Thankful

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday I spent much of the day making soup base to freeze using the bones from the two turkeys we cooked for Sunday's pot luck. We make soup for people in need, funerals and wakes and to serve after our ARP meetings. A couple of the sisters make wonderful rolls so between us we can quickly put together and deliver a good meal to our brothers and sisters in need

Tuesday evening we had Relief Society. We learned to make beaded earrings, although I discovered my talents don't lie in jewelry making.

We had 17 sisters around the table.

This is Kiaralysce, she's six weeks old and is sporting the hat her mom learned to make at our crocheting class. She's the youngest of the four adorable babies that I often get to hold...a grandmothers dream.

Wednesday we did some work around the church and I baked pies, made stuffing and sweet potatoes and generally just got ready for Thanksgiving. We were invited to President and Sister Gilson's. He is the Branch President. They have four darling children including two babies, one six months and one almost three months. When they were expecting Colton they got the opportunity to adopt Wyatt so it is much like having twins. They also had all of President Gilson's siblings and families visiting so along with us and another couple from the neighborhood we had a full table and a great time visiting with everyone. Not to mention the food was plentiful and delicious!

Saturday we attended the memorial service for a members husband. The Native tradition is that a year or two after the funeral you have a party with food and a program in which people talk about the person who has passed and the family hands out gifts to everyone attending. They collect these gifts during the year between the funeral and the party

This is the gift Elder Lindsey and I received...everyone received something.

Laura was given two of these pillows as a thank you for the service she has given to the family.

These are just two of at least 15 quilts that were displayed and given to close personal friends and family of the deceased. There were also probably 30 blankets given away. It was a blessing for us to witness the way in which these wonderful people honor their loved ones by sharing gifts with their friends.

We have thought a lot about gratitude and the things we are grateful for during this last week. We know we are blessed. We have never wanted for food on our table or a roof over our heads and we have more than enough clothes in our closets. As we live here that point is especially brought home as we see so many around us who have so little. 

We received a large box from our friends the Culverwells this week and today when the call went out that a member has no heat in her trailer (the high temperature was 14 degrees today) and needed blankets I was able to send two from their box. It made us reflect on how blessed we've been to have such wonderful giving friends in our life.

Our thoughts this week have been with our family and the times we've been surrounded by them at Thanksgiving. We've thought about how much we love them and how grateful we are for the good lives they live. We have been especially grateful that my mother is regaining her health and that Elder Lindsey's brother is surrounded by family who love him  as he battles his cancer. 

As Elder Lindsey has continued to teach Annette the Temple Preparation lessons this week we have reflected on how blessed we were to live where we do in Salt Lake where 15 minutes in any direction brings us to Temple. In three weeks we will travel almost 6 hours to the Bismark Temple with our Branch. We are excited. It's been almost nine months since we've been to the Temple and it has felt a little like a drought. It will be even more special to be there with Annette as she receives her endowment. 

Every day as we pray for you, our family and friends know that we are so very grateful for each of you in our lives and that we count you as blessings.

Love,

Elder and Sister Lindsey

If you feed them...

Dear Family and Friends,

Sometimes it feels like the weeks just fly by and this one has. Elder Lindsey is feeling great and so this week we started back on our walking program. First thing in the morning before breakfast we put on our sweats and go into the building and walk the cultural hall for 30 minutes. We will add five minutes every week until we get back up to an hour. It has felt good to both of us to get back into the routine of exercising.

At Martin's Cove we had the most beautiful sunsets but here in Rosebud the sunrises are amazing!

This week Elder Lindsey started teaching the Temple Preparation class to two Sister who were baptised about two years ago and are ready to take the next step. He taught the first class on Thursday evening and then on Sunday after church he taught the second class. It has been so fun to feel of their excitement in taking this important step. As we have held the classes we have the added benefit of developing deeper friendships with these wonderful Sisters. Their commitment to living the Gospel in the midst of families who don't share their faith strengthens our testimonies.

Tuesday some of us sisters got together for a crocheting class taught by a  less active Sister we have been visiting. She is amazingly talented and is very willing to teach us beginners. It was fun to sit together, practice our stitches and visit. We shared a lunch of soup and applesauce cake and made plans to get together again in a couple of weeks.

Friday we drove over to Pierre to do a Walmart run and to pick up a prescription for Elder Lindsey. After shopping we visited the State Capitol.

This is called "Fighting Stallions" and is a memorial to five South Dakota lawmakers who died in a plane crash in 1993.

