Merry Christmas from North Dakota

WARMEST WISHES to our dear Family and Friends,

Today is December 15, 2009, and this is a picture we took at 7:30 AM, in Ray, North Dakota. We had just completed Early Morning Seminary in Ray, which is a small town in the northwest part of the state. Yes, we know, the temperature shows a -22 degrees and it was dark at that time of the morning, but in all good conscience we were warm inside, having had a wonderful morning with some of our faithful students. We will add, that the class had 100% attendance, as we seem to have many times in our “Kitchen Table Seminary” classes. How could we not love such devoted people? We do love them and we are grateful to be among them. (You will need to download the attachments)

Cold Temperatures: We know that we are not the only ones who are experiencing the frigid temperatures. We are very interested in the weather where our friends and family live, and we know that this winter is much different than the one experienced in 2008-2009. We have not had the snow that North Dakota experienced last year, actually we had a beautiful and mild Fall, but we do not expect that to be the case for long. We are prepared for the worst if it should come. Our car has new Michelin Winter Tires and in the trunk is our survival box which includes hand and feet warmers, candles, blankets, thermal boots and some tasty emergency food. We hope that we never have to use it but it feels good to be prepared. We want to say how thankful we are for our Honda Civic. It now has 151,000 miles and is running well. We did install a “Heater Plug” that helps keep the oil in the car warm during the cold nights and we find that most hotels and apartment complexes have outside electrical outlets to plug into. What a difference it makes in starting a frozen car at 5:30 AM.

Our work over the past month has been very busy. Some weeks we long for a free day just to get a few letters written or appointments made. Yet, even with our busy schedule we find a level of satisfaction in the work we do. Recently we have witnessed and participated in three baptisms, in three different wards or branches. We have been involved with the teaching of these people and have come to love each new convert. Let us share their stories, in as few words as possible.

Curtis: Curtis is about 50 years of age and has searched throughout his life to find the true church. He struggled with some of the policies of his previous church when they ordained an active gay minister in his congregation. He is divorced but provides foster care for two young teenage men. One night a member of the Bismarck ward took the Elders to dinner at a local restaurant. One of the foster sons was working there, and Elder Williams began talking to him and asked if they could come to his home to teach him more. The young man said yes, and when the missionaries knocked on the door, they met Curtis, and he became the investigator. I was invited to help teach a lesson and we got involved in his instruction. Curtis has a habit of writing questions on 3X5 cards and each time the missionaries came to teach he would pull out his cards. He was surprised to have all of his questions answered. He visited the Family History Center, met the Temple President, came to church and became involved. It was a wonderful day when Curtis was baptized. His foster son, who started this whole process by accepting an invitation, is now taking the lessons and we hope to see his baptism soon.

Andrew: Andrew is an Airman at Minot Air Force Base. He met an LDS woman on the internet who invited him to watch General Conference over the internet. He watched the first session and was so touched that he watched the rest. By the time the weekend was over he had watched all four sessions and ended his experience by calling one of the local bishops and saying, “I am in love with your church, how do I join?” We met Andrew shortly after when he came to Institute in Minot. We were surprised to see that he could navigate his way through the Book of Mormon and that many verses were marked. As you know, institute can be a little deep, but Andrew seemed to stay with the class. On November 28th, he was baptized a member of the church. We took him, his girlfriend, who was visiting from Texas, and his missionaries to dinner following the meeting. We were thrilled to be a part of his conversion and humbled by the Spirit that converted him.

Crystal: Crystal is the newest member of the Ft. Yates Branch, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. She was one of the first investigators we met, back in March, when we started to attend and support the Ft. Yates Branch. She has had many struggles but she has continued to work towards membership. She loved the message of the Restored Church months ago but has struggled with alcoholism, the major challenge of the reservation. We have gone weekly to her home and helped her and her children get to church. (The providing of rides seems to be one of our major functions in the branch.) One of the major factors in her conversions was when she was invited to come to Stake Conference. She walked around the Bismarck Temple and enjoyed the conference messages. Maybe it was the bigger picture that helped her make the decision for membership, but once again, she experienced the feelings of the Spirit and wanted to be a part of what she saw and heard. We feel that she is firmly in the Church and can now help to bring her family in as well.

There are others in Ft. Yates with whom we are working and we feel that we will see more of these baptisms in the near future. We love the Elders who work in the Ft. Yates Branch, who orchestrate the rides on Sundays, and do the vast majority of the teaching. We provide the transportation, the love, and the support for our Branch President and the branch members. There are many disappointments that we experience, but whenever we get discouraged we see that if we were not present that an important piece of the formula would be missing. Therefore, we continue to go back and try some more. We are being blessed constantly. It is humbling to know that the Lord can use us in some insignificant ways to bring about his great and eternal purposes.

