Goslings

We have been really enjoying the Mississippi River.  On Elder Thompson's walks down
The Trail of Hope on Parley Street to the river he has been seeing lots of new geese
families with their precious new babies.
They are so adorable!
They all follow along wherever they go.

There are several families, but these are the talk of the town, they have 18 babies.

They made me think of Stephen W Owen's talk in General Conference: 

The Greatest Leaders Are the Greatest Followers

"If I were to ask you, 'Who is the greatest leader who ever lived?'--what would you say?  The answer, of course, is Jesus Christ.  He sets the perfect example of every imaginable leadership quality.

"But what if I were to ask you, "Who is the greatest follower who ever lived?'--wouldn't the answer again be Jesus Christ?  He is the greatest leader because He is he greatest follower--

He follows His Father perfectly, in all things."

This week has been a little more quiet than last weeks whirlwind of activity.  But speaking of whirlwind...they have some pretty crazy weather here in the mid-west.  In one of our meetings we discussed where the best place is to go in our apartments when the tornado siren goes off.  

Well. Okay.

So we were driving to Pella, Iowa to see the tulips and we happened into this crazy storm.  My pictures don't even do it justice.  It got so black and so rainy and so scary.

 

But we made it safely to Pella, and the weather cleared up and we had a delightful day. The Tulip Festival is next weekend, but the tulips were out and beautiful.  We took pictures of tulips, 

lots of pictures of tulips...they are so beautiful.

Pella was founded in 1847 by Dutch immigrants who came to America seeking religious freedom. It is very quaint and very Dutch.  The bakery is amazing with all its pastries.

We had to buy some stroopwafel.  (You 'The Best Two Years' fans know what I mean) 

And we may have bought a few more treats as well.

 Tulips, and more tulips

They have a working windmill.  The top working section was built in 

The Netherland's and brought here to Pella. 

This is the inner workings of the stone grinding mill. 

Here is one of the volunteer millers.  They actually climb the blade to set the sails 

when they are grinding grains.  

The windmill is part of the Heritage Village.  They have more tulips and buildings to tour.

Wyatt Earp's family lived in Pella for a time.

The Ten Commandments in Dutch hang on the church wall.

Pella windows everywhere.

And yes Pella is the World Headquarters of Pella Windows and Doors. 

We did go to a few more sites.  This is John Taylor's home.  This missionary showed us his children's rocking horse they had to leave behind when they left Nauvoo.  The children were so upset about leaving it John Taylor snuck back to Nauvoo at night and retrieved it.  

It made it all the way to Utah.

Here is Elder Thompson at the print shop printing newspapers.  The site missionaries do such a great job with their tours.  You always feel the spirit when visiting the sites.

Things are getting more busy around here.  Over the weekend 33 new 6 month temple missionaries have arrived.  It was a privilege to be in the temple solemn assembly room for the beginning of their training on Sunday May 1.  The original Nauvoo temple was publicly dedicated on May 1, 1846.