Called to serve in the Missouri St Louis Mission

Elders McIntyre & Burgoyne rest from their labors of creating the Christus We just finished listening to the General Women's Conference and I choose to be "glad". Our first full day of Fall was delightful warm sunny day.  We went to an area near downtown St Louis where one of our missionaries, also an artist, was invited to participate in "Paint Louis".  This is a yearly event where a mile and a half of a flood wall near the Mississippi, invites artists to participate by expressing their artistic talents and literally paint the wall.  The participants come from many places; the artists next to the missionaries were from the Netherlands.  My favorite piece was, of course, Elder Burgoyne's depiction of the Savior.  Elder McIntyre is his companion and his dedicated helper.  It was great to be with these young men; they even let George do a little spray painting.  View along part of the flood wall, with lots of artists working One young ...

At the Butterfly House On Labor Day we went to The Butterfly House in Chesterfield with the Whitlock's; our CES missionary friends.  It's a butterfly 'zoo' of around 2,000 butterflies with over 80 species from all over the world.  It is located in a greenhouse with unusual plants and exotic flowers.  Colorful butterflies are all around.  George went just because I was interested, but he really enjoyed it as well.  I could use the caterpillar/butterfly metamorphosis as an analogy for missionaries:  there are always changes and opportunities for growth and it isn't easy!  But the end result is amazing. Flower growing in the pond at the Butterfly House We then ate at Charlie Gitto's From The Hill; probably one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at and the service was perfect.  Just saying, if you ever come to St Louis, this is the place to go. Car Inspections before Zone Conference The next three days we traveled almost a t...

Tuesday morning we gathered at the Frontenac Building for Transfer day.  What a great time to visit with missionaries we haven't seen in a while!  One couple (a recent convert and reactivation) love the missionaries!  They brought bottles of water, cookies, candy and chips for snacks for the missionaries.  It was a hit!  Lot's of new trainers were gathering as well in anticipation of getting a brand new missionary to teach the ropes. Later in the day, twenty-two missionaries arrived at the mission office from the airport.  They received a little tour of important destinations in St Louis, including the St Louis Temple.  We arrived later at the mission home for dinner and interviews and enjoyed getting to know these tired travelers. You wouldn't think flying here from Salt Lake City, Utah would be a big deal.  But to make their connections, they needed to be up around 1 am to catch a bus around 3 am.  Some decided why should we even go to ...

Partial eclipse This morning we started our day by going to the airport.  Departures are always handled by President and Sister Bateman, the APs and the office Elders, but one missionary was leaving a couple of hours earlier than the rest, so George and I got to be the ones to make sure he made his flight.  We were able to extend farewell greetings to the seventeen missionaries preparing to return home. Saying our goodbyes Highlights from last week, included viewing the eclipse.  The greater St Louis area was in the path for many areas to have a total eclipse.  We viewed the eclipse from the mission office and it was approximately 99%.  As the sky turned twilight, the cicadas started their "singing".  But when it started getting light, I think the cicadas were a little confused, but eventually stopped making their curious noise only to start up hours later when it was truly dusk.  What a great experience!  We saw a star and all the ou...

Towering suspension bridge over the Muddy Missouri River George and I walked over to our missionary friends apartment for dinner this afternoon and were greeted, "Hi Sister Mower and Sister Mower". George didn't look at his badge very well and was wearing one of mine.  Whoops ;-). HUGE downpour on Wednesday! We are really enjoying this time of our lives!  But this experience, although we are thankful for this opportunity, it isn't anything like our last mission in the Philippines where every day was an adventure.  We have a wonderful Mission President and his wife and daughter.  We love the missionaries and are grateful for little snippets of time we have to be with them.  One missionary told me this week that I am "the bomb".  I had to ask the meaning, and was relieved to find out this is a compliment. Main street in the beautiful farming town of Warrenton, MO Friday we visited missionaries.  Why didn't I take pictures; not sure....

Temple Flowers Today at Sacrament Meeting, the announcement of a new baby in the ward was given.  Little Sophie, who is not so little was born late last night. This is the first baby born in a long time and members of the branch cheered the news!  We love being able to attend this small gathering every Sunday. Later in the day we shared dinner with good friends and senior missionaries.   Saturday we always get up early and meet at the St Louis Temple at 6:00 am for prayer meeting.  George and I especially treasure and love this time of our lives serving in the St Louis Temple.  We work with wonderful people from Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri and lots of other places who make it a priority in their lives to come to the Temple. MLC Luncheon Friday, I got to help with the Missionary Leadership Council luncheon.  Sister Slagle, the mission secretary did an outstanding job organizing this meal.  The missionaries enjoyed this treat.  G...

The banner the Young Women took to Camp It's a record: St Louis hit 108 degrees yesterday.  The previous record of 107 degrees was set a few years ago on July 22, 1901.  We had a storm in the night and the temperature is only 90 degrees today with humidity of only 42%; a pretty nice day. Branch President David Fingle Last Sunday we were witness to the changing of the presidency of the Pagedale Branch.  In the twenty six year history a president has been called to serve from their home ward.  Our new president lives within the boundaries of the branch and is a wonderful man. There was a strong spirit present in the meeting and the news was exciting to the members.  Many of us believe the change will help move the branch forward in growth and acceptance. Transfers on July 18, 2017 Every six weeks major change comes to the Mission.  Many missionaries completed their missions and returned home.  Then come transfers; they are always exciti...