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Two Sweet Little Old Ladies

Last week we celebrated our liberation from covid by packing up the household of Sister A.

During 2022 she had fallen eleven times, so it was time for her to move nearer her family, in a fine suburb on the other side of St Louis. Sister A was our beloved chorister, so her colorful presence will be greatly missed. She enjoyed dressing up, sashaying her walker up the ramp to her place of honor. We honor her devotion to the gospel and to our ward. Her husband died as they were about to begin their senior mission, twenty years ago. She went forward and fulfilled that mission by herself. She always brought more than one dish to a ward dinner. She continued to can, to sew, to bake cakes, and to research her family history. Her walls were covered with framed family photos.

Unfortunately she lived half an hour from most of the members. Our ward is lucky to have fifty folks in attendance on a Sunday — and half of the number are in the rapidly retiring contingent of baby boomers. Our group is so small that we do not have enough cars to transport everyone to Sunday services. We joke about hiring a Baptist church bus… Trying to get our members to the doctor, to the grocery store, to the bank, to the barber — well, that’s no joking matter: we simply do not have the cars or the drivers to get it all done. The irrepressible Sister A once phoned a random name on an old church list. Yes, he lives in her little town, but his heart is elsewhere and he’s asked not to be contacted at this time. Sister A did not know him. She did not know anything about him. She phoned him, and by golly if she didn’t talk him into a ride to the bank. Yes, it’s time for her to live nearer her family. We would hate to see her victimized in any way.

The employed members all provided boxes from places where they work. Sister M had just packed herself up for a spring move to Oklahoma City — to be with family, because she keeps falling down and hitting her head. She generously shared her collection of soft packing materials. We had everything we needed to do a good job of packing for Sister A. It took us 23 hours, plus the substantial help of others. There were dishes to wash, clothes to launder, items to group and organize. We folded and bagged as much clothing as we could and stuffed it into drawers. We gathered jewelry items all over the house and put bagged them together in one drawer. We separated the dry food from the wet food. Sister A could open a phone store, with all the various phones and phone charging cords that we found…

I found that I’m no longer accustomed to being on my feet four or five hours a day. I got some good exercise, and I slept like a log each night. Thank you, Sister A! Elder Z likes to work out, so he enjoyed the work.

In the same week, Sister J realized that she would not be returning to her mobile home. She’s been sick and weak, in assisted living or the hospital, since before Thanksgiving. She is one of our favorite folks to visit, having made the greatest progress in reading the Book of Mormon — and consistently attends Church on zoom. We plugged in her wheelchair, so that it would be ready for the Elders to move. They took her power recliner to the nursing home. We picked up a few sentimental items for Sister J — the thimble and spoon collections from her wall, a few photos, a jewelry cabinet. Her greatest concern was to retrieve various items which she thought her friends could use: a men’s walker, a bath bench, a manual wheelchair, a foldable walker. Another friend collected the rest of her clothes for her. Elder Z cashed out her piggy bank for her, paying extra for all her copper pennies. We phoned the mobile home park this morning and are helping her to change her address.

It was icing on the cake to actually speak with the son of Sister J in another state. He is hoping to move her nearby. We are so glad to hear this! Sister J and I are the same age. In the right setting, she has many more years of life ahead. We believe her son can and will arrange a more appropriate home for her.

Usually on our mission in Missouri, we spend long hours transporting people to clinic and hospital appointments in Washington, MO and St Louis, MO. We are in a vast countryside of small farmers and ranchers — and actually, a number of factories, as well. Some of our members do not have cars. Our hope is that they can regain their health and go back to work… but that will only happen if they keep their medical appointments and work on their lifestyle issues. Our calendar shows that we are driving folks to their doctors three to six times each week. This is a very different sort of mission for us. We’ll let you know how many thousands of miles eventually are added to our car…

Once every six weeks we inspect missionary apartments for safety and cleanliness. Of course the windows and doors must be lockable, the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors must be in working order. Sometimes we repair furniture and screens, or demonstrate how to clean something in the bathroom or kitchen. Our young Elders and Sisters are quick to remind us, “But we didn’t come on our missions to clean house!” For the most part, they keep their apartments in good order. Recently another senior missionary couple has arrived in our stake. So they will take up half the apartments we were inspecting. No complaints about that! They will keep plenty busy assisting the soldiers who are members at Fort Leonard Wood.

The furthest missionary apartment we inspected was on the way to a popular tourist destination, Lake of the Ozarks. This is actually the name of one of the wards in our own stake. Many miles in advance, the tourist traps begin. So rather than photograph actual missionary apartments, we’ll show you this local treasure from Camdenton, MO:

All around us are caves to be toured; endless numbers of fishing and rafting spots in the Meramac River; countless parks and forests. There’s even a small museum for the bandit Jesse James.

But we have no interest in being tourists. Our purpose is to have gospel conversations, invite others to be taught by the young elders and sisters, and then, after baptism, to help them get in the habit of daily prayer and reading the scriptures, in addition to weekly attendance at church. We are living among good, God-fearing folks. We have additional knowledge about Jesus Christ, his gospel, and his instruction for us in these latter days. We may spend most of our time driving folks to medical appointments, but along the way, we have plenty of opportunities to share gospel messages from General Conference talks and Bible videos. We are grateful to be serving in Missouri!

