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| Loved this motorcycle at Sturgis |
This week has been a big week of service - especially for Walt. Monday he helped Keith put a new roof on their place. They had a small leak before and then a big storm came on Sunday, creating a need for lots of buckets to catch all the water. It was an aluminum roof, so it didn’t take long for things to really heat up. They worked about 4 hours before quitting for the day, due to the heat. I was spared and spent my time doing household duties and laundry. Sometimes it really pays to be a female.
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| Walt working on Keith's roof. Umbrellas make great shade! |
Our reward was going to Sturgis, SD. Annually there is a motorcycle rally in this town. I put a link in case you want to check out the info about it. There can be as many as 600,000 bikers that attend during that week to 10 day period. We have heard about this event since we moved here and I have been intrigued. We’ve heard how there will be huge amounts of motorcycles passing through town that whole week. I like extreme anything, so I was quite excited about this. Just the ones passing through town just didn’t seem enough. So we decided we wanted to go on Monday and check it out. Keith and April used to go every year, Keith had a nice bike. We figured they would be great guides. They were excited for the opportunity.
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| In Newcastle - preparing for Bikes |
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| Stopped at Purple Pie Place in Custer. Good Luck to touch the pig's nose |
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| The scenery behinds us on way to Sturgis |
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| Me, Keith, and April at the food place in Sturgis |
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| My $5 view |
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| Doing missionary work with Bikers. This guy noticed my tag and it brought up a great conversation |
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| A zoomed in view of Walt, April and Keith from the tower |
We left about 3 pm on Monday and got home around 10 pm. It took a bit over 2 hours to get there. We stopped for gas and amazing pie along the way. It didn’t take long for there to be bikes everywhere. But nothing topped downtown Sturgis. It reminded me of a typical beach town during high tourist season times 20. Lots of shops, booths, food, and of course, motorcycles. There were some really interesting and unusual ones. I even got to walk up the stairs in the middle of downtown and take the best picture of the massive amounts of bikes. (for only $5). I asked about a missionary discount but to no avail. We had dinner there, and ended our trip at Dairy Queen.
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| Making conversation - missionary work! |
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| This bike is called "Frankenstein" |
Tuesday we didn’t have our usual District Council, so we were able to go to the thrift store in town. The lady running it thought maybe we had finished our mission and left. It’s nice to be missed. We found some nice things and only paid $7. (2 pair of boots, 5 shirts, 2 purses, and 2 pair of jeans). I found a perfect pair of boots for out at the ranch, boys size 3 - they fit perfect.
Next, we had an appointment with the Smiths. I had been reading in the Book of Mormon and felt inspired to share with them a message about Spiritual Preparedness. It was in Alma 49 & 50. It’s where Moroni is preparing for war with the Lamanites. I thought of how well this correlates with our need to prepare against war with Satan. We need to be strategic and not let our guard down. It was a good discussion and think it was things they needed to hear. It is so hard for them to deal with Renee’s ALS, along with all the normal stresses of life. Renee has such a positive attitude. Not sure if I could do the same. We’re grateful to be able to visit with them every week. They say they never get tired of us - brave people.
Twice this week we did “chores” at the Bishop’s Ranch. They were finally able to take a vacation as a whole family. They were able to find someone to fill in feeding all the animals all the days except two. So we volunteered. The first time took a lot longer since we were new at everything - the second only took us about 30 minutes. We fed dogs, cats, chickens, a calf, cows and goats. Also water the garden. Glad we could help out. Although the first day it was 92 degrees by the time we were able to get there to do chores. Talk about hot!! At a ranch, you wear jeans and long sleeve shirts to do chores. It protects you from bugs and the sun. We were fortunate enough to get there in the morning on the second day - so much better!
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| Find the prairiedog |
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| Closest picture yet of the Antelope |
Wednesday, Walt and Keith finished the roof. He was home in time to help at the Senior Center. Right after, we were headed to Gillette for one last District Council before transfers. We only lost 3 missionaries, but they were ones that have been here for about 6 months, so it’s always sad to see them go. We are so happy/lucky that we get to stay in Newcastle our whole mission.
