June 3, 2015
The days are flying so fast I have had a hard time finding a minute to write. We have kept very busy helping our friends pack up their house for the move, visiting and home teaching, appointments with the Elders, doing laundry on the fly as we run in and out, loading the dishwasher whenever we get a spare moment and generally eating whatever is quick and easy(usually fattening). Also two days of the flu, an ice cream social, a branch temple trip and plenty of primary planning.
One of the highlights of the last two weeks was our meeting for the I-pad training. We went to Louisville for the ipad conference. We thought we wouldn’t be a part of the meeting but just take the Elders. On Monday I had read President Brough’s email and he said that Elder Zwick and Brother Hemingway were coming and to not try and get pictures taken with Elder Zwick as they would be on a time schedule. I knew cousin Mike Hemingway worked for the mission department so was pretty sure it would be him. When they all walked into the meeting sure enough it was Mike. We get to go through and shake hands with the visiting authority and anyone else with him as well as President and Sister Brough. When I got to Mike I shook hands and then said “Is that all I get”. When he realized it was me he gave me a big hug and told Elder Zwick I was his cousin. It was fun to see him and when he got up to talk he told of how surprised he was to see his cousin Trudy-or Sister Fullmer and how our Grandma Laws was probably getting a big kick out of it. I was able to visit with him during the break. I told him of my desires to serve some kind of family search mission and he told me to just get in touch with him when we get home and he would help us talk to all the right people and decide what we want to do next. I wanted to get a picture but didn’t have time then. At the end of the meeting President Brough asked that we all stay seated because they needed to get them all to the airport. I was afraid I wouldn’t get a picture but Mike came back and had us come out in the hall where he had Evan take a picture of the two of us, then President Brough took a picture of the three of us and then Mike had Elder Zwick get in the picture.
That was the fun part of the conference but the best part was the spiritual experience of being there. The whole conference was about the use of the new I-pads and the trust that is being put into these young people to use them correctly. Mike read a quote from President Benson from 1974 saying the inventions coming that would help spread the gospel were beyond what we could imagine. Mike asked what we have now that we didn’t have in 1974 –besides all of them. These young people have grown up with so many things we never dreamed of and it is just a part of their lives. Who ever thought we would have so much information in something as small as a cell phone. Mike emphasized how these are for the spreading of the gospel and not just a social outlet.
Elder Zwick talked a little bit about his mission. His mission president was Richard G. Scott and at one point Elder Zwick went and helped build the first tiny chapel in Argentina where there is now a temple. His father had a construction company and he had worked there and knew about building. One of the quotes that he gave which I especially liked was “I can’t do perfect but I can do faithful or perfect obedience.”
I wish I had been able to record all of the meeting as it was so powerful. There is no way to share the spirit that was there.
We had decided to see about extending our mission for a couple of months as we want to go to Georgia to see our son John and his wife Audie before we come home. John said we didn’t really want to come to Georgia the end of August so we talked to our Mission President about extending. There are no senior couples coming to our mission in the near future and we are already down from 13 couples to 6 with the office couple leaving in August and another couple in September. We got a call from President Brough on Memorial Day and our extension was approved in Salt Lake so we are staying until October. He said “ So your release date will be February 24 of 2016”. We laughed and said no just until October. Our release date would be the 24th but I asked if we could leave the 22nd so we could make it to Georgia to see John and Audie on the weekend instead of having to waste a week as the 24th is a Saturday. He said as seniors we can leave anytime we want. So we get to stay with the people we have grown to love for an extra two months.
For our p-day this week our friends the Wilson’s took us Mammoth Caves. It is only 63 miles there but because of the winding roads it takes nearly two hours to get there. When we got there we would have had to wait for an hour and a half for the historic tour so just took the small tour which turned out to be a real disappointment. We just went down through the two main caverns, listened to the guide talk about his ancestors who didn’t come from Africa but from England as servants to a rich man, had him tell us that he couldn’t turn the lights off because another tour was coming through and then just turned them off for a brief moment and the we were done and went back to the beginning. It was very disappointing not to actually see anything but two big open caves which were impressive in their size but nothing to brag about. We wandered through the displays and learned some of the history. There are 440 miles of caves which have been discovered since 1837 and they just keep finding more. It would be nice to go back and spend more time on one of the other tours. After leaving the park and driving back a few miles for lunch we got turned around and the phones had no signal so we just drove until we found ourselves back at the caves. It was open enough there that we got signal and found the way to go. It took us a totally different route which included a ferry ride across the Green River. It was only about 5 or 6 car lengths across but still a new thing I had never done.
On Tuesday we spent 6 hours helping our friends pack up the truck for their move. I would feel worse about them moving except for the fact that they are moving to Utah so we will have the opportunity to visit them there. They are actually bringing the computer cabinet that was given to us by some other friends (when we moved them the second time) so we will have it when we get home.
Today we left really early to make it to the temple again with our friends the Wilson’s. They wanted to go earlier than we usually go on our monthly trips so we could get some extra work done for her family. After leaving the temple we were planning on going to New Albany to see mansion row but decided on the spur of the moment to go to Joe’s Crab Shack for lunch. We looked at the prices when we got there and sort of wished we hadn’t but ended up with some really nice meals. It is right on the Ohio River and was a nice once in a lifetime experience. We then went to a New Albany and found the mansion row and after a wait went through the tour of the Culbertson Mansion. They are completely restoring the mansion and it is beautiful as mansions were in the early 1800’s. They have one room that shows just how the restoration is happening. They take all the paint off until they find the original ceiling, put a new ceiling up and paint it just as it was originally. The main floor is done and part of the rooms on the second floor but the third floor is pretty much as it was for so many years. It was a fun thing to see even though it meant lots of stairs.
I am looking forward to my trip home next week. I get to come and spend 5 days with my daughters(and any sons I can) while Elder Fullmer continues the work here with the Elders and the service he does for so many. When we planned the trip it seemed so far in the future and now it is almost here. The weeks seem to only be about 4 days long.
We know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the way to happiness. We are so grateful for the knowledge we have of our Savior’s atonement and the joy it brings as we apply it in our lives. Take time to feast on the words of the Book of Mormon and then share it with everyone you meet.
Have a great week. We love you all.
Elder and Sister Fullmer
Mom and Dad
I will try and send pictures tomorrow.
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