Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Eire Canal & Connections to the Past June 11 - 17

ERIE CANAL

Erie Canal at Lock 34

Erie Canal

LOCKPORT, NY

On Monday we met in the morning about 9:30 and headed to Lockport it's a town along the Erie Canal, lock 34, not too far from Niagara Falls.

Entering the Lock

This is a double lock and so we were able to see and experience what it's like to use a lock to raise yourself up to the river above or rather the canal and dropped down through the locks on our return. We drove this time and took the Barbers with us. When we got to the designated lunch spot they were closed. And I have to say that I was very impressed with brother and sister Barber who calmly made other arrangements for somewhere to eat and soon we found ourselves at a comfortable establishment just a block away. I continue to be impressed by their goodness and example to me. They are loving, hardworking, kind, gentle, faithful. I am learning so much from them.

CONNECTIONS TO THE PAST
Daily we tend to run into people that we have a connection to.

While working Wednesday I was overcome with emotion while helping several sisters. They brought with them a strong spirit of love and faith. Tears came easily as I thought of those on the other side of the veil whom they were helping.

I was greeting at the front door as one of these sisters was leaving. I happened to ask her where they were from. She answered “Portland, Or”. I answered "I'm from Hockinson Washington", which I usually don't do because most people don't know where that is. Her eyes got bright and she said "Well, really we're from Vancouver Washington." This started a conversation about how we usually don’t say “Vancouver” because people tend to think of Canada. Portland is just easier. Her husband came back and I discovered he is the Stake President of the Vancouver East Stake. Then she looked at my name badge and said “Pickup?, We used to know some Pickup’s from Hockinson." Well, that would be us. They shared that their daughter used to date a Pickup. When I mentioned Kevin, they both said, "Yes! That was his name." Later, I asked Kevin and he remembered dating Lindsay May (or Mayes—I’m not sure. I’ve been looking on line to discover who the Stake President of the Vancouver East Stake is but so far no luck. I will write someone from home.)

As I continued to greet people, a missionary couple came in. She looked familiar but so does just about everyone, so I just asked how I could help them. She said “Sister Pickup!”. It was Brother and Sister Danes from the Logan Temple who are just finishing their mission in Nauvoo. They came by to make an appointment for an endowment session. She recognized me first but then I certainly saw that I knew her.

At the end of our shift on Wednesday Jennifer and Brian Chambers and their children came to the temple.

Brian and Jennifer Chambers Family at the Chill and Grill

Jennifer and the three older children, Nick, Kylie and Brynlie did baptisms. The Chambers were one of the first families we met when we moved to Utah. Brian and the deacons helped us move our stuff into storage and then back out into our new home. They have been a grand example of service, brotherly love, and faith. Brynlie was in our Primary class way back in 2015. Nick will be leaving on his mission in a few weeks to the Philippines. We soon discovered that they had not had dinner so I hurried home and fix spaghetti and bread and salad. They arrived miraculously just as the noodles were done. And we had the most pleasant visit catching up on news from Wellsville and sharing our mission experiences. Then we went down to Chill & Grill for ice cream. We discovered that it was Jennifer's birthday we sang Happy Birthday to her.

While the group was in getting ice cream I waited out on the picnic table and there was a little family there.

Family from Hermiston, Oregon.

The youngest boy turned around and we started a conversation. Before too long we learned that it was a young family from Hermiston Oregon taking a trip across the United States in a RV. They were farmers there. And eventually we discovered that they were members of the church. So I ventured to ask if they knew a Vernon Cook. And that's when they lit up. Of course they knew Vernon Cook and we talked about him and his daughter Darla who is my good friend from high school. Vernon was my sweet Bishop when I was a young girl in Basin City. I remember when he are Sister Cook worked at the Portland temple and the joy I felt when first I met them there.

MARTIN HARRIS FARM

After our work in the temple Thursday, and afternoon chores, we decided to go on a walk and head to the Martin Harris Farm. It is about 1.5 miles north of us.

