Visitors From Mexico

At least some of you know that in addition to our duties taking care of the grounds here in Kirtland, we also help as tour guides on Sunday and other days when they have an unusual need.  Last Sunday, a bus load of people from Mexico showed up without letting us know they were coming. So, we helped both because it was Sunday and because there was an unexpectedly large crowd all of a sudden!

We took half the group. Most did not speak English but there were a couple of them who did speak good English and were able to handle translation during the tour.

All the regular site missionaries were a bit flustered, trying to work out just how to handle the sudden influx.  And this was the last day of the busiest weekend of the year (they are always busy here during the Cumorah Pageant run). But, we did good!

Sister Caldwell and I lead the second half of the group, so we were last.  And we had a really good time! Just sort of took us back to our time in Mongolia when we always had to speak through an interpreter.  These were wonderful people and we made some new friends that day!

After they left, Elder Caldwell ended up taking over a small group as they finished the last half of a shortened tour later in the evening.  One of them was a non-member, which we do not really see here that much. Most are members for whom we are committed to providing a testimony strengthening experience.

This non-member lives about 6 miles from Kirtland and decided he would finally stop and see what all of this was about.  And he had a lot of very good and very thought out questions.  It was fun to be with him, too.  He very much wants to come back to visit the parts he missed this time (it was later in the evening so it was cut a little short).

The opportunities we have to share the Gospel while we do tours are our favorite.  We do like helping with the landscaping but it is even better to help with tours sometimes.

Oh, the forecast for Thursday is for the hottest temps in 16 years!!  About 97 degrees and 75-80% humidity! Ouch!  Lucky us!

Happy Birthday Emma

To celebrate Emma Smith's birthday, the Community of Christ Church (i.e. RLDS) invited us to join them in the Kirtland Temple this evening.  It was called the Emma Hale Smith Bidamon Hymn Festival.  They had prepared a program telling the story of her life intertwined with music from her first hymnal.  Our Sister missionaries were invited to sing a couple of numbers (and believe me, they can sing!).  They sat in one of the corner choir sections and sounded like really accomplished singers!

They also asked several of our senior missionaries, our site director and our mission president, along with other missionaries, to participate in the program along with their own members.  It was well written and well presented.  We sang songs we had never heard before, but all of them were sang to music we were familiar with, so we just joined in. 

The first hymnal Emma prepared was printed with words only.  There was no music.  Apparently they had several favorite tunes and they fit the words to the music.  For example, we sang "Now Let Us Rejoice" to the tune of "The Spirit Of God".  Our closing number was the familiar tune and words to "The Spirit Of God".  The Sisters joined in with a beautiful descant on the last verse.  It was so beautiful!  What a privilege to sit in the Kirtland Temple and be part of meetings there.  That would not have been possible just a couple of short years ago.

When we left the temple, people were outside, looking upward and pointing to the top of the temple.  I looked up, expecting to see angels, but it was only a wasp nest!

What a great way to end of busy Sabbath!

The USS Cod

On our 42nd anniversary (see previous post), we went on a self guided tour of the USS Cod, a World War II submarine.  This one is the only one left which has not been heavily modified to more readily accommodate tourists.  The Cod is pretty much just as it was during the war.
And it still is service- able. They start it up every month or two, just to keep it in decent condition. But they have to be careful.  There are strict laws against operating any kind of war vessel on any of the Great Lakes.
Look closely at the right and you'll see the periscope. Just like in the movies! "up periscope!"

It is amazing to see how cramped it is in there.  And difficult to imagine that as many as 90 men would man it at any one time.  Makes the two of us living in our RV seem quite palatial!

To the left is a pic of the most important part of the whole sub! And it's bigger than the one we have!

The sub has four huge diesel engines. But, curiously, it is all electric. Huge electric motors actually drive the boat. The diesel engines just power huge generators which provide the electricity and recharge the batteries.

And, of course, something else we always see in the movies are the torpedo tubes. Pictured here are two of the four on board the Cod -- two at each end.

There's not much wasted space in this thing! It is tight quarters everywhere! But we are told that the subs always got the best food. Real top notch, apparently. That must be to make up for the lack of much of anything else!

It was a fun little 'field trip' to go see this special boat!

Happy Forty Second!

Yesterday (Monday, June 27) was our 42nd wedding anniversary. Been a while since we have celebrated one of those at home!

But, we did celebrate! Last night and today (Tuesday is our normal free day).  We started out with dinner and a movie on Monday night and then continued with a couple of fun things on Tuesday.

Here's some pics of a couple of the things we did.

The second picture (the first being anniversary flowers, of course) is of the James A. Garfield mansion in nearby Mentor, Ohio.  It is quite a place!  James Garfield was the 20th President of the United States but was assassinated after only 120 days in office.

The house started as a simple nine room home which the Garfield's added onto and fixed up over a period of a few years. We'll show pictures of the inside in a later post.

From there, we went to the Cleveland Zoo (again). They had the sea lion and seal exhibit back together (it was closed for our first visit) and we were there when they did their daily show. We kind of enjoy zoos.

And then drove over to Lake Erie to visit a nice piece of World War II hardware -- the submarine USS Cod.  A veteran (and champion) of many sea battles, the Cod is the only sub from that era which is still in original condition. And it was really fascinating to walk through the old boat.  We feel better, now, about living in our VERY roomy RV for six months! Boy is it cramped in there!

That's Elder Caldwell as he exited the sub.  It was fun seeing things we had only seen before in movies.

Again, we will show more pics (some of the inside) in subsequent posts.




We had a good time. Tomorrow, we go back to work at Grandpa Johnson's place. That will be fun, too!

A Wonderful Visit

Julie, Dean, Lindsie, DJ, Jarod and Karen (Dean's mother) came to visit us here in Kirtland! And they arrived on Father's Day!  What a great Father's Day gift. And we had an awesome visit! Busy, but awesome!

We were able to show them pretty much everything there is to see in the way of Church historic sites, plus a few extra places thrown in for good measure.  First, we went to Lake Erie and ate lunch at this pavilion in a little park not too far from where we serve.

It was raining but the kids still managed to get in the lake!

Then we went on up the coast to Fairport Harbor Museum and Lighthouse (also on Lake Erie) where members of the Church arrived from the east coast and England. It is also where missionaries left from to go and serve -- like all of the Twelve Apostles!
Sister Caldwell (aka Mom and Grandma - you know who we're talking about) actually went all the way up the lighthouse and out on to the platform! And we didn't get a picture! Rats!


The next day we went out to grandpa Johnson's farm, ate lunch there and then took the tour through the home. It was great! It is a special place in Church history which also happens to be a special place to our family, too.  Three generations of grandchildren were there that day visiting his farm (Mike, Julie and the grandchildren).

It is such a beautiful place and has a special feeling to it.  We really enjoy being able to help take care of the farm as part of our duties.



And the kids finally did get more of an 'official' swim in Lake Erie on Tuesday!

But then we all had to say goodbye on Wednesday morning. Didnt' get any pictures of that. Some things just aren't worth remembering.

It was nice while it lasted!

Kirtland and Mongolia

I, Elder Caldwell, spoke in Sacrament meeting today in the Chardon Branch - the branch we are assigned to attend. It is about 8 miles or so from where our trailer is located.

After the meeting was over, I noticed a couple sort of making a very determined 'beeline' for the front of the chapel, obviously heading in my direction.  Seeing them, I just sort of thought, 'Well, they liked the talk and were coming to say thanks.'  We still don't know people very well in the branch and so it wasn't surprising that I didn't know who they were.

They reached the stand, walked up to me when I had finished a short conversation with another member, and said (to my shock and surprise), "Sain baino uu!"  It took me a minute to realize what I had just heard before I managed to stammer out an appropriate replay.

It seems they were not members of the branch at all. They were just stopping there to attend church on their way to Cumorah, Palmyra, etc.  And they had served in Mongolia just before us!  They are the Baileys and were the English Department couple before the Hitchmough's, whom we were very good friends with.  We actually remembered people mentioning them while we were there.

We talked for 30 minutes or more about all the people we knew there and how was so and so doing, etc.  But then we both had to be on our way to other responsibilities.

It's a small world, indeed!