How blessed we have been to have had so many experiences in the Highlands Ranch Stake as we have worked with the youth, worked as cooks at Scout Camps and Young Women Girl’s Camp and participated in the many Youth Conferences. There may be times in our past when we asked, “Why are we doing all of this?” The answer seems to be clear; we are doing all of these things to gain experience. For example, we are constantly being asked to provide meals for groups of people: Young Single Adult Conferences, Missionaries gatherings, etc. We find ourselves searching our past and we find that we have a lot of ideas. We would say that we are using every experience of our lives as we fulfill this mission. Another example, just this past week we were asked to provide a dinner for 80 missionaries at a Tri-Zone Conference. We immediately thought of a meal we prepared at Girls Camp and few years back. It was a big success. Once the meal was underway we ran over to the Temple where we served as ordinance workers as the missionaries performed 1,216 ordinances that evening. We are so thankful for the training that we received in the Denver Temple in preparation for our mission. The fact is, we are asked to do many things and we draw upon the many experiences of our lives.

We would like to close our message with the account of the first Christmas, Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

May you have the spirit of this Christmas, which is the feeling of an inner peace, the gladness of Christmas, which is hope, and the heart of Christmas, which is the love of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Love,

Elder and Sister Harris

Dear Friends and Family,

August 30: Why is it that the week that school starts there seems to be a change in the season? Even though the weather has never been hot this summer, still there seemed to be a change this past week as school throughout North Dakota commenced. We were staying in Williston, ND, on Thursday evening, so we could attend an early morning seminary class on Friday, and as we left the hotel at 5:45 AM we walked out into a cold front that felt like winter was in the air. Nooooo, we don't want the cold weather to come yet. We were hoping for a couple of warm months yet in our future. I believe that everyone in Idaho, Wyoming Colorado have experienced the same change. I guess we never really want the long awaited summer to leave us but it is inevitable unless one lives on the equator.

One of the signs of summer in the Dakotas are the Pow Wows that are held throughout the reservations. Each town or city on the reservation holds a Pow Wow in the months of June, July and August. The Grand Daddy of them was held September 11th, 12th and 13th, on the campus of the Affiliated Tribes School Campus in Bismarck. The Branch President of the Ft. Yates Branch, who works in food services at the school, provided the food for 3,500 participants. He was supported with 45 family and church members, who gave up their weekend. Some of you will ask what a "Pow Wow" is? A Pow Wow is where the Native Americans participate in cultural dancing and rituals. The People prepare costumes throughout the year so that they can compete in the dancing. We do not claim to understand how everything works but we do know that it is very important to these Native People. We attended the Fort Yates Pow Wow and we were touched by the feelings of community. As we sat and observed the opening of the Pow Wow we saw the many dancers, young and old, male and female, parading in their best and dancing to the chants of the singers and drums. Each community has their own group of singers and drummers, who sit in a circle and chant to the rhythm of a huge drum that they beat simultaneously. Each group of singers is known for the songs they sing and they are as important to the Pow Wow as the dancers. As we waited for the competition to start, the announcer welcomed everyone to Pow Wow and then said, "I want to welcome the Mormons who have come a long way to be at Pow Wow." We did not know what to do so we waved our hands like the politicians and other dignitaries had done prior to us. We did not know if the man was being sarcastic or not but we noticed that no other religion was recognized. We knew that there were many LDS members in the crowd, even if they had not been to church for years. People know us, even if they do not know our names.

September 21, 2009: With the starting of school we also welcome the beginning of Seminary. This is our reason for being in North Dakota and we have been anxious for classes to begin. We do not have to describe Early Morning Seminary since most of you lived through the 4 years seminary when you were young. But we would like to tell you about "On-line Seminary". There has been a pilot program which has been going for two years, this year being the third. This program is to help involved students who cannot attend an Early Morning Seminary due to distance or in rare cases, health problems. With the advent of the internet and a computer in every home, it didn't take long for Church Education to put together an on-line program. The program covers English speaking stakes from Hawaii, throughout North America, England, and even in the United Arab Emirates. A stake teacher runs the class from their computer, and the students go on-line 4 days a week (any time convenient for them) and complete a lesson each day. The lessons are colorful, interesting, use imbedded videos and forums where all students can answer the questions and work together on an idea. Their individual responses can be seen by their teacher, who can reply back to them specifically. Then once a week the teacher gets the class together, either in person, on a Skype audio program, or by what they call here "Phone Bridge." We completed our second conference call class this past Monday morning. We absolutely love our class and can hardly wait for another class this coming week.
We have 8 students in our class. Most are on the western side of our stake (West half of North Dakota.) We drove around once to meet them, explain the program, and get necessary signatures from parents. This past Friday and Saturday we drove around to see them in person, encourage, and see how they like the program. One young woman was working in a cafe after school. We stopped and ordered milk shakes and then enjoyed a short visit. Two of our young men were playing football Friday night and we went to their game. (I think we drove 350 miles Friday—it was worth the drive!) Today on the way home we stopped at a few homes and saw the families and students. We felt so very welcomed in their homes. This is a great option for kids who live too far away from a daily seminary. We hope it will be successful in our stake (Bismarck North Dakota Stake). It keeps us busy each morning reading their responses and writing them back.

