January 26, 2020 - Our Buffalo Ward had a Temple trip to the Palmyra Temple last Saturday. Of course we got to give rides to Rama & Elisha (brothers - who had been to the Temple several times) and Florence who came for her first time, just being baptized in December 2019. She remarked: This is a Perfect Day! And it was, our Ward had 7 people come do baptisms for the dead for the first time - there was such a sweet spirit in the baptistry.
Rama, Elisha, Florence, Karen & Mark in the Joseph Smith home.Florence in the upstairs bedroom where the Angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith.Florence, Elisha, Datch, Rama and AJ at the front door of the Palmyra TempleRegina & Didas were just baptized in November and came to the Temple for their first time.The Relief Society provide a nice lunch at the Palmyra Stake Center which is across the street from the Temple.Karen (Relief Society President and her mom Ursula (lives in another Ward, but is related to the Relief Society President!!!) organized the luncheon.Chatting at the luncheon (we serve with Sister Sonnefeld in the black coat in the Swahili Group)They had yummy sloppy joes for lunch as well as sandwiches.And who was walking out of the Temple baptistry when we walked into the Temple? Danielle and Karen C from our little Massena Branch. What a sweet, tender moment to see two of our favorite people in the Temple.Mark, Karen C and KarenKaren C brought me an EXTRA LARGE package of Cadbury Mini-eggs. Wow! She knows how to win me over.When we stopped at one of the roadside stops on the I-90 Throughway, I saw this sign as we walked inside which tells the story that the first JELL-O factory was built on this site. In 1897, Pearle Wait, a carpenter in LeRoy, New York was putting up a cough remedy and laxative tea in his home. He experimented with gelatine and came up with a fruit flavored dessert which his wife, May, named Jell-O. He tried to market his product but he lacked the capital and the experience. In 1899 he sold the trademark to a fellow townsman for the sum of $450.The first four Jell-O flavors were orange, lemon, strawberry, and raspberry. Lime was introduced in 1930. In 1934, sponsorship from Jell-O made comedian Jack Benny the dessert's spokesperson. At this time they introduced a jingle that was familiar over several decades, in which the spelling "J-E-L-L-O" was sung over a rising five-note musical theme. The jingle was written by Don Bestor who was the bandleader for Jack Benny on his radio program. In 1964, the slogan "There's always room for Jell-O" was introduced, promoting the product as a "light dessert" that could easily be consumed even after a heavy meal.There is a 20th century cultural stereotype that Jell-O is especially popular among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In support of this image, Jell-O was designated as Utah's official state snack food in 2001. The stereotype of Mormons loving Jell-O does not appear to have a long history. Media reports in 1969 and 1988 on foods popular among Mormons or in Utah make no mention of Jell-O, and a 1988 article mentions Jell-O as a Lutheran tradition. In 1997, Kraft released sales figures revealing Salt Lake City to have the highest per-capita Jell-O consumption. The 2002 LDS Cinema romantic comedy The Singles Ward, which is filled with inside Mormon jokes and stereotypes, has a scene where someone slips and falls in Jell-O at a church social for young, single Mormons.Weekly Buffalo SightingWhile visiting Ward member,Renee, she introduced us to her daughters boa constrictors.She offered to take them out so we could hold them - we declined!We had a Senior Missionary Conference this past week that started out at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse. The Erie Canal was designed to transport goods and persons across New York State from Albany to the Great Lakes and brought growth to the area. Completed mostly by hand in 1825 at a cost of more than seven million dollars, this 363 mile watercourse reduced transportation time across the state from three weeks to six days and cut expenses by millions of dollars. The completion of the Erie Canal allowed flat barges to transport a printing press bought by EB Grandin to Palmyra, NY where the Book of Mormon was printed