We are on the move.



Our camp site

  This is our camp site.  It was a great spot, very quiet, ( except for the chipmunks, Raccoons, squirrels, birds, bunnies ] kind of like living in Snow White's world.  Once Sister Cook and I swept up all the leaves.  The landlord came and said "you don't have to do that."  We said "we don't have leaves where we live back home we wanted to experience the Fall."  He was puzzled.  We loved our picnic table, once with the awning out we had dinner with the sister missionaries, our neighbors the Caldwells and a member in a thunder storm.  It was fun.


The work crew

      Parting is such sweet sorrow.  This is a picture of the FM missionaries.  When we got here there was a folder full of work orders.  When we left it was empty and we were happy.  We have had a wonderful experience and we go home spiritually up lifted and happy to have served the Lord in this part of His vineyard.  Our Christmas card list has grown and so has the places for us stop for a night when traveling.  (Like Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan, New Hampshire, Colorado, the list goes on and on).







Sister Wall



We are on the move.  We went to Niagara Falls, it was a great trip. We got under the falls and yes it was wet.  We then drove to Palmyra to visit the church sites.  Also. our granddaughter Kimberly Wall is serving in the New York, Rochester mission and we had a chance to take Kimberly & her companion out to dinner and the next  day Kimberly took us on a tour of he printing press where the Book of Mormon was first printed.  Next we drove to  New Hampshire to visit Gloria, Dean's sister and her husband Steve.  They have a cozy cottage in the mountains.  When we arrived there was snow on the ground, a chill in the air and a log on the fire.  It was a great visit, the Reinfurt's showed us around their neigborhood, we went to lunch in Main and saw the Alantic.  we enjoyed our visit.  





warming up in New Hampshire

It's Raining



rain or shine they will come

Well the sun has moved on to another state.  We have not seen it for a few days now.  It's been raining all week.  We pulled out a bunch of the flowers last week, the deer have eaten the rest.  We were going to start planting some Mums, but the rain has made the ground real wet.  The weatherman said, "you could plant Friday", maybe!  In the meantime we work inside.  We worked at the Johnson home in Hiram Ohio doing deep cleaning.  What is deep cleaning you might ask?  Well let me tell you.  It's when you take apart the whole room and clean the ceiling, walls, windows, furniture and floors with white gloves.  We take apart the beds and polish all the woodwork with white gloves on, of course.  How bout debugging the lights in the visitors center.  That's when you clime up a ladder remove the light cover and remove the bugs then replace it.  Then there is deep cleaning the restrooms, ceiling, walls, floor with rubber gloves of course.  We don't work alone, there are a number of us on all projects it's kind of like a party all day long.  Don't get me wrong it's hard work but working with the other members of the FM team makes it happen.  There are some projects that Marjorie and I get to work on together like when we cleaned all the couches, the chairs in the kitchen, and chairs in the visitors center.  Wait the sun came out got to run.

We go to a lot of county fairs, tractors shows, car shows.  You name it we will go to it.  More next time.

Ohioans get excited over snow plows



And tractors








me, a foot long corndog











More Weather

                                                              Sister Cook in her rain gear.

     I know the subject is getting old but the weather here is just nuts.  Hot one hour rain the next, you never know from moment to moment.  Sister Cook is always prepared Elder Cook gets caught a lot.  With the humidity you are always wet one way or another.  The work was very busy some days the buses were lined up around the parking lot.  We have to check the restrooms two or three times a day to keep up.  It's still very busy just not as intense.

A couple of buses



rain or shine people on tour



      Sister Cook and I started doing tours on Sunday afternoons.  That means we take visitors around to the different buildings and talk about what happen at that site.  Kirtland was headquarters for the church from 1830 to 1838 when the saints left for Missouri.  A lot went on here in those years.  One family, the Whitney's where here in Kirtland when the first missionaries came through.  They were looking for a church with authority to do God's will.  When the missionaries told them about God calling Joseph Smith to be a prophet in our day. About the coming forth of the Book of Mormon (an ancient record of Jesus Christ dealings with people here in the Americas) which Joseph translated from ancient plate's given him by an angel. The restoration of Priesthood keys today.  The Whitney's knew it was true and were baptized into the church.  When Joseph Smith first came to Kirtland, he and his wife Emma were invited to live in the Whitney home.  We take visitors through the Whitney store and home and tell what happen there.  There is also a Saw Mill and an Ashery which were reconstructed on the site.  The saw mill was built back in 1832 to provide lumber for the building of the Temple and work for the saints as many were in need of jobs.  The Ashery was also a place where saints could work and money could be made for the building of the Temple.  The tour can take up to two hours (there's a lot to talk about).  There are more site's in the area, the Morley Farm where Joseph and Emma lived for a time and the Johnson's farm another place they stayed.  at some point a home was builded for the Peophet and his wife near the Temple.  When the Temple was finished the saints moved on to Missouri on there way to Utah.            



The large tub in this picture was one of the first things I repaired when we got here.  It's at the Johnson Farm. 