January 18, 2023 by zmoleks Categories: UncategorizedTags: Assisted Living Ladies, Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, senior missionaries 2 Comments

Down and Out for the Holidays

Historic U.S. Route 66 runs from Chicago through St Louis, Oklahoma City and Albuquerque all the way to Los Angeles. For sixty years prior to our modern interstate highway system, it was the standard way to drive west. It is still one of the main roads through our little town of Sullivan, MO, population 6,900. As we take our daily two-mile hike, we enjoy several buildings along route 66:

We have Mimi’s Bridal Boutique, sewing unique formals; the local Sinks Pharmacy, famous for loaning wheelchairs at no charge:

No, this is not a place to buy cosmetics: it’s one of many local agencies providing home health aides. Next we’ll walk toward the charming shops on Main Street, passing Frick’s Grocery, recently bought out by Schnuck’s — no change of sign, yet:

Just opposite the grocery store, the local non-profit Life House Youth Center provides young people ages 10-17 a fun, structured, safe and loving place to spend time after school and in the summer. We love their motto: “Let LOVE be LOUDER”

Devine Fabric and Quilt Shop shares the same parking lot. I’ve never been inside, because they’re closed on our Monday P-Day.

Time to head up across the railroad tracks (freight trains two or three times a day) Main Street shops are all on the other side:

This clothing consignment shop has wonderful $5 deals. My beauty salon is here, beside other barber shops, loan offices, insurance stores, furniture stores, a florist and a unique toy store with more fun items for adults than children. Of course we’ve never been inside the Peace of Mind “Good Vibes” shop. They could probably use the peace of mind we have on offer — but they do not yet know what they are missing.

The former train depot is a wonderful antique store, where I found a wreath made of cotton bolls, still on their stems. Cotton grows just a bit to the south of us, so perhaps this is my Missouri souvenir:

The band stand and community Christmas Tree anchor the west end of Main Street. There are regular parades and occasions, right here, just blocks from one elementary school and the high school. The standard old Carnegie post office is just through the block, as is the town hall. The photo above is the Meramac Community Food Pantry and Second-hand Store. It just so happened that there was a brief power outage as I took these photos. All the volunteers are waiting outside. Our young missionaries volunteer here a couple of mornings a week.

We walk through lovely shady neighborhoods as we leave Main Street. We watched them replace the decking on this old-fashioned carousel, beside the horseshoe pit in Bank Park:

There are a great many church meetinghouses, in this town, sprinkled through the countryside, and in each of the nearby smaller towns. We pass the grand Temple Baptist Church on our walk home.

Next we see the Harney Mansion, which was built by Major General William S Harney just before the Civil War. (Missouri–although a slave state — never seceded from the Union, although the Confederacy drafted troops from the state. Union General Harney negotiated with pro-secession Governor Price to allow the Missouri State Militia to protect the Union sympathizers in the state, twice as numerous as the Confederate sympathizers. There were several battles. The Missouri legislature fled into exile.)

Several neighbors really got into the Christmas spirit. How we appreciated their decorations:

I caught covid at the ward Christmas party, so I missed the holidays. Elder Z never caught it at all, and I was never all that sick. You might say I got my Christmas wish, since I believe I will have longer immunity from the virus than from these shots which do not seem to work. We live in a quiet duplex, decorated with greeting cards and photos

We are now back to work and VERY busy. It’s hard to describe or photograph what we do day by day. Is it appropriate for me to take photos of the honest poor folks we transport to medical appointments? To photograph their homes? I don’t think so. We will never forget them. We do not need photos to remember those we have served. But in our next post, we’ll give you a glimpse of where we are spending our time and energy, now that we are beyond quarantine…

January 16, 2023 by zmoleks Categories: UncategorizedTags: Sullivan MO 2 Comments

Wedding in October: Emily & Weston

We asked the bride-to-be: would you rather have Grandpa or Grandma at your wedding-on-very-short-notice, just months after completing your mission? She picked Grandpa, “because he makes such great whole wheat waffles for breakfast.” That is why Elder Z parked our car one hour away in the St Louis airport AND took our one-and-only phone. But — no worries — Sister Z was left within walking distance of three ladies we regularly teach, and able to walk to the meetinghouse, as well.

Grandpa happily attended the various wedding activities. Every family member who didn’t already have the weekend booked came to Washington state to support this joyous occasion. The happy couple had become better acquainted at BYU-Idaho, although Weston’s family had recently moved from Washington to Texas. On her mission, Emily enjoyed working at the family history center, temple gardens, inside the temple as an ordinance worker, making quilts for Project Linus, and answering the phone at a women’s shelter — the busiest and most complete service mission we had ever heard of! She also managed to talk on the phone to Weston most evenings. After Emily’s mission, wedding dates changed faster than we could blink. Obviously a changeable flight ticket was required on our part! So, only one of us could attend…

Elder Z made several waffle breakfasts, and helped out wherever he could. One early event was a bridal shower:

Of course our daughter the clothing designer won the toilet paper wedding dress contest. The model is Anna, whom we all hope will marry the bride’s brother, sooner or later. There were lots of games, treats, and presents. Here I pause in gratitude for the many photographers who posted after this wedding. I have no idea who took which photos. I was amazed at the many lovely events, all made possible on 44 days notice through the loving support of many friends and family members. There were sometimes “too many cooks,” but gracious maturity and patience prevailed, even when one of our family favorites became completely manic.

