Michigan in All Its Glory

We had our first "stick to the ground, huge white flakes" kind of snow last week. It came in the evening, but it was so light outside that it was almost like daylight. Everywhere we looked was covered in a white blanket of snow.
















Michigan's glorious trees.




















Walking back from the Institute after class about 9:00 PM.















The view from the Living Center looking at the Institute building.











The night view from our balcony.

















A serious snowball fight

The birds really loved our bird feeders after the big snow.

Everything looked so gorgeous. Christmas is definitely on its way.

Thanksgiving break....

Well, the days are flying by quickly. We've recently had snow that stuck to the ground - but quickly went away - and the trees are all pretty much bare.

It is Thanksgiving Break, and most of the students are away for the holiday. We were very appreciative that President and Sister Hess invited us for Thanksgiving dinner with them at the Mission Home. They just arrived in July and are very busy. We, and all the other missionaries, really appreciate all that they do.


















President and Sister Hess


Also present at the dinner were Elder and Sister Jensen. They are the "Office couple" and take care of all the details. Also very busy all of the time....

Elder and Sister Jensen


















Below are Elders Dehart and Ransley. They are the two Assistants to the President, and they are truly inspirational, not to mention fantastic missionaries and leaders....or if I might use a familiar missionary term...AWESOME!


Below is Archie, a very recent convert to the church. He is an MSU student from Shanghai and truly a wonderful person.


















A week ago we went to the Lansing "Light Parade" and lighting of the Christmas tree at the state capitol. It was VERY cold but really spectactular, with the capitol lights on, the big tree being lit and fireworks going off all at the same time. There were thousands of people flocking to see the show....

And here's our own modest contribution...our apartment Christmas Tree!

Time Seems to Be Flying By!

Time really is flying by for us. Sometimes I wonder what happened to summer. Most of the trees are bare now and it even snowed a little last week. We have noticed that the weather is very unpredictable here in Michigan and this fall we have really experienced it. We so enjoy working with the young people here and it has been a special treat to watch from the sidelines their growth in the gospel, their growth in leadership and talents, and their relationships and friendships enlarge, some flourishing to engagements and then marriage. We love teaching them and just hanging out with these amazing young people discussing the gospel and various aspects of their developing lives.

Our young elders and sisters are wonderful here and work so hard. We had another baptism a week ago. Archie, as he likes to be called, was baptised. He is from China and I have to say there is something very special about him. I believe he will be a great leader someday.

It didn't take us long to figure out that MSU football is real big here and we decided that we needed to experience an MSU football game while we were here. Our sweet daughter Heather, who loves football, came for a visit and so this was the perfect time to head to the game. For weeks now on our Saturday morning walks we had observed all the tailgate parties, the flags on cars, and the hoards of people heading towards the Spartan Stadium. Having Heather visit for a few days was wonderful!!!

There are hundreds of tailgate parties over nearly every space of ground leading up to Spartan Stadium. They really know how to celebrate football here at MSU.

View from our seats in Spartan Stadium.

Spartie himself

For Family Night, the University Ward had a Halloween Party at the Institute.Some of our special people.

Alli Ryan organized the party.

A tasty picture from Friday Forum lunch.

Fall wouldn't be fall with our pumpkin bars for Friday Forum lunch.

Friday Forum

Our hangout at the Institute

Our friend Roy just received his mission call to serve in the Brazil Sao Paulo Interlagos Mission.

Friends From Home

What a treat this week to have visitors from home. Steve and Lara Conran stopped by on Tuesday to see us here in East Lansing. It was fun to show them our little domain here at the Institute and give them a short tour of the enormous and busy MSU campus. We had lunch at Culvers and then ice cream at the famous MSU Dairy Store. It was a short visit, but ever so sweet and I don’t think the four of us could have talked any faster to try to get all it all in. Thank you Lara and Steve for taking the time to say hi and know we loved every minute of your visit.

Last week we also checked off an item on our to do list here in Michigan and that was to go to the Joe's Gizzard City to have a deep fried cheeseburger. And yes, we did try the gizzards too, after the waitress brought us a plate to try. All I can say is the experience was interesting. The cheeseburger was featured on the Food Channel's "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" when they filmed a show there.

On the question "...are Mormon's Christian?"

We seem to be increasingly hearing a refrain in the secular media presenting the notion that “Mormon’s are not Christians”. That is an incorrect statement: let me present a few thoughts on the subject:

While many refer to our church as the Mormon Church, its correct name is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. Mormon was a great prophet and leader whom we revere, but we worship our Savior, Jesus Christ, not Mormon.

We worship Jesus Christ as a member of the Godhead. He is the living Son of the living God. He is our Savior and our Redeemer. Our first Article of Faith reads: “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” We do not worship any other. While ancient and modern prophets like Abraham, Moses and Joseph Smith receive our gratitude and respect, we do not worship them.

We believe that only through Jesus Christ can anyone be saved. As in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.

We are Christians because we do our best to follow Christ. He is our ideal, our Master, our leader, and our Divine example. We trust in Him and live by His words: "Come, follow me."

It is our conviction that Jesus Christ is the Divine Son of God, that He was more than a man, a moral teacher, or even a prophet.

We are Christians because we seek and experience the effects of His great and infinite Atonement in our lives. We exercise faith, we repent of our sins, we are baptized, and we receive forgiveness through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We know He suffered for our sins because the Holy Ghost replaces our guilt with joy and peace deep in our hearts.

In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Nephi proclaims: “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Nephi 25:26)

Yes, we ARE Christians.

Fall is Here Once Again

Fall is definitely upon us. The colors of the trees as they change, can really take your breath away, partially green with huge sections of red, orange, or yellow. Other trees seem to change all at once, but it is an amazing sight to see. I think the fall leaves here have peaked now and we are seeing lots of bare tops of the trees and the ground everywhere is covered with colorful fallen leaves. We love to crunch through them when we take our morning walks. Fall also brought us October General Conference which was so inspirational. I taught “Teachings of the Living Prophets” this summer and I think it really helped me better appreciate conference. I now know how to really study a conference talk and I appreciate so much more our general authorities and the inspiring words they shared with us, especially President Monson. It was a wonderful conference. (For those of you who missed conference or who aren’t members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do go to Mormon.org and enjoy it. We definitely are Christians.)

Fall on Michigan State University Campus

This is our anniversary "cruise ship". Well, maybe calling it a cruise ship is a bit over the top since it was a half hour ride down the Grande River to see the fall trees, but since we were celebrating our 46th wedding anniversary, we'll call it our cruise ship. The short trip was lovely and the trees were really beyond spectacular and a perfect way to spend our anniversary. The river boat trips were part of the Fall Island Festival in Grand Ledge.

The corn has been harvested....

Many wonderful old barns in Michigan...

Needs to dry out, then ready to harvest. This is all "field corn", which produces only one cob per stalk due to being planted so close together. Used for silage and methanol.

This is a view of the picturesque apple ochards from Uncle John's Cider Mill.

Fall wouldn’t be fall in Michigan without a trip to an apple cider mill so we had to go. We went Uncle John’s Cider Mill and indulged in apple donuts and a jug of the most delicious apple cider.

And here's our little daisy!

Our apartment building