     Thats it for now, Sister Cook and I are teaching Primary classes this Sunday we need to get our lessions togetter.  The subject is missionary work what else. 

                                                                                 Bye for now Elder and Sister Cook.

The Parties

The Cook's Love to Party!!!







Sister Cook, our neighbor Sister Caldwell, Elder Adams at the Community of Christ picnic.

     The Cooks love to party, why should that change out here in Ohio.  As an FM group we have had two BBQ's.  One was the standard hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill with everyone bringing something.  The other was a mess of fried chicken and all the trimmings.  Why keep it in house let's have a Branch picnic with the Chardon Branch members.  More hamburgers and hot dogs with lots of great salads and fixings.  Then let's auction off the deserts and raise a little money for the young women going to camp.

     Why not on our day off hit some fairs.  There is a city fair every weekend some where in Ohio.  Let's see there was the strawberry festival in Kirtland.  We worked one night in the Kiwnas club strawberry booth, made about a million  strawberry sundays.  Our hands were cold from scooping the ice cream and our arm sore from ladling strawberries (which by the way came from California) just a side note, Marjorie and I went and did a little you pick your own strawberries out in the country, nothing like fresh strawberries on your morning cereal.  We went to the Duct Tape Festival in Avon Ohio, (thats where Duct Tape is made).  There was a parade, Miss America was there (she loves duct tape) and people everywhere with duct tape hats,shoes,back packs you name it.  There is a national contest for duct tape prom wear, we even saw a wedding dress and tails for the groom made of duct tape.  There is no limit to what you can do with the stuff and this festival was just to show how, very cool.





Chardon Branch Picnic



Dad: don,t you kids get wet.  Kids: OK



When are they going to leave?



Some of the goodies.





Strawberries anyone?











     Why not join up with the good members of the Community of Christ Church (they own the Kirtland Temple) we often get together and have a little fun in the park.  Yep sloppy Joes and every kind of salad and desert, lots of fun and games for everyone in the park.  The Sisters missionaries can really play volley ball.  Then once a month the Branch has a potluck get together, more great food.  Yes Marjorie and I are really enjoying the parties here in Ohio.  How about we go to a baseball game.  That's what we did., we saw the Lake County Captains vs South Bend Silver Hawks at Classic Park in East Lake Ohio.  The Captains won 7 to 4.

     We are very busy keeping up with the visitors.  The groups come by the bus loads.  The flowers we planted are doing great, the trees we pruned look great, the work is going great.  Sister Cook and I keep an eye on a little property outside the center that the Church owns.  We mow the grass and keep the weeds whacked down.  It's a nice quite place by the Stony Creek, very peaceful.

                          




Chardon Branch missionaries





Duct Tape ATV




Duct Tape Shoes?




Miss America 2011




Duct Tape Wedding dress.





large roll of Duct Tape



     We went to a Play put on by the Kirtland Stake called "This is Kirtland".  It runs for the month of July and tells the story of the Saints in Kirtland.  They did a great job, good story, great singing the works.  Kind of like our Temple Pageant.  Marjorie and other missionaries help iron the costumes.



Let us all press on.

     Thats it for now Elder Cook is calling it a day.



The Planting

 

It's all about the flowers.

     Let the planting begain.  With the help of all the missionaries we planted about 4000 flowers in one day.  The planting took place all over the Kirtland Village.  There were hanging baskets and flowers of differnt colors and sizes.  The idea is to bring color to the grounds around the Village.  We have about 13 sets of young sister missionaries and about 15 sets of senior missionaries and 4 sets of Facilities Maintenance (FM)  missionaries.  One of  the FM missionaries was asked to come to Kirtland to work on the sprinkler system and he has been working very hard and making good progress.  Most of the flowers beds are being watered now.  We were doing it by hand, we would water, mother nature would water and the sun would dry eveything up.  The work  moves on. 

Some of the happy planters.

 

   Sister Cook and I have been pruning trees all week.  We cut the lower hanging limbs load them into the back of a 4 wheel drive ATV and take them to our dump out back, over hill and dale, loads of fun.



                                                                         before the planting-----

                                                               after the planting--------

The Visit

Elder and Sister Poulsen (right) on the porch of the Whitney Store
with the Cooks

The Visit

     The Poulsen's, Elder Craig and Sister Karen stopped by for a visit a few weeks ago.  They had a break in teaching and took the time to do some personal business in Ohio.  While here they went to many of the different sites.  We were able to have them join us missionaries on a special Kirtland Temple tour with Karl Anderson who is an authority on the Kirtland Temple.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time.  Brother Anderson helped us see the vision and feel the spirit of the temple and how Joseph and the early saints used the Temple.  The Kirtland temple is owned by the Community of Christ Church.  They will lend the building out for meetings so some times the local Stakes will hold meetings in the Temple.  The Poulsens enjoyed their visit with all the missionaries and got a real close look at the Kirtland area.  Thanks guys for stopping in.

