Batavia Fathers Day Pot Luck

I am sure I took some pictures, but can't locate them. The High Priests in Batavia were responsible for the monthly Pot Luck dinner.  They prepared the main course of Beef on weck which is a kaiser roll with caraway seeds and pretzel salt.   There was  good turnout and fellowship.

Tours, tours, tours

After Angela's family left, I was in tour guide mode. 

Three of the site couples, Elders and Sisters Thompson, Erickson (Utah branch), and Winans came for an evening tour.

On Thursday afternoon, 11 couples of Temple Missionaries came by.  It had rained hard in the morning in Pittsford and Palmyra, but less in Mendon, so there was not mud or puddles.  Within 15 minutes of them leaving, it rained hard on the farm.  It was sunny during the tour.  The Lord looks after those temple missionaries.

More evidence....  The Tomlinson Inn is owned by Saints in Utah who use it seasonally.  No one had ever been on the site when I had been there before.  However, with the Temple Missionaries touring, there was a man mowing the grass.  He introduced himself as the caretaker, Bother Clark, and invited us in.  We only entered the dining room, but heard his powerful testimony that the evens that happened there was not a chance meeting but divinely orchestrated.

Then we went on the the Tomlinson Cemetery where Meriam Young and Solomon Kimball are buried.  Well, you know how old Mormons are in a cemetery.

On Saturday we were visited by a couple, the Jensens from Barnwell, Alberta Canada.

He was a direct descendant of Heber Kimball and was not aware that Heber was baptized at this exact place where Brigham Young was baptized. We had a pleasant visit with the Jensens who were referred to us by site missionaries. 

A Grand Visit

The long anticipated visit from Angela and her kids finally came in June.

First they surprised me (Sister Jones was in on the plot) by arriving late in the afternoon instead of late at night. It was a joyful surprize.









 Life on the Farm, the John Young Farmhouse.  A farmer's breakfast with blueberry pancakes, parlor games, and sleeping in the upstairs bedroom.

The Grandin Building where the Book of Mormon was printed and bound. 

The Hill Cumorah Visitor Center and Statue of the angel, Moroni.

The Sacred Grove

 At the Smith Farm, the log home on the left and in the frame house with Sister Packard on the right.

The Palmyra Temple and the view from the Temple of the Sacred Grove.

At the Peter Whitmer Farmhouse Visitors Center on the site where the Church was organized in 1830. 

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At the site where Brigham Young was baptized in April of 1832 on the John Young farm.  Brigham's home and workshop were here with a mill pond. 

 Fun times at Rochester's Museum of Play

Awesome views of Niagara Falls from the shore and riding the Maid of the Mist.

Farewell, see you in Marquette. 

May Mission Leadership Conference

Sister Spencer, Sister Jones, and Sister Jefferies have created great expectations for the meal at the monthly Mission Leadership Conference and they do not disappoint. 

Sister Jones puts together her now legendary strawberry shortcake with angel food cake. 

Sister Spencer presides over a delicious Mexican lunch.

The meal being enjoyed by Elder Gold, Sister and Elder Bradford. 

The special music was the Assistants to the Presidend, Elders Holmes and Peters joined by Elder Gold singing "I am a child of God" in Portuguese, Somoan, and English respectively. 

Supper by the Grove

Elder and Sister Erickson from Utah invited us and the Gurrs to supper.  They live in church owned apartments adjacent to the Smith Farm Visitor Center and the Sacred Grove.  We had a pleasant evening and watched a video on the Book of Mormon lands being in America's heartland.

Sonnenberg Gardens

Elder Jefferies and I met for a country breakfast at the Young Farm then visited the Ganondaga Tribal Center close to the Young Farm.  It included an impressive exhibit area and a long house.

A model of the Long House in the center above and the replica below. 

Then we picked up the Sisters at Seneca lake and made a quick visit to the Peter Whitmer Farm visitors center to see a released missionary who was visiting with her family.  Sister Ringler, second from the right with her family. 

We then visited the Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua.  This was the summer home of Frederick Ferris and Mary Clark Thompson.  He was a New York City banker who founded what became today's City Bank.  She was from Canandaigua and the daughter of a governor of New York.  It was build in the late 1800s. 

Overlooking the Italian Gardens

The fireplace in the Great Hall.  I think the guide said there were 17 fireplaces in the mansion. 

The Rock Gardens

The bowery of the Italian Gardens

The Japanese Gardens

A Japanese Beech Tree

The mansion from the south lawn

Always reminders of the grandkids.  

Sister Jones and I ended a beautiful day with a stroll along Canandaigua Lake.

Retreat- Relief Society at Seneca Lake Girls Camp

The Rochester Stake Relief Society held a Women's Retreat at the church owned Seneca Lake Girls Camp.  Sister Jones and Sister Jefferies attended and reported great food which was prepared and served by brethren.  They also had classes on provident living.