The Bear Went Over the Mountain

The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see and  THIS is what he saw.

The Bear 

Mountains

Snow

I-70 Tunnel Through the  Rocky Mountains

Inside Tunnel

Goodbye Mountains

Hello, Plains

Rocky Ridges

Rolling Hills

 Mississippi River

Farms on the Left

Farms on the Right

Green

GREEN

And MORE GREEN

Winter Quarters Temple & Cemetery to the right of the temple

Painting in the Visitors Center.  Note the Shadows

Winter Quarters Visitors Center

My Favorite 

Detail from the above painting

More detail

Nauvoo Temple

Steps of the Nauvoo Temple

Joseph and Hyrum leaving Nauvoo for the last time.

Joseph Smith's Home

What were they thinking putting up that orange sign?!!!!!!

Tallahassese Here We Come! or is it Marianna?

Some Loved Ones Along the Way

Brevin's big moment - Dancing wilth his Mom at Andy's Wedding

Robert and Lorna

Brian's Son Chris with a newly hatched moth

Merna and Ralph

Susan, Fred,  Henry, Lydia, Merna and Ralph

Don, MaryAnn and 3 of JoAnn's Kids
 We had a fun and memorable visit.

Grandma Atkin's High School Friend, Votis

Doug and Karen

Stay tuned for more family pictures.  They are in my other camera and I have not been able to down load them.  The digital card they are on does not fit into any of my devices.  So when I get it figured out they will show up on the blog.

And this seldom seen sight.

Henry drove the whole way so I could answer the phone and quilt.  :)

We saw lots of beautiful country, spent time with those we love and cherish and had a great time together. My very favorite thing we did was a session in the Nauvoo Temple. What a great reminder of all the things that are important to us...All of you, Heavenly Father, the Savior and our knowledge and testimony of the things of eternity.  May the Lord bless and keep all of you.

Nauvoo the Beautiful

Grey Matter or Mush

How do you take 16 people with all levels of computer competency and turn them into computer experts in 4 days?  Not only computer experts, but with an understanding of what they are to do to help keep the missionaries healthy and where to find the resources available to them.  Also, to understand a network of professional people who are standing by to give any needed assistance.

Marriott Courtyard

You take them to a beautiful setting.

Provide a conference room with all the amenities; pitchers of water refreshed morning and afternoon, a bowl of candy to keep them alert,  excellent presenters.

Add a relaxing place to eat a lovely catered lunch and get ready to go back for more information to be poured into their brains.

Courtyard at the Marriott

A place to work out the stress of the day. 

Barbara's Pool

Henry's Pool

Florida, Here We Come!

Combine with the Spirit of the Lord and miracles come to pass.  We were blessed to have the Spirit open our minds and understanding.  All 16 felt our grey matter expand, turn to mush and open to let in all the information.   Henry and I know this is the Lord's errand we are on and without His help it would not have been possible for the training to be accomplished in so short a time.  

!!!!!Give them Heaven!!!!!

Missionary Training Center

The Garden of Eden

The Provo MTC is a wonderful place.  There is a feeling of peace and love that makes you feel like you are in the Garden of Eden.  I think this is what Adam and Eve felt when they were living in the presence of the Lord. The grounds are beautiful.  Everything seemed to grow spontaneously with no effort from anyone and there certainly were not any weeds.

I did see this fellow lurking about
and was told he is the "bush man" as
opposed to the "flower man".

More Garden

Outside Entrance to the MTC

Inside Foyer and reception area

The people here are filled with the spirit of Christ.  They are all wanting to serve each other and their fellow man.  There is a great variety of nationalities.  Seeing all these different people brought home the principle that we are all children of our Father in Heaven and he loves us, everyone.

Two elders who will be serving in the Florida
Tallahassee Mission. Glasses man is going to
wrestle alligators.  I'll be seeing him. :)

Henry's favorite...Corn dogs
for Breakfast.  (sausage link
surrounded with pancake batter)

Must be a BYU thing

Obtaining food was not a problem.  Just like in the Garden, it was plentiful and there for the picking.  The dilemma was which of the delicious looking dishes to choose when there were so many. It was like going to the grocery store hungry so you go crazy throwing things in your cart.  I think it was a subtle test on the principle of self control.  We got better at it as the week progressed.

Friday night fare

The Salad Guy

My favorite feature of our apartment.

After a couple of days you do not want to look at food again.  Too much of a good thing I guess. Henry said there was not enough time between meals to digest the food so you were never hungry.  We must have eaten different things.  Salads vs. hamburgers with onion rings and a parfait. Guess who ate which one.

