Valentine's Day is now past, we are still receiving lots of snow here in northern Ohio, but the cities keep the roads clear for travel, so that is nice. Hopefully, spring will arrive soon, and we can spend more time outdoors, walking during our lunch hour or visiting parks during off hours.
Our work is satisfying but is much the same from day to day, photographing documents for eventual posting on the Internet for people to search for their ancestors. Everyone we have met at the courthouse is friendly and welcoming to us. We have made many friends there.
We discovered that on Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m., we can listen to "Music and the Spoken Word" on our radio. This is very enjoyable to us, as we always watched it on TV at home on Sunday mornings. Since our church meets from 11-2 EST, we could not watch the program live (at 9:30 a.m.), because we are 2 hours later than Utah time.
I enjoy being the choir pianist in our ward, and Larry has been asked to be the principal speaker in church one month from now. We feel a part of the ward and enjoy the other people there.
Showing posts with label Cleveland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cleveland. Show all posts
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
It's Winter for sure!
January 6 & 7, 2014 --
Our mission president has closed the mission for these two days, due to extremely cold weather, high winds and icy roads. Temperatures have windchilled at minus 30 and minus 40, with daytime highs being 2 or 5. President Vellinga announced this as of 7 a.m. Monday, the 6th. The office sisters called some of the missionaries, and the zone leaders called others, to relay the president's message that no one go outside; stay in a warm apartment.
So we stayed home from work in Cleveland for both days. We extended our gospel study time, read, worked on our yarn projects (Larry's plastic canvas, Pat's crocheted baby booties for hospitals), and made soup, muffins and tapioca. Later in the day we watched a movie on our computer for our Family Home Evening. We also worked on our blog and journals.
All schools, government offices and courts (meaning our work at the courthouse), and many businesses were announced as closed on the radio. It has to be extreme for northeast Ohio to close schools and government buildings, since this state is used to bad winter weather. It reminds me of growing up in Minnesota: in all of my 13 school years, they only closed school because of snow one or two times. However, I remember a standing rule that if the temperature reached minus 50 (windchill or regular temp), all would be closed including churches on Sunday. It only happened one time that I can recall.
I'm glad we brought our super-warm quilt that Davy's family made us for last Christmas (2012). It keeps us snuggy at night. Thank you, family!
Our mission president has closed the mission for these two days, due to extremely cold weather, high winds and icy roads. Temperatures have windchilled at minus 30 and minus 40, with daytime highs being 2 or 5. President Vellinga announced this as of 7 a.m. Monday, the 6th. The office sisters called some of the missionaries, and the zone leaders called others, to relay the president's message that no one go outside; stay in a warm apartment.
So we stayed home from work in Cleveland for both days. We extended our gospel study time, read, worked on our yarn projects (Larry's plastic canvas, Pat's crocheted baby booties for hospitals), and made soup, muffins and tapioca. Later in the day we watched a movie on our computer for our Family Home Evening. We also worked on our blog and journals.
All schools, government offices and courts (meaning our work at the courthouse), and many businesses were announced as closed on the radio. It has to be extreme for northeast Ohio to close schools and government buildings, since this state is used to bad winter weather. It reminds me of growing up in Minnesota: in all of my 13 school years, they only closed school because of snow one or two times. However, I remember a standing rule that if the temperature reached minus 50 (windchill or regular temp), all would be closed including churches on Sunday. It only happened one time that I can recall.
I'm glad we brought our super-warm quilt that Davy's family made us for last Christmas (2012). It keeps us snuggy at night. Thank you, family!
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Winds Create Artwork in Snow
We had a huge snowstorm on Tuesday and Wednesday, New Years Eve and New Years Day. It was snowing so hard that we left work early in the afternoon, to get home. At this time, the lake (Lake Erie) had not frozen. The wind was blowing very strong and the waves were high like the ocean, about 10 feet high.
Today, January 4, 2014, we wanted to go for a walk over to the lake because the sun was shining and everything was beautiful; the wind was not blowing, even though it was very cold. What a sight! Wind had blown snow in big drifts higher than the pier, as seen in the photos. The lake was covered with snow and had frozen quite a ways out, then there was open water for a strip, then more frozen snow on ice before the horizon.
Today, January 4, 2014, we wanted to go for a walk over to the lake because the sun was shining and everything was beautiful; the wind was not blowing, even though it was very cold. What a sight! Wind had blown snow in big drifts higher than the pier, as seen in the photos. The lake was covered with snow and had frozen quite a ways out, then there was open water for a strip, then more frozen snow on ice before the horizon.
