July 8th 14th

Mt Pisgah Monument 
What a wonderful week we have had, serving on this mission is great,we love being busy talking about the History of the area and of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we had not extended this would have been one of the last blogs for this mission, but we have extended and will be another 5 months.

This week was something unusual, we were able to get away for the weekend for our 47th wedding anniversary.  We were able to go to Mount Pisgah and Des Moines area.  Lots of Pictures and interesting sites.


Mount Pisgah like Garden Grove, was a campsite and temporary settlement in southern Iowa for members of the LDS Church traveling west to Winter Quarters from Nauvoo. Mount Pisgah was established in southern Iowa as a temporary way station for Mormon emigrants who crossed the Plains from 1846-1852.   The picturesque setting was a welcome sight to many of the expelled Saints. Ezra T. Benson described Mount Pisgah as “the first place that I felt willing in my heart to stay since I left Nauvoo.”1 Shortly after arriving, Indian Chief Pied Riche welcomed the Saints to the area and described how their people had also been driven from their home in Michigan and felt that they “must help one another, and the Great Spirit will help us both. Because one suffers and does not deserve it is no reason he shall suffer always. We may live to see it right yet. If we do not our children will.”

In 1852 the Mount Pisgah stakes were instructed to dismantle their settlement and emigrate to the Salt Lake Valley. In 1888, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased the pioneer cemetery and the surrounding one acre. Also, a monument was erected listing the names of many people who lost their lives at Mount Pisgah. However, despite the scenic beauty of the area, the Saints who lived at Mount Pisgah endured many hardships. Within the first six months of settling the area, at least 150 people died.2 Among those who died there was Joseph Knight, Sr., who had joined the Church early in Colesville, New York. Also, the call to fulfill positions in the Mormon Battalion came to Mount Pisgah, and approximately 65 of the able-bodied men left in the service of the military.



The covered bridges of Madison County Iowa. Madison County is located about 30 miles from Des Moines and is called the “Covered Bridge Capital of Iowa” for having the largest group of covered bridges in one area west of the Mississippi River.
The bridges are historically significant and were all added to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970’s. However, their popularity as a tourist attraction came in the 1990’s after the publication of the bestselling book The Bridges of Madison County by Iowa-born author Robert James Waller. The novel tells the fictional story of an Italian-American housewife Francesca who has a brief but life altering affair in 1965 with a National Geographic travel photographer who comes to take photos of the local covered bridges.












John Wayne Birthplace Museum 
The life story of John Wayne began in the small central Iowa town of Winterset. He was born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26, 1907, the son of Clyde and Mary Brown Morrison.
We saw a lot of the costumes that were worn by John Wayne, and toured his  birth home it was fascinating

The visit to the area of Iowa was beautiful with all the cornfields and farm houses. We drove through some of the most beautiful area in the United States, The small towns are fascinating and the corn field endless, 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dec 10th - 16th

Image
Christmastime at Winter Quarters is exciting.  This has been a busy week with Zone Conference, Gingerbread, and many Sister Missionaries leaving the Trail Center for home, but a thought about Christmas shared at our Trail Center Training on Saturday morning we thought you would enjoy. Christmas is many things to many people — from the eager, materialistic grasping of a child for a present to the deep spiritual thankfulness of the mature heart for the gift of a Savior.  If there is one common denominator, perhaps it is this:  Christmas is love.  Christmas is the time when the bonds of family love transcend distance and inconvenience.  It is a time when love of neighbor rises above petty day-to-day irritations, and doors swing open to give and receive expressions of appreciation and affection. If to our Christmas gift list is added the gift of service — not only to friends and family, but also to those who badly need help — then our giving can be c...
Read more

April 16th -22nd

Image
Heber C Kimball, Brigham Young, Willard Richards, This week was spent working mostly at the Kainesville Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is the location in church History where on December 27, 1847.  Brigham Young was sustained by the members of the Church as President of the Church. with Heber C Kimball and Willard Richards sustained as his counselors.  It is one of those places not often visited by people on the Church History tours. Located in Council Bluffs, Iowa it is a peaceful and sacred place. In the Tabernacle is where Oliver Cowdery came back to the Church and was baptized in a creek in the area.  In our family history Mary Ann Huntsman was married to Thomas Green by Orson Hyde in the tabernacle on January 31 1849. It is such a wonderful place to work and to serve. Sister White teaching Omaha Spanish Ward at Tabernacle Teaching Spanish Ward, with a translator! Sister White gets to give the tours in the small Visitors Center and to pres...
Read more

March 5th - 11th

Image
Windows Celestial Room facing Cemetery Another busy week here at Winter Quarters and some new things to experience. Tours are picking up with more people visiting both the Trail Center and the Tabernacle. Had tours in both places this week.  We had a great experience Tuesday night. We were invited to the Mission President's home to have dinner with the 11 new missionaries (8 Elders and 3 Sisters). They arrived Monday night and on Tuesday they had dinner and a Testimony Meeting, then they got their first assignment and who they will be training with.  We were invited because we just missed the last new missionary dinner. It was a very spiritual experience. Wednesday we were able to serve in the Temple when the departing Missionaries got to go before they went home the next day. Two great experiences.  Also learned this week that the Pioneer Cemetery is the only Cemetery dedicated as part of the Temple Grounds. President Hinckley included it in the dedication of th...
Read more