After the wedding ceremony, a wedding breakfast was held. There were lovely photo displays of the lives of the bride and groom. The other grandparents sat at a table with the photo of Elder Z’s mother, who died just a year earlier. There was a group competition of Kahoots, using an app on the mobile phones. There were splendid toasts to the happy couple, and lots of individual photos. Because I myself did not get to meet the groom’s family, I will include here only a few photos of our own family.

I see photos of all the preparations prior to each event: hair and makeup, soup being cooked, decorating. It makes me tired just to be reminded how much work and time goes into this weekend.

Finally arrived the time for the grand reception, and then the bride and groom departed for their honeymoon.

These photos came to me in a format which I do not know how to manipulate, so this is just the smallest suggestion of the wonderful wedding I missed. The happy couple are doing well in Rexburg, Idaho. I will move heaven and earth so that I do not miss the next three weddings of my beautiful granddaughters. Counting our blessings!

January 14, 2023 by zmoleks Categories: Uncategorized Leave a comment

Celebrating One Mother

Norma Jeanne Richards Spencer 1925-2022

Norma Spencer, age 97, passed away peacefully at her home on August 23, 2022. She continued making beautiful music on the keyboard almost to the end, sharing the joy of music with everyone near her, as she had done since age three. She could play any music she heard in her head, in any key, for any occasion.

Norma was born in Montpelier, Idaho on April 10,1925 to Arthur S. Richards and Grace Macdonald, the youngest of their five children. When she graduated from high school, the family moved to Pocatello. Even during the Great Depression, they were a happy family in a happy home, and it had always been Norma’s desire to make a home equally as happy, neat, and loving.

Rick, Norma, Gay, Beth, Lois, Arthur Richards, about 1974

Beginning in kindergarten, Norma was always accompanying other students on the piano. She played solos both at church and school and accompanied the choral groups at school. During high school, she accompanied each annual operetta, and won solo competitions. Norma learned to play the organ for church in Pocatello. She completed one year at Idaho State College, where she fell in love with Earl Eastman Spencer. He left college in 1944 to serve as a naval officer for two years. Though the future of the world looked rather black, Norma and Earl were quite sure of their own future plans.

Norma worked for the next three years as a clerk-typist at the Union Pacific Railroad depot in Pocatello. She particularly enjoyed having more to talk about with her beloved father, who also worked there.

In January, 1946, Norma went with Mrs. Spencer to San Francisco, there to receive a beautiful diamond engagement ring from Earl. They were married in Pocatello on August 16, 1946, before honeymooning in Yellowstone Park. They began their family in Moscow, Idaho, where Earl attended the University of Idaho. In 1949 they moved to Schenectady, New York, where the rest of their children were born.

Norma became active in choral music, learned to play the organ with two feet, and even how to tune organs. She was the organist for the dedication of the Aaronic Priesthood Monument in Harmony, PA in 1960. She frequently accompanied her children as they sang. This time it was “Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy.”

She enjoyed painting ceramics, ping-pong, pinochle, flower gardening, and giving dinner parties. She was an excellent cook. Sometimes she taught piano lessons.

Norma was known as a diligent visiting teacher. She often sent her children with a little red wagon to deliver meals to sick neighbors Even though she was the church organist, she provided a bouquet of fresh flowers each Sunday for the pulpit. At times her high expectations felt unbearable to her children, but everyone had fun when she was improvising at the piano or singing in the car during long trips. People loved her annual talent shows, when she managed to get each one in the small congregation to perform a song or dance, whether they wanted to or not.

Norma and Earl moved to Moraga in the Bay Area in 1969. There she charmed an even larger group of friends, producing ever more elaborate dramatic shows. She was a capable hostess, invaluable to Earl as he hosted endless groups of dignitaries for General Electric. She was an active participant in meetings of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, and in family history research.

In 1987 Norma moved to Bountiful, Utah as Earl retired. She enjoyed guiding tours at the Church Office Building, and continued to enlarge her circle of friends in the ward and at D.U.P. meetings. She continued to enjoy her grandchildren and great grandchildren, wherever she lived.

From 2008 to 2018, Norma lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and Temecula, California, near her daughter. Since 2018 she has resided in Salt Lake City, near her sons. Norma had been pining away for her husband for eighteen years already.

She is survived by her four children: Susan (Martin) Zmolek of Billings, Montana, Scott (Louise) Spencer of Bountiful, Utah, Alison (Joseph) Kruchek of Phoenix, Arizona, and Glen (Melissa) Spencer of Mill Creek, Utah; nineteen grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.

A family graveside service was held at Lake View Cemetery in Bountiful. Immense appreciation is due to the staff of the memory care unit at Legacy Village of Sugar House and the Canyon Home Care and Hospice, who cared so kindly for her in her declining days, months, and years.

September 9, 2022September 9, 2022 by zmoleks Categories: Uncategorized 1 Comment

A Capitol Time in Missouri

Elder Z stands between peonies and the statue of Thomas Jefferson in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Because we serve in the small towns of southeastern Missouri, we had to choose between St. Louis and Jefferson City to do the annual maintenance on our trusty car. The capitol city was closer, so we drove up on our preparation day, repaired the car, checked out Sam’s Club, and walked through this very impressive capitol building. Come see for yourself:

The legislative session had ended just days earlier, so both the house and senate were splendidly vacant.