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| Shore line and icicles on the pier-- |
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| Wind-whipped ice and snow are way higher than pier, like mountains! |
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| View of pier, snow and ice partway out in the lake, then open water, then more ice against the horizon |
Thursday, December 26, 2013
CHRISTMAS IN CLEVELAND, 2013
CHRISTMAS IN CLEVELAND, 2013
Christmas has come to us here! We have had many wonderful programs and visits from other missionaries who are in our mission. Little gifts, treats, songfests, dinners, etc., help us and them not be so lonely at this special time of year. We have a little 3-foot artificial tree on a table in front of our full-length living room window, decorated with homemade chains of popcorn, cranberries and green peas (my innovation to add color!). We brought with us our favorite Church Christmas story books that we read every year, and we enjoy reading one or two each night. We also brought our Christmas stockings and have enjoyed making our favorite carmels, gingerbread cut-out cookies, and cool whip balls. Since we don't want to eat too many of these delectables, we have shared them in many homes of friends here.
Our stake had a choir festival on December 15, and we joined the choir. It was great! Really professional directors and accompanists.
The times we have gone to Kirtland for mission activities have been very special. On Dec. 1, the mission president gave a member and missionary fireside in the Kirtland Temple, and it was a thrill to sing Christmas carols there. We also had a mission conference in the temple two days later with over 250 full-time missionaries in attendance--the largest group ever to be in the temple at one time as missionaries. The Spirit is so strong there; we all love to visit that place.
Our mission president, his wife, and office staff gave us all a wonderful gift of a handmade book of stories of miracles in the mission, submitted by any missionary who wanted to--they were originally written in the weekly letters to the president. We enjoy reading a page a day of the stories from our elders and sisters and seniors.
On Saturday, Dec. 14, we went to Severance Hall in Cleveland (symphony hall) to hear the famous Cleveland Orchestra in its holiday concert. It was magnificent!! The choir with them was the Cleveland University Chorale, an excellent sounding group of about 100. Many traditional carols were played, and the favorite of ours was "Silent Night" sung by the audience with the house lights off, and just candles lighting the stage. The conductor, Robert Porco, said that it is his favorite way to sing that carol, and it is our favorite way also. A lovely and memorable gift to each other! We also bought a CD of their Christmas music.
On Christmas Eve, we invited Sisters Dianne Duehring and Claudia Johnson (who help us in preparing documents at work) to come to our apartment and spend the evening with stories, songs, eats and sharing memories. It was so fun to have them. They both arrived early in December, and are great helps to the work we have to do.
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| Rocky River clock tower, favorite landmark |
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| Inside Severance Hall for symphony |
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| Our little tree |
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| Olive wood creche, Kirtland creche exhibit |
Christmas Day was spent in Kirtland for a wonderful potluck dinner, a movie called "Christmas For A Dollar" (the long version), and enjoying the most beautiful creche exhibits.
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cute cookie favors for Christmas, made by our sister trainer |
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Day in Kirtland, Ohio
Today
we went to Kirtland with the other new missionaries and President Vellinga and
his wife and the mission office staff.
We drove ourselves, as did the other groups. Arriving at the temple by 8 a.m., we were
given a tour of it and learned many things that we had never known about
it. The main meeting room (one on 1st
and one on 2nd floor) had the pulpits for the seating of the
different levels of priesthood, Aaronic and Melchizedek. There were lines in the ceiling where veils
were dropped to divide the large room into 4 smaller ones. I never knew that. So when Joseph had the vision of the Savior
and Moses, Elias and Elijah, there was a veil that was dropped down to separate
them from the other people in the room.
At the close of the temple tour, our group sang “The Spirit of God Like
A Fire Is Burning” and I got to be the pianist for it. What a thrill! I have now accompanied hymn singing in the
Kirtland Temple and in the Sacred Grove (back in 1966 when the Minnesota stake
went to Palmyra).
The
Newell K. Whitney store was extra special.
We went to the translation room where Joseph worked on the Bible
translation, and where he received 20 of the revelations now in the Doctrine
and Covenants. We also went to the room
where the School of the Prophets was held, and the Father and the Son appeared
there to him numerous times, as well as concourses of angels. President Vellinga asked each of us to kneel
and pray in that room about our commitments to our mission. Then when we go there again at the end of our
missions, we are to report back to the Lord about how well we kept our
commitments. It was an extremely
spiritual morning!
