Saying Goodbye

   We have had many final dinner appointments our last two weeks here. We have been able to spend some time with some very dear lifelong friends. Andy Mazon said,  you folks came here and jumped in with both feet. I replied, yes, our feet are soaking wet but we don't want to get out and dry them off. 

   Our final Sacrament meetings at both Huntington 1st and 2nd wards were tough today. Our hearts are heavy as we said our goodbyes to these folks that we might seldom, if ever, see again. We bore or testimonies and our emotions were spilling all over. 

   Some folks said some very nice things. Randi said, You drew a circle and pulled us in. You made us all feel very welcome and loved".

Lynne said, You didn't just serve in our ward, we saw you serving all over the stake". 

Many many folks said they don't want us to leave. We made offers for people to come and visit. Lots of folks promised to come. 

Cookie said we are her favorite missionaries.  

Arlene thanked us for coming. She thanked us for teaching she and Michael to read and write. I had taught some ladies in the ward  how to sew and make a baby quilt. She thanked me again for teaching her a new skill that she gets so much enjoyment out of. She now makes many baby blankets and gives them to her own family, the new babies in the ward, as well as to " Lily's Place', a newborn addiction recovery half way house.  She said, folks are now calling her the blanket lady, and she loves it. 

 Well, people are just very kind and we will remember them and beautiful West Virginia with great fondness forever.

Now as we face the very long drive home, we look forward to our reunion with family and friends in Arizona. The calendar is already starting to fill up with responsibilities and activities and we will be jumping back into life there. But we will always be grateful for our consecrated time to serve the Lord and the people of West Virginia. We have loved it.

Almost Heaven, West Virginia

Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River

Life is old there, older than the trees

Younger than the mountains, blowing in a breeze

Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads. 

Elder and Sister Traynor

PS, yes, I am bawling!

The People in West Virginia

    Our hearts are very heavy as we try to sprint to the finish line. We will miss the good people of Huntington WV. We are three weeks from leaving and folks are realizing that our time is short here before we head home to Arizona. They are wanting to schedule dinners, speaking assignments, sing in church meetings and other social gatherings. We have had offers to stay and not go home and live with families here. Some suggestions are to go home and see our families then get on back here, and others offer to have us vacation here. In general these folks are in our hearts and I think we just may have found our way into theirs.

We had our second July 4th in the mission field. We had lunch with Huntington 1st ward at Beech Fork State Park. It was crazy hot but the food and people were great.
 The Huntington 2nd ward had a picnic at 6:00 PM. It was 99 degrees and very humid at dinnertime. Patriotic or not, get me indoors in the A/C. Last year was pleasant, this year was not.
 
  The missionary work goes forward,  or as Roc would say,"onward and upward". The sisters in our area have had 4 baptisms in the last 2 weeks. They have knocked doors, taught the discussions, given service and brought people unto Christ and into the waters of baptism. They have worked hard and this area is being blessed because of their good/hard work. It has been a pleasure to feed them and take them to appointments, and in general support them however we can.

   Last week Pat and I made two tied quilts for our two literacy learners. We wanted to do something for them when we leave and a home made warm quilt for the cold winters seemed like the right thing. So we got those done. Let's say that I did the tying and Pat clipped all the yarn ties. Pat is getting pretty good at helping me with the rolling to be able to reach better.
We also spent a another day of tying quilts to teach our friend Angel Perry how to tie quilts. She has made two T-shirt quilt tops and wanted to learn how to tie them. We got her first one done and she is now on a roll.

  Last week I demonstrated "How to make Cinnamon Rolls" to the Ward Relief Society Sisters. I made 10 dozen rolls. We had a great turn out of sisters. I made a batch of dough here at home before going, then once there showed them how to roll it out and add the butter, sugar and cinnamon, then roll them up and put them into pans. When those were raising I taught them how to use their Kitchen Aid mixers or mix them by hand. While this second round of rolls were raising I made frosting for the first ones out of the oven. The church smelled great. The Stake Presidency were there for meetings and came over to the kitchen. They said the smell came over and got them. So every one had plenty to eat and to take some home to husbands and they learned a new skill that I hope they try for their families.

   We were with the full time  Elders tonight at a dinner appointment at our dear friends, Bishop and Sister Kirby. The Elders left a parting message in their home. I have come to love these wonderful messages that the missionaries bring. Quite often the messages are exactly what I need to hear. Anyway, tonights message was on heeding the promptings we are given, the first time they are given. I would like to invite all who would to read Alma 8:14-32 about Alma receiving a message from an Angel to go back to the city of Ammonihah to preach to the people there and he went speedily. What a blessing to be reminded to listen to and act on spiritual promptings speedily, when they are given.

  We are doing well and still loving the work and the people.
Almost Heaven, Traynors

 

 


 









 
 

"Our time here is flying by"

   As I opened up the blog page to write something I was somewhat surprised to see that it has been a month since I posted anything. In my mind I thought, "Oh it's only been a couple of weeks". But another month has passed and we are starting to feel the rush of wanting to get finished up all the things we wanted to do and see here.