The ground floor includes a vast museum of history and natural science. Of course the French fur traders and American Indians are prominent in the earliest history of Missouri, but the overwhelming influence of German immigrants was displayed in detail. Every day as we drive through our area we see German surnames on all the country lanes. (Click on each photo to see the larger version.)

We did not take the time to see the vast collection of paintings and statues, but of course we noticed Mark Twain. The historic downtown allowed us a quick walk past the old Lohman’s opera house, sidewalk cafes and shops. There’s a state office building named for Harry Truman, but it is not the Truman Presidential Library. And then, soon enough, it was time to return to our assigned area of service.

How we love the people of the Sullivan Ward! An inspired Relief Society lesson for Mother’s Day put crowns on our heads, and the good bishop gave us fancy chocolate:

At the moment we have ten families to visit each week. We listen to them, read the Book of Mormon with them, and play the Book of Mormon videos one by one. Sometimes we play excerpts from general conference on our laptop. Today our ward mission leader introduced the new ward mission plan, designed to grow our far-flung ward into two wards and two branches. We look forward to receiving direction as to which families to visit, but until then we are systematically locating and meeting 170 families who have not attended Church recently. Sometimes we discover new contact information, which allows the ward clerk to move membership records to wherever the family has moved.

As we leave our apartment each day, we pack a lunch with blue ice. Often we eat in a parking lot by a market or public library. This Walmart picnic table in Owensville is one of my favorites. Elder Z and I have learned to eat soup cold, since we are usually out on the road. I am just relieved to be able to stick with the beans-and-greens diet which is particularly healthy for me. It is just a bit more delicious when we can pull our breakfasts or dinners warm from a microwave:

We are also thankful to be able to walk a couple of miles each morning, before we spend the rest of the day sitting in the car, and sitting in people’s living rooms and kitchens, some in town and others out on little farms. Of course, anyone who knows Elder Z can be sure he continues to lift weights and do his yoga moves.

How we enjoyed watching the spring blossoms last month, and the gradual arrival of leaves on all the trees this month. We have never seen and heard so many birds. The country roads are a deadly trap for so many small mammals and armadillos. Elder Z has been known to pull the car off the road so he can lift a turtle or snake to the other side of the road.

Many of these yards are in a suburb of St Louis, where we walk while people we have transported keep appointments with medical specialists. Of course there is a great deal more rain here than in our home country. Some thunderstorms have been so intense that we had to pull off the road.

Ever since our time in Ghana, we have a great appreciation for smooth roads, which make the long miles ever so much easier to drive. Imagine our surprise to see this deeply rutted road and open gutter beside a missionary apartment we were inspecting. It felt like we were back in West Africa!

Of course we look forward to seeing our young missionaries in action at district and zone meeting:

We feel very privileged to spend these eighteen months serving new friends in Missouri. We appreciate the support and encouragement from family and old friends as we spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. The internet allows us to stay in touch. Busy as they are, we probably miss them more than they miss us!

May 30, 2022 by zmoleks Categories: Uncategorized Leave a comment

Our First Bit of Success

We went to the St. Louis Temple with this small group from the Rolla YSA Branch last month. To our surprise, they are a very international group! YSAs who attend in Rolla travel as far as an hour each way, because the St. Robert Stake is a rectangle 150 miles by 100 miles. Currently we attend Family Home Evening and Institute activities, and — less often — the YSA Branch Sunday meetings a few minutes from where we live, in the same building with the local family ward:

Forsythia, quince, fruit trees, and spring bulbs have already been in bloom here a couple of weeks… We have a comfortable townhouse, with a view across the street to the university:

Our neighbors here are all college students, of course.

We spend most of our days in the Sullivan Ward, half an hour to the northeast. It is not unusual for us to drive 150 miles a day as we locate addresses of the 240 member families in our large rural ward, in scattered communities named Bourbon, Cuba, Gerald, Grubville, Leasburg, Lonedell, Luebbering, Moselle, Owensville, Potosi, Robertsville, Rosebud, Saint Clair, and Steelville. We were interested to learn that Sullivan was one of the missionary locations of former Church president, Spencer W. Kimball. At the meetinghouse, there’s a snapshot of him from 1919, right there in Sullivan. No doubt he walked for many miles! We are grateful to have a car, with a phone to help us find addresses.

We have concentrated so far on Saint Clair and its nearby hamlets. Often, nobody is home — or there is a different name on the mailbox from the one we are trying to contact. On Tuesday this week we caught three people at home and set return appointments with them. Three in one day was a huge bit of success for us! The return appointments all went well, so we will continue to visit these individuals. We read the scriptures, discuss the gospel of Jesus Christ, show Bible and Book of Mormon videos.

We try to be of practical service wherever we go. Right now we are driving several folks to doctor appointments, so they can regain their health and get back on their feet. It will take a number of months to accomplish this, but it is a great way to get better acquainted with someone we are teaching. As we go, we have seen several signs which made us chuckle. How about this for an inspired name for some storage units: Chuck it in! Storage

In Saint Clair, the water distribution towers are labelled HOT, with red lettering, and COLD, with blue lettering. Hilarious. Have you seen this anywhere else in the world?

