On Wednesday morning I awoke after
having slept like a rock which was my mode of operation. I hadn’t dreamed for a
long time, so my sleep was hard. The next morning we were up early and off to
pick up Elder Carter after our less than yummy breakfast. We drove through some
absolutely beautiful countryside. This state is a great place to visit. There
are a lot of places to go and things to do. We got to the city (actually, it
was small and not sure it classified as a city). We didn’t have as much time as
we would have liked, so we went to the place where an historical tour would
take place. It was really nice. There were several old buildings, but we
couldn’t enter because we weren’t on the tour.
When we got there, we had an hour
before we had to pick up the first missionary. Then, we would pick up the other
on the way back through Madison. There was a tour that we could take, but we
didn't have enough time for the whole thing. We decided we would just walk
around and see the place. I would have liked to go into the fur trading store,
but we couldn't unless we were on the tour. There were some other buildings we
could have gotten into, but again we couldn't do it unless we were on the tour.
Craig found a couple of books that were dedicated to Indian lore. One of the
books had the Indian tribes stating that they knew they were part of the Lost
Tribes and came here from Jerusalem. We figured that we were close enough to
Nauvoo that probably missionaries had taught the tribes. It was in that area
that the men of Nauvoo would have gone up to get the logs they needed to build
Nauvoo.
Prairie du Chein sits on the
Mississippi that separates Wisconsin and Iowa. Looking at that great river
makes one realize why Samuel Clements took the name Mark Twain and wrote of its
glory and majesty. What a system of water that flows along, so strong that it
would pull you down quickly into its depths never to be seen again. There is
such strength in the flow of the water. The width of the river is
extraordinary, considering the water froze when the Saints needed it to so they
could cross. That was truly a miracle.
One of the things we were looking
forward to was that we had been told that Prairie du Chein was the place for
the headwaters of the Mississippi. We quickly found out that was not true. It
is the headwaters for the Wisconsin River. On one side of the town, is the
Wisconsin and then just a few miles away is the Mississippi. I’ll bet if they
get a lot of rain, there are problems with flooding. That may be why the
tourist place we stopped in was built on stilts.
There was a bridge over the water so
we decided we had a few free minutes to travel across. We weren't quite sure we
were leaving Wisconsin and going into another state or not. There was no
welcome sign, but as soon as we got over there was a tourist city on one side
of the road. On the other, we turned and took a road down by the river. We
passed a casino on a boat. We also saw several paddle boats pushing large
barges up the river. It almost looked like we had traveled back in time. When
we came back across the bridge, there was a welcome back to Wisconsin sign. I guess
that means we went to Iowa.
We found the Chapel and picked up
the Elder as he finished up a meeting. We left there and went back to
Madison to pick up a Sister Missionary. She wasn’t quite as ready as the Elder.
We were getting hungry and felt that we needed to eat, but by the time the
Sister was ready to go, it was almost 3:00. We had an hour-and-a-half to get
back to Milwaukee and had to be there by 5:00. So we skipped stopping for food.
We would deliver them to the Missionary Home. We weren’t sure if we would be
invited to eat because last time we weren’t. This time we were. It was nice to
eat a great meal. We left that night thinking good things were happening in the
Mission.
We had a goal of 75 baptisms by the
end of September. We are all praying together and asking the Lord’s help in
reaching our goal. I can feel the strength of praying as a mission. We had 37
baptisms up to this point. We will be looking forward to reaching our goal.
After we picked up the Sister, we
headed back to Milwaukee, not stopping for food. We knew when we got back that
Sister Cutler would have food to feed them. I had brought some food bars and
fruit so we fed them as best we could. It was an interesting trip. We had met
Elder Carter before when we visited the Church in Reedsburg. He was so mousy
and quiet, no personality. I’m not sure who we picked up that day pretending to
be Elder Carter, but he was very personable. We had worried that he would be
hard to talk to on the way back, but no problems. When you asked him a question
that was yes or no, when he answered in the affirmative, he didn’t say yes, he
would say “absolutely” or some other word I can’t remember now. It was an odd
word, not heard often, but it was obvious that he wasn’t putting us on, his
choice of word was unique. I wished I could remember what it was.