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| temple at night |
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| Kirtland temple |
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| Newell K. Whitney store |
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| Us at Kirtland temple |
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Thanksgiving is Upon Us
Dear family members and friends,
We are thinking of each of you as Thanksgiving is coming. We will be spending the day and evening in Kirtland at the visitors center where another senior couple (the director of the Kirtland Visitors Center) has organized a turkey dinner for senior missionaries. Each one will contribute something, and our offering will be sweet potato pie. It tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, but actually tastes better. On the day after Thanksgiving (we are off work that day), we will be cooking our own turkey dinner so we can have leftovers--the best part!
Kirtland is such a wonderful spiritual place--we love to go there. On Sunday evening, Dec. 1, our mission president is giving a fireside in the Kirtland Temple for all missionaries and members and investigators. What a great place for a fireside!
Our work in the courthouse is going fine. Our trainers, Elder and Sister Brumfield from Arkansaw, are very good to help us learn. We prepare the probate packets by smoothing out the paper, sometimes ironing it between two sheets of paper, and putting the documents in chronological order, for photography. It is a lot like microfilming, but is a better image. So far, all we have done has been accepted by the Salt Lake City checkers, meaning that the images we photographed are clear and properly done. We trade off every hour or so between photography and document preparation. We are currently doing probates recorded in the 1920s. Before we came here, we thought the work rooms would be chilly (temperature control environment), but they are not. So we can wear normal "business casual" clothes and be as warm as any other place. At noon after lunch, we often take a brisk walk around the buildings by the courthouse--convention center, shopping arcades, the public library, etc. The air is chilly and often very windy, so we wear our warmest coats,scarves, hats, earmuffs, and gloves.
We leave for work every morning, M-F, at 7:30 and get home about 5:30. We have found a wonderful bread bakery, so we enjoy good bread. It is across the street from another favorite, the pizza place. We decided to do our laundry at a laundromat, and we found a good one that is clean and quiet. Gas prices here are almost always less than $3.00/gallon. That's good because we do a whole lot of driving, and also like to explore around the area.
Today (Saturday, Nov. 23) I went to a Relief Society activity where we made evergreen wreaths. I made a pretty one that hangs now in our apt. and smells so good. Tonight we are going to a neighborhood theatre place to see a play: "Broadway Christmas Carol"--the story of Scrooge with music from familiar Broadway tunes--should be fun. On Sat., Dec. 14, we are having a very special outing to the Concert Hall to hear the famous Cleveland Orchestra and their holiday concert. That is our gift to each other.
We like the ward we are in, the Lakewood Ward, about 15 minutes away. They meet at 9 a.m. We don't have any callings; it is best for the members to do the callings. There is a Family History Center in our ward building, and we have gone there a couple of times in the evening. We also go to the mission office church building on Mondays after work so that I can practice the piano for an hour. It is on the way home from our work and the missionaries in the office enjoy the music. During this time, Larry likes to go grocery shopping nearby. This is my only time to play the piano and I miss doing it often and in church meetings. But I keep telling myself that I can do anything for a year. We are very happy here. We hope each one of you is well and happy wherever you are. Know that we love you and pray for you each day and think of you.
We are thinking of each of you as Thanksgiving is coming. We will be spending the day and evening in Kirtland at the visitors center where another senior couple (the director of the Kirtland Visitors Center) has organized a turkey dinner for senior missionaries. Each one will contribute something, and our offering will be sweet potato pie. It tastes a lot like pumpkin pie, but actually tastes better. On the day after Thanksgiving (we are off work that day), we will be cooking our own turkey dinner so we can have leftovers--the best part!
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| Thanksgiving dinner favors at Kirtland: oreo cookies, Rolos, candy corn, etc. |
Kirtland is such a wonderful spiritual place--we love to go there. On Sunday evening, Dec. 1, our mission president is giving a fireside in the Kirtland Temple for all missionaries and members and investigators. What a great place for a fireside!
Our work in the courthouse is going fine. Our trainers, Elder and Sister Brumfield from Arkansaw, are very good to help us learn. We prepare the probate packets by smoothing out the paper, sometimes ironing it between two sheets of paper, and putting the documents in chronological order, for photography. It is a lot like microfilming, but is a better image. So far, all we have done has been accepted by the Salt Lake City checkers, meaning that the images we photographed are clear and properly done. We trade off every hour or so between photography and document preparation. We are currently doing probates recorded in the 1920s. Before we came here, we thought the work rooms would be chilly (temperature control environment), but they are not. So we can wear normal "business casual" clothes and be as warm as any other place. At noon after lunch, we often take a brisk walk around the buildings by the courthouse--convention center, shopping arcades, the public library, etc. The air is chilly and often very windy, so we wear our warmest coats,scarves, hats, earmuffs, and gloves.
