Keweenaw and the "End of the Road"

 This has been an interesting week. We have visited and inspected missionary apartments as per a request from Elder and Sister Foutz. What a challenging job they have. We were happy to assist. The Elders (and Sisters) in our district are the best, most committed we have yet had the opportunity to work with. The apartments were adequate and a far cry from some of the ones I "enjoyed" on my first mission. Like the one over the pub that always smelled of of urine or many that required you to get up early and build a fire in a little stove if you wanted any heat. These apartments even had showers and laundry facilities so that you didn't have to go into the village for your weekly bath and laundry run. Ahhh, the good old days...which were not so good after all.
 On Saturday we visited the Elders in Houghton, our District Leader and his companion. They live on the Keweenaw peninsula, that little finger of land that points north to Canada. They are great Elders with several baptisms in the last 5 months. While we were there they shared with us information about two interesting letters one their new Chinese convert received that encouraged her to learn everything she can about the church and when she returns to China to be sure and follow all government rules and regulations; the other sent to the Branch President encouraging him to give her all of the training and experience possible. It feels as though we are getting very close to being allowed into mainland China as an officially recognized religion, so start teaching our grandkids Chinese. After leaving the Elders, since we were so close, we decided travel to the end of the road (US 41). This is one of the most scenic parts of the Upper Peninsula. As we traveled north we were able to travel along the coast in many places (See the following pictures and video). Mining was the big industry here on the Keweenaw, especially copper. This is one of the only places in the world where copper occurs in "float" form which are huge chunks of pure native copper. It's called "float" because nuggets some weighing up to 1700 pounds or more are carried by water or ice from the places where they first appeared, often in the Keweenaw. Interestingly this copper was known to Native Americans. Big nuggets frequently show signs of being hacked and sawed on by enterprising individuals.

The snow-mometer north of Mohawk on US 41

Here is a close-up of the sign explaining the massive snow falls in this area.

West coast of the peninsula.

 Here is a short video showing the end of the road. Like I always said, "It's not the end of the world but you can see the end of the world from there". This time it is so true.

 We are continuing to teach Bob Peters. He is still reading the B of M and we take the weekly lesson from his reading with some additions from talks and videos to help make our point. His prayers are not as sincere as they could be so with Enos coming up we plan to address that issue. We are getting there and we can feel the spirit more often. He confessed he was learning more about the bible and the Book of Mormon than he has ever known. He attends church regularly. One Baptismal date has passed already, he is not yet on board with a new date. When that happens he will be a strong member. (As a non-member he is already stronger than some of our members)

We love you all and are excited to share our "doings" with you,
Grandma and Grandpa J

80 Degrees, and Still not Enough

 So...the snow from that huge storm we had on Leap Day, that had mostly disappeared by our last post, is now history. Reference the following photo.

It seems that near 80 degree temperatures will do that. It is amazing what the weather can and does do. The locals are totally befuddled by it but we are excited and hoping for more. We're just hoping we don't experience temps that are 30 degrees above normal when averages increase to around 80 degrees.
 Steady improvement has been our goal since we arrived in WI/MI and we feel, for the most part, we are becoming more effective. The trainings, especially those set up for senior missionaries, help immensly. This week the training in Oshkosh allowed us to practice on each other. We practiced more the concepts of commitment and invitation.
 Before leaving for Oshkosh we were able to introduce one of our most active members to an endowed less active individual close to his age. This less active brother moved here from Milwaukee after he retired about 18 months ago. The two really hit it off and we are hopeful this new relationship will help him to become reenergized about church and want to join us in the branch.
 Our lone investigator is hanging in there. We were able to meet again with him this week and read with him from the B of M. He is finishing up 2 Nephi. We are feeling there is progress although it is slow. He has spent 30 years resisting the wishes of his family so "slow" is to be expected.
 This was also the monthly pasty making weekend. The senior volunteers with whom we work really appreciate our help and in this group, we are the kids!

We are enjoying the time, people and Spirit,
Elder and Sister Johnson

Spring Arrives? and Conference

 So what follows is a picture taken of the same area where our landlord was snow blowing a path for the mailman. (See previous blog) You can easily see what 60+ temperatures, warm rain and strong south winds do to over two feet of accumulated snow. The warm spell is not finished. We are slated to have temps in the 50s and 60s for the next week, 20-30 degrees above normal for this time of year. The normal "high" is freezing or 32 degrees.

 I am not sure spring is actually here. An article in the paper did warn the ice fishermen to be careful of the thinning ice. Apparently, depending on geography, there are dates by which your fishing shanties must be removed from the lakes. If one goes in you are fined and required to pay to have it removed.

