Today is our P-day (Preparation Day) and we are pretty much snowed in❆, so thought I would get on line and bring everyone up to date on our activities.  Normally we would be driving up to Vestal, a suburb on Binghamton, NY to do our shopping  for the week and had even planned to see a movie this afternoon, but the roads are a bit dicey since we received a half foot of snow and the wind continues to blow and drift, so we cleaned our house instead and will just stay in warm and cozy today.  I put a nice pot of soup in the crockpot and we'll watch a movie here at home.  It should be a fun relaxing day and we'll catch up the shopping another day.

Our days are pretty slow this time of year---not many travelers through here in January and February, but we gave 3 tours yesterday and the weekends are busier.  They say this is the lull before the onslaught that will begin next month.  We're expecting 50,000 visitors this year!  So we don't mind the quiet periods now.  We usually are at the site for 6 hours, 6 days a week.  That will increase to 7 hours a day and this summer it will be 8 hours.  The homes that we take people through are about 1/4 mile from the visitor center, so we get in quite of bit of walking on busy days, but we enjoy that.  Some days are pretty chilly, so I'm really glad that I bought a long down coat and warm boots.  They have served me well already.

This is the home Joseph and Emma lived in while here in Harmony, Pennsylvania.  It's a reconstruction and is one of the homes that we take people through.

Here Dean is sweeping Emma's floor. It gets kinda dirty with the groups of people filing through.

Our new director arrived about three weeks ago.  We are enjoying getting to know the Elder and Sister Abney.  They are from Spanish Fork, Utah.  She was a school teacher and he was in the military (special forces).  We were sad to say goodbye to the Walkers, they were wonderful directors and will be missed.

                                     Elder and Sister Abney with Elder and Sister Walker.

This is the Visitor Center and the Priesthood Restoration Site.  It's a lovely building and we spend lots of hours here.

One of our favorite things to do is spend time with the young sister missionaries.  They are so vibrant, cheerful, talented and a joy to serve with.  We love having them over for dinner when we can.

Dinner with Sister Young, Sister Larsen and Sister Mayer (from Chile) in our kitchen.

We feel so blessed and privileged to be here in this sacred place.  Our testimonies have only gotten deeper and stronger.

Settling in...

We've been here a couple of weeks now and are beginning to settle into a routine.  In the winter months we work at the Visitor Center for six hours a day, six days a week.  Thursday is our P-day and a chance to clean house, do laundry and shop for the week.  January and February are pretty slow months as far as visitors to the site go---we average 2-3 tours per day, so we have lots of down time to continue to study and learn all the things that good tour guides are supposed to know.  You never know when a General Authority will show up 😜  .   Certainly want to look like we know what we're talking about.  They are trusting us to do our own tours now.  Each tour lasts from 1 to 1 1/2 hours plus a beautiful video that can only be seen here at this site.  Summer time they tell us will be crazy---last year they had up to 700 visitors a day, so we'll enjoy the peace while we can.  Our Visitor Center directors will be leaving next week and the other senior couple leaves in 3 1/2 months, so soon we will be the most experienced ones here.  Kinda of scarey, I know.

The holidays were different, but lovely just the same.  Christmas day is the only day in the year when the visitor center is closed down, so we got all the missionaries together (14 in all, 8 senior missionaries and 6 young sisters) for a nice turkey dinner and some fun games after Church.  Then all headed to their homes to call their families.  We loved talking with all of our kids and grandkids during the day.  Technology is such a blessing, it was wonderful to be able to see everyone as well as hear them.  Don't want them to forget what we look like. New Year's Eve we all got together for some more games and snacks, but the young sister missionaries had to be in by 8:00, so the party broke up pretty early.  Have to admit we were in bed before midnight. Party poopers, I know!

We have been assigned to attend and support the Honesdale branch which is about an hour away on twisty and winding roads.  I'm proned to carsickness, so that's become a bit of a challenge.  I take a lot of Dramamine (then sleep through Church).   It's a very small branch, with almost no Priesthood brethren.  Two young elders are the counselors to the branch president.  The first Sunday we were there they held a phone up to the microphone and sang along to the recorded hymns on the Church's website.  So, they were glad to see us show up.  I know we'll grow to love those devout people who are faithfully doing what they can to live and share the gospel in a remote part of Pennsylvania.

Enough for today---gotta save something for my next post. 
Enjoy the pictures!

 Our Mission President, President Randall made a visit to the Site last week.

 These beautiful statues commemorating the Priesthood Restoration greet each visitor.  

They are recasts of the ones on Temple Square by Avard Fairbanks.

Elder Banner is ready to greet visitors and give them the tour!

Sister Banner greets them all with a smile and a warm welcome.

(Of course, we get up out of our comfortable chairs to do this.)

Below is one of the original copies of the Book of Mormon on display here at the center.

It's in excellent condition and a real treasure.

We made it!

Our New Adventure has begun...
     After one and a half weeks in the Missionary Training Center and a frigid drive 1800 miles across the country we arrived in Susquehanna, PA on Tuesday afternoon the 20th of December, 2016.  We were warmly greeted at the Priesthood Restoration Visitors Center by our director and his wife.  They are delightful people from Pinedale, Wyoming. He was a rancher and the superintendent of schools and she was a 4th grade school teacher. You can imagine that we already have much in common.  
     We were guided to the home where we will be staying and were tickled to have such great accommodations.  (See the picture below with Dean waving from our porch.)  It's very updated inside with lots and lots of room.  There's a big kitchen, laundry room, office, bath and living room downstairs and two nice bedrooms and bathroom upstairs too.  We live on a hill so there are lots of stairs to climb.  
     The first evening the missionaries had a welcome dinner for us and we had a chance to meet everyone we will be working with---six young sister missionaries, our director and his wife, one other senior couple, and a couple who work with facility maintenance.  They were so kind and warm, we know that it will be a joy to work without them.  The young sisters sang us a beautiful Christmas song, they are very talented!
     Wednesday was a day to unpack, shop for groceries and generally get settled in. Today we put in our first day at the site and received a tour.  What an amazing place this is!  The Church has done a superb job of re-building the Isaac Hale home and Joseph and Emma Smith's cabin.  They are done over the original foundations and filled with period furniture and furnishings.  There is so much to see and do here...it could easily take 2-3 hours for a tour.  That means we have so much to learn!  It's a bit overwhelming, but we're anxious to learn all that we can.
There is a beautiful and sacred spirit here that you can't deny. One man in the area likes to just come and sit in the parking lot because he loves the way he feels here.  
    We hope to have you come and visit us here.

                      Our beautiful daughter Lindsay dropped us off at the Missionary Training Center.

                             Our new "digs" in Susquenhanna, Pennsylvania.

                        En route we made a stop at the Kirtland Temple in Ohio.

Pristene Santorini

After a rather harrowing ride to the top of

Santorini Island astride these "cute" donkeys...

We discovered stunning views...

and charming villages filled with

lovely cobalt blue and white architechture and

brilliantly colored blossoms.

It's truly a gem of the Mediterranean.

Mitch took to the 4-wheeler after
wrestling with the donkeys.
We all opted to ride down the hillside on the tram.
One encounter with the donkeys was quite
enough!

Croatia

I know, I know! It's been two months since I promised to post more pictures of some of the places we traveled following our mission. Frankly, I thought no one would notice that I hadn't posted anything, but it's nice to know that someone does look occasionally. Thanks.

These pics were shot in Dubrovnik,Croatia. We visited the old city there and paid our money to climb the steps and walk the ancient city walls. It was at least 105 degrees, but we walked the entire 3 miles and got a birdseye view of this charming city and it's brick red roofs.

Aaaah, Venice!

What can I say???
The pictures say it all.
Venice is charming and there is
no other place like it on earth.
Everyone should visit it at least once,
but I have to admit, I wouldn't want
to live there.
It's an absolute maze of canals and walkways.
The only way
to get around is by BOAT or on FOOT.
Thanks heavens we had
Mitch with us----
He led us around with a map in hand
wherever we went, or we could have been
wandering for hours just looking
for that place that served up GELATO.
MMMMMmmmm!

On the Way Home

When the final goodbyes were said...
with mixed emotions we headed to airport...

and took a plane to the beautiful and charming city of Venice, Italy.




...and after 3 glorious days

we met up with some of our family and boarded
the Splendor of the Seas for a memorable
trip in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Stay tuned for further fantastic pictures of our journey home!