We leave for work every morning, M-F, at 7:30 and get home about 5:30. We have found a wonderful bread bakery, so we enjoy good bread. It is across the street from another favorite, the pizza place. We decided to do our laundry at a laundromat, and we found a good one that is clean and quiet. Gas prices here are almost always less than $3.00/gallon. That's good because we do a whole lot of driving, and also like to explore around the area.
Today (Saturday, Nov. 23) I went to a Relief Society activity where we made evergreen wreaths. I made a pretty one that hangs now in our apt. and smells so good. Tonight we are going to a neighborhood theatre place to see a play: "Broadway Christmas Carol"--the story of Scrooge with music from familiar Broadway tunes--should be fun. On Sat., Dec. 14, we are having a very special outing to the Concert Hall to hear the famous Cleveland Orchestra and their holiday concert. That is our gift to each other.
We like the ward we are in, the Lakewood Ward, about 15 minutes away. They meet at 9 a.m. We don't have any callings; it is best for the members to do the callings. There is a Family History Center in our ward building, and we have gone there a couple of times in the evening. We also go to the mission office church building on Mondays after work so that I can practice the piano for an hour. It is on the way home from our work and the missionaries in the office enjoy the music. During this time, Larry likes to go grocery shopping nearby. This is my only time to play the piano and I miss doing it often and in church meetings. But I keep telling myself that I can do anything for a year. We are very happy here. We hope each one of you is well and happy wherever you are. Know that we love you and pray for you each day and think of you.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Apartment Photos
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| The pier across the street from our apartment complex. |
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| living room and kitchen area |
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| Sam-cat from Davy's family, in our living room |
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Looking at our apartment complex. We are in the second building on the right.   |
Sunday, November 10, 2013
The Second Day
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| our pier and waves |
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| Pat on our apt. balcony |
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| Fall colors in park by lake |
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| Larry in park |
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Our First Week In The Mission
We attended church Sunday morning and enjoyed the ward, but we are not sure we will be assigned there. The President assigns different senior missionaries to the various wards in the area. I am not sure how many wards there are in this area, but there are five stakes in the mission, which covers the entire top third of the state of Ohio. In Relief Society, I bore my testimony at the end of the lesson—they were short on time, so I only said about three sentences. In the early afternoon we went for a long walk in the sunshine along the beautiful tree-lined streets in our neighborhood, and at 4:30 we went to the Brumfield’s apartment for dinner with them. We like them very much and they are good trainers.
Monday we began our service as family history records preservation missionaries. We drove our car, following the Brumfields, into downtown Cleveland to the beautiful courthouse where we would be serving.
Monday evening we went again to the Brumfield’s apartment for the monthly Family Home Evening of the senior missionaries in the zone area. Each one told a bit about themselves, we had a lesson of a video clip of President Monson, played some games, and had yummy refreshments. Different ones host it each month and our turn will come.
Tuesday was my 48th year as a member of the Church, my baptism being on 5 November 1965.
Wednesday was Zone Conference for our zone, so we were off work all day. It was held in our chapel which is the stake center. President Vellinga spoke twice, and taught us all about helping the investigator to set a comfortable date for their baptism, instead of the missionaries setting the date. He also admonished each one to get a flu shot to stay well and not infect the companion. We also met his wife and she is wonderful also. We stayed for the entire conference, even though the afternoon was all teaching practice sessions that did not necessarily apply to us. But the president wanted us to stay so we could introduce ourselves to the other missionaries by speaking in the meeting.
Also on Wednesday, we got our Internet set up!!! So I wrote to the families right away. On Thursday we took our laundry with us to work so we could go to the laundromat afterwards. The washer in our apartment building does not work currently. We went over to the Justice Center in Cleveland to get our security badges, and we had to go through their security check, like for an airplane flight. Larry had to take off his belt, and in so doing, our camera fell off and was apparently lost. We did not discover this until later that night at home, so we went early the next day to check at the security desk, but no camera had been found. We still are praying that it will turn up.
Friday marks one week of mission service. To celebrate, we went out to dinner at Bearden’s drive-in close to our home. It was very good food and wonderful friendly service. Saturday we shopped for groceries, looked around secondhand stores, and went into Cleveland to the Health Fair at the Auditorium by the Convention Center. We got lost trying to find the way to downtown from a different angle than we take to work. But we prayed and eventually found our way and went in to the Fair. Lots of free stuff, like pens and pencils, food, information, flu shots, etc. When we got back home, Davy called us and we talked for quite a while. They will be flying to Turkey on Monday, Nov. 11, at 12:42 CST.