  Our Virtual Institute /Pathway classes each Thursday are still enjoyable and we have grown to love our students so much. Our Huntington WV site (the only site in WV) has been the pilot for the Pathway virtual gathering here in the United States. We have just received an email from our North America NE area director that announced two new Pathway Connect changes.
1- There will be several more sites that will be opening up in the fall that students can attend virtually,   and that
2- Pathway Connect is being made available to non-members.
Both of these will greatly bless the lives of people that want to get an education. There are some conditions that will need to be followed with both of these announcements but wow, what great opportunities for so many more people.

 We had a Mission Tour June 19th in Charleston WV. Our visiting authority was Elder Randall Bennett of the Quorum of the Seventy. As of August 1st he will take over as the President of the North America NE area. What a great opportunity to have our General Authorities visit and instruct and bless the missions around the world. I know their focus is on the young Elders and Sisters but we Senior Missionaries learn so much too.
We were asked to come prepared for this meeting by reading 2 Nephi and focusing on the Gathering of Israel and 3 Nephi focusing on Ministering.
My take away from Elder Bennett was this quote, "working with urgency is a sign of willingness to be obedient".  I can certainly feel Elder Bennett's urgency to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world. We must jump on the band wagon.
I know we all have certainly felt this from President Nelson.
  Some other things we accomplished this past month are:
*We did the refreshments ( sandwiches, fruit, Cake and punch) at Seminary graduation as well as Pat spoke.
*We spoke in Olive Hill branch.
 * We inspected three companionships cars and apartments again. They might think I am a little hard on them but in the 4 months that we have had this assignment the apartments are looking so much better and the missionaries are cleaning better (at least before we come). You can sure see how grody things can get when transfers happen and things are left behind (such as, clothes, broken stuff, junk they collected and no longer have room for etc.. ) by the departing missionaries and the new Elder or Sister has to deal with it. I won't say that they "shine like the top of the Chrysler building" but wow things are so much better.
*We still enjoy our literacy leaners each Tuesday.
* We took a cleaning assignment at the building.
*We helped with food for a funeral in our ward.
*We feed the Sister Missionaries almost once a week.
We, I, taught a gal in the ward how to make bread using her Kitchen Aid she had never used.
* We had dinner twice with some new friends. Senior Missionaries from Gilbert AZ, Elder Brent and Sister Debbie Nelson.
*We drove the sisters to transfers in Charleston. We lost Sister Caldwell who has been a super missionary. She and her companion have 5 promising investigators, 2 on date, next Saturday. We hated to see her go but we brought to the area Sister Peterson. She and Sister Jenkins will hopefully reap the benefits all the hard work that has been done.
* We helped prepare for a wedding in the ward by ironing 18 tablecloths and 100 chair covers, as well as set up and washed and dried dishes at the rehearsal dinner and tonight we will serve at the reception.

  So as you see we stay busy. We love these people and this area and I'm already getting pretty emotional about the thoughts of leaving them but then I think of our returning to our dear family and those are my happy thoughts.
 Love you all, Almost Heaven, Traynors















 
 
 

Our Institute lesson

   This blog will focus on a lesson that I taught last week. The title was "Salvation Comes Through Jesus Christ". (Lesson 8, Teachings and Doctrines of the Book of Mormon. REL275)
   We can read that King Benjamin taught what we must do to receive salvation through the Atonement of Jesus Christ (Mosiah 4: 6-8). We must come to a knowledge of God and of the Atonement, put our trust in God, keep the commandments diligently. and continue faithfully to the end of our lives.
   Then in 2 Nephi 25:23, Nephi helps us understand our responsibility to labor diligently to persuade our children and also our brethren, to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God, and we know that it is by the grace of God that we are saved, (and here comes the interesting part), after all we can do.  
   I have heard this phrase before, but it sure touched my heart more deeply this time. So I got to thinking what is 'all we can do', and am I doing it?
The lesson goes on to help us better understand this, "after all we can do", concept with a statement from President Ezra Taft Benson. He says, 'After all we can do' includes extending our best effort. It includes living his commandments. 'After all we can do' includes loving our fellow man and praying for those that regard us as their adversary. It means clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, and giving succor to those that stand in need of our succor. 'After all we can do' means leading chaste, clean, pure lives, being scrupulously honest in all dealings and treating others the way we would want to be treated"( President Ezra Taft Benson "Redemption Through Christ After All We Can Do" Liahona, Dec 1988)
  Wow, what a list, and after some self evaluation, I found that generally I might be doing OK, but  other times I come up short on a few of these.
  Then my mind turned to President Nelson and his message regarding loving and ministering to others. How do we minister? What do we do and how do we start?
   Bam! It's there in Pres. Benson's list.  I can love and serve others. I can 'succor' those that stand in need of succor, which means, something that furnishes relief.  I can feed others (and cinnamon rolls certainly would apply). I can clothe others. I can visit the sick, both physically as well as emotionally. I can pray for and uplift others. I can be an example of a clean, chaste life.
  The bottom line folks is that I as well as you are doing it. We are trying to love and serve as our Savior, as we try to become like Him. We may not be doing all, every day, but we are doing lots quite often.
I want to up my game and do better. I certainly want to extend my best efforts to others as Jesus Christ has given His all to us.
We sure love you and miss you.
"Almost Heaven",
 Traynors