 There were "angels" to help us learn the principles in Preach My Gospel, the missionary handbook. We both enjoyed the classes led by our two "angel" instructors; one for the morning and another for the afternoon.  They had both served in the Kobe Japan Mission. Their enthusiasm was infectious.  Preach My Gospel is all about listening to the Spirit guide as you invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  


                                

We were surrounded with "angels" every where we went. 

   

Our "District"

The couples preparing to serve were exceptional.  Many of them had served 2 or more missions.  

Provo Temple from the MTC Grounds

Here's hoping the spirit we felt at the MTC can remain with us our whole mission.  Our testimonies were strengthened, our spirits lifted and our souls filled with the love of God.

.

MTC Day 2

Flags and MOUNTAINS

Any thing good you have heard about the MTC is true.  We have had a great day of instruction
using the Preach My Gospel book as our guide, as we are learning to teach.  Tomorrow we get to practice with some volunteer investigators.  We should probably be nervous about it and stay up half the night preparing, but instead, we went to a devotional for the missionaries where Elder L. Tom Perry was the speaker.  He was his usual fabulous self. The Apostles have a way of getting right to the heart of what is important.  He spoke to us about how the Lord sends us out 2 x 2.  That way we can both testify,(law of witnesses), and support each other.  Then he gave 5 points to being a good missionary.  Hope I can be one of those. After being spiritually fed, we stopped at the BYU creamery and fed our bodies, like we needed it????
I am posting a couple of pictures of the MTC grounds.  The biking statue is titled "Anxiously Engaged".  The other statue is of Samuel H. Smith brother of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the first missionary of this dispensation.  They have flags of all the nations where there are missionaries.  This is a sample of them with the mountains in the background.  It makes me sigh to think there are no mountains in Florida.  I may obsess and take all the pictures of mountains I can while I am here so I can look at them and sigh again in Florida.

Anxiously Engaged

Samuel H. Smith

I guess you can all see I am a new blogger and cannot get Samuel to stand up straight even though he is upright in my picture file.  But it past the curfew for missionaries, so hie ho, hie ho, it is off to bed I go.

We're Here!!!!!!!

The big day has arrived and past.  We got to the MTC about 10:15 am.  The volunteers were right there to get us all oriented and headed in the right direction. Pinning on of the name tags was one of the first things so we are officially Elder and Sister Lay.  We will be learning how to be missionaries by using Preach My Gospel.  Can hardly wait until we get to "teach" the volunteers who come.  We were divided into districts to make the training a little more personal and effective.  The other couples in our district are going to Japan, Brazil, and Hawaii.  I felt a little out of it.  Most of the people there were on their 3rd or 4th mission.  We are true greenies.
 I got my first nurse specialist consult as we were leaving the MTC. I looked at my phone and there was a call from a number I did not recognize.  I called it. When a man answered I identified myself.  He said, "Sister Lay I have this problem with my head.  I think it must be something to do with my brain"  I said, "I could blow a little air into your ear.  That should fix you right up."  There was a little chuckle and then he identified himself as President Smith of the Tallahassee Florida mission.  What a great way to start off .  He said he knew we were going into the MTC today and would be following us as we drove across the country. There was a couple driving to the mission who had to wait out the storms this past week in a hotel.  The party may be over sooner than we thought.
I think we are going to enjoy working with President Smith.  He is associated with the Doug Smith Auto Group in American Fork.  Henry asked him if he had a plaid jacket.  He laughed at that, too.

Retirement

The big day finally arrived.  Henry retired March 31st and the happiness has not left his heart. How long did he talk about retiring?  At least 40 years.  He had a wonderful retirement party/send off organized by several of his friends at work.   It was delightful to have all the people he has worked with come say goodbye.  It was fun for me to put faces to names and see all the great people he has worked with and talked about these past years. There were many thoughtful expressions of good luck and best wishes expressed through a book for all to sign, balloons with messages and remembrances from his coworkers, a video showing the power company and Henry through the 40 years, a shadow box with memorabilia pertaining to his career, and a cooler full of goodies for us to take on our drive to Florida. :) The food was delicious and beautifully prepared and arranged.  It is hard to find the words to express how wonderful you have all been as Henry retires.  Being associated with you all has made the 40 years pass like a dream.
In true Henry fashion, he worked a full day his last day and has not stopped since being home.  The garage was calling his name and he has completely rearranged the whole thing.  The golf course has been quite a draw also.  He and his fellow retiree have been hitting the links every week.  He took a breather long enough to help me in the yard trimming the hedge and moving strawberries. 

Henry with his retired face.

Along with retiring from PacifiCorp, he was released as the seminary principal, a calling he served in for 11 years.  It is a new rested Henry who does not have to get up at 0:dark 30 every morning.  Could that be the cause of the smile? 
Whatever it is we are enjoying having him home.