K and D's Family Blog: A Mighty Cavern and A Mighty Apostle

As we close out our service here in Iron Mountain, we're happy to be able to look to do some things which will remain with us as memories of our experiences with the people we have met. This week included several examples as we visited with members, went underground and were a part of a fantastic all-mission meeting. A week ago Monday, on p-day with permission from the zone leaders, we arranged to take the members of our district into the bowels of the earth into the Iron Mountain iron mine in the small town of Vulcan, MI. After "suiting up" in yellow rain slickers and helmets our guide explained the operation of various pieces of mining equipment housed near the front of the mine. We saw the evolution of mining techniques from the early 1800s up and through the mid 1900s. It was then time to board the original, small, electric powered train on cars designed to carry miners to their work areas. We traveled over 1000 feet into the cold (average temperatures between 38 and 43 year round), dark interior of the mine. After walking an additional quarter of a mile we came to the second of two gigantic caverns that were dug into the earth some 400 feet under the surface. The caverns are all that remain of very rich iron ore deposits. Because of copious amounts of ground water (hence the slickers) the caverns have filled to stasis, one even included trout planted there at an earlier, forgotten time. To illustrate the magnitude of scale our guide informed us that, "the Empire State building, if placed on the floor of the water-filled cavern, would have only ten feet of it's top-most spire extending out of the underground lake".

Back row - Elder and Sister Johnson, Elders Pike, LeBaron, Simmons, Rudarmel, Sister and Elder Riley.
Front row - Elders Ripplinger and Christensen our District Leader.

During the week we made some of our final Home and Visit Teaching visits before we leave to return home. These are the people of which we have grown most fond. It's a truism that a person grows to love those whom they serve and we have sincerely grown to love these people. We also had an excellent meeting with the Roche family. The father had some exciting information that should affect his employment in a positive way and Tyler is progressing a lot faster after his surgery than they hoped. He is in fact already in physical therapy. We began the process of preparing for the baptism of the young Carlson girl. She was interviewed by the District Leader on Sunday and we are finalizing the program. We postponed the baptism for two weeks so that her father would be prepared to perform it.

At the end of this dirt road lives the Relief Society President and her husband.
What an idyllic setting. If there is a heaven on earth this might be it.

The end of the week brought us to a meeting to which we have been looking forward for most of this month. At our last interview with President Jones he hinted he was trying to arrange an all-mission meeting to take advantage of an Apostle who was scheduled to attend a six stake meeting of Priesthood leaders in Wisconsin. His hope and desire became a reality as we, "we" the entire mission, were invited to meet with Elder Dallin Oaks and four other of the Seventy last Saturday. You can just imagine the Spirit that was present. It was especially hard (a tender mercy as they saw it) for President and Sister Jones to be with all of their missionaries one last time before they were to leave in just two weeks. One of the new Seventies who attended was Elder Gifford Nielsen a former BYU quarterback who was recruited the same time as coach Edwards was hired (he was hired by then BYU President Oaks) and helped to turn BYU football into the great program it has become. Elder Nielsen, who was later drafted by the Houston (no mistake) Oilers and found great success as the sports anchor on a Houston TV station, was in our ward when we attended BYU. He was then a priest and was to be found every Sunday at the sacrament table. Here are some notable concepts from the meeting: Elder Funk, "Our biggest challenge is to align our wills with the desires of our hearts"; Elder Nielsen, "Missionaries are a prophetic priority" (prophets pray for us); Elder Clayton, "Bury your rebellious weapons" and finally Elder Oaks, referring to his completely bald head, "The noble and great always come out on top" amen. A blessed and unforgettable experience.