Saturday evening we went to the baptism of Pauline Bradley, and I had been asked by the missionaries to play the piano for the meeting, which I was thrilled to do since I had not played since we left home in Utah. Pauline is a middle-aged black woman, very fun and interesting, taught by the missionaries.
Monday we began our service as family history records preservation missionaries. We drove our car, following the Brumfields, into downtown Cleveland to the beautiful courthouse where we would be serving.
Monday evening we went again to the Brumfield’s apartment for the monthly Family Home Evening of the senior missionaries in the zone area. Each one told a bit about themselves, we had a lesson of a video clip of President Monson, played some games, and had yummy refreshments. Different ones host it each month and our turn will come.
Tuesday was my 48th year as a member of the Church, my baptism being on 5 November 1965.
Wednesday was Zone Conference for our zone, so we were off work all day. It was held in our chapel which is the stake center. President Vellinga spoke twice, and taught us all about helping the investigator to set a comfortable date for their baptism, instead of the missionaries setting the date. He also admonished each one to get a flu shot to stay well and not infect the companion. We also met his wife and she is wonderful also. We stayed for the entire conference, even though the afternoon was all teaching practice sessions that did not necessarily apply to us. But the president wanted us to stay so we could introduce ourselves to the other missionaries by speaking in the meeting.
Also on Wednesday, we got our Internet set up!!! So I wrote to the families right away. On Thursday we took our laundry with us to work so we could go to the laundromat afterwards. The washer in our apartment building does not work currently. We went over to the Justice Center in Cleveland to get our security badges, and we had to go through their security check, like for an airplane flight. Larry had to take off his belt, and in so doing, our camera fell off and was apparently lost. We did not discover this until later that night at home, so we went early the next day to check at the security desk, but no camera had been found. We still are praying that it will turn up.
Friday marks one week of mission service. To celebrate, we went out to dinner at Bearden’s drive-in close to our home. It was very good food and wonderful friendly service. Saturday we shopped for groceries, looked around secondhand stores, and went into Cleveland to the Health Fair at the Auditorium by the Convention Center. We got lost trying to find the way to downtown from a different angle than we take to work. But we prayed and eventually found our way and went in to the Fair. Lots of free stuff, like pens and pencils, food, information, flu shots, etc. When we got back home, Davy called us and we talked for quite a while. They will be flying to Turkey on Monday, Nov. 11, at 12:42 CST.
Saturday evening we went to the baptism of Pauline Bradley, and I had been asked by the missionaries to play the piano for the meeting, which I was thrilled to do since I had not played since we left home in Utah. Pauline is a middle-aged black woman, very fun and interesting, taught by the missionaries.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Internet at last! and address correction
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Last days, and first days
Friday, October 25, 2013
Missionary Training Center and Salt Lake City training
We entered the MTC in Provo on October 14, 2013, and spent one week learning and having great experiences with the “Preach My Gospel” manual. During our time there, we lived at our home: we commuted the 6 miles every day to the MTC and back home at night. The training was very helpful to me because I learned through doing it, that I could teach missionary lessons to the various “investigators” at the MTC. They role-play as investigators, but are really Church members from the community who volunteer to act the part. I had always been scared to approach people about the gospel unless they showed interest first, but I found out I could do just fine and my confidence level went way up!
On Tuesday nights at the MTC, a General Authority speaks at a devotional for the missionaries. While we were there, the speaker was Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At the MTC, the Spirit of the Lord is so strong and so active in everyone’s life that you can just feel it and bask in it, and learning becomes much easier and we retain the information and feelings instead of forgetting after a while.
We also had a second week of missionary training, but it was in Salt Lake City at the Church Office Building. We were taught how to digitally photograph historical records which are quite old and fragile. Before we began this training, we wondered how just learning to “punch a button on a camera” could require 4 full days of instruction, but we soon found out! The work is very technical and there is much to learn to be able to get the best image possible. We learned how to position the huge camera, focus the lens and how many pixels are needed for a clear image, how to make any needed adjustments in order to have the entire document in the frame of readability. The vocabulary alone was entirely new to us and there was much to learn. Finally on the last day of training, we were tested on being able to do the entire process without any coaching, and Larry and I did it! It felt great to realize that we really could retain the strange new things we had been taught, and then to use them correctly and quickly. Hopefully our trainers in Ohio will feel that we have learned sufficiently.