Dickey Bub is a favorite regional store. You can buy firearms, farm equipment, animal feed, hardware items, clothing and footwear, sporting goods, and toys.

Price Chopper feels a bit like a Whole Foods Store. I see that similar stores are common now in New England, but this brand is new to me. It seemed incredibly out of place next to the Dickey Bub…

Happy to see a familiar Kroger store, related to our King Soopers in Colorado, Smiths in Utah, and Fry’s in Arizona, Fred Meyers and QFC in Washington. I have already made a key lime pie, thanks to Kroger, which is within walking distance of our home!

Once a week we meet for district council with missionaries who serve in Salem, St. Robert, Rolla, and Sullivan. Elder Z accompanied the two Sisters to our left as they sang a very fine hymn to open the zone conference, which includes the adjacent district, looping around Lake of the Ozarks. We were particularly inspired by the high caliber of training in each meeting. We are surrounded by some unusually dedicated missionaries. Because this is the first time we have served in a “technology mission,” we sometimes find ourselves all thumbs, but they are always willing to show us how to do things. This mission is off to a good start for us. I am all ready to extend for an additional five months. Elder Z, who does most of this excessive driving, is not quite convinced. We are glad to be serving in this place, at this time.

April 9, 2022April 10, 2022 by zmoleks Categories: Uncategorized 1 Comment

Return to Missionary Work

“The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” — Joseph Smith

Although this was our fourth stint at the MTC in Provo, we had not previously noticed this poster, as we walked to hear Sister Jean B Bingham speak during our first week, and Elder Weatherford Clayton our second week. — both very memorable talks, with plenty of participation. This quote was one of those memorized by each of our missionaries in Ghana.

At first we were all wearing masks in the MTC. You can see them in our hands as we point to Missouri on the map:

I often wear a “blue belt,” which holds keys, cards, passports, and other valuables. That’s what has made me look so lumpy around the middle in this photo.

We thought the MTC classes were new and improved in every way. If you click on any photo, it will enlarge, so you can see the fine folks we studied with for two weeks:

We definitely felt ourselves in the older end of this group. Not as young as we used to be!

Our young teachers, Lexi Olsen and Trevor Rich (S. Mando, not pictured) the Glades and Robinsons; our MLS teachers Reiah Waite and Lacey Paulsen, Fullers, Kepners, Robinsons, and Golds.

It seemed to us that these couples were even more dedicated, prepared and determined than other groups we had previously met at the MTC. They applied to serve before the pandemic was over. They each brought so very much to the table. Much of our training revolved around using smart phones and hosting zoom meetings. We did have additional training in family history, self-reliance, and updated methods of teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We were glad to attend each of the Provo temples. The Stevens drove us the first time. He turned out to be my 4th cousin, on my father’s side. We hope to stay in touch:

We were so lucky to meet the Aldouses, who began a week ahead of us. They are going to be living in Awutu Breku, in our former Ghana mission. We met the Lamberts during a class break, as we were walking the halls. They were training as camera operators for FamilySearch. Almost immediately we learned that we have in common the lovely Munros, whom we met in Prague and followed after in our Ghana mission office. The Church is a small world…

The MTC cafeteria is legendary for variety and satiety. I was glad to take the option to prepare my own low-fat vegan meals in the senior lounge — although I did miss eating with the other seniors. I was also very happy to find recumbent bicycles for my exercise. Of course Marty liked lots of the available exercise machines.

On our last day, we were asked to deliver a young missionary sister who was unable to fly to her mission in the midwest. Our car was already stuffed to the ceiling, with scarcely room to see out the back window:

So, we could not be the solution to this transportation problem.

We thought about warm, wonderful Ghana many times as we drove through snow to the MTC. At the end of our two weeks’ training, snow was falling as we drove over Vail pass — which was closed soon after we came over. We were grateful to be able to stay two nights with friends in Colorado Springs. We enjoyed attending the Broadmoor Ward, seeing old friends. That Sunday there were multi-car accidents up and down I-25, so we were grateful not to have to travel just yet. We watched the Witnesses movie with our friends, caught up with some of our kids by phone, and did some indexing on FamilySearch.

Our friends have built their home over a period of many years. The indoor swimming pool greets us at the front door. This home was the center of recreation for the young men and young women during the pandemic years:

We saw the living room for the first time in its finished state. This was my destination each morning, for the two years we lived in Colorado Springs. I walked two miles and crocheted and visited with my dear friend, before this corner was finished:

It took us two more days to drive to Bentonville Arkansas. We were amazed to see thousands of wind turbines towering above the fields of Kansas as we drove. Just before the mission office, we passed the Bentonville temple, which will be completed later this year, an especially beautiful structure. Finally, we were greeted with dinner and a warm welcome to our missionary assignment by President and Sister Collins.

We studied the map of this far-flung mission, which includes ten stakes. Our assignment is in the upper right corner, nearest St. Louis, MO. Yesterday we loved meeting some of the members of the Rolla Young Adult Branch. Tomorrow we will begin to meet folks in the Sullivan Ward.