Violet Jelly and gorgeous flowers and trees

I know that living in AZ all my life might make me a little sheltered as to what's out there in the world, but we are seeing flowers, shrubs and trees that we just don't see in AZ. While AZ has it's own beauty, the lush greenness of West Virginia is just stunning.  I may have said that at this time last year. It's still true.
First, there are little tiny violets, I'm talking smaller than your baby fingernail, all over. Everywhere you look it's like a purple carpet of violets. Thus the violet jelly from our friend.
The Red bud trees burst open this spring with their magenta flowers and just take your breath away. The dogwood trees have either a white or pink flower when they bloom.
 Unfortunately the color on most of the trees does not last very long before the green leaves take over. But for a while it's pretty spectacular.
Then you've got wonderful flowers, Hydrangeas, in pinks, blues and whites all over as well as Peonies in many colors just growing like crazy in peoples yards. When you get 60-ish inches rain a year you get some pretty great plants. I'll tell you, its Almost Heaven.

Now, lest you think all we do is look at flowers and trees, "au contra". We are still staying plenty busy.
Our Pathway /Institute classes are going well. Our virtual teaching continues to get a little easier in that we are getting better with this virtual conferencing thing. It isn't quite as scary as it first seemed. We are picking up a few extra students from as far as Michigan.  They can join us virtually for their Institute class when before they were to far to drive to a program.
  For Mother's Day we set up a Zoom room conference. All of us Traynors were able to be together virtually and had a great visit. It was so fun. There are some fun perks to learning new technology.
 Regarding our literacy learners, the Tri-State Literacy council had a yearly recognition dinner for all volunteers and their learners. Their weekly lessons are paying off. Pat and I knew that each of our students had achieved a course completion certificate. We encouraged our students to attend the awards dinner and we attended with them. It was a nice evening.
  We had a little challenge this past month. Pat had a crown on a tooth break off. The tooth underneath the crown broke. It happened on a Friday at 12:30 and how many dentists were in their offices, right, none. So he went through the weekend with a hole in his smile. It looked quite hillbilly-ish. Matt said, "Dad, you are going to great lengths to fit in". The quick fix was to have a flipper made that he will wear until he gets home and then our dentist will do an implant and a new crown.
  Now for a sweet ministering story. We have a fellow in our ward, Melvin is 63ish, and is in poor health. Last year the sisters tracked him out and he joined the church. This past Monday he was on his way to our monthly empty nesters FHE. As he drove the the church he saw a 90 year old woman sitting on her front porch. She was bent over fanning, trying to stay cool on our 93 degree day, with a hand fan. Melvin saw her as he drove by. He turned his car around and drove into her drive way. He got out and asked her if she had air conditioning. She said no. He told her he had an extra A/C window unit, would she like to have it? She told him it would be nice but that she could not afford to pay him for it. Melvin told her he wanted no payment and returned home, packed up the large window A/C unit, returned to the lady, installed it in her home, showed her how to run it and said, "maybe his will be a little more comfortable for you". She thanked him. He left and came on over to the church. He told us the story and we told him that this is exactly what President Nelson is talking about regarding ministering to each other whether they are members of the church or not. He did a fine thing for someone, and he did not even get her name. He said he just knew she needed help.
 We are so excited for the new mission calls. The people of Bentonville, Arkansas will just love Chet and Joy and what experiences await them.
We love you all. Almost Heaven,
Traynors.

Testimonies

Our Mission office asked us to write our testimonies that will be in our Mission newsletter. We decided to include them here in our blog also. 

Elder W Patrick Traynor (WVCM Feb 6 2017-Aug 6 2018)

   I know that as we study the scriptures and listen to modern day prophets, we can learn eternal truths that God has revealed to His prophets. God has revealed all truth that is necessary for salvation to His prophets. If I prepare myself, by obedience to God’s commandments, and seek confirmation of these truths, the Holy Ghost will confirm these truths to me. I testify that among the eternal truths that have been confirmed to me on our mission are the following:

1. Heavenly Father lives and we are sons or daughters of Heavenly Father and He knows us personally and individually and He loves us. 
2. Jesus Christ is the son of God and is our Savior and Redeemer. Through the power of Jesus Christ, as manifested through His Atonement, Christ defeated death and He conquered sin. 
3. Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet who was called by God to open the last dispensation. 
4. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and is the most correct book on earth. 
5. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s true church on the earth. 
6. God designed a plan whereby our spirits are able to come to the earth, which was created by His Son, Jesus Christ, under the direction of Heavenly Father, and gain a mortal body and prove ourselves worthy, through obedience to God’s commandments and with the saving grace of Christ’s Atonement, including His resurrection, and eventually become like God and return to live with God.
7. Christ’s power, as manifested through His Atonement, enables and strengthens us, as we exercise our agency, to to trust Christ and have faith in His promises. I know that since Christ is unchangeable and that just as He kept His promises to the people I read about in the scriptures, I know He will keep His promises to me. 