When we got to the Mission Home, we
stayed for dinner with about 10 missionaries in all that were leaving. Our mission was told that the number of
missionaries would be reduced from 280 to 200. Certainly, more appeared to be
leaving than coming. It was a good evening, and after a testimony meeting, we
headed home. We had seen another part of Wisconsin, and still we are in awe of
its beauty.
On Thursday, we went to the gym that
morning, and had a Salvation Army thank you luncheon for all the volunteers. It
was really nice, and we took the opportunity to talk to others about what we
do. Then we spent the rest of the day
collecting pictures and getting them scanned in. We now had enough students to
have a Pathway class, and we are excited. There are 23 that have signed up, but
one will not be going this semester as she took this one last year. She will
pick it up in January.
Friday found us at the Temple. The
greatest thing about going to the Temple now is that we are taking family names
every time. That is such a blessing. There are many doors opening up for my
family. I’m still amazed that when I
find a new family, much of the direct line ancestry has been done. I have to
work on decendancy groups.
On Saturday, we were supposed to go
to Lake Geneva and take a tour around the lake and then visit another state
historical site, Blackpoint Estates. We actually got in the car and went for
gas, but the weather looked nasty. It was foggy (which is a common occurrence),
wet, and cold. We decided to call the place and check to see if the lake tours
would be on. We were told that they would go out as usual, but we asked if we
would really be able to see anything. They said that we wouldn’t really enjoy
it as much with the weather being the way it was, but they would gladly
reimburse us or reschedule. So we rescheduled it for a couple of weeks later.
That night there was a secret
going-away party for the Carters. They would be leaving on Monday, and we were
invited by their Ward to go to the one this night. It was really nice. We got
to talk with them for a little bit, their Ward really loves them. We envy them
the relationships they have with their leaders because this was in the Bishop’s
house. Our Bishop hardly even knows us, even though we have asked to help them
in reactivating or whatever. They don’t seem to have any time to deal with us. What
can we do? Nothing. We do go visit some members, but we stay busy with the
genealogy work and with Pathway when it starts.
On Sunday evening, we had a meeting
in the North Stake to help them plan a missionary meeting on genealogy. We found
out really quickly that the woman over the library was not really interested in
a missionary activity. She wanted to tour the library, and do some other things
that are really meant for the members. It was a good meeting, but we could feel
her dominance in the meeting. For some reason, those in the North Stake aren’t
very friendly. Their Stake President isn’t very friendly either. He is going to
be replaced later in the year because he has served for over 9 years. Tough
calling!
Monday found us having a farewell
dinner for the Carters at the Mission Home. All the Senior couples were there,
and it made me wonder if this would happen for the other couples that will be
leaving soon. We all had to brag about the Carters, and believe me, I could
find nothing but lots of good stuff about them. They have been good to us. We
have so enjoyed them and will truly miss them in the office. The other couple
in the office will leave in October. The couple serving in Kenosha who speaks
Spanish will leave the first week in September. Those will be three hard to
replace senior missionary couples. The Carters’ replacements have already
arrived, and they will be great. She is really different from Sister Carter,
but I like her. She is more like me, not so angelic. Hahaha
Our week ended with Zone Conference
held at City Branch. I’m really going to have to look on a map, because that
building appears to be in the center of so many places. We love the building,
but it has become the Spanish’s branch. It is a good place to meet.
September’s scripture is 3 Nephi
27:20 –
Now
this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth and come
unto me and
be baptized in my name that ye may be sanctified by the
reception of the Holy Ghost,
that ye may stand blameless before me at the
last day.
Elder
and Sister Lenhard
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