Martin Harris Farm

It was a pleasant evening, cool with a slight breeze. The distance was just right but walking along the road had it’s challenges of uneven ground and road traffic. I began reading about Martin Harris’s life from the church website and found I could do so easily if I stayed in step behind Ray.

We also climbed up to Alvin’s graveside which is just a block from our apartment.

By now my knees are hurting something fierce. This is quite unusual for me. I was in my sandals so perhaps between that and the uneven path, I must have strained them. Coming down the steps from the graveside was tough and I was happy to finally get home.

BLEACH IS NO RESPECTER

Daily chores, family history work, and laundry on Friday.

Ray went with me to the laundry mat in Newark. We had decided to wash his white temple suit and the mattress cover on the extra mattress. This meant a few more loads of wash. I soon discovered that the inlet for laundry and bleach falls straight into the front loading drum as it splashed out onto the floor and my black pants. What a mess. There were some towels in the load so I was able to wipe up the front of the washer and floor. But my pants now have splatter marks all over the front.

Lesson learned—close the door before adding the detergent and wait for the cycle to start before adding bleach.

FATHER'S DAY

We went out to dinner with the Barlow’s for fathers day at Olive Garden. The Flint’s also were there with another couple that we had not met. He is a sealer on a different shift than we work.

Father's Day Dinner

The Flint’s sat across the barrier from us. Sister Flint wanted to see what we ordered so I held up my plate but unfortunately tipped it a bit and the noodles came sliding off. I recovered quickly but not before some of my dinner landed in Loraine's lap. Between this and the laundry, I think I should just stay home

Saturday, while Ray went to help Barber’s with some computer stuff, I snuck out for a few gifts for Ray.

On Sunday we had roast, and then later crackers, cheese, summer sausage, and fruit. All of the children called which was a great joy. Ray also got a few books, and a DVD about Joseph Smith, and some candy from next door.

HORNELL BRANCH

President and Sister Black visited the Branch today and spoke in Sacrament Meeting. I was uplifted by their messages of the temple and the Savior and the examples of strength that come from both. After Sacrament Meeting, Elder Buchanon asked if we would teach Gospel Principles every other week with the full-time Elders. We are happy to do this and attended that class today were we met new members and returning members of the branch. Mike and Misty Whitney, Ken Potter, Albert Lowery, Helen Butler, and a man whom I spoke to afterward but cannot remember his name. We were also asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting next Sunday. And so our service begins.

LATIN AND ROOMMATES

Per Sister Barber’s request, many of the 12 month missionaries attended the 9am session on Monday. Then we checked out the Walmart in Canandaigua which everyone at the temple raves about but I found to be about the same as the one in Macedon except that Ray did find a nice mirror for the bathroom and a pair of casual pants. For FHE we learned from Brother Strassburg the Latin roots of some of the words associated with the temple. I found it fascinating and was humbled to realize how much I do not know or understand. Not just about the temple but the world in general.

Afterward we were walking out with Brother and Sister Ricks from Rexburg, ID. Brother Ricks heard Ray say something about Puyallup. He asked how we knew that city in WA. Well, we are from WA so we know it and how to pronounce it, but also, my roommate, Cindy Merrill was from there.

As it turns out, Brother and Sister Ricks’ son is married to now Cindy Merrill Crane’s daughter. Oh what a small world we live in.

HENRY AND JOHN FORD

I am discovering a whole clan of Fords or Forddes or Foords. I am learning a lot about working in Family Search and partner sites like Ancestory, Find My past, and My Heritage. I hope to have names ready soon to take to the temple.

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Priesthood Restoration Site June 4 - 10

Elder and Sister Pickup at the temple

I went over to the Grandin building and took some watermelon for the missionaries there. I met Sister Meyer, Sister Lytle, Sister Reddin and Brother and Sister Thompson. They were thrilled to meet us and have that connection with Rachel.

