
We feel the blessings of our Heavenly Father.
Almost Heaven, Traynors
Yes folks, we have definitely had some challenges this past week. So for Father's Day dinner I made Pat, Chicken Marsala which is one of his favorites. Well we must have gotten some bad mushrooms because by 1:00 AM he was in the throngs of the worst food poisoning episode I have ever seen. This poor thing was the sickest that I have ever seen in our 46 years together.
Morning eventually came and I was able to get to Walgreens early and get him some Immodium and Emitrol which finally slowed things down a bit. I also called our sweet zone leaders and they came over Monday morning and gave Pat a blessing that helped too. Pat was finally able to get a couple hours of sleep.
I had not eaten the mushrooms so we thought that's why I did not get the poisoning, but Oh contrere, I had eaten the sauce that the mushroom were in and by afternoon I was affected too. But certainly not as bad as Pat and we had the Immodium so my episode was not as bad. By nighttime we were both feeling better but Pat was very week.
The next day Tuesday we had our Literacy tutor assignment and although we would like to have stayed home another day we went on to the Library to meet our learners. My fellow did not show up but Pat's did and they had a nice lesson together.
The light bulb over the kitchen sink had been out a few days, but we didn't care much about changing it the day before so upon arriving home from the Library I asked Pat to change it. He had taken off his shoes. He pulled up a chair to climb up to change it, yes, you can see it coming, and as he stepped up on the smooth wooden chair with his stocking feet, they slid right out from under him and he fell backwards and landed flat on his back with his head hitting the tile floor really hard. The impact on his head split it open a bit and he was bleeding as well as had a bad concussion. We have watched him carefully and have talked to health care people. He didn't break anything but has to take it easy and let his brain settle down. His recovery is slow but is steady. He stayed pretty calm the rest of that week. The moral to this story, don't let old folks change light bulbs in stocking feet. When I told our kids about the mishap they have been very thoughtful about checking in on their dad. Then cute Brian said," mom, how many Senior Missionaries does it take to change a light bulb"? So funny.
On Thursday we had our Institute/Pathway lessons. Pat worked to prepare his lesson but just wasn't up to going out. So that night at our class I taught my Institute lesson and I divided Pat's lesson into 3 parts. I assigned a third of the class to each part and ask them to study it for 10 minutes then present it to the rest of us. These students we have are wonderful and they did a terrific job. They are knowledgeable and willing to share and work together. Their love and concern for Elder Traynor was evident. We appreciate their support .
It's a good thing this week is finished. Things are getting back to normal, slowly, but its happening.
We feel the blessings of our Heavenly Father.
Almost Heaven, Traynors
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)