Sister Traynor and I love all aspects of our mission. We love the warm, kind and loving people of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. We have come to love the beautiful area where we serve. We treasure relationships we have made here and the eternal truths that have been confirmed to us as we have served in our mission. 

   I know that as I keep God’s commandments, I can feel the power of the Holy Ghost more frequently and more powerfully and I am strengthened in my efforts to trust in Jesus Christ and more fully obey His commandments. 

                                                                            

                                       Sister Sally Traynor (WVCM, Feb 6, 2017- Aug 6, 2018

  I am thankful for the opportunity to serve a mission with my husband. I have learned many things that have strengthened my testimony. 

   In the MTC, senior couples were promised that our families would be blessed as we left them in the Lord’s hands. One of my testimony strengtheners is that He knows our specific needs and promised blessings have been, and still are, being poured out to our family while we are away. I have a greater understanding that our Savior’s promises are real. He loves us and He is in the details of our lives.

  Our S & I (Seminary and Institute) assignment has also strengthened my testimony. As we prepared to teach our Institute lessons each Thursday night, we were blessed with the opportunity to study from the wonderful curriculum that has been prepared and provided by the Church for our Young Single Adults. These lessons, together with the scriptures and prophetic readings, have been inspiring. I have learned so much.

  My favorite lessons were from the “Jesus Christ and the Everlasting Gospel” cornerstone lessons. Through these lessons I have gained a greater love for my Savior as well as I feel His love for me more deeply. I have a greater understanding of His role in the creation of the world and His power and glory, and that through His love and atoning sacrifice all mankind can be saved and have the opportunity to live with our loving Heavenly Father again. 

  This past semester we have been studying “The Eternal Family”. I have gained a greater appreciation for our prophets who are on the watchtower to warn the world, as in, “The Family, a Proclamation to the World”. Our prophets are inspired and courageous and warn us of coming calamities that could harm our families. How thankful I am for ancient and modern  prophets. 

  Lastly, my testimony has been strengthen by a deeper commitment to read and study the Book of Mormon. I am grateful for President Nelson’s challenge to study and gain for ourselves the knowledge of what the Book of Mormon is; what it affirms; what it refutes; that it fulfills biblical prophecies; what it clarifies; and what is reveals. My testimony grows as I study, ponder and pray to learn eternal truths. 

  

To our children, grandchildren, loved ones and friends, we are grateful for this consecrated time to serve the Lord and we  thank you for your love and support to us.

We are still going strong. We still love these good people and It's still Almost Heaven. 

Elder and Sister Traynor 

  

   

Dandelion Jelly

  Today at church we were given a jar of freshly made West Virginia Dandelion Jelly.  I am still trying to figure out it's flavor. It's color is a lovely light yellow and because Pat and I could not come up with what it tastes like I referred to the .com. It suggests that it is somewhat the flavor of honey with a hint of lemon. The funny part is that you can actually find many recipes, but they mostly come under the heading of "Cooking with Weeds."  Ugh.
Dandelions are everywhere which makes them plentiful for picking, boiling down and making jelly. To think, I am 68 years old and I have never known about Dandelion Jelly.

Wednesday March 28th we drove to Charleston Airport to pick up William. We had a short but good visit here in Huntington with him. We taught our Institute/Pathway lessons on Thursday night then on Friday we drove back to Charleston to meet up with Emily and Erik's gang for the Easter / General Conference weekend. We all stayed in a VRBO ( called Blackberry Farm) owned by the parents of a gal in Emily's ward in Virginia. We had a great time all together. We loved seeing the grandchildren and playing with baby Rosie.

 3/31- 4/1 OK, let's talk about General Conference. Did anyone else, besides me, have to take a deep breath to just to stay on the same page with President Nelson? My, my what an inspiration he is to the church and the world. This new Presidency and the Quorum of the 12 will be wonderful.
  After the announcements of 2 new Apostles, changes in the Quorum of the Seventy, and the Priesthood changes, etc,  we were wondering what the Sunday meetings would bring.
  Emily had slipped out to feed the baby and was watching the conference on her phone. Upon hearing the announcement to change HT/VT to ministering, Emily sends a text to all her siblings which read, "There's a new sheriff in town". Well said girl. We had all better get on our horses and be ready for the ride.

4/3 Tuesday we drove to the Columbus Ohio Temple. Pat was asked to be the escort for Tait Nelson as he went through for his endowment. Tait was in our Institute class all last year and as well as this semester. He enters the Mexico City MTC this Tuesday. He will be serving in Cancun, Mexico. We had a great day with him and his mom and grandmother.
 Our only problem was that we drove through the worst rain and wind ever. It was only after we got home and had the news on and saw pictures and reports of the tornado we had driven through.

