Well, now let me tell you about this week and what a week it was.  As we were finishing up tours on Sunday night, I suddenly became sick.  By morning I was looking for a doctor and was able to get into the TLC Clinic here in Garrettsville.  I met the nicest doctor by the name of Annette and was soon on medication.  Great now thing are looking up!  Course I had to go back by Friday and get my meds changed and again things are now much better.  Thank goodness our P-day was Wednesday so that helped.   Friday and Saturday mornings we had training in Kirtland and so had to be on the road at 5:45 a.m.  It was Melanie from the church missionary department.   She is in charge of visitor’s centers and so was here training us on that.  We met for two hours each day and then hurried back to get the Home opened and ready for visitors.  It was great training and she is such a fun person.  She also visited us at sites.   

We were on afternoons and so served from 2:30 -7:00.  However didn’t get off Friday night until after 7:30 so dad went directly to the booth on Main Street for the Rotary.  This was the big community family weekend and there was lots going on for three days.  He sat in the booth, hopefully to encourage new members.  Not too many nibbles but he did his duty both Friday and Saturday from 8-10 p.m.  They had lots and lots of booths, a carnival, a tractor parade, fireworks and even another parade today.  Last night we saw the coolest thing, Chinese lanterns floating in the night sky.  They were so beautiful. It was really a big event for the community and lots and lots of people.  Oh, MY!

We had a bus tour of family members from one of the Seventies one day and then another one came and went through the home also.  So two general authority tours this week!  Also there have been lots of families so it has been a busy week with visitors.  Today as we arrived at the Home there were four cars there waiting for us to open the gates.  As we were opening the doors two more pulled in. It was a family that was out here on a reunion, 37 of them.  They were really fun to visit with. I ended up taking 15 of the kids along with a couple of adults and we did a kid tour while dad did the adults.  I think they both got the best tour.  I know I really had fun with the kids and they were so good.  They were ages 13 – 4 but had been listening to the Doctrine and Covenants as they traveled and were prepared to learn.  It gave the adults time to do the tour and feel the spirit without wondering if the kids were misbehaving or not.  Sooo good!  As they were finishing other cars were pulling in and so we just kept rotating them through and ended up with 48 visitors (6 tours) on our shift with no sit down time.  We were glad to see the Packers pull in so we could go home.

It is really an opportunity to be able to teach these young people as they come.  Many of them have had the lessons  on the D&C this year as well as the parents have taught them and so they truly come to learn and can feel of the spirit.  Hopefully being in the Johnson Home and in the Revelation Room where these revelations and events happened will help them to stay strong, and give them something to always remember. 

It has been a fun week, an exciting week and it truly has been a great week.  We love serving here in the Johnson Home.  We meet so many special friends as they come to visit.  One couple today visited with me for a long time as they were thinking about a mission and wanted to know how we got where we were and all about our mission.  Of course I loved to share and they will keep in contact with us.  That is the neat thing now; we can keep in contact with visitors, both member and non member and help them to grow in the gospel.          

Wouldn't you know it... the calendar said it was summer and so things began to get hot around here. I'm sure it will be more but for now we think it is hotter than it should be.  We have hit 90 with high humidity so a bit uncomfortable but we are surviving.  Love the AC and fans!  We had a couple of special tours this week.  One was the director of the Kirtland Temple Visitors Center and the interns that they have for the summer.  It ended up that I did that one by myself as Dan was on another tour when they came and another came after we had started with them.  They were very interested in the history of the Home, as well as the happenings here.  We were able to tell them all of the special things and bear testimony of the sacred events that happened here.  After all their history is our history up to this time.  It was a great tour and I felt it was a very special opportunity to have them here.  They are a special bunch of young people.  We have met some of them in the temple and appreciate their service as they do tours through the Kirtland Temple and being able to share that with them.  Then there was our BIG day.  This was a day I had worried about for weeks.  We had about 400 scheduled for Saturday morning.  Both us and the Packers were there as well as three companionships of sisters and we were ready for them at 8 a.m. and here they came, in waves I might add.  Three buses, then two and then another two and another one.  One of those was unscheduled so sort of a surprise as well as couples and families that dared to venture in with all of those buses.  We each took a group of about 20 through the Home, each rotating in and out.  As we finished one group, there was another ready to go.  In fact it was steady with no breaks from 8 until about 12:30.  In the final tally for that morning we had had 511 visitors.  So awesome!  We had wondered how we would do it and Heavenly Father let us stew a bit and then He made it all work.  Love those tender mercies!!
Last night was the special broadcast and it will be exciting to see all of that implemented into missionary work.  All of us need to pick up the pace and the Lord's work will go  forward. Looking ahead to a busy July, in fact we can't believe it almost July and we have been on our mission for 9 months.  Tim

