"A Funny Thing Happened On the Way....."

I'm sure this is one of those "you had to be there" moments, but here goes anyway.

Starting on the seventh floor, there are two staircases on either end of the temple that spiral down to the first floor.  Two beautiful pools with a decorative fountain are situated in the stairwells on the first floor.

Not quite the same look, but I need an attention-getting picture!

These stained-glass pictures have nothing to do with the subject at hand, but will add to your visual enjoyment.

There are two stained glass windows that light both staircases

Gorgeous purples, blues, greens, reds, pinks, etc. 

We had just finished a sealing session.  As your dad was walking down the stairs from the sixth floor, he saw some objects fluttering down the stairwell.  "Humm,  leaves," he thought.  "But wait, how could there be leaves in the temple?  Those are family cards floating down!"  On her way down from the sixth floor, some unaware temple worker had lost her grip on some family cards  Your dad realized the plight of those poor cards as they floated to their watery death. He sprinted (in temple-like fashion) to the first floor to save some helpless ancestors from drowning.  Three of the cards were easily retrieved,  but the fourth had floated to the backside of the pool.  He had to tiptoe through the decorative greenery to the other side of the pool before he could save it.  No CPR required, but those ancestors were a soggy mess.

Reenactment of actual ancestors in distress

Meanwhile it had been brought to the attention of the guardian-of-the-temple-cards sister that she had lost some of her cards.  She then took them from your dad and continued on her mission.  Back on the "bridge", as they call it, I was waiting patiently for our recorded family cards to show up.  They still hadn't shown up when your dad arrived late on the scene. Your dad told me the story, wondering if those drowned cards just so happened to be OUR cards. Checking in the recorder's office, yup, just as he suspected....they were ours. He discovered our cards all spred out to dry on the counter.  Poor things!

Thanks to me, "hanging out to dry" for their second time in two days!

We had to return to the temple later to pick up our, by then,  dry and recorded cards.

Sorry!  Like I said earlier, "I guess you had to be there!"

Priesthood Restoration Site

Off again.  This time to Pennsylvania to see the newly-dedicated Priesthood Restoration Site located on the Susquehanna River.   It is so close to the boundaries of our temple district, it isn't even funny.  But we were legit. Ted asked if we had electrified collars on to make sure we stayed within temple boundaries.  Very funny!

After a four-hour Sunday drive with the Prices, and a stay at the Holiday Inn, we arrived on Monday morning.

Left to right: Sister Price, missionary-couple docents, Brother Price, and Gary

A quick look at the diorama of the Hale farm:

Because of persecution, newly-wed Joseph and Emma left Palmyra, New York where they had been living with Joseph's family.

They hid the Gold Plates in the bottom of a barrel of beans.........

Hard to tell, but this a dissection of the bean barrel with the plates on the bottom.

..........and traveled the three-day trip to Harmony, Pennsylvania to live with Emma's parents.

Really cute display: the faster Gary spun the wagon wheel, the faster the horse went.....

.......galloping at this point!

They arrived at the Hale home on a cold, November day, much like today.

Newly-built replica of the Hale home

"Bustle oven" on left and 2 warming ovens above

Joseph stored the Gold Plates in a glass box. The box wasn't made of glass, but was a container for shipping glass panes.  It is calculated that the box and its precious contents weighed between 50 and 60 pounds.

Gary lifting 50 pounds

"It looked so easy when Gary lifted it!"

Joseph kept the box and contents under Emma's and his bed in their tiny bedroom just off the kitchen.

The Hale home was considered a very luxurious home with wallpaper, carpeting, and nice furnishings.

Emma's father, Isaac, wouldn't let Joseph do any translating of the Gold Plates in his home.  In fact, he had not given his approval for Joseph to marry Emma, but they were married in spite of Isaac's disapproval.

After just a few months of living with the Hales,  Joseph and Emma bought 13 acres from Isaac, which included a small home previously owned by one of Emma's brothers.

A replica of Joseph and Emma's home

Interior of Joseph and Emma's modest home:

                                       

                                       


                                           

                                               

Old-time clothes pins

Wash tub and wash board

Some contraption your dad had to figure out.

Down the road a piece in a small cemetery is this original marker.  It has been cemented to a granite slab to help preserve it.  Here is buried Joseph and Emma's first child who lived only one hour.

Being in his own home, Joseph was finally able to start translating the Book of Mormon again.

Oliver Cowdry had heard of Joseph Smith, and traveled to find him to offer his help. He became Joseph's scribe. In the next two months, Joseph translated almost seventy percent of the Book of Mormon.

Copy of actual manuscript in Oliver's handwriting

Those who were scribes for Joseph while he translated.

Because it was easier to see the writings on the seer stone in the dark, Joseph put the stone in an upside-down hat and looked into the hat. If Oliver didn't write exactly as Joseph dictated, the words on the stone would remain until Oliver had corrected his mistake.  Once the mistake was corrected, a new phrase or sentence would appear on the stone.

On May 15, 1829  Joseph was translating a section in the Book of Mormon concerning baptism.  He and Oliver discussed the fact that neither of them was baptized.  They went  into the woods near Joseph's home and prayed concerning the matter.  John the Baptist appeared to them and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood.

They then went into the Susquehanna River.  Joseph baptized Oliver and Oliver baptized Joseph.

We couldn't wait to finally be at the water's edge of the beautiful Susquehanna River.  Such a peaceful and sacred place.

As you can probably tell, it has been a very touching and spiritual day.  Touching: to feel of the sacrifice, and the hardships both Joseph and Emma endured for the Gospel.  Spiritual: to feel the commitment, love, and service Joseph and Emma not only displayed for each other, but for their Heavenly Father, and the Savior.

Putting Up The Christmas Lights

We will never complain about putting up Christmas lights on our home ever again.  Piece of cake compared with this ambitious Temple Grounds Christmas Lights Project.

It was a hazy, cloudy, cold Monday morning.  Of course with camera in hand, there was no way we could resist taking pictures of the Temple.  President Foulger, Assistant to the Temple President has admitted he has more pictures of the Temple than he has of his grandchildren.  Sorry to admit, we agree with him.

Unavoidable photo opp

First stop: Christmas storage area in the basement of the Visitors' Center.  (Are the old-folk missionaries expected to put lights on the trees with that scary equipment?  Pray for us!)

 A prayer and hot chocolate for everyone.

Sorry about the hazy picture. Cold camera plus humidity equals foggy camera lens.

Whew, the prayer was for the hot chocolate, not for the prospective cherry-picker operator. The cherry picker was off limits to the likes of us. But come to think of it, most of the prayer was for protection of us rickety old missionaries.

Do you have any idea what these shelves contain?  Christmas lights!  Millions and millions of Christmas lights.  And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Come on, Gary, quit your socializing.  So many lights, so little time!

Star Performers of the Season waiting for their yearly debut. 

This poor Shepherd needs to make a doctor's appointment before December first!

Load up those lights!

Another irresistible photo opp: gorgeous chrysanthemum gardens

Sad that we old missionaries needed instruction on how to plug in lights. 

"No, THIS end goes into THAT end."

"Keep practicing! You need more practice!"

"I give up.  Just get to work!"

Happy to serve.  Until.......

.....Yikes! SPIDER ALERT!

It's all yours, Gary!

How many missionaries does it take to put lights on a small tree? Twelve. Two to put on the lights and ten to stand around watching, having just eaten all the donuts.

The workers test  the sections of lights as the lighting project progresses.  So we sometimes see the lights on as we arrive for our early-morning shifts. Gorgeous!

Taken early one morning last week by one of our talented missionaries.

                                                                     MERRY CHRISTMAS!