4/4 We worked on our lessons in the morning, worked with our literacy learners at 1:00P then at 3:00 tied a quilt for the two YSA's that were in our class last year and were married I the Payson Utah Temple. There is an open house for them this Saturday.  We are excited to see them this week.

4/5 We picked up two new members to our virtual Institute class this past Thursday night. These fellows are both returned missionaries. One from Nampa, ID and one from Madagascar.
 This virtual Institute is such a blessing to those who live so far from any institute programs and would otherwise have none.

  4/6 We drove the Sister Missionaries to Charleston for transfers. One of our sisters was returning home and we got a newbee straight from the MTC. We took them to lunch as we got back into Huntington/Barboursville.

 4/7 Pat and I celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary today. We marked the occasion with dinner  at Jewel City, a fresh fish restaurant ( a favorite place), frozen yogurt and a movie yesterday.  We are ready to sign up for another 47 plus years( it's actually called eternity). We are up for it.

Monday April 6th we crossed off another month here in West Virginia. We are 14 months here. Time is moving to quickly now. We love you all.
Almost Heaven, Traynors

PS, Did you all enjoy John's last Sunday night jam with Cameron singing "Almost Heaven"?
 It truly was. hanks John and Cam. I loves it.

We love transfer week.

Several times in our mission we have been asked to drive the sister missionaries to Charleston for transfers. Charleston is where the Mission Home and the mission office is located. 

The fun part is seeing all those missionaries that are involved in the transfer, come together. Some have completed their missions and are going home. Others come in to receive companions just fresh from the MTC that they will train, while others are coming to be sent to another area or receive new companions. 

Whatever the reason, the energy of happy reunions of past companionships, and excitement of coming to or leaving the West Virginia Charleston Mission is an exciting time. We love being a part of the hubbub. Our last transfer was Feb 23 and we lost two sisters that had been here as part of a threesome, and we picked up Sister Caldwell to serve here with Sister Wykstra. April 6th will be transfers again and Sister Wykstra goes home and we will have another great sister. It's just so fun to be part of the whole mission. 

  This recent companionship just had a baptism in our ward last Wednesday. The top picture is of Elder Traynor and Phyllis Copley. Phyllis is now our newest ward member and she asked Pat to baptize and confirm her. I was asked to sing at the baptism. I sang "I Need Thee every Hour".   

  Today Pat confirmed her a member of the church. He had 5 baptisms as a dad and now his first baptism as a missionary, a special opportunity.  

  The second picture is of Matt and Ann and the family (l to r, Jason, Sarah, Max, Kate, Gma, Gpa, Lucy, Ann, Nicole and Matt) We were thrilled that they came to see us in our mission in WV.  They had been to the Washington DC and Charlottesville, VA areas to revisit where Sarah and Jason and Nicole were born while Matt was in Med school at UVA. So they spent their spring break week doing the Virginia sites, the DC historical sites all in the cold, rain and snow.  

They also stopped and visited Emily and Erik's group. The cousins were happy the see each other. 

   They then made their way to WV. We were able to spend an evening together at a great Mexican Food Restaurant and at our apartment. Sunday morning they went to Sacrament Meeting with us and were able to meet some of our dear folks here before feeding them lunch and sending them on their way to the Cincinnati airport to make their way to Idaho Falls. A quick but wonderful visit. 

  Other happenings in the last few weeks include:

2/25 I sang in Sacrament Meeting."Be Still My Soul"

2/27 Pat prepared the lead student duties for our Pathway class because the guy who was supposed to do it up and decided to fly to the Philippines to meet a gal, then over slept and missed his flight. The Uber driver told him that it was divine intervention. We agree. 

3/16-17 HuntingtonStake Conference. I was asked 10 days prior to get together a Choir for the conference meetings, one for the Sat night meeting and one Sunday morning. So with some anxiety and prayers to invite the angels to sing with us, we pulled it off. 

  As the Stake President announced the concluding speaker he also announced that the Choir would sing the closing hymn which was news to me. So I slipped a note to the Stake President to mention that we would do as he asked, however we had not rehearsed the Hymn. His reply was, "I have all confidence in you and the Choir, and a happy face. Well, I then slipped another note to be passed around the choir and the accompanist to let them know what we would do. The hymn was "God Speed the Right". We were blessed. We did well. I really think that the choir followed direction better during this hymn than during the rehearsed numbers. 

  After the meeting the Stake President thanked me and said how pleased he was with all the music for the conference. 

   3/20 I spoke in our ward Relief Society Birthday celebration dinner. My assigned topic was Spiritual Gardening. Being the first day of Spring I talked about our Spring gardens and flower beds that need preparation and renewal for the spring plantings. I then likened that to the need for our Spiritual Gardens to also be cultivated, to remove the undesirable, then prepare our gardens (hearts) to plant the Seeds of Faith, Charity, Family Harmony, Work Ethic and finally the seeds of Testimony.  

  Lastly, we can report that we have another, new assignment. President Lindhardt asked us to inspect the apartments and cars of three companionships. One is close here in Barboursville, the sisters, one in west Huntington and one and hour and a half away in Logan, WV, both Elders. We have them scheduled for tomorrow to make our inspections. 