The only difficult part of the Salt Lake training was the bedtime and wake-up schedule we had to keep. We had to catch the train about 5 miles from our home, at 6:58 each morning, which means we had to get up at 5 a.m.—an unheard-of hour for either of us! The train ride took one hour, then we transferred to the TRAX (like Metro) to get into the city, then walked the 3 long Salt Lake blocks to the Church Office Building. Reverse this to go home at night. Training was from 8:30 to 4 or 4:30. We ate lunch each day in the cafeteria and it was very delicious—I am glad I do not work there every day because it was TOO delicious!
All in all, we met some wonderful people in both training weeks and had lots of fun, too! It’s the best thing we ever did! (That is also what we said about our first mission! Things just keep getting better and better!)
On Tuesday nights at the MTC, a General Authority speaks at a devotional for the missionaries. While we were there, the speaker was Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At the MTC, the Spirit of the Lord is so strong and so active in everyone’s life that you can just feel it and bask in it, and learning becomes much easier and we retain the information and feelings instead of forgetting after a while.
We also had a second week of missionary training, but it was in Salt Lake City at the Church Office Building. We were taught how to digitally photograph historical records which are quite old and fragile. Before we began this training, we wondered how just learning to “punch a button on a camera” could require 4 full days of instruction, but we soon found out! The work is very technical and there is much to learn to be able to get the best image possible. We learned how to position the huge camera, focus the lens and how many pixels are needed for a clear image, how to make any needed adjustments in order to have the entire document in the frame of readability. The vocabulary alone was entirely new to us and there was much to learn. Finally on the last day of training, we were tested on being able to do the entire process without any coaching, and Larry and I did it! It felt great to realize that we really could retain the strange new things we had been taught, and then to use them correctly and quickly. Hopefully our trainers in Ohio will feel that we have learned sufficiently.
The only difficult part of the Salt Lake training was the bedtime and wake-up schedule we had to keep. We had to catch the train about 5 miles from our home, at 6:58 each morning, which means we had to get up at 5 a.m.—an unheard-of hour for either of us! The train ride took one hour, then we transferred to the TRAX (like Metro) to get into the city, then walked the 3 long Salt Lake blocks to the Church Office Building. Reverse this to go home at night. Training was from 8:30 to 4 or 4:30. We ate lunch each day in the cafeteria and it was very delicious—I am glad I do not work there every day because it was TOO delicious!
All in all, we met some wonderful people in both training weeks and had lots of fun, too! It’s the best thing we ever did! (That is also what we said about our first mission! Things just keep getting better and better!)
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Email From Brumfields about Cleveland
11 September 2013
Elder and Sister Goff,
It took a little while but here is our letter to you with information to acquaint you and give you a feel the record preservation activities that you will be involved with.
We love downtown Cleveland. Cleveland has worked hard for the past few years to make the city beautiful again. One of our volunteers, Carol, worked out a ‘gawking’ tour of downtown for us. She sent us to several buildings and said for us to go in and look at the beautiful old architecture and then go to the next. It is fun and takes only an hour or so, depending on how long you choose to gawk. Below is the courthouse where we work; you will enjoy, at times when you take a break, just walking around in the upper floors to see the beauty that exists here.
(Note added by Pat on 1/5/2014: photos of workplace and courthouse are by Larry and Pat, instead of Brumfields)
Another view of your work station, you can use the setup with the fluorescent lights or they can be removed and the flood lamps positioned for use. In this picture you can see the X-key on the desk just below the black board; the X-key has eighteen buttons that we use to delete and insert images but the main use is to select the appropriate template for the size and orientation of the document to image. To the left of the X-key is the ‘touch pad’ which is used when there is more than one document of the same size. With the large number of documents using these tools, we can image quickly and efficiently. The camera is shown on the vertical frame. After retrieving the records from the file room, they are brought into a work room for our use in preparing the documents for imaging. Each document has to be unfolded and flattened, then placed in order by date. When needed, we use a regular hot iron to help flatten documents. After a few weeks of working here we became very comfortable with document preparation and imaging. Sister Brumfield and I share time with one preparing documents and the other imaging throughout the day.
