The week before last (where is the time going!) on P-day a few of us went to to Kalona, Iowa.
It is a beautiful town that has Amish and Mennonite communities.
Our tour guide was born Amish, but is now a Mennonite, so he was very knowledgeable on both communities and able to teach us about both of their ways of life.
This is an Amish phone both. It is run only by solar power. They do not use electricity for anything.
One phone booth serves many families in the area.
The farms are absolutely beautiful.
We drove past an Amish school house. They attend school up to the eight grade.
The children were outside playing baseball.
And swinging. The children seem to almost always be barefoot. And so cute!
We stopped an Amish store. There you could buy everything you needed.
Suspenders in every size and your choice of color, blue or black.
And the all important hat in every size. The sign says, New, with thicker and stronger straw!
Black shoes, again, in all sizes. Since all the children we have seen have been barefoot,
not quite sure who is buying these shoes. Nobody we guess.
Not sure where everyone was, but the parking lot was full of buggies.
This was taken outside the buggy making shop. Steel tires, no rubber is allowed.
We are completely obsessed with the barns. Lots of barns have barn quilts on them, this community especially. Each barn has a quilt. They are almost as beautiful as the real ones. And trust us,
the real handmade Amish quilts are absolutely beautiful. Just might have to bring one home!
Although this picture is not a good one. It makes us smile. It was taken after we had lunch at the Tuscan Moon. The Ludwigs, Garffs, Dallings, and us. The Dallings are in the background already across the street! Sister Ludwig is looking at who knows what and Bro Garff and Sis Thompson are taking a picture. Such a fun day. And you might be able to see the quilt in the sidewalk just behind where they are standing. Quilts are everywhere, signs, roads, barns, sidewalks; and of course in the shops are hundreds of quilts.
We had dinner with the Bontrager family one evening. This is their backyard.
They are Amish and have a lovely family. The children are so cute!
Unfortunately, can't get a picture of them. Not allowed to take pictures.
They are Amish and have a lovely family. The children are so cute!
Unfortunately, can't get a picture of them. Not allowed to take pictures.
This bell is the communication with the family. When you hear it ringing, you better come.
We had a going home picnic. The Fellow's, Ludwig's, O'Brien's, and Russell's are going home.
On the end on the right is President and Sister McArthur, they go home in about six weeks.
We remember all the same people. They are fabulous people.
We have learned so much from them. Sis Ludwig has taught many classes on family history and temple work. Why it is so important and the great impact that it has on us here and now. But more importantly as we gather and organize our families for the second coming.
On a side note, we just love this view out our back window. No rock landscaping here!
This is the Fort Madison Community Hospital Emergency Room.
While this is not the transportation we took to get there,
we did spend a few hours there this past week.
At the end of our shift last Wednesday evening Sister Thompson's knee locked up.
This is the same troublesome knee, but now it is just acting crazy.
X-ray's show arthritis and the ER doctor felt a Baker's Cyst behind the knee.
We have an appointment with an orthopedic this week, and have
been getting some treatments from the chiropractor in town to try and
get the muscles to relax. It is hard to walk when your knee is stuck in the bent position!
So unfortunately she has not been able to work her shifts since this happened.
Trials can be hard, and this definitely is a hard one.
We are here to work in the temple, and when you can't do that it can be frustrating.
All missionaries go through trials and sometimes wonder why they are going through them.
We are on a mission, we thought the Lord would take care of everything.
Well, no. That's not always the way it works.
We learn so much from our trials. We learn to turn to Heavenly Father, to lean on the
atonement for relief from our pain and suffering. We pray harder and study longer,
seeking the answers to why this is happening. And we learn, once again, we are not in charge.
We have to be faithful and exercise faith in Jesus Christ that he will hear and answer our prayers.
We know He will, but patience and humility must be learned as well.
One blessing out of the trial is she is getting lots of indexing and familysearch done!
Sis Nelson shared this quote last week with us, and it is perfect for what we are experiencing.
I do not know why we have the many trials that we have,
but it is my personal feeling that the reward is so great,
so eternal and everlasting,
so joyful and beyond our understanding
that in that day of reward,
we may feel to say to our merciful, loving Father,
“Was that all that was required?”
What will it matter what we suffered here if,
in the end,
those trials are the very things which qualify us for
eternal life and exaltation in the kingdom of God
with our Father and Savior?
--Linda S Reeves Oct 2015 General Conference