District Meeting

     Friday, February 13, was our District meeting. Because three missionaries from our Zone are going home this week, two of which were a Zone leader and Sister Trainer, they attended our meeting so we could have our farewell.  So after our meeting, we all travelled to Sister Chappell's home (on a huge ranch) and enjoyed one of her country meals for lunch that only Oklahomans can cook up!  We ate roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, homemade rolls, green salad, fruit salad, green beans, pickled beets, homemade jam, two homemade cakes and ice cream.  (and we wonder why we have gained a few pounds??).  Well, Sister Chappell always serves us scrumptious dinners at least once a month. There were 12 missionaries, Bishop and Sister Niblett and Sister Chappell.

     Sister Chappell joined the Church a year ago, soon after her husband passed away. She has experienced such joy and happiness since she was baptized, that she just glows. She will be going to the Temple this next Saturday, and many in the Ward will be joining her, along with many missionaries who love her dearly.  She has sold her four ranches and will move to Utah in April...she will be dearly missed, but will be close to her grandchildren.

     So we feasted and laughed, had a spiritual message, and took photos.

Elders Swenson and Nelson hugging the bear rug in Sister Chappell's livingroom         

Sister Chappell and Elder Owen (who leaves Wednesday--his two years is over....

 Elder Nelson, our Zone Leader, who is also leaving for home Wednesday. He has so much ambition and energy, and is a terrific teacher!  He also plays the bagpipes!

The Oklahoma Oil Museum, Seminole, Oklahoma

Monday, February 11, 2015, we decided to take a drive to Seminole, Oklahoma, about 45 miles north of Ada. It was a beautiful, sunny, and warm day and we felt like a drive.  We were very surprised to learn that it was a huge booming town with hundreds of oil derricks all over the land. The towns were booming, We saw many pictures where Model A cars were everywhere in the town. All of the surrounding towns were also large.  Seminole, which now has a population of about 7,000, was populated at 40,000, as well as all the towns surrounding it being very populated. The oil companies would put up housing for their workers also, as you'll see in the pictures below. This was also an area of large natural gas deposits, as well as oil. We were surprised to learn that many of these surrounding towns were very large at one time, since many of the buildings in the towns are old and the windows boarded shut. We were also told that this area was a hangout for the many of the gangsters of the day, such as Pretty Boy Floyd!  They would rob banks and often give away some of the money.  That reminded us of a story that a member of our Ada Ward told us.  She and her brothers were young, and there was a well dressed man handing out money to all the kids when her brothers were in town. So they were given some money, and that money was the means to feed the family for the winter. Our day was educational!

The pictures below are some of the oil rig equipment that was used here in the 1920's and 1930's.

On our way out of town, we drove by the LDS church building and saw the missionary cars there (they are easy to spot because they all have bike racks on the back!) So we rang the bell and six missionaries appeared in their workout attire, as they were playing basketball. It was fun to meet and talk with them, especially since we saw them again in the Temple the following Thursday.  

We, of course, topped off the day with Braum's ice cream!

A Little Bit of Many Things!

When we left home to attend the gym last week, there were huge snowflakes falling all around us. By the time we left, the snow fall had stopped, but the world was beautiful!

The Elders and Sisters have a reputation of parking crazily at the church whenever there is a district or zone meeting. So...when we attend our District meetings on Fridays, it looks something like this. Elder Lemmert tries his best to block them in so they can't leave, but they find a way out!

Elder Gunderson, far left, is at the end of his mission and goes home tomorrow, so this is our farewell picture of all of us together, January 28, 2015, in the Ada Ward.  Elder Gunderson, Elder Owen, Elder & Sister Lemmert, Elder Tanner, Elder Garner, Sister Drinkall, and Sister Moore.  These young missionaries are exceptional!  We will miss our Elder Gunderson.

Our wonderful Bishop Niblett!  He can't get a picture without some goofy faces in the background, but he is a great support to us and is the first bishop of the Ada Ward.   It was previously a Branch and his goal is to grow the Ward and get us a new chapel.

a very busy Bishop and works hard for the members of his ward. He also believes in calling people up from the audience to speak occasionally (like President Decker). I was the lucky one last Sunday.

We volunteer at the Care Center every couple of weeks. We helped with a craft project. Today we will attend National Eat Corn Chips Day and I will play the piano while the residents eat chips!

Our First Oklahoma Temple Trip

We had the great opportunity to attend the Oklahoma Temple with Mary, our dear friend that we've learned to love here in Ada. When we first met her, she had just come home from the hospital and didn't have much strength.  As we visited her, we began talking about her brother who had passed away many years ago before he had the opportunity to be sealed to the family.  So,  Mary was fortunate to regain her strength and wanted to attend the Temple to complete her brother's Temple work.  We were blessed to drive her and attend with her.  Elder Lemmert was proxy for her brother, Jackie, and we were able to perform all of the ordinances for him.  The drive to the Oklahoma City Temple from Ada is about two hours each direction, so we experienced a long but joyous day! 

Car Wash Fun!

Our car gets so filthy dirty after driving so much along the highways and many dirt county roads, so we found a carwash where someone pre-sprays our car with a goldish soap, then scrubs the whole car with a brush,  We then drive into the car wash. This colorful rainbow soap goes all over our vehicle, is rinsed off, and then the car is waxed.  We get the underside of our car washed also for the great deal of the day....$8.00!
Two missionaries in the carwash.....

Transfer Day, Jan 7, 2014

Sister Rigby and Elder Fuller pointing to their new locations on our mission map.

Every transfer day we host our traditional early morning breakfast for the missionaries for our last hurrah before transfers. This breakfast we ate french toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, orange juice, and hot chocolate.
Elders Garner, Fuller, Gunderson, Owen
Sisters Drinkall and Rigby 

Elder Fuller, Sister Lemmert, Sister Rigby, and Elder Lemmert

The bikes are the first thing to go into the truck!  Then all the luggage. Elder Fuller is supervising on a cold morning!

Sister Chappell's loaded truck for the 1-1/2 hour drive to Moore for transfers. Then she brought the new missionaries back to Ada with their companions.  A long drive, always exhausting!

New Year's Eve 2014

On New Year's Eve we decided to do some visiting and met three new members that we hadn't met to date.  One of these fun people is Billy Ray Ringwald, who is 82 years old. He lives with his wife in Stonewall, OK.  The reason I took his picture is that he is the first and only person we have ever met who has actually been picked up, carried and dropped by a tornado.  Several years ago, a tornado came up suddenly before he could get cover, picked up his mobile home and smashed it in pieces, and then picked Billy up, carried him one quarter of a mile, and then dropped him through some trees into a meadow. He lost consciousness, was in the hospital for awhile, but survived it. We thought this was a fascinating story!