     We have been ask to attend the Chardon Branch.  We will be doing some home teaching and visiting teaching and member activation.  We will be meeting with members like going to Ward party's,Ward BBQ's, and visiting Ward families.  We look forward to serving the members here.

     We saw a play (nunsense) put on by the local theater group  Took in a little concert in the park.  When we go to a free concert in the bay area there is a big crowd, here we walked in with the singers in the band  They were very good and really covered a lot of different sounds.  We took a ride out to Amish country and saw the Amish buggies on the road and stopped in at some little shops.

     The weather here is really different, it rains a lot then the sun comes out.  That means everything is really green.  When we got here the trees were just sticks no leaves, now everything is green.  The sounds are lawn mowers followed by weed wackers followed by leaf blowers.  Everyone has a riding mower because everyone has a lot of lawn.  We in California don't know what green is, I guess that is why it's called the golden state.

     We hope everyone back home is doing well, we are busy and working hard to keep up with the work (next week we start planting flowers about 4,000 of them)  Until next time we love you all.

                                                                             Elder & Sister Cook

The work

                                               Yes we do windows-with a smile

     As Welfare Service Missionaries we have lots of work to do.  Our day starts at 7AM, we are assigned to different properties to clean and open for the day.  Marjorie and I go out to the Johnson Farm on Mondays.  Once there we clean the missionary office the Johnson home and the restrooms.  Need to be done before 9AM that's when the visitors start coming.  When the tourist season starts they come by the bus load.  In the home there are lots of rooms with old stuff (antiques).  We have to wear white gloves when handling the antiques.  We have to dust and clean with out breaking anything.  When wearing the backpack vac you look like a scuba diver.  But don't turn to fast or you might knock something down (no pressure).  After 9 we go and do other things, Marjorie has been doing a lot of weeding and getting flower beds ready for when the flowers come then we plant (maybe 1000's) of flowers all over the sites.  There are seven sites that we must take care of.  I will tell you more about the sites in future post.  I help other fm workers with different projects.  Repairing fences, mowing lawns (lots of green grass every where), fixing stuck doors what ever needs attention at the time.  We sleep good at night and have great neighbors.  The weather here is really wild 80 one day 40 the next.  Sun one minuet rain the next.  When it rains it comes down like a fire hose.  It's not just a lot of water but very hard really sounds loud on the RV roof.  Lots of thunder, bring down the tv antena just not asking for trouble kind of thunder.  We had one hit so close the RV rocked.         

The road trip

We had a great time on the road, we stopped and visited family and friends. First stop was lunch with Alisha and Wyatt (Jaiden was in school).  Sushi is good when you are with with someone who knows what to order, Wyatt knows what to order.  Next stop Bob & Dianne Kendrick for dinner in Auburn, they are doing great looking forward to spending some time with their Daughter Kristen in Florida.
     Then over the mountain to Utah.  Pulled in to Provo for a few days with the Walls (Marjorie's daughter's family).  Took a drive up the canyon for a little time with the granddaughters, the girls are doing great with life and school.  Kimberly graduating BYU, Chelsea graduating high school, planning a trip to Europe with Alisha, how cool two sisters loose, look out world.  Jennifer & Jeramey Brady celebrating their 2nd year of marriage with a super holiday and Cruise out of Florida.  While in Utah we visited with Marjorie's cousin Jan who marjorie had not seen in many a year, had lunch with sister Wirth, she is doing great looking after the health of the missionaries, and dinner with sister Jenkins in Logan, nice little place she lives in surrounded by family and friends.  Of course we had dinner with the Robbins Brent & Suzie and there little guy Ethan.
     On the road again to Denver CO to see Paul (Marjorie's son) and sister Sheryl & Arlyn we had dinner with both you can see a pattern here we are doing a lot of driving and eating.  Back on the road to Omaha NE for some time with the Deckers.  They have a very nice home, we went to watch the boys play some little league ball with dad as coach.  Had a nice Easter Sunday dinner with their Bishop who served a Vietnamese speaking mission in Australia, the church is truly all over the world.
     On the road to Michigan to see the Elder & Sister Poulsen.  They are serving as CES missionaries at Michigan State University.  They have their o
wn apt. in student housing and teach in the Institute building across the parking lot.  Chech out their blog at http://poulsensmission.blogspot.com/.  They are very busy working with the collage youth and teaching classes.  A short stop to see some family in Royal Oaks MI, you guessed it dinner with Marjorie's cousins Fred & Beth, Nancy & Nils.  A little genealogy was exchanged.  Then a run to our new home away from home in Kirtland Ohio.  Last touch was a visit to Tim & Amy Karren who moved here to Ohio after a time in the Bay Area.  Tim served in the Stake Youngmens with me and he and Amy lived with us for a time.  They have a great home here in Ohio and 4 terrific kids.  They Love the Gospel and are truly blessed here in Ohio.
     There is lots more to come as the work never stops.
                                                             Love you all Elder and Sister Cook

Pictures 1 The Walls

        &nbtsp;    2 Brent and Ethan

             3 The rig 





                                           The Walls

                                    
                                           Brent and Ethan     

                                          The Rig