We are happy to begin our assignment in this place. It is not so foreign as we thought it might be — so far, nobody has an accent. We are very conveniently located just across the street from the university:

Today is our preparation day: shopping, laundry, planning our week. In this town smaller than 20,000 people, there is a Walmart (of course!), a Kroger, and a Price Chopper supermarket. We are grateful to be out of the snow. Normal summer temperatures and humidity will remind us of Ghana… but record highs have been as high as 113 degrees, if you can believe it! We are grateful to our property manager at home, and the amazing friends who handle our mail in our absence. Above all, we are thankful to God who has preserved and strengthened our health, so that we could serve again, in a part of his vineyard which actually includes vineyards.

March 14, 2022April 10, 2022 by zmoleks Categories: UncategorizedTags: Christians, Rolla MO 1 Comment

Christmas with the Richens, and Onward to MTC

Some families have the custom of new matching pajamas for Christmas. This was not a tradition I could embrace, years ago, but it was fun to participate with our daughter Rachel and her family. Betty (from Ghana) is a member of their ward, so she joined us for the nativity story on Christmas Eve. I gave her a copy of my favorite Ghana book, “King Peggy,” a true story. Rachel’s husband took this photo, but we know he will not miss seeing himself in these photos, although this family truly would not exist without his faith, perseverance and hard work…

Alex and Grandpa got into the Christmas spirit. The sign beside Alex reads: The love of a family is life’s greatest blessing. Katelyn and Mark set the scene. This home was mid-renovation, with no space for a Christmas tree, so greenery and ornaments were arranged on a wall instead, above the piano. Emily took the part of the announcing angel.

We stayed in a nearby kitchenette with two grandsons. The snow was quite intense all week, so I borrowed a cane to stay safe on the icy walks. Our mission call had just arrived in the email, but the entire family wanted to be there when we opened it. So at the rental home, we put each family up on the big tv screen as we opened our surprising call to the Arkansas Bentonville Mission as member leader support missionaries. Very, very few senior missionaries are currently being sent out of their home countries. Our future mission president phoned us a few days later, to let us know that he would assign us to work exclusively with young adults in Rolla Missouri and several nearby communities, which are actually in the St. Louis Temple district. It turns out that our mission covers parts of four states, and takes eight hours to drive across!

One of my favorite days was when Rachel and I met Emily at the Seattle Temple, where she serves as a gardener, and also as an ordinance worker. (She is currently serving a service mission: manning the reception desk at a battered women’s shelter, helping patrons at a family history center — so she has work to do every day. When she completes her mission, she will return to her studies at BYU-Idaho.) The Seattle Temple is significantly larger than the Billings or Denver Temples where we have served. It was a truly choice experience to do temple work for those who have already passed on to the next life, with my granddaughter Emily as the ordinance worker.

As I imagine the next life, I expect that both my father and father-in-law are teaching the gospel there in the spirit world. Whenever someone in the next life chooses to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, then the saving ordinances we perform in the temples become effective for them: baptism, marriage for eternity, and sealing of children to their parents.

It was raining as we exited the temple, but we hoisted our umbrellas and took the garden tour with Emily. We met the others she works with, and bought some lovely ornaments that one of them had made from a tree that was cut down.

It was surprisingly cold for the Seattle area. Mark and Katie made an igloo in the backyard:

The kitchen was being renovated, countertops added where the kitchen table had once been, and the family room beyond was becoming the formal dining room. Quite the transformation:

In fact, this renovation is ongoing. A shocking discovery was made: the windows had been incorrectly installed, years ago, allowing moisture and mold into the exterior walls. Exterior siding and windows were removed, as well as interior sheetrock. When all is finally remedied, this home will be better than new! At times like this, I am glad that we live in a desert, where mold is rarely a problem…

Meanwhile, Joe and Ely celebrated in their home near the Saratoga Springs UT Temple. We were glad to see them several times in recent months. All are reading beautifully, thanks to excellent home-schooling. (Yes, both the youngest two are pre-kindergarten.) Hats off to these parents!

My big Christmas present was the repair of my wedding ring. The only time my fingers ever swelled up was just before the birth of our last child. This ring was cut in two places, but repaired so very skillfully in Billings. We had been wearing other rings for 33 years, so it was truly time for us to wear our original wedding rings again!

It has been quite a challenge to move all our furniture down into the two downstairs bedrooms. We used a couple of moving men, in order to haul down all of Sam’s boxes, too.

Most of the furniture is in our bedroom. As we left, we set a blue tarp above our bed. When we return, we will only have to move a couple of items off our bed, and drag the exercycle out. It’s a good feeling to know that our bed is waiting for us, safe and sound — and not in some storage unit.

In the unfinished bedroom, Sam’s boxes reach the ceiling. I was happy to see our large dining table and couch fit right along the wall, with two box springs and two mattresses piled atop the table. Both storage rooms are locked up. We are glad to have an excellent property manager, who moved in a perfect tenant, just one week after we left.

We were surprised to see how many boxes we no longer needed, since we could store all our things inside our own home. The next day I posted on the local swap and share page on Facebook. A family took all these boxes in their pickup truck, for the move they were about to make. I love it when anything can be reused!