  

We are still loving our mission, and still miss our dear loved ones. 

We love our Savior and are grateful for this opportunity.

Almost Heaven, Traynors

  

  

The year mark

    How time flies when you're having fun. Feb 6th marked the day we entered the MTC a year ago. Feb 19th marked our first day here in the West Virginia, Charleston Mission. We noted the day by having dinner with some terrific, new lifetime friends, Charlotte and Andy Mazon, at a great fresh seafood restaurant called Jewel City. Always a great choice.

   Our days stay busy but it all seems a bit routine now that we are on a roll and keep things fairly well scheduled, as well as we finally know what we are doing out here.

  We still work with our Literacy tutors each Tuesday. They are progressing slowly, but they try hard.

  We still teach two Institute classes each Thursday. Pat's are "in person" and mine are a "virtual" conferencing class. It is taking some to get used to teach and engage people while looking at each other in a computer screen. I first had to learn how to access the "Zoom Room", which is the website that Pathway Connect uses and got me signed in to use.  Second, we were given training from Sis Davis in Idaho who tried to teach us how to use Zoom. She is very fast and I guess she assumes we all get technology as quickly as she does. But, I don't, not even close. So I was whining to our Emily about it. She uses Zoom in her doTerra business so she was able to show me how to set up a reoccurring meeting and then get that information out to the students to be able to call in each week. My goodness I am grateful for Emily's patience and knowledge.

   The third step was to learn to use the cool applications in this software. Once again I went to Emily and she taught me how to do do some of the things that Sister Davis in Idaho told us were available. I have practiced so that I don't look so techno dufus when I use these apps during class. I have been blessed on two different occasions to have success on a certain item I wanted share. It was purely a gift from the Holy Ghost that things worked as they were supposed to at the exact time I needed them. That's one of the reasons you pray before lessons folks, Divine guidance.

  We still facilitate our Pathway/Gathering class each Thursday after Institute. This years class is so different from last year. We have fewer students (6).  Four have been endowed and 2 are pre mission age. Four are men and our 2 women are expecting babies, so quite a diverse group. The main difference is that we are a virtual Gathering. Having our "Lead Student" leading via the computer is very challenging. However the Pathway Connect support to the missionaries and students is quite helpful with powerpoint presentations and other materials to share.

  We still do our monthly dinner for the tri-stake Institute/ Seminary inservice meetings. February's meal was great. We have a gal in our ward that is a regional manager/trainer for Qdoba. She offered a terrific bargain so I had it catered. It was so good. Every one loved it and I only fixed the Brownies.

  We are still on the Stake YSA committee and just had a great progressive dinner Feb 17th. As always, those that came had a great time, met new people and had some great food. Those that come receive the blessings. The committee is always reaching out to them.

  We still serve on the Stake Self Reliance committee. There are classes in progress right now so there is less to do for us at this time. It will rev up again soon.

   Now for our new calling. We have been asked to learn a program called "Reading Horizons" and see how it can be used to help literacy challenged adults in the stake learn to read better which could help them to get jobs. Then we are to assist folks in each unit that will be the teachers who will work with the learners. The Reading Horizons teaching method will vary depending upon the student. In West Virginia, because of a lack of technology resources by individuals, direct instruction between the teacher and the student will probably be the primary method of instruction; however, Reading Horizons has a software program which apparently works well for students that have the technology necessary to run the program. Our stake is likely to use a combination of the 2 methods.
 This is part of a new program here in West Virginia, from the Church, called Development Counseling Services, through Deseret Industries

  Wow, that was probably TMI, but that 's what we are doing out here.

Now, just a quick word regarding our current missionaries serving in the field.
I LOVE THEIR LETTERS. My how we can see their testimonies grow as well as their maturity. What fine family folks we have. I am grateful to be a part of the Fred and Norma Arnett Family and I love you all.
  Almost Heaven, Traynors

A Birthday and snow

       The week of January 14th we were snowed in from Sunday the until Wednesday the 17th, when our Bishop/Landlord (who runs a snow plow business) sent his crew over to dig us out. They had been so very busy with their big accounts but was finally able to clear our parking area. The salting trucks and snowplows run almost 24/7. We actually enjoyed a couple of days being snowbound. Let's just say that "old Blue" (the nightgown) and I became pretty good friends. The clearing might also have something to do with the fact that I called the Bishop and told him that I had 2 dozen Cinnamon rolls for his cold, wet and hungry workers. Funny how it that Cinnamon Roll bribe works every time. We had to cancel our Literacy learners on Tuesday as we couldn't get out and it would have required them to walk to the Library in the snow, as that and a city bus is their only mode of transportation. By Thursday we were able to get out for our Institute / Pathway lessons. 