"Fighting Stallions" with the Capitol building in the background.

This is a war memorial to the service personnel of South Dakota. The lake in the background is heated and there are hundreds of ducks and some very large geese that reside there year round which makes walking on the sidewalks treacherous! (think geese bathroom)

This is the fountain at the other end of the war memorial.

This is the rotunda just inside the door...it is breathtaking!

The volunteers had just started decorating the trees for Christmas. We will be back in Pierre for District Conference on December 6th so plan to go back and see the completed trees. 

On the third floor balcony looking across to one of the many  trees being decorated.

Elder Lindsey getting a drink outside the Senate.

The grand staircase.

Before heading for home we had a late lunch at Guadalajara's Mexican food, our favorite.  Pierre is a very pretty small city on the Missouri River and we look forward to exploring more of it on our next visit. 

Sunday is always lovely. Today we probably had about 100 people at church. President Gilson had family visiting and then because we were having a potluck Thanksgiving dinner after Sacrament meeting we had quite a few visitors, thus my title of this weeks post...if you feed them. It was nice to meet more of our membership and also the non member family members of some of our newer members. 

Quite a feast. The branch provided two turkeys and a ham then everyone brought food to share. The desserts came out after the main course was finished and they were wonderful and varied also. No one went away from this meal hungry!

A few of our favorite little ones; Jacob, McKashia and in the pink dress in the background, Averi.

As always there is cleanup but once again many hands make lite work!

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week know that you are the blessings we are most grateful for. As our family and friends you have blessed our lives in ways you will never know. As always we send our love and prayers.

Elder and Sister Lindsey

Winter...baby it's cold outside!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well all that preparation we did last week paid off big time when the first storm of the winter arrived and we were warm and snug in our little home. The high temperature Monday was 25 but with wind chill it was 3!

Elder Lindsey was struggling some with joint pain as he lowered his steroid dose  so we spent a quiet morning watching the snow fall. In the afternoon we went to the elementary school and watched the Veteran's Day Program. We try to get into the community for all of the activities, both to support to the community and so that we can get to know our neighbors.  

The Scoutmaster is President Allen, our District President. He and his wife have 10 sons and one daughter so he has had a lot of experience with scouting!

After the program we treated ourselves to lunch at Subway, the only fast food place in the area so eating out weather for lunch or dinner is always a treat. 

Wednesday was our first scheduled ARP class and unfortunately no one came. Elder Lindsey and I ran the class just the same giving ourselves some training for when we do have participants.

 Thursday we got a call from Family Support Services asking us to attend a meeting on Friday for an inactive Sister who is struggling with addiction and with maintaining a safe home environment for her children. They asked us to present information on the ARP classes that they might use with their clients. We felt like this was an answer to prayer, a way to get community support for the ARP classes. It was a productive meeting and we were given the name and phone number of the person to contact to start our program in Parmelee where it is really needed. We also gave FSS a couple ARP manuals so they can become familiar with the program.

Saturday our plan had been to drive to Pierre (pronounced Pier) for our District Conference but we woke up to a huge snow storm and before we headed out we got a call saying the Conference had been postponed until December 6th and 7th. 

There is no home delivery of mail in Rosebud, everyone has a PO box. We decided to get our mail just to get out for a bit.

Driving home from the post office.

Home sweet home!

Look back at the first picture...that's the difference between the first and second snow storm! My flowers will survive, after all they already survived the Wyoming winds!

Elder Lindsey keeping the church accessible!

We realize this is only November 15th and winter is over a month away! That being said ...it could be a very long winter season! The temperatures have been cold...single digits with wind chill taking us below zero but the air is clear and when the storm is over the sky is a beautiful crystal clear blue. 

Many of you were concerned that we would be OK living in the motorhome during the cold weather. We are happy to report that we have hot and cold running water, the tanks still drain and we are warm and comfortable. As the snow piles up around the plastic skirting we winterized with it will continue to insulate the undercarriage which will aid in keeping all hoses and drains from freezing. We are very grateful to Elder Young (whom we served with at Martin's Cove) who gave us a deal we couldn't turn down on a heated hose!

While Elder Lindsey used the snow blower I baked more pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and stocked the freezer. We often take muffins or cookies with us when we make visits and my freezer supply had dwindled.

Sunday we got a text message saying we would have only Sacrament meeting today so everyone can be home before the winds start blowing and we get what is called a ground blizzard. I guess when this happens the conditions on the road deteriorate quickly with almost no visibility.