in 1829.Sister Lund, Sister Biesinger, Sister & Elder Kuo, Sister St Julian, Karen, Sister & Elder Whetstone, Sister Lovett & Elder Biesinger in the Erie Canal MuseumWatching a movie about the Erie Canal. Front Row: Sisters McDonald & Sudweeks - Second Row: Sisters Whetstone, Lovett & Sister & Elder Farrelly - Third Row: Elder & Sister St Julian, Elder & Sister Athans - Standing in the back: Karen, Sister Lund, Elder & Sister KuoElders Sudweeks, Lund, McDonald, Whetstone, Lovett and Elder & Sister MarshallFull scale model of Erie Canal BargeThis sign says: The canal was the stage for vaudeville shows, floating museums, soul-saving missionaries, and circus performers. I was born too late - I would have loved hanging out with this assortment of characters.They had some bunks where passengers could rest - but they were about 12 inches wide - maybe I could have squeezed in on the bottom bunk.Wedding or Marriage of the Waters: Governor DeWitt Clinton poured water from Lake Erie into the ocean at New York in a ceremony celebrating the "Marriage of the Waters" between Lake Erie and the Atlantic in 1825. The Syracuse China Company issued a commemorative set of china celebrating the completion of the Erie Canal.Erie Canal Museum with large scale model of the barges that floated the canal. In August 1830, as a lay preacher, Parley P Pratt was traveling from Ohio to eastern New York. At Newark, along the Erie Canal, he left the boat and walked ten miles into the country, where he me a Baptist deacon by the name of Hamlin, who told him "of a book, a STRANGE BOOK, a VERY STRANGE BOOK!...This book he said, purported to have been originally written on plates either of gold or brass, by a branch of the tribes of Israel; and to have been discovered and translated by a young man near Palmyra, in the State of New York, by the aid of visions, or the ministry of angels. I inquired of him how or where the book was to be obtained. He promised me the perusal of it, at this house the next day....Next morning I called at his house, where, for the first time, my eyes beheld the 'BOOK OF MORMON' – that book of books...which was the principal means, in the hands of God, of directing the entire course of my future life.The Senior Missionaries then went to President & Sister Vest's home for lunch and a short program.Everyone arrived at about the same time because we left the Erie Canal Museum at the same time.They fed us a yummy lunch.Sister & Elder Sudweeks - she is the mission nurse and he helps with housing - they stay busy!!!We were divided up into 4 tables. Starting at the left front: Elder & Sister Athans, Elder & Sister Johnson, Sister and President Vest, Elder & Sister Farrelly and Karen (you can see her head) and me.Starting at the bottom left: Sister & Elder McDonald, Sister & Elder Biesinger, Sister & Elder Kuo, Elder & Sister St Julian, Sister SudweeksClosest table: Sister & Elder Lund, Sister Marshall. Furthest table: Elder & Sister Lovett and Elder & Sister Whetstone.Elder & Sister Lovett and Elder & Sister Whetstone.
We sang Hark All Ye Nations for a closing song.
Group photo - we were missing Elder & Sister Oxborrow (She was not feeling well) and Elder & Sister Nielsen (he had just been released from the hospital) 15 total couples serving along with President & Sister Vest. Totally awesome servants of the Lord.
Another busy week in our NEW Paradise. Non-pictured activities: Member visits including Janice & Tom, Monica, Amos and more Missionary Coordination Meeting – Trying to come up with a plan to coordinate rides for those members and friends that need help getting to church. Anybody out there have any ideas? Continued to deal with insurance companies on our totaled car. Fed the Spanish Group Elders BYU PathwayConnect Gathering – One of the highlights of our week Met with Igor, our Ward Mission Leader Lessons with the Elders Stake YMYW Fireside in Amherst – took Florence, Eunice, Bahati and Seh Fed our Swahili Elders twice (or more) – sometimes they are working on the westside – where we live – in the afternoon and then they have appointments in the same area in the evening, so we have them stop by or a quick bite so they can keep working and not have to drive back to their apartment on the north side – saves time AND miles!!!