Well, we made the BIG 50!  This week was our anniversary so we went to lunch at the Welshfield Inn (very nice), visited the cheese factory and Emma's.  Got some cheese, bread and an apple pie.  Then it was off to work at the Johnson Home.  Ended up being a very nice day and what a place to celebrate in, we enjoyed it all.  Tuesday Shawn and Anita Sitterud came for a visit.  We had arranged p-day so we could spend it with them.  We toured the Home, Kirtland Village, Temple and Morley Farm. Also did lunch at our favorite Chinese place so it was a fun day.  We enjoyed visiting with them and appreciate them taking the time to come.  Another great day was when Darrin and Connie came for a visit Saturday morning.  We visited a bit, had lunch and then did a tour for them at the Johnson home.  Got hugs and again, appreciated the visit.  Was great to see them and we wish them well in their new adventures in Pasco.
Have to tell you about one day of tours at the Home.  We did nine all together that day but the ones I want to share are the three that I did myself.  First one was a family with two little girls, one about 2 and the other 6 months.  We had started the tour and the little one was crying so they took her out of her car seat and she was wet all the way up her back.  So her daddy took her out to change her.  He had just gone out the door and there the other little girl stood in a puddle on the kitchen floor.  She had wet her pants so out she and her mother went.  We had another tour right behind us so I stepped out and let them go on.  When they came back I took them through the front door to be ahead of the other group.  I knew it would have to be a quick one.  The little girl was sooo cute and had to share her necklace, shoes, curly hair, etc., etc., with me.  In fact she decided to stay with me when they were leaving.  I finally talked her into going with her mother and waved good bye.  The next group was a family with an older downs syndrone boy.  In the third room he suddenly leaned on the one man and just slid down the wall, passed out.  They said he sometimes does this.  They insisted I go on with the others and the one man would stay with him.  So I did after alerting Elder Wells of the situation.  The sisters working with us offered to finish his tour so he could attend to the situation.  The young man came to, but they had to help him walk out to the car.  Guess all was well.  Well, then the third group were from Argentina and the one man did not speak any English.  I would say a phrase and the two women would translate so it took quite a while.  It was a good tour just a bit tedious and long.  All the time I had either the sisters or Dan behind or in front of me with tours.  Not sure how I ended up with these.  They were good tours, just different, keeping me on my toes and trying to stay focused.  All in all it has been a busy week, lots of rain.  That bad storm that was forcast for us didn't really hit.  Oh we had some thunder and heavy rain but not the hail and bad winds.  We were grateful for that.  Looking forward to lots of big tours this week.  Hope we survive.

 

Fun times!! This has been a crazy week.  Started out with me at the dentist.  He was doing things for an implant and I was in the chair for 2 hours.  Actually it has healed rather quickly and so that is good.  We took our P-day on Tuesday to give me time to recover and were back to work at the Home on Wednesday.  Wednesday night we had a singles activity at Brother White’s home.  We built a fire and had hotdogs and S’Mores.  Not too many came but it was a special evening for those that were there.  Elder Sorenson from the Visitor’s Center talked to us and encouraged us to always be learning no matter our stage in life.  It doesn’t have to be big things, any learning is progressing.  It was a very nice evening.

Thursday, Dan was sick and not feeling very perky but we kept working.  We had 2 tour buses of young people come in.  We had two couples and one companionship of sisters so we divided them up into 5 groups and each of us took our group all the way through the home.  These young people were prepared and definitely brought the spirit with them.  It was such a special group and we loved sharing with them.  After the tour they all gathered in front of the home and sang, some of the leaders shared spiritual stories of the home so it was really an awesome experience.  A lot of the young men have their mission calls and many more are in the process.  As they sang they put their arms around each other and many shed tears.  It was really a close and very spiritual group, so special.  One girl came to me and asked if she could give me a hug.  Of course I take all the hugs I can get.   

 

 This is a photo of part of that Youth Group.  Great kids!!!

Saturday we had a tour of older people come in and they were fun.  Some from Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, England and all over the US!  They were fun.  We had a companionship of sisters helping us.  One had never been through the home before or done a tour but she and her companion had practiced and so they were able to take a group through.  Dad and I each took a group and it was really a good day.  Those with the sisters really complimented them and were amazed that she had only been out in the mission field less than 2 weeks.

We didn’t have to go into the home until later today so came home after church, had lunch and took a bit of a nap.  We had four tours this afternoon, each special families, so it was a good day, steady but not too busy.  We are doing great and loving it. Only thing that will make it better is to have the strawberries come on.  I’m ready for them. The neighbors by the Home have several acres of strawberries so I think they will become good friends.  

This has been a special week.  Wednesday we had a VIP tour with two people from SL Church Offices bringing 5 couples of BIG contributers to the historic sites.  They invited us to follow along so that was a special opportunity.  They shared some of the stories and history of the home and really didn't do a whole lot different than we do except they added some special things in the revelation room.  It truly was an informative and spiritual experience.  We truly enjoyed visiting with the people and being a part of this.  I guess we get tours like this once in a while so something to look forward to.  Another day we drove over to the Cuyahoga National Park and followed some of the Ohio-Erie Canal.  We were able to see some of the remnants of the locks, the canals and the tow paths so it was really interesting.   One lock is working and they use it for reinactments.  Of course it was not working now so will have to go back.  I'm posting pictures of some of it.

  

Canal Lock

Canal Water way
                                                            Tow Path




They said that three mules could pull boats for 8 hours as the man walked on the Tow Path leading them as the boats traveled through the canals and down the locks.  It really was a boon to the industry of the area until the railroad came and also the flood that destroyed most of the canals. We  also visited an active beaver pond but they must have all been napping cause we didn't see any but sure was a pretty area.
 
Today, Sunday we had a tour group call last night and wanted to be at the home today at 5.  Better than no notice at all.  We were prepared for them.  They didn't come until 5:30 and had a group of 65 YSA.  It was a good group and we were able to accomodate them.  Three other families came in during that time and we just tucked them in with the groups.  Then as we were leaving at 6:45 so the Packers could close up at 7, three cars pulled in and they had a tour of 17.  Late coming home!!!
It has rained lots this week but really hasn't bothered us as we haven't had to be out in it.  Everything sure is green and pretty however.