Happy Monday! Hope you are all enjoying a
nice day off thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Sister Madsen and I
had been wondering why the sites were slightly more busy this weekend
and it didn't click until we looked at the calendar today and saw what
day it was. I just totally lose track of time out here! How is it
January 21 already?!
This week has been a good one! I got to do a lot of
really neat things, starting with a tour of the Frame Home with Bob
right after I emailed you last week. Bob knows a lot about construction
and everything so the tours he takes the sisters on in there a bit
different. He was pretty involved in the restoration process as well, so
he knows a lot about what is original and what's not. And... we got to
go in the upstairs of the frame home! That's exciting because we don't
get to take tours up there (it's against fire code I think? The farm
crosses a county line so the log home is in Wayne County which says it's
ok to have people upstairs in the log home without a second exit, but
the frame home is in Ontario County which says you have to have two
exits in the upstairs of a building). Bob even had to unscrew the door
so we could go up there. It was so cool!
I don't know if I've talked much about the frame
home, but the structure is 85 percent of the original structure that
Alvin Smith himself started building for his family before he died.
Upstairs there are a lot of neat features. One of my favorites is the
part where the ceiling beams connect to the outside vertical beams (ha
ha I can't remember the technical term for them). There are several
wooden pegs made out of black locust trees that hold the beams together.
What's cool about that is there is a tree outside the frame home that
was planted by the Smith family in honor of Alvin when he passed away,
and it's a black locust. I thought of an analogy off of this. It's
interesting that the black locust pegs hold the house together, just
like Alvin held the Smith family together, even after his death. He was
so kind and caring that everyone loved him, which left a lasting impact.
It was just neat to think about the influence he had while I was
standing in the very home he built for his family.
Wednesday was another neat day because we got to go
to a transfer board meeting with President Christianson and the APs.
With so many new missionaries coming in the next few transfers,
President has to really think ahead to plan what areas will need to be
opened and closed. He just wanted us there to give our opinions and talk
about how many sisters we HAVE to have at the sites going into busy
season. The gist of what I got out of being there is there is NO WAY
President would ever be able to coordinate transfers without being
directed by the Spirit! There is literally no other way. There are so
many factors that have to go into every single move, and thinking about
it logically just won't do it. I'm so grateful he is so in tune with the
Spirit. It was a huge testimony that Heavenly Father is VERY aware of
every single missionary in this mission.
At site meeting this week we got to hear from
Rand Packer, the grandson of Willard and Rebecca Bean (the first Mormons
back in the Palmyra area after the saints left to Kirtland). He's the
one who wrote the book "A Lion and a Lamb." I also got to hear from him
at a fireside last night and oh my, I feel so lucky. I'm so grateful for
all the work the Beans put into showing the community here that members
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are Christians. I
wouldn't be here as a missionary if it weren't for the work that they
and their family did. Brother Packer's mother, named Palmyra Bean
Packer, grew up here in Palmyra and took a lot of persecution while they
were trying to re-establish relations, and I am so grateful for her
sacrifice. It was really neat because Sister Madsen and I got to take
Brother Packer, his wife and their son on tour of the Smith Farm on
Saturday. Brother and Sister Packer have been here several times but it
was their son's first time since the restoration of the farm. It was so
neat to take them into the frame home where Palmyra Bean Packer grew up
and were the Bean family had so boldly testified of the Book of Mormon
countless times. I feel so lucky!
Sister Madsen and I have been praying to see
miracles happen in the lives of the sisters, at the sites and in our
area, and I feel like we've already seen so many. I know there are more
to come.
I'm about out of time for this week. I love you all
so much! Thanks for all the love and support. I seriously couldn't do it
without all of you.
Love you times a billion!
Sister Butters
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