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| Us with Sister Smith - she transferred |
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Us with Elder Greenwood - went to Bozeman
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On the way home, we stopped by Gary’s to see if he needed any help with his garden. Walt was in his suit. Green beans needed picked and I told Walt I would take care of it, but he started to help. Gary suggested he do another task that would keep him from getting his suit pants dirty. He asked him to hoe out some ditches to provide better water to the plants. I bet you can predict what happened. So much for clean suit pants. I was able to wipe most of it off with a damp cloth. So now I have more green beans to freeze for Gary.
After chores at the ranch on Thursday, we decided we were overdue for a car cleaning. I don’t know how it happens, but red dirt gets everywhere - even inside the doors. We waited until we were done with the ranch to even bother getting it cleaned. We decided it was time for an inside cleaning as well. It took a lot of work, but we were able to get it done and then get the outside clean as well. It turned out to be a very good thing. While in Billings, the Bakers needed to ride with us to their Farewell and to church.
Thursday ended with our usual Bingo at the Manor and Missionary Correlation meeting. We have found one very bad aspect about Bingo at the Manor. Since these wonderful people are very elderly, there will be times we lose them. One of Bingo players had just passed away two days prior. The first time this happened, we were shocked. We hadn’t thought about that happening. We were talking to one of the aides about how sad it is to lose them. She said how she thinks of the pain and weariness they are experiencing and decided she was happy for them to pass on. It is true. Leaving this life is part of God’s plan - we will all leave - but then we get to be with our loved ones who have gone before. What a blessing that is to understand that part of our lives. I am so grateful to understand that principle. Our time on earth is only temporary, a small part of the eternal journey. It doesn’t mean we don’t miss our loved ones when they leave, nothing changes that.
Friday started a fun and spiritual week-end. We left in the morning for our monthly trip to Billings to serve in the temple. We are finally getting to know other workers’ names. We would love to serve more often, but are grateful for the opportunity to go once a month. It’s quite a trip. Saturday we served as patrons in the morning and then met our youth at 2 pm for a baptism appointment. We had a good showing, both for youth and adults. We had 56 names for baptisms, in case they needed some. They did all but 10 male names. There were 3 youth that were there for the first time, two of which were just baptized themselves in the past several months. It was so exciting.
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| Our group at the temple. This is the "Funny face" one - notice the Bishop |
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| Kay and Abi at the temple |
We spent Friday and Saturday night with the Bakers. I’ve mentioned them before. They are a Self-Reliance Sr couple serving a 23 month mission. Their last day was today. They are heading back to Charlotte, NC. We have stayed with them several times and have really grown to love them. They had a Farewell event on Saturday night, so we stayed to enjoy that with them. We were able to get to know several other senior couples that have moved in during the past several months.
I was worried at first about being in the way of the Baker’s packing and preparations for leaving. We did want to help them if possible. We proved to be of much assistance to them. I helped Sis Baker work through the many piles and Walt helped with trash and loading the car. It’s so overwhelming to move. When you’re on a mission, all the focus is on the work. The next thing you know it’s time to leave and you have a lot of things to sort through. We were so glad to help them out. They have taken such good care of us with every visit we’ve stayed with them.
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| Us with the Bakers - one last time |
Today we had church, final cleaning in the Baker’s and then headed off the Sheridan to stay with the Baileys. President Bailey (part of the stake presidency) is a pediatric dentist but has agreed to be our dentist. I think I meet the height requirement. :). We love seeing the Baileys!! That ends our week! Lots of service - all week - and lots of blessings in reward.
We love you all!! We did get 3 letters from grandchildren this week. It was so wonderful. We wrote back to each of them. You’ll get you letters soon. So for the rest of you - step up your game!!!! We will settle for a short note or picture - whatever you want to send. It makes us feel loved. I would say that young missionaries seem to get a lot more mail than we do. We appreciate all the support and love from everyone. It would be very hard to be here without it.
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