The Area: We live in a very good area. The drive to work takes 20 - 25 minutes. For most of the way the speed limit is 35mph except for the last few miles when reaching downtown when it is 50mph. We enjoy looking at the beautiful homes along the way. There are shopping centers and malls within a ten mile radius of the apartment. You will enjoy checking out the various downtown areas of the villages (little towns). Another side benefit is the pier across the street from our apartment complex on Lake Erie. At sunset there are people who just come out to watch the sun go down; below is a picture of the pier and a sunset earlier this summer. Yours, Elder and Sister Brumfield
Elder and Sister Goff,
It took a little while but here is our letter to you with information to acquaint you and give you a feel the record preservation activities that you will be involved with.
We love downtown Cleveland. Cleveland has worked hard for the past few years to make the city beautiful again. One of our volunteers, Carol, worked out a ‘gawking’ tour of downtown for us. She sent us to several buildings and said for us to go in and look at the beautiful old architecture and then go to the next. It is fun and takes only an hour or so, depending on how long you choose to gawk. Below is the courthouse where we work; you will enjoy, at times when you take a break, just walking around in the upper floors to see the beauty that exists here.
(Note added by Pat on 1/5/2014: photos of workplace and courthouse are by Larry and Pat, instead of Brumfields)
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| Cuyahoga County, Ohio courthouse where we work |
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| front entrance of courthouse |
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| Intricately carved wooden doors to courtrooms |
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| Marble walls and floors, murals, gold lamp posts |
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| Lady Justice stained glass window and marble staircase |
Another view of your work station, you can use the setup with the fluorescent lights or they can be removed and the flood lamps positioned for use. In this picture you can see the X-key on the desk just below the black board; the X-key has eighteen buttons that we use to delete and insert images but the main use is to select the appropriate template for the size and orientation of the document to image. To the left of the X-key is the ‘touch pad’ which is used when there is more than one document of the same size. With the large number of documents using these tools, we can image quickly and efficiently. The camera is shown on the vertical frame. After retrieving the records from the file room, they are brought into a work room for our use in preparing the documents for imaging. Each document has to be unfolded and flattened, then placed in order by date. When needed, we use a regular hot iron to help flatten documents. After a few weeks of working here we became very comfortable with document preparation and imaging. Sister Brumfield and I share time with one preparing documents and the other imaging throughout the day.
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| Pat at preparation table |
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| Larry at preparation table |
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| Pat at digital imaging camera |
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| Larry at camera |
The Area: We live in a very good area. The drive to work takes 20 - 25 minutes. For most of the way the speed limit is 35mph except for the last few miles when reaching downtown when it is 50mph. We enjoy looking at the beautiful homes along the way. There are shopping centers and malls within a ten mile radius of the apartment. You will enjoy checking out the various downtown areas of the villages (little towns). Another side benefit is the pier across the street from our apartment complex on Lake Erie. At sunset there are people who just come out to watch the sun go down; below is a picture of the pier and a sunset earlier this summer. Yours, Elder and Sister Brumfield
Sunday, September 8, 2013
From the Elder and Sister Brumfield
Elder and Sister Goff, (an email from our trainers in the mission)
We are looking forward to your arrival and serving in the Ohio Cleveland Mission. We love our work with record preservation in the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. We know that this work is blessing those whose names are upon the records and will be a great blessing to those around the world who will use them to gather their family names.
You will love the beauty of the courthouse along with many other buildings in downtown Cleveland. When we are able to, we enjoy exploring Cleveland. We love the people at the courthouse. They have been kind and supportive; though we are not allowed to proselyte we can discuss Family Search, which in its own way can open the door for teaching the gospel later.
We will send you a letter with pictures of what we do. We will discuss our work so that you will have an idea of our daily tasks.
The Mission Staff along with several sets of missionaries live in the apartment complex we live in. They are a very good group. You will enjoy walking a few hundred yards to the shore of Lake Erie to relax and enjoy the view.
You will love President and Sister Vellinga; they are truly called to lead this mission at this time. Also, you will have many opportunities to visit the Kirtland Historical Site. This will include a very special tour in which you and other new missionaries will visit the Kirtland Temple and the Whitney Store with President Vellinga.
Elder and Sister Brumfield
We are looking forward to your arrival and serving in the Ohio Cleveland Mission. We love our work with record preservation in the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. We know that this work is blessing those whose names are upon the records and will be a great blessing to those around the world who will use them to gather their family names.
You will love the beauty of the courthouse along with many other buildings in downtown Cleveland. When we are able to, we enjoy exploring Cleveland. We love the people at the courthouse. They have been kind and supportive; though we are not allowed to proselyte we can discuss Family Search, which in its own way can open the door for teaching the gospel later.