It is a completely different experience to have an entire car to pack for a mission, as opposed to four suitcases for international travel. It also took us longer to clean our home than to clean a small apartment, as we had before our other mission adventures. It was 1:30 in the afternoon before we could leave Billings. It was snowing and overcast. West of town we passed several wrecked tractor trailers on the icey roads. Finally the skies cleared and the snow stopped. But driving in the dark on icy roads was pretty challenging. We made a quick visit to one of our favorite Czech missionaries, Michelle, at 9:00 at night. We had never met her husband or baby. We were so glad to remember our old adventures, and to see how busy and happy their lives currently are, near Idaho Falls.

The next morning we stopped to see some Ghana missionaries in Shelley, Idaho. Like us, the Winders have served twice in eastern Europe and once in Africa. On that cold icy morning, we both agreed we’d return to Ghana in a heartbeat:

The sun was shining and even though our car was heavily loaded, it took no time at all to arrive in the Salt Lake Valley, have our car washed, and make a quick visit to my mama, who is about to turn 97. She no longer recognizes anybody, but she was interested to hear about how I was preserving all the old stereo slides, family movies, ancestor stories and photos, and even audio tapes, including piano music she recorded when she was 70 years old. Everything is now digitized on flash drives, so we can share it to all interested family members. My mama even flirted with Marty, which cracked us up, because she never liked him at all. These days, she’s always looking for her next boyfriend. My brothers think she will outlive all of us!

We were grateful to spend a relaxing week with our daughter Julie. We repacked the car, and watched the Olympics with them in their home theater. We even watched my Dad’s old home movies, which he had carefully pieced together in a couple of highlight reels — filming he did with bright lights every Christmas morning and on every vacation. I had forgotten how much was there. Dad had put it on VHS tape; our daughter Rachel transferred it to three DVDs; and then finally I learned how to put it on flash drives, so it can be played anywhere. I can now die in peace, with this big job completed!

We were privileged to have lunch with Joe and Ely, hear each of the boys read, and then hike to the top of the nearby hill. They scrambled straight up to the top (just visible, if you zoom in), but I followed the zigzag route for mountain bikes and ran out of time to get all the way up. So happy to see them all! Our son Joe works from home.

We have taken off our masks for every photo, but of course we had to show our vaccination status and a negative test before we could enter the missionary training center (MTC). Here’s what a negative home test looks like. We are hoping that someday no one will remember and the pandemic will all be behind us…

February 27, 2022February 27, 2022 by zmoleks Categories: UncategorizedTags: missionary 1 Comment

Thanks for Old Friends — and New

On our recent trip, we visited several of the senior missionaries we left behind in Ghana, eighteen months ago. It was delightful to learn how busy and efficient the Hulets were during the pandemic, in the mission office. Yes, that’s the St. George temple up the street from them. We were also lucky to catch the Joslins, who served in the bush, in a very small group — which increased by THIRTY new members during the pandemic. We are so proud of the accomplishments of our friends, and look forward to seeing more of them –and others we haven’t yet seen.

I have many ancestral connections to St. George. It was here that I received my patriarchal blessing, in 1961, from a 90-year-old man who had known two of my great-grandfathers. Usually when we travelled from New York, we hurried off to the nearby parks: Zion’s, and Bryce Canyon. On this trip, for the first time, I explored the local historical sites: the pioneer museum, the original tabernacle (where Marty was allowed to play the pipe organ!), and the Brigham Young Winter Home. That tour was especially interesting. I was truly thrilled to sit in the yellow structure just east of the Young home, where the entire temple endowment was recorded on paper for the very first time. According to L. John Nuttall’s journal, my ancestor Alexander F. Macdonald was one of the four men assigned to this project. And, there we were, sitting in the very room where this happened!

I was disappointed to learn that the Erastus Snow Big House no longer stands, but at least we were able to walk past the location, and see engravings (on-line) of what it looked like. This is where Elizabeth Macdonald and her sister wives ran a boarding house for the temple laborers — providing three meals a day for up to 80 men, washing their clothes, cleaning their rooms. A huge labor of love, — with all the profit going to the Church. Both before and after the Macdonald tenure, the Snow family had operated this as a business, so I now understand, for the first time, the paragraph Elizabeth wrote in her life story about her not being paid, and her husband going to Brigham Young’s successor to straighten the matter out, several years later.

We spent a delightful evening with our niece Alexa, Matt, and their adorable family in a nearby suburb. We missed the wedding, years ago — so it was about time to see them in person! On the way, we stopped at a Mexican bakery to get a treat for them, and were astonished to find credible Czech kolaches on offer. We bought the strawberry ones… Aberle drew a rose for me. Her public school teaches math in the Mandarin language, which surprised us. Her Dad knows Mandarin from his two years’ service in Taiwan. There are lots of international surprises in Utah! We will definitely return to St. George, as long as it’s not summer.

Our first objective was to welcome Kirsti home from her mission at the Rome Italy Temple Visitors Center; and then we saw yellow ribbons tied on trees, and made posters in preparation to greet Sammy as she returned from her mission in Goiania Brasil. The new arrivals hall at the Salt Lake airport has a spacious lounge beside it, in which families and friends gather to meet their returning missionaries. I loved the elegant wall treatment with its changing lights– so fresh and new. These two granddaughters worked very hard to continue to study their languages while serving in Austin Texas, waiting for their countries to re-open. In the airport, a Brazilian grandma walked up to Sammy and engaged her in a lengthy Portuguese conversation. It amazed us to see these two succeed so beautifully, despite the pandemic. Other than being photographed, of course, we were all wearing masks. We were inspired by their returning talks at church, and met many of their friends afterwards at a backyard reception. A major renovation at their home was so delayed that this family lived elsewhere for most of the month… a very odd circumstance. However, the twins went right to work in a shoe warehouse, signed up for the next semester, and will return to college after Christmas. We are so proud of all our missionary grandchildren!