       We celebrated Pat's 71st Birthday by taking a P-day trip to Sam's Club and having lunch at a Restaurant called "Casa Grande" across the border in Ohio. It was very tasty. The servers came and put a Sombrero on his head as well as gave him a sparkling Fried Ice Cream. They sang Happy Birthday to him. The funny part was that the guy that played the guitar strummed with the left hand and just held the guitar with his right hand. He played no chords. The servers all sang in what ever key they wanted.  We also went to a Movie. He had a great day and heard from all the kids.     The next week we had another great Zone Conference. Our President's training was on the Restoration of the gospel. Restore means to "bring back" that which was lost. During his message he made a great list of  all that had been on the earth when Jesus was here but that had been taken away. How blessed we are to have the Gospel in it's fullness restored to the earth thru Joseph Smith. He talked about how Truth was restored to each of us individually, and how others can have the blessings of the restored gospel through us.    We had the opportunity to watch the Worldwide CES broadcast Friday night. It was broadcast from the Tabernacle and the main speaker was Elder D Todd Christofferson. His topic was on TRUTH. All Seminary and Institute teachers are to teach and defend Truth. These are some points from his talk. 1-The word of the Father and Christ is truth. 2-The witness of the Spirit is truth. 3-Truth is knowing of things as they were, are, and will be. 4-Knowledge of truth requires assistance, the divine help from Christ through the Holy Ghost. 5- Our grasp of truth comes by grace.   We are grateful to be part of this CES force and I hope we all feel the blessing of having Seminary available to our families. We also are so grateful for the Pathway program. What an inspired opportunity for continuing education. We are doing well. We love you all and miss our family and friends but golly we love these folks here too. Almost Heaven, Traynors  

It's really cold!

   OK, so our weather is really cold here. The morning lows have been in the low single digits many times  and sometimes our highs for the day have not reached 20 degrees. My Arizona blood is not accustomed to this sort of weather abuse. The snow is really quite beautiful as it fall, and then for about 10 minutes. But after that it's just just a nuisance, and the salt on the roads to melt the snow gets all over the cars. How many more months until Spring?
   January 7th we facilitated another Self-Reliance Devotional in Ashland, KY. This resulted in 48 people forming 7 new groups that will start their 12 week courses.
   Our Tri-state literacy learners continue to make progress. Working with these learners is probably one of our most meaningful experiences here in WV.
   As we continue with our mission duties we just added another one, and quite the challenge it is. As the Pathway Connect deadline approached we were trying to recruit students to sign up and be ready for the new program this semester (which at the time we did not know there was a minimum). We were told that between our 18-30 group and Elder and Sister Mazon's (stake Missionaries) 31+group our Huntington program did not have enough students to qualify for the Pathway Connect Program.
   So our North America North East Pathway Program director opened up the opportunity for a "Virtual" Pathway program for this area. This allowed for more students to participate virtually in pathway gatherings and not have to drive such long distances. This has been tried in Russia because of the huge distances but is now available here in North America NE area.
   This created another issue as to what to do for the Institute class for the students. Again, we were given the opportunity to be a pilot program for a "virtual" Institute class also. CES strongly believes that an "in person" experience should always be the first choice for Institute. However in our situation this blesses the lives of so many more people that would not have been able to travel to Huntington  every week.
  So we now teach two Institute classes. Pat teaches the live, "in person", class for those that are within  an hour of the stake center, and I teach the "virtual" institute class for those further away. One of my students is about 7 hours from Huntington but this allows him to participate too. Then we all meet together for a virtual Gathering.
  This has required us to learn to use a computer program called Zoom, that allows us to see and talk to each other. This required us to stretch our technology challenged brains. But I can report that last Thursday night was our first week of classes and through much prayer and training from Pathway support and help from above, we did it. We were able to get everyone in the Zoom room and stay connected for both the Institute class and the Gathering. A huge thank you to our Emily. She knows the Zoom program and was able to teach us in a more understandable way how to set up a Zoom room (that our students would come to each week) and use the program, encouraging us along the way that we could actually do this.
  From time to time we have been asked to drive the Sister missionaries to transfers in Charleston, WV. This past Friday we drove Sister J and Sister W to Charleston as Sister J was departing for home. Sister J was dear to us. We picked up Sister T, fresh out of the MTC, that Sister W would be training. On the way back to Huntington Sister W ( who does not have a drivers license) casually mentioned something about driving on West Virginia roads. Sister T announced that she does not drive and does not have a license either. This meant that neither sister was capable of driving the mission car waiting at their apartment. Sister W quickly called the Mission President as we turned around to head back to the transfer church building. President Lindhardt had to do some fast thinking as all the other cars had already left to drive to their areas throughout the whole mission.
  Long story short, 1-The President ended up creating a three some so that there would be a driver.
2-We had to stop to get the new Sister's stuff, 3-We tried to take them to their apartment but couldn't because of a Gas leak which was being repaired and service trucks blocked the stairs to their door. 4- We kept them with us in our small yet comfortable place all day, including 2 sets of luggage, a boxspring and mattress, a desk and a dresser which were delivered here because the zone leaders could not access the apartment either. 5- We made arrangements with our Elders Quorum President to come after this work day to get the sisters stuff.  He came with a forty foot covered trailer because it was still raining hard. 6- Finally delivered the Sisters to their apartment by 6:00 PM to unpack the truck and move up the stairs, all in the driving rain which then was turning to sleet and then, yes, snow. Hmmm, very eventful day.
Saturday, lots of snow. We stayed in the whole day.
  We also have another new assignment that we have put on hold until we get this Zoom thing under our belts. It's a literacy opportunity for members of the stake. I will report on that next time.
  We love you all. We are cold and happy. We love the people here. We love our Savior Jesus Christ.
Almost Heaven, (I'm questioning that this time)
Traynors
PS. More snow over night, expecting more tonight.