 Sacrament meeting was wonderful. We were asked to tell something about a favorite hymn and then we sang the hymn. Music brings such a wonderful spirit into any meeting and today was no exception. Elder Lindsey told about the hymn "Go Forth with Faith" and that it is special to him because it was written by Lyle and Ruth Gardner for their son Paul's mission farewell. He told about Lyle being a member of our Branch at Highland Cove and what a good man he was and how much he enjoyed getting to know him. 

I told the story of Cyrus Wheelock, someone I came to love as I told his story at Martin's Cove. Cyrus Wheelock had just returned from a mission to England three days before the call to rescue went out. He heeded the call and was among the advance party who found the Willie Company. He was then at Fort Semone when the Martin Company was found and traveled with the rescuers to Greasewood Creek where he met and gave aid to the Martin Company. It broke his heart to see these people (many who he knew and loved having served with them while on his mission) suffering in unimaginable ways and he did all he could to assist them. When the company was moved up to what we now call Martin's Cove he gave a prayer on their behalf that was remembered 50 years later in which he pleaded with Heavenly Father to spare them and take him if he'd done anything in his life to have such suffering come upon these people he loved. There are three hymns in our hymnal written by Cyrus Wheelock but the most famous is "Ye Elders of Israel." When I read the third verse I can't help that think Cyrus Wheelock was thinking about the rescue of the handcart companies of 1856.

We love you all. You are in our hearts and prayers,

Elder and Sister Lindsey

Preperation

Dear Friends and Family,

Sometimes as I sit in front of the computer on Sunday afternoon and try to think of a name for the post my mind wanders back to the things we worked on during the week. Today when I did that the word preparation came to mind. And that's what we did this week...we prepared.

First we prepared to start our  Addiction Recovery Class by making flyers which we took to Mission Parmelee and Rosebud and posted them in windows and on bulletin boards. We also visited some less active members inviting them to join us for the classes.

Next we prepared a large pot of soup and took it to Parmele for the wake of a man who is related to an inactive member. In the Native culture when someone dies for the two days before the funeral a vigil is held in which friends and family sit with the body until the funeral. Friends and neighbors provide food to feed those attending the vigil. This vigil was being held at the Episcopal church in Parmelee a small community about  ten miles from Rosebud. I would be surprised if a vigil would ever be held at an LDS Chapel because there will always be someone in the crowd who will be using alcohol.

As sisters in the Relief Society we try to do this small service to the community as a way to prepare each of them to someday have a desire to hear the message of the restored Gospel. We received the message that our soups were "Lila Waste" or Very Good!

Elder Lindsey and I prepare each morning for the day ahead by studying the Gospel together.  We are working our way through the Old Testament and are very much enjoying the stories and the lessons we are learning. This week we did extra preparation as we each prepared talks to be given in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. In my talk I introduced our family and went through the 12 step Addiction Recover Program so that the members have an overview of what we will be presenting in the classes. Elder Lindsey talked about our call as missionaries to help our brothers and sisters "come unto Christ."

What does this picture have to do with preparation you ask? A beautiful sunset as seen through the wonderful old trees outside our window. This same tree was full of leaves when we arrived just six short weeks ago and almost over night it's branches are empty, reaching their lonely arms toward the
sky. A wonderful reminder that it was time to finish up preparations for winter.

Elder Lindsey finished the winterizing of the motorhome. He tightened the Visqueen so it won't blow in the wind, attached the satellite dish to the top of the ladder on the back of the motorhome, put the Traeger and lawn chairs away and just buttoned down the hatches ahead of the approaching storm. The Lord said "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear." We are not afraid!

After sacrament meeting today our little Branch prepared in Branch Correlation Meeting to do the things needed to be done to help our members enjoy the benefits of the Gospel in their lives. It really is all about preparation and then going forth and doing the work and that is what we are doing this coming week...going forth!

Elder Lindsey met this investigator at Wall Drug.

My friend also hangs at Wall Drug.

One of our less active members is a very talented crocheter. I bought this turkey from her at the craft fair last week. She has volunteered to teach the Relief Society Sisters to crochet. 

These cats refused to pose for me but they are only half of the brood that our friend Kay (our talented crocheter) feeds on her deck!