We helped their older sister to move into her first home. It’s so lovely to see her settled without roommates for the first time in her life. She is a clever marketing manager for several companies.

Next we were in the mood for a long walk, so we went to the nearby International Peace Garden: (Click on each photo to see the full view)

We also remember several Scandinavian chalets, a monument from Tonga, and a traditional gate from China. Much of this old park is in disrepair. It was planned in 1939, finished in 1952… a grand old idea. We enjoyed strolling through.

On another day, Marty and I wandered past the renovations on Temple Square, and then on across the street to the Church History Museum. Here was a new favorite — a dress constructed of marked-up pages from someone’s well-worn copy of the Doctrine and Covenants:

We enjoyed visiting the homes of two of our children. We also had fine visits with my two brothers. The highlight of this trip, however, was a visit with my 96-year-old mother, who lives in memory care. I’m so very grateful for the care given to her affairs by my sister and her husband, for more than ten years. Nowadays, my brothers are her usual visitors. They told me she was looking for an audio tape she made when she was sixty years old — a beautiful recording of her playing Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Grieg, Debussy, and Gershwin on the piano. She did not recognize me, but she definitely recognized the tape! I could not have given her a better present. (Of course I have it digitally preserved and stored in a Faraday cage, so it will last forever.) If I figure out how to link the .wav file here, I will share it.

I did not suppose she had a tape/cd player, but she does. Her caregivers are used to turning it on for her. They love all the ditties she plays by ear for the residents –but they had no idea of her serious musical gifts. I know that they will play it for her by the hour. This is the music we heard every night, as we were growing up. Our mother is so frail and senseless, but she still loves her music. We are grateful that she is safe and happy in her home, although she does not know where she is, or who we are. She got asymptomatic covid a year ago, but is still with us, God bless her.

Our grandson Sebastian (brother to the twins) seems to be going for a twin look with his wife Sarah. We are thrilled to see them settled well in Orem, not far from the temple which is under construction there. Next time we visit them, they will actually have a couch! Right now, there is only a rowing machine…

We drove on down to St George for a couple of days, and then headed home by way of Green River, Wyoming, where we were delighted to meet nephew Jon’s family… another wedding we had missed. When you drive from Denver to Salt Lake, you never want to stop at Green River, because you’re almost there. So we had missed them for TEN years. We looked at the string of planets in the night sky. I forgot to bring their treat into the house, because the sun was nearly down as we arrived on their dramatic street, which seems at that hour to dip all the way down to the Green River. Again, we are happy to see them settled well with their cute children, although a move to take another job will come up quickly. I am sad to say I gained weight eating the cookies intended for them. It doesn’t pay to grow up…

Wyoming is such a desolate place. On the way down, we came through Riverton, Wyoming, almost to Kemmerer, zigzagging on surface roads that did not have any fencing to keep the abundant antelope off the road. We hardly saw any cars — only isolated plants for gas and oil production. We returned straight north from Rock Springs. Once again our route passed through famous South Pass, where all the pioneer trails passed through a broad pass between the mountains, at about 7,400 feet elevation. Next time we should stop and read the historical markers. I think this is our new favorite route from Billings, Montana to Salt Lake City. The roads are excellent. It’s nice to avoid the traffic on the I-15 freeway.

Before we could blink, we had Thanksgiving Dinner with our local missionaries and two of our favorite little old ladies. Afterwards we played Blockhead and tasted Lakanto cookies from a mix Alena shared with us — no gluten, dairy, or sugar!

For the young elder next to Marty, it was his first day as a missionary from Lehi, Utah. We are always pleased to visit these two sisters, but this was their first time in our home. Hope they’ll come again!

We have just completed applications for our next mission, sometime next year. There is much more scrutiny to the medical forms than we’ve noticed previously. We responded to several emails. Although the pandemic continues, we really cannot wait any longer to serve again. In the past, the time between mission trips has varied from two months to seven months. This time, it’s already been eighteen months. And we’re not getting any younger. Much as we love having our own home again, it’s time to go. There’s no greater satisfaction than being able to serve others, particularly in a mission office. And, truly, the risk is about the same, anywhere in the world.

That is why we have already begun to move furniture and boxes from upstairs to our locked storage rooms on the basement level. No more commercial storage units for us! All the book shelves from the empty living room wall in the above photo are now happily arranged on our bedroom wall, with all their contents. Marty has improved the bathroom and kitchen caulking, and continues to tidy the yard and garage. A management company will rent out our house as a two-bedroom, two-bath, with living room upstairs and family room downstairs. We hope to receive our next mission assignment soon after Christmas.

December 1, 2021 by zmoleks Categories: UncategorizedTags: Lakanto, Utah, Wyoming Leave a comment

Our Babi Slipped Away last Sunday as She Napped

Georgiana grew up speaking Czech in a Chicago suburb, not learning English until kindergarten. She played bass in the school orchestra and graduated early from high school before training as a nurse, falling in love, and marrying soon after World War II.