We will send you a letter with pictures of what we do. We will discuss our work so that you will have an idea of our daily tasks.
The Mission Staff along with several sets of missionaries live in the apartment complex we live in. They are a very good group. You will enjoy walking a few hundred yards to the shore of Lake Erie to relax and enjoy the view.
You will love President and Sister Vellinga; they are truly called to lead this mission at this time. Also, you will have many opportunities to visit the Kirtland Historical Site. This will include a very special tour in which you and other new missionaries will visit the Kirtland Temple and the Whitney Store with President Vellinga.
Elder and Sister Brumfield
Friday, August 2, 2013
Preparing and then receiving the mission call
Our preparation to receive the call:
We felt that it was time to go again, after being home for 2-1/2 years. In accordance with this feeling, we went to our bishop and told him we wanted to serve a mission. He opened for us the Missionary Recommendation forms on the Internet. We each had our own set of forms and similar questions. Much thought and prayer went into the answers we gave. Some of the questions were about present and former Church callings, jobs we had in the world of work, hobbies and interests and our abilities to teach others those skills, our feelings about whether we were comfortable with people of different cultures or levels of society (whether they were poor, uneducated, or affluent and well-trained).
We also had forms for physical exams by the doctor, dental exams, immunizations, etc. It took us about 2 months to complete all the medical and dental items and to finish the personal pages. When we were finished, we told the bishop and gave him our medical and dental forms, and he gave them to the stake president, whose secretary entered our medical and dental information onto the computer. The president interviewed us and then sent our computerized applications and info to the Missionary Committee in Salt Lake City on July 3, 2013, and we began the fun waiting process.
It normally takes about three weeks to a month for a mission call to be made and sent to the missionary. After 3 weeks had passed, we began in earnest to hope that each day it would arrive in our mailbox. Finally on Friday, August 2, it came, a large white envelope from the Office of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We were SO EXCITED! We had just arrived home from working in the temple all day and were very tired, but soon forgot about anything else but the call!
Immediately we texted our sons and arranged to meet at our house or join us in phone call at 6:45 p.m. that night. We had a little guessing game of where we would be going, with every family member, including us, making a guess. No one guessed correctly, but at least everyone knew where Ohio is, and it was not like our first mission call to Cape Verde where no one knew its location! Matt, Dan, and Joe and Shaylee came to our house; Sherrie and the other children were in Idaho at their cabin; and Davy and family were in Mississippi (Air Force base). They joined us in the 3-way phone call.
We felt wonderful when we read the call to Cleveland, Ohio in Family History Records Preservation! We both knew immediately through the Holy Spirit that this was the right place and work for us. We feel so happy about it, and that we will be leaving on the exact date that we had said we would be available, October 14. Photos were posted on Facebook, along with news of our call.
We felt that it was time to go again, after being home for 2-1/2 years. In accordance with this feeling, we went to our bishop and told him we wanted to serve a mission. He opened for us the Missionary Recommendation forms on the Internet. We each had our own set of forms and similar questions. Much thought and prayer went into the answers we gave. Some of the questions were about present and former Church callings, jobs we had in the world of work, hobbies and interests and our abilities to teach others those skills, our feelings about whether we were comfortable with people of different cultures or levels of society (whether they were poor, uneducated, or affluent and well-trained).
We also had forms for physical exams by the doctor, dental exams, immunizations, etc. It took us about 2 months to complete all the medical and dental items and to finish the personal pages. When we were finished, we told the bishop and gave him our medical and dental forms, and he gave them to the stake president, whose secretary entered our medical and dental information onto the computer. The president interviewed us and then sent our computerized applications and info to the Missionary Committee in Salt Lake City on July 3, 2013, and we began the fun waiting process.
It normally takes about three weeks to a month for a mission call to be made and sent to the missionary. After 3 weeks had passed, we began in earnest to hope that each day it would arrive in our mailbox. Finally on Friday, August 2, it came, a large white envelope from the Office of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We were SO EXCITED! We had just arrived home from working in the temple all day and were very tired, but soon forgot about anything else but the call!
Immediately we texted our sons and arranged to meet at our house or join us in phone call at 6:45 p.m. that night. We had a little guessing game of where we would be going, with every family member, including us, making a guess. No one guessed correctly, but at least everyone knew where Ohio is, and it was not like our first mission call to Cape Verde where no one knew its location! Matt, Dan, and Joe and Shaylee came to our house; Sherrie and the other children were in Idaho at their cabin; and Davy and family were in Mississippi (Air Force base). They joined us in the 3-way phone call.
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