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The Cemetery Walk
Join us if you dare on a walk through  Palmyra's Old Village Cemetery.  If you are a connoisseur of Old and awesome graveyards you would love this one.  There are graves dating back to the early 1800's, and there are some very interesting headstones.   The cemetery walk is an annual event put on by Historic Palmyra.  The senior missionary couples have been involved for a few years.  I have been told that Palmyra's Cemetery walk is ranked third best in the nation.  Don't ask me who ranks such things but I guess someone has to do it. 

 I don't whose headstone this is but I thought it was cool.

I took most of the pictures during the day-light hours 

so try to imagine this when it is really dark.  Scary!!

 This is the tomb stone of Edwin Lewis, one of the people portrayed

on the walk.  He was a 17 year old boy who lied about his age so he 

could join the Union army during the Civil War.  He was wounded

at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.  He succumbed to his wounds on July 21, 1863.

 These are the tomb stones of his four brothers and sisters.  What 

makes this such a sad story is none of his siblings lived to adulthood.

The grave marker on the far right is his parent's.

 This picture was sitting under his tomb stone.  I don't know who put

it there or how long it has been there.  I am assuming it is a picture of

him not long after he enlisted.

 This is Josh, the young man that played Edwin.  He is 13 and did a marvelous job.  He began his presentation by pretending to play kick-the-can with his brothers and sisters.  It was really sad to listen to the story of Edwin Lewis, boy soldier.

I took a picture of this because I thought it looked really neat.  I am not sure what it means by a "Public Vault" but it sounds rather ominous.  I don't think I would want this as my final resting place.  But at that point I guess I wouldn't care.

Finally, here I am as Major John Hulburt Gilbert.  Why, you may ask, is he famous enough to be included?  He was the typesetter for the Original 5000 copies of The Book of Mormon.   When he got the printer's copy from Oliver Cowdery there was no punctuation so Gilbert put in most of the punctuation that is in the Book of Mormon today.  He lived to be 94 years old and never worked in the printing business after The Book of Mormon was finished.  He got the title Major because he was a talented musician and got that title because he played in a band. 

The Hat was a little tight so I had a headache by the time the evening was done.  All in all it was a very fun experience.  I am sure I will get another opportunity to do it again next year.  Maybe I will be someone else.  Playing a dead person kind of grows on you as long as I am not playing myself as a deceased  person!!

 The Biker Boys Ride Again!!

Paul, Josh, Sister Graham, and Sister Killen.  This picture was taken right after the Sisters taught Josh the Restoration Lesson.

 Josh in all of his glory.  Both of his parents are Marines.  That is the reason for the t-shirt.

 Paul is the return missionary who has been a member of the Church for only four years.

 It was fun to have them stay with us.  We grew very close.  We actually have started worrying about them,

 We needed to get a picture with all of us.  We are the two old people in the middle.

The morning that the boys left.  We really were sad to see them go.

Climbing on their bikes to begin their journey again.  This picture was taken in front of our apartment.

TEACHING THE SISTERS TO MAKE BREAD

When Rodney was here he told some of the sisters that Barbara makes bread.  Sister Boseman and Sister Andrus approached Barbara about teaching them to make bread so we invited them over on our P-Day a couple of weeks ago and she helped them make four loaves.  The bread turned out really good.  She showed them the knead-by-hand method because they won't have excess to a Bosh like we have.  It was a lot of fun.  We really love these sisters.

                                 Barbara with Sister Boseman.  Looks like they have working hard. 

Me, Sister Boseman, and Sister Andrus.  I didn't do anything except get in some of the pictures.  I did eat some of the bread.  Good stuff.

Barbara strikes her Betty Crocker pose.

 The finished product!!

.  I am in a supervisory capacity.

 We Are finally in New York !!

We arrived at the Hill Cumorah Visitor center on August 15, 2013, at 2:30 in the afternoon.  We were tired of being in our car for a week, dirty, hungry for something other than junk food, and more than anything apprehensive about actually being officially "on our mission".  We saw signs for the Visitor Center a few miles before we got there so the anxiety really was building as we pulled up.  Both of us were a little bit scared as we climbed out of the car and headed up the steps to the front door.  Before we got no more than two steps  two sister missionaries came running out exclaiming how glad they were to see us.  It made all of the difference in the world to see Sisters Jones and Rippstein running down those steps and giving Barbara a big hug.  I did get a welcome handshake.  

Sister Rippstein from Houston, Sister Jones from Austin, Texas and us.  Now wouldn't it make you feel good to be greeted by those two sisters?  This picture was taken in the Christus Room at the Hill Cumorah Visitor Center a few days after we got there.

One of the first places we went to was the Sacred Grove.  We have been in the Sacred Grove many times now but it is special every time.  That is Barbara in the distance.

We were just about to leave the Grove when Barbara took this picture.

 

Our Visit to David and Maren's

 Gracie really loves Bryce

 And Grandma and Grandpa love Grace!!

 Is Mer cool or what?

What a doll.

This is the view across the Mississippi at the end of Parley Street.  The saints walked this road as they left Nauvoo.  The moon had just risen over the water.

 Uncle Bill and Barbara at the Price Cemetery where

Most of the Robertsons are buried.

 Uncle Bill and Dick aka Elder Veatch

 Aunt Gladys and Wayne are buried here.  Uncle Bill

will be also.

The grave of Jesse Bell and Elizabeth Robertson.

The Trip to Our Mission-Nauvoo

We were able to attend a session just before this was taken.

The Nauvoo Temple.  That good looking lady walking through the gate is Barbara.

This statue is across the street from the Nauvoo Temple.  It is called"The Last Ride".  It is Joseph and Hyrum on their way to Carthage.  Very touching.

Our last morning in Orem, just before the tears.

Goodbye for now.

These hugs need to last a long time.

Roger and Deidra were there and took these pictures.  Thanks for recording these Precious moments.

And away we go with Cooper and Jonas running along side.

This fine looking bunch was our Site training group at the MTC.  Elder and Sister Morgan, in the front, were our teachers.  You will notice the handsome couple at the back close to the middle.

Here are Sister Anderson & Sister Bateman, two of our teachers at the MTC.  Sister Anderson was a missionary in Hungary and Sister Bateman on Temple Square.  They were great.  They really were.

This was our MTC District.  The Thomases were off to Portland, Oregon, the Lusks to Hawaii to the Polynesian Cultural Center, and the Browns to Hungary, which makes us think that Sister Anderson went somewhere else that we can't remember!

September 10, 2013 --We are excited to begin creating a blog, as we are in the midst of this great adventure of serving a mission here in Palmyra. We felt especially excited when we decided on a title for it.  Here it is-- Side by Side.  And here is the reason - As we were growing up, Side by Side was a song that was sung a lot.  The words came back into our minds and just seemed perfect for us.  Here are the words:

 We ain't got a barrel of money.

Maybe we're ragged and funny,

But we'll travel along,

Singing our song --

Side by side.

Don't know what's coming tomorrow

Maybe it's trouble and sorrow

But we'll travel the road,

Sharing our load--

Side by side.

Through all kinds of weather,

What if the sky should fall?

As long as we're together,

It really doesn't matter at all!

When they've all had their troubles and parted,

We'll be the same as we started,

Traveling along,

Singing our song--

Side by side.

That pretty well sums up how we feel about our life together. What a blessing it is for us to be serving this mission side by side.  Won't you join us, so we can bring you along for the ride, too!
       By the way, the pictures of us were taken on Old Stafford road between the log cabin and the frame home on the Smith Farm