Monday night, Brother and Sister Robins taught us about the First Vision. There are a few things that we read in the Joseph Smith History that I found interesting to discover and think about. We looked at the description of feelings that Joseph placed in the account. He used words like "unusual excitement, no small stir, great confusion, bad feeling, strife of words, war of words, tumult of opinions, ." Do we ever feel this around us? at school, at work, in our country, maybe even in our families. Joseph sets a great pattern for us to follow in dealing with similar strive.

Our living prophet, Russell M. Nelson explains this process of personal revelation.
"The Prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us to follow in resolving our questions. Drawn to the promise of James that if we lack wisdom we may ask of God, the boy Joseph took his question directly to Heavenly Father. He sought personal revelation, and his seeking opened this last dispensation.
In like manner, what will your seeking open for you? What wisdom do you lack? What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand? Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph. find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort. Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses---yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will "grow into the principle of revelation."

Sister Lindsay, Sister Pickup, Sister Barrett, Sister Barlow. This statue represents the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood by Peter, James, and John.

Elder Pickup, Elder Lindsay, Elder Barrett, Elder Barlow. This statue represents the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood by John, the Baptist

Statue of Jesus Christ at the Visitor Center. They let you touch his hands and feet and feel the wound in his side.
Very moving. I had never seen this statue before.

Beautiful wildflowers along the path

The plaque reads

Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood
This event occurred on the banks of the Susquehanna River
the fifteenth day of May 1829 near Harmony, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Smith in his writing states

Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron,
which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance,
and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins;
and this shall never be taken again from the earth,
until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.

Many years ago I read the words on this very monument at this very site. There came into my heart an overwhelming witness that this really happened. It was a powerful moment that I can neither forget nor deny. I know with certainty that John the Baptist did appear to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and that the Priesthood of God is on the earth again today.

Susquehanna River where Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were baptized after receiving the Aaronic Priesthood

Sister Pickup, Elder Morrey, Sister Morrey - cousins to the Morrey's in Wellsville

Found in one of the homes. Perhaps should be posted in every Church -

CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOR at the MEETING HOUSE

Decently walk to the Seat or Pew; run not, nor go wantonly.

Shift no Seats, but continue in the Place where your Superiors order you.

Lend they Place for the easing of any one that stands near thee.

Talk not in the Meeting House, especially in the time of Prayer or Preaching.

Fix thin Eye on the Minister, let it not wildly wander to gaze on any Person or Thing.

Attend diligently to the Words of the Minister; pray with him when he prayeth, at least in thy Heart; and while he preacheth, listen, that thou mayest remember.

Be not hasty to run out of the Meeting House when the Worship is ended, as if thou wert weary of being there.

Walk decently and soberly Home, without Haste or Wantonness; thinking upon what you have been hearing.

Elder and Sister Pickup with Joseph Smith Statue

at Josiah Stoal home in Colesville

Elder Pickup checking out the well at the Joseph Knight, Sr. home

We had a great drive to and from church on Sunday. We took a different route that seemed more direct and on better roads. It took just as long but less stressful. We picked up Helen again today. After church, I visited with her and a new convert, Sally while Ray helped Sister Bates set up her new tablet. Helen shared some lovely experiences she had while searching for a church to attend. At one point, missionaries from another church were pressing her to get baptized. While napping on the couch, she had a sweet dream where she saw the face of the Savior. When she mentioned this to the missionaries there they stated that this could not be and that she just needed to be baptized and these things would stop. She did not get baptized in that church and was not happy with their response. When she learned about the Mormons, she felt a sweet spirit, similar to her dream. She knew she had found something good and true. Sally nodded in agreement. Sally bore her testimony today and shared how lonely she was, she had lost her mother, her father, her children, and partner. But at church she felt she had found a new family and had hope again. She also needed a new washer and dryer because hers were not working. Ray is helping to fix this for her. She was very grateful.