 We attended a wonderful stake conference over the week end.  Sister Johnson was able to join in a women's choir for Sunday morning session.  They sang 3 hymns for the prelude and then we sang "Consider the Lilies" one of our favorites, then the concluding number was "The Spirit of God".  It was so fun to sing in a choir again.  After the last number, the sister sitting next to her said, "Wasn't that thrilling; I still have the chills."  The only problem was that Elder and Sis Johnson were not sitting together when our Mission President had all the full-time missionaries stand up.  Since Sister Johnson was standing up behind him, he didn't see her and sent a voice mail wondering why Sister Johnson wasn't there.  Seventy Per Malm from Sweden was the visiting authority. He is a very personable and delightful man; but then they all are. He and his wife have 8 children. Can you imagine the looks they got when traveling through Scandinavia and on the Continent. There was a lot of emphasis on the Book of Mormon and its role in conversion. There were many warm, sweet testimonies given of the power of the Book of Mormon in individual lives.   Speaking of the power of the Book of Mormon I have copied and included an article from the Church News that ran on the 14th of January this year. (We are able to subscribe to the Church News because we live way out here in MI) This is the follow up to the story Elder Nelson shared in conference about a copy of the Book of Mormon he loaned to some fellow doctors.

Enjoy this amazing conclusion to "The rest of the story", 

Your "Elder" Missionaries

At October 2010 general conference, Elder Nelson himself related it in these words:
"Many years ago two colleagues of mine — a nurse and her doctor husband — asked me why I lived the way I did. I answered, 'Because I know the Book of Mormon is true.' I let them borrow my copy of the book, inviting them to read it. A week later they returned my book with a polite 'thanks a lot.'
"I responded, 'What do you mean, thanks a lot? That's a totally inappropriate response for one who has read this book. You didn't read it, did you? Please take it back and read it; then I would like my book back.'

Intellectual Reserve Inc.

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the quorum of the twelve.

"Admitting that they had only turned its pages, they accepted my invitation. When they returned, they said tearfully, 'We have read the Book of Mormon. We know it is true! We want to know more.' They learned more, and it was my privilege to baptize both of them."
Speaking to the couples at the seminar dinner, Elder Nelson gave this follow-up to the story.
After his call to the Twelve, he was on assignment at a stake conference in Tennessee, filling in for Elder Neal A. Maxwell, who had another assignment from the First Presidency.
He saw a woman on the left side of the chapel and asked the stake president who she was. The stake president found out her name but added to Elder Nelson, "If you're thinking of calling on her, I wouldn't recommend it."

Intellectual Reserve Inc.

Elder Russell M. Nelson invites members of the congregation to identify themselves as "the swift messengers" foretold in ancient scripture.

But as Elder Nelson was giving his final address, the irresistible prompting came.
"I overruled the stake president and I asked her to come on up. I said, 'How long have you been a member of the Church?'
"She said, 'Thirty years.'
"I said, 'Who baptized you?'
"She said, 'You did.' "
It was this woman and her husband to whom he had lent his copy of the Book of Mormon.
"The reason I didn't recognize her name was that her husband later lost his life," he explained. "We were all on military duty. She was an army nurse; he was an army doctor and I was an army doctor. That's why I had to lend her my copy of the Book of Mormon. I couldn't give it to her; it was my one-and-only, and I was lucky to have that in a wartime situation."
She had remarried and had a family.
At the end of the dialogue at the pulpit, he asked her how many people had come into the Church through connections to her and her husband.
The number was 80, including all members of her family, her husband's family, her second husband's family, their children and the number of converts their children had taught on missions. "That's a pretty good harvest for a surgeon who said, 'You didn't read the book, did you?' " Elder Nelson remarked.
That was in 1984. At Christmas of 2010, Elder Nelson received a letter from her to which was attached more than 50 pages of personal testimony from people who had come into the Church. She said the number of converts has now grown to 309.

Buried...but Still Alive

 Well there it is, proof that it actually snows in the U.P. After living through the 4th warmest, snow free winter on record (only because I bought the first snow tires I have ever owned, I might add) we get all of the snow due us in one storm. Claimed by one resident to be the most snow in one storm in over 30 years.

This is on our deck. It snowed another 5-6 inches.

 The storm threw everything off: garbage pick up, schools were closed and we canceled appointments we had for that day, even with the snow tires.

 It was a wet snow perfect for creating snow villages or snow families not just measly snowmen. As you can see in the video the snow challenged removal by most normal means. After clearing driveways etc. the city plows would come by and fill them up again. Two days before the storm our mailman left a note in our box that we would get no more mailed delivered until we cleared out a path to the main street not just the alley. This was because of blowing snow from three weeks ago; so this storm was great in that our landlord cut a new trail so that the mail can now come through.

Local in native dress!

  Later in the week we were able to visit the daughter of Bob Peters our investigator who was recovering from a burst appendix. She was doing well and seemed happy to see us. 

We mostly were at the mercy of the weather this week.

Trying to keep it real,

Grandpa and Grandma J.