Happy New Year 2018

Much has happened since my last post. The busy month kind of got away. Here are some of the December highlights.
   Dec 1st- December started with arrival of Emily and Erik's Baby Rose Arnett Olsen. What a sweet little addition to their family. We got to meet her at Christmas. I'll report on that later. The delivery went well and Emily and baby Rose are doing great.
   3rd- Had the Sister Missionaries for dinner and they watched the Christmas devotional with us.
   4th- Had our adult FHE/dinner at the church. There are many widowed and single sisters in the ward, as well as a senior guy that joined the church in May. They appreciate getting together for some food, a little fun and a nice message.
   5th- We had another great zone conference. My take away from this conference was, We have been promised blessings, We must qualify for them.
Elder Holland says,"Believe! You do not have to know everything to believe. But what you do know, hold your ground and build on that". "If ye believe these things, see that ye do them."
Mark 5:36, Be not afraid, only believe. These Mission Presidents are inspiring men and have such love and devotion to the missionaries the they serve. What a monumental responsibility.
   After the lunch the young Sisters and Elders had a chance to hang out playing games, and had fun letting their hair down so to speak. They sang Christmas carols, and could watch a Christmas movie if they wanted. It was about as close to a party as they would get. As it was time to go they each were given gifts that their families had sent to the office as well as some Christmas treats. With the gifts came a warning to NOT open them until Christmas. I thought of each of our family missionaries with a bit of a lump in my throat. Being away from home is hard even for us older folks.
  Also that week had our literacy tutoring and Pathway.
  8th -The highlight was face timing with my brothers and sisters who were together at our annual dinner. How wonderful to have the technology to see and speak with each other. We appreciated your lovely gifts and thoughtful well wishes. I was so touched by Max and Marilyn's gift of the mission stockings. We can't thank Marilyn enough. Let's just say, "Stockings, Boo hoo hoo." You know the story.
  11th had a nice birthday with many thoughtful messages from friends and family.
  14th A big day!!! Our last Institute/Pathway class. Our Stake Presidency arranged for a lovely Italian Dinner and congratulated the students. This is a big deal. The end of a long committed year. We are so proud of them. Now they are going forward to BYU-I online and two of our class members are getting married in March and will attend BYU-I in the Fall. They are already registered and accepted ready to go. How's that for a success story?
   16th YSA dinner and a fun Christmas service activity, then games.
   18th this week we delivered lots of date candy to West Virginians. They, of course, have never had the stuff and quickly turned crazy about it.

   22nd We left at 6:30 AM to catch an Amtrak Train to Alexandria VA. We liked the mode of travel but let's just say looooong, 11 hours, with questionable restrooms. The song, What goes up, must come down, applies to return train trips too. Also looooong. On the return the first restroom I went into I cleaned up quite a bit before usage. Mother would be glad that I left the place better than I found it. Not hard. This paragraph may be TMI.
  However the prize at the end of the train ride was Emily and her sweet family. We had such a great time. We played games with the grandkids and loved their quick wit and knowledge of the games we played. Christmas morning was so fun with all the little ones, gifts, chaos and enjoying each other.
  I happened to love hanging out with Rosie a good amount of time. She's a keeper.
  29th Erik took us back to the train. We road home all day. As we pulled into Huntington Station we saw a couple of inches of beautiful new snow.
  30th A bunch of new snow. It's cold. Sister Missionaries to dinner.
  31st had the Sister missionaries for dinner as no one signed up for them. After dinner we played a couple rounds of Apples to Apples. They left at about nine to go home and we spent the last few hours of 2017 talking to our family members before ringing in the new year. By the way, neither of our 2 stations we get showed anything from New York to count down to the ball drop. What? that's dumb. Oh well, we went on to bed.
  A short discussion regarding cold. We woke up this January 1, 2018 to 4 degrees. As I write this it is 18 degrees which will be the high for the day. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse. This part of the WV mission I am not so wild about.
As we close the calendar on 2017 we have learned a lot this year.
1-We can drive to a new place and finally find our way around.
2-We can enjoy the spring and summer with it's beautiful mountains, flowers and gardens.
3-We can see the beautiful fall leaves and truly see the bounty of the harvest.
4-We can experience holidays away from home with new sights, sounds and traditions.
5-We can love new things, people, foods, places, all while holding our loved ones deeply in our hearts and thoughts.
6-We can feel our Saviors love stronger than ever before. His love is real and He will sustain us as we do His work as well as always.
Love you all, Almost Heaven, Traynors