We still have lots of interaction with our young Elders in all these locations. Last week we were able to help our Bismarck Elders teach a lesson in our home. We have district meeting every week we are here, and feed them afterwards. We still check the missionary’s apartments and cars and then take them to breakfast or lunch. They are great young men and we admire their understanding of the gospel and priesthood government. They seem so much better prepared than we were at that age. We see in many of them the leadership that will be required for the future. We also want to plug seminary at this time since we see a remarkable difference in those missionaries who graduated from seminary from those who did not. If there was ever a reason to attend seminary this is one of the big reasons.

We are also involved with a man, a few years younger than us, who keeps asking for baptism. He is hard to miss since he comes to church with a big black Stetson, blue jeans and cowboy boots. He looks great and is one of the better dressed in the branch! He is now taking the lessons, which he walks a couple of miles to attend. Reggie is very faithful with church attendance and seems to keep the word of wisdom. Each week he asks to be baptized. We are planning his baptism for the fourth week in October and he would like to have Pot Luck afterwards.

He tells us that he has been in three different movies or TV shows. He also tells us that he was one of the Native Americans in "Dances with Wolves". (It is hard to believe that "Dances with Wolves" came out almost 20 years ago.) . We are working on the Bismarck Stake Young Single Adult Conference, set for October. YSAs will come from several stakes for a 3 day conference here. They will come from Rapid City, SD, Sioux Falls, SD, Fargo, ND and Canada. The main focus of this conference will be the Bismarck North Dakota Temple. There will be plenty of fun and dances but with the Temple being 10 years old we will enjoy attending or working on the temple grounds.

Priesthood Service: In the past month we have had numerous requests to visit the hospitals in Bismarck to provide a blessing or contact to a member from out-of-town. These blessings have also included the blessing of the sacrament, blessings of strength, or comfort, or healing. These requests have come to be, in turn, a great blessing to our Elders and to us. All of these requests, so far, have been to visit members, or their loved ones, who comes from the Reservations in North and South Dakota. One man had been beaten by a gang of young men and left for dead. Another was a woman giving cesarean birth to her child. One brother was dying and wanted a blessing of comfort for his last days. Elder Harris has given blessings to people throughout his life but he tells me that there is a difference in the blessings given to these Native People. What seems different to him is the strength of the spirit that comes on behalf of these Lamanite people. Some of these people are inactive members, living hard lives, contrary to the commandments of the Lord and estranged from the Church. Nevertheless, great blessing are pronounced upon their heads. We have seen the priesthood manifested in power and authority.

The brother who had been beaten and left for dead had been unconscious for two weeks but awoke within the hour that the blessing was given him. Over a period of three weeks we watched his recovery, both physically and spiritually. We asked our missionaries to visit him and they were able to teach him the gospel, of which he seemed to have forgotten. From the day he awoke he took the Book of Mormon that we left and started to read. There was never a time when we visited, always unannounced, that we did not interrupt his study of the Book of Mormon. He received the sacrament for the first time in years. He was excited and happy. This past Sunday we were asked to visit a young man (30 years of age) who is dying. He is not a member of the church but his uncle, a faithful member, asked that we visit and, if possible, give him a blessing. When we entered the room we saw his mother and sister sitting with him. He sat in his bed, watching a football game. We could see that he had lost both of his feet from the effects of his illness. We visited briefly and then asked if there was anything that we could do for them. The mother said that they would appreciate a prayer. Elder Harris said, “We know we are not of your faith but can I give you a blessing?” The man said yes. Elder Harris asked him if he believed in Jesus Christ. The answer was yes. Elder Harris then placed his hands on the head of the man and pronounced a blessing of comfort, pouring out words of love from Heaven above. We then left the room. We were both so nervous; nevertheless once again a great blessing had come forth. Just today we learned that after we left the room the man turned to his mother and said, “Did you feel that? I have never felt such a feeling in my life.” The blessing was nothing that came from us but from power and authority unseen.
We never hear what happens when they return home to the reservations but we know, and bear testimony of, that the Lord’s blessings were poured out upon them when they acted in the slightest bit of faith. We have seen this over and over.

Now, if you have reached the end of this update then we congratulate you. We know that it is far too much for busy people to have to read. We leave you with our testimonies of this great latter-day work that is taking place throughout this world. We are happy, physically well and healthy and excited for each day of work that we are given. May our Father in Heaven bless each one of you.

Elder and Sister Harris

On-line Seminary

I decided that I better take a paragraph to explain the new seminary program we have here, because we will be talking a lot about it in our reports. There are several ways to do seminary - released time, early morning, and two kinds of home study. In Home study the students do their own work 4 days a week, and on the 5th day there is a lesson from a teacher - maybe a teacher, or neighbor, or whom ever. Because the success of this program depends on the student's willingness to do 4 lessons alone, and on the parent's (or whomever) willingness to do a weekly lesson, only 25% of the students complete the year. With the advent of the internet and a computer in every home, it didn't take long to put together an on-line program. It's a pilot program in 55 English speaking areas this year, from Hawaii, across America (including Olathe, Kansas and our stake in Bismarck) in England, and even in the United Arab Emerates. A