As Sacrament started, Ray leaned over and said that Brother Robert Todd and Sister Janelle Todd had served in Hornell a few years before us. Wow! What? We had lived in the Todd’s basement the first year we were married. He was a professor at Rick’s College, had left for a job and had returned to teach at BYU in the mechanical engineering department. Sean and Brian both knew him. We discovered this because Brother Todd had framed seasonal pictures of the Sacred Grove and donated it to the Branch. This hung in the hallway of their building.

We took a short walk around the block in the late evening. It was pleasant and cool. We met a young family returning from the park. The father visited with us for a few minutes. His little boy was so adorable. The mom went ahead with the older two girls. We learned he was enlisting in the Navy to better provide for his family.

Another great week!

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Meeting New Friends & Glenn Curtis Museum May 28 - June 3

Sister Pickup, Sister Hallows, Sister Boulter, Elder Pickup

Every trip to the E.B. Grandin Building strengthens our connections back home. These sweet Sister missionaries served with Rachel and joyfully took us on a tour of the visitor center and printing press. I was reminded of the miracles surrounding the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. What a treasure that this ancient record was preserved for our day.

It's translation and publication are miraculous. This sleepy little village of Palmyra is an unlikely setting for a young man such as E. B. Grandin to determine to set up a then 'state of the art' printing press. But here it stood. Available, just long enough to print the holy transcript that is the Book of Mormon. Truly this was a heavenly orchestration. For more information and photos you can visit. Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site

At the Grandin Building Print Shop

I love King Benjamin's teaching from the Book of Mormon that I was studying this week. As with all of the teachings of ancient and current prophets, we come to know and understand God and our own responsibilities to following Him.

"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another---I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants. and behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandment ye should prosper in the land; ....there fore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you. And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever....And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. for behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." Mosiah 2:21-24, 41

One of the original bridges across the Erie Canal

The temple continues to be a sweet place to serve God and His children. This week held some tender and miraculous moments. We continue to cross paths with those who have connections;

-a couple here from Woodland, WA,

-strangers who new a Doug Pickup in Texas

-missionaries who served with Rachel

-Elder and Sister Gills who knew Kevin and Holly in Sunnyside

-a former roommates of Rachel.

I will expound on the later.

When I received my schedule for Saturday, I noticed I had a lot of down time.

I was asked to help in the waiting room for groups coming to do baptisms. They arrived early so I was able to fill my time there well but still had about 30 or 40 minutes before my next assignment. So I decided to sit by the window that looks out over the Sacred Grove and read from the Pearl of Great Price.

I hadn't gotten very far when the coordinator came up and asked if I would help.

Earlier in the waiting room I noticed two ladies who came in. It soon became obvious that one was there for her own endowments. But when the temple was called about their appointment this was not indicated. With haste and love, preparations were soon in place for her. Because I had some time, I was asked to be her assistant. It was a sweet experience and she was so joyful to be there. Her escort ended up being one of the missionaries that had taught her, Lindsey Loveless. I had a chance to visit with Lindsay's mother in the hall. She looked at my name tag and anxiously asked

“Do you know any Pickups in Utah?”

“Yes”, I said.

And she answered “Do you know a Sean Pickup?”

“Yes I know him well, he is my son.”

And then her smile brightened and I soon learned that Rachel and Lindsay were roommates before their missions and that they had become close and dear friends. Lindsay was also in Sean’s physics class at BYU.

This special tender mercy from God -coordinating events today-added a sweetness to an already remarkable moment. Of all the workers who could have helped that day, I was the one!

The Lord is kind and mindful as we go about His work and provides gentle, simple moments that remind us of His love and goodness.

Temple Missionaries on our Monday excursion to the Glenn Curtis Museum

P-40 aircraft restoration

Glenn Curtiss Museum

We enjoyed learning about Glenn Curtis and his remarkable inventions. This is a plane, or rather two planes, that crashed during training exercises. The pieces were rescued some years later and they are using them to create a model. Looking close you can see the old mixed with the n