Devotional at Liberty Jail

        This is outside the Historic Liberty Jail where Joseph Smith spent the hard cold winter months and yet received the revelations in the D&C.  Inside they take tours and tell his heroic story.  But, on the third Sunday, President Vest & his wife (above) listen to new members of the church bear their testimonies of the gospel and their baptisms.  They then, conclude with their witness of God the Father, His son, Jesus Christ, the prophet Joseph Smith, the truth of the Book of Mormon, and their love for all.

        This week, we heard from Carlos.  He is between two of the missionaries who taught him, Elder Javeloza and Elder Tillett.  Carlos was only here for the summer and goes home in a week.  When he met the missionaries, he prayed, "Please God, tell me, I want to know truth."  He felt the answer that he had to continue and study.  He read, studies, went to church, and later received his answer.  When he was baptized, he felt clean.  And every day he feels cleaner and cleaner.  He is now going back to his country excited and eager to tell his family and friends about what he has learned.  He also said, "It is no accident I came here for summer."  "I'm a Latter Day Saint Kid!"

        This is Katie Chapman with her two children and her mother.  Katie met a girl online who became her friend.  One day her friend told her she was LDS.  Katie said, "What is that?"  Latter Day Saint.  "What is that?"  Finally, she found out she was a Mormon.  Her friend came to Missouri and took Katie through the sites and VCs.  Then, she sent the Missionaries to Katie's home.  Katie's son was wearing his BYU sweatshirt (which her friend had also sent him.)  So, Katie began to learn.  She read the Book of Mormon which gave her, "...insights to things I did not know."  This is Elder Tillet, Sister Ray, Sister Allan, and Sister Wood.  Several missionaries helped to teach Katie.

        This is Martino Brown.  He was dissatisfied with his religion.  He studied several, looking for the spirit of the Lord and a comforting feeling.  He studied Islam, then Hinduism.  But, when he entered the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints he had a feeling he could not explain.  He was crying all the time.  He was emotional, but in a quiet sincere way;  Nothing he had ever experienced.  He knows the church and the gospel are true.

        This is a new senior couple, the McCuistons, who have come from Virginia to work with us in the Family History Record Preservation area.  We just met them last night.  Their story was:  He was a member of the church, but not active, unless visiting his extended family who were active.  She was a Southern Baptist.  They were married while he was in the service and later moved to Virginia.  She of course attended her church there, but didn't find it quite to her liking.  So, she said to him, "What about your church?"  He said he would check to see if they could find someone.  But, sooner than they knew, two young men knocked on their door.  These young men were about to go home, but decided just one more door.  They had been tracting in a somewhat hostile neighborhood.  So, when she opened the door and said, "Where have you been, I've been waiting for you!"  they fell backward in astonishment.  As they taught her, her Pastor brought other members and came to their home to save them from the missionaries.  They were also invited in.  At each comment, the conversation became more heated until, one of the missionaries closed his book and said, "I'm so sorry, we have lost the spirit, could we come again and teach you.?"  It was then that the husband said to the Pastor,"You are welcome to stay, but we want to hear what these missionaries have to stay."  Unfortunately, he had to escort them out.   But, his wife felt the spirit she was looking for and joined the church.  Now, they are serving a mission to help others come to know what they know as the truth.  They are so much fun and have great personalities.

        These are a couple of pictures at our Zone Conference just this week.  Sister Currie, Sister Moody, Sister Hansen, Sister McLing, Sister College, Sister Sumsion President Vest is in the background.  The Relief Societies of different stakes furnish & serve the lunches.

        Elder Cam Christensen, Elder Parry, Elder Harrod, Elder Kaafi, Elder Jones, Elder Ingram, & Elder Dayton, who reminds me of Porter.  These are only some of the missionaries.  The Zone Conferences are divided into thirds because we have so many missionaries.  In December, they all get together for the Christmas Zone Conference.

        This is a picture of most of the missionaries singing to the ladies who served lunch.  They do this every time and the servers love it.  Of course, they sing, "Called to Serve."