Sending prayers and love...stay warm,

 Elder and Sister Lindsey

Have I Done Any Good

Dear Family and Friends,

This week I've taken the title of my post from one of my favorite LDS hymns. Have I done any good in the world today, have I helped anyone in need, have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad, if not I have failed indeed. Those words run through my head at night sometime before I go to sleep and I always hope that something we've done as we've gone about our day has made a difference. I know I've said this before but there is much need here in this little part of the world but there is also much love and many people willing to love and give service to those around them and that fills our hearts with gratitude that we are able to be a part of them and to serve with them.

Monday Elder Lindsey and I started out our week making return visits to some of the people we met the Sunday before. We took with us the Mormon Message Video that Elder Lindsey was in "True Christianity" and used it as a sort of introduction. We will just continue to visit with and love these people and pray that someday they will return to activity in the Branch. If they just understood how much they are needed and how much Heavenly Father loves them they would be back in an instant.

Monday is also my day to clean the building but as I am getting things caught up it doesn't take nearly as long. Elder Lindsey spent time on Monday and Tuesday cleaning and organizing the shed holding the snow blower and tools and making sure the snow blower is ready for what must surely come. We had great training at Martin's Cove for this work.

On Tuesday I always do our laundry. The Relief Society President, Sister Barker made sure the first week to let us know that she wanted to share her laundry with us so that we don't have to go to the laundromat. That has been such a blessing as not only does it save us money but it gives Sister Barker and I time to discuss the needs of the Sisters and come up with ideas on how we can help. It doesn't hurt also that she has three sweet little ones who are not yet school age (the two oldest are in school) so I get some substitute grandma time in too!

Wednesday while Elder Lindsey worked with the Scouts and leaders Sister Allen acted as my companion and we headed to the school in Mission to help with the Halloween Carnival put on for the kids who live in the dorms. Because transportation is often a problem for the Natives and because many live out of town some of the children starting in first grade live in the dorms during the week and go home on the weekends during the school year. It was a great carnival with games, snow cones, a bounce house and great little prizes for everyone. I did the bean bag toss and had lots of help from three cute little boys.

On Thursday we headed to Rapid City for a trizone conference with Elder Nash of the First Quorum of the Seventy. It was a spiritual feast as we learned both from the missionaries who taught and from our Mission President and Elder Nash. We  never realized how important we as members are to helping the full time missionaries accomplish the work. One quote we loved was "miracles happen when members participate in the lessons." My advice to all of you is...get out there and be part of the miracle.

Elder Nash taught many things but here are a couple of our favorite that we think apply to all of us; Daily diligence is important. The more diligent we are in the work the more the Lord can bless us and obedience is a source of strength. The Lord can work with us if we're obedient.

Because we know our limits Elder Lindsey and I stayed in Rapid City Thursday night. We had dinner with another Senior Couple (Elder and Sister Larson) who are serving in Eagle Butte and were able to compare notes. I found out Sister Larson is also the building custodian! Unfortunately I apparently ate something in the previous 24 hours that did not agree with me and spent the night in an awful state. In the morning after taking a shower I put my pajamas back on with my coat over top, snuck out to the car and we made the three hour trip home with no sightseeing stops along the way. When we arrived home I went to bed for about three hours and when I got up I was finally starting to feel better. Not an easy way to lose five pounds!

Saturday Sister Bush who has lived in this area for almost 50 years spent some time taking us around to some local activities and introducing us to people. We visited a craft fair where one of the members we are working with was selling her handy work, went to the rummage sale and turkey lunch at the Episcopal Church and to a beautiful store that sells Native crafts and art work from the area. The members here are so willing and anxious to help us in the work and we already feel like they are family.

The weather is beginning to change. Friday and Saturday were pretty cold and very windy then today we have temperatures in the 70's and no wind, a sure sign that winter will come and we will soon look longley back on this day.

Today was our first Sunday on a two hour block schedule. The Branch leadership decided that right now we don't have the leadership support to do a three hour block. We meet the first hour as Priesthood/Young Men and Relief Society/Young Women. We have a fairly good size Primary and then the second hour we have Sacrament Meeting. Our Schedule is from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Today's meetings were great and I could certainly see the wisdom in this decision.

Forgive me for being so wordy this week. For pictures Elder Lindsey took a short hike to the hill above the Church and took some pictures of the surrounding area. They will give you a nice overview of our little home.

Today we had a new Branch member at church (a teacher from SLC) who is in the area for two years to teach at the school in Spring Creek. In our conversation he asked me where Elder Lindsey and I live. I said "did you see that motorhome out front?" He was a little surprised but now after seeing these pictures I'm sure you'll have to agree with me...we have a beautiful home.

Our love and prayers to all of you,
Elder and Sister Lindsey