Baptisms for the Weekend

        Last night we had another baptism in our little Riverview Ward.  This is Kera Anderson who was baptized by Elder Huston.  Kera heard of the church when she was a young girl in California.  A seed was planted, but years went by.  Then, awhile ago, she bought a Book of Mormon in a Thrift Store.  She read it and couldn't get enough.  She was taught by the missionaries who gave her more to read.  She ate it up.  She couldn't get enough.  She texted them, "It's so true."  She is a golden contact who continues to read everything she can.  She knows so much and truly believes.  It was great to be a part of her story.  Elder Huston is from Arizona, Sister Pita is from Peru, and Sister Laycock is from good old American Fork, Utah (Linda Laycock's granddaughter in our Stake)

        This is Kera Anderson again this morning.  She was confirmed a member of the church and received the Holy Ghost.  She said in RS that she had often felt his presence in her life, but wanted to know and have a confirmation that he was there now as her "constant" companion.  The Lord answered her prayer and request.  She felt his warm feeling and bore testimony pure, simple, and truthfully.

        This is Sister & Brother Maldonado and their daughter.  They are members of our ward.  Sister Maldonado bore a sweet and emotional testimony last week in Spanish.  But, when we understood, we were impressed.  She has had a miracle in her life concerning Cancer.  God has given her health back and she is go grateful.  Miracles do happen.  By Faith they occur and by Faith they are manifested.  They have great faith.  Their son is serving  a mission in Nebraska.  They want to go back to Ecuador and serve when they are senior missionaries.

        Then, tonight, there wasn't the Devotional at the VC.  (It's every other week)  But,  there was a baptism in our ward again.  It was Yvette.  The entire baptism was conducted in Spanish.  But, the feelings were the same spirit.  I was able to sit in on a discussion with Yvette a few weeks ago.  She has truly felt the Holy Ghost also, confirming the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  She has had some challenges and decisions to make, like all of us.  But, she had chosen to follow the Holy Ghost and let him lead her.  Her husband has let her make these decisions and was there to support her choice.  He is not a member.  Her mother & grandmother were also there to watch and see her baptized.

Activities on our Mission

        Thursday evening, after work at the office, we went to our first Major League Baseball game with some of the Senior Missionaries here.  The KC Royals vs the Minnesota Twins.  This is the mission van that Elder Atwood is driving.  Sister Rasmussen, Sister Burk, Elder Black, and Elder Rasmussen are standing here by the Van when we first arrived.  Elder Black & Sister Black are the new Office Missionaries learning all their responsibilities.  They really needed a break.  So, here we are!

        This is Sister & Elder Burk who work in Physical Facilities Management.  They take care of all the grounds at the Visitor Centers, Temple, Historic Sites, etc.  Elder & Sister Rasmussen take care of all the missionaries' cars and their medical needs respectively.  There are so many jobs and assignments for Senior Couples or Senior Sisters.  The Church can use all of us with any talents or abilities we have to share and serve.

        This is Elder & Sister Atwood, also working in the office.  It is our first baseball game and we both loved it.  We even bought the traditional "hot dog" to make the night complete.  By the way, we won the game, which made it especially nice.  The bottom of the 7th inning we scored 4 runs.  So, that made it more exciting.

        Then, the next night, Doug & Tonia, (our son & his family) came to visit on their way to Nauvoo. We took them first to the KC Temple for pictures.  It was closed for cleaning.  But, they are going on to Nauvoo and going through with their kids to perform Baptism for the dead.

        We visited both the Visitor Centers and some other sites in the area.  This is the VC in Independence, Missouri, where the Statue of Christ is beautifully displayed.  This is us with our son and his family: Kenner almost 15, Sister & Elder Atwood, Doug & Tonia Atwood, Jacob 13, with Joey 5 and Alyssa 9 in front.  They were great kids.  We loved their visit.  They are now off to Nauvoo to see other Church History sites.  They will visit Far West, Adam-ondi-Ahman, and Hannible, MO. on their way.

        At the Visitor Centers, Young Sister Missionaries give the people guided tours through the various parts of the Center.  This is Sister Moody, who did a great job of explaining history or whatever we wanted to know.  They serve for 18 months from all over the world working in the VC's and also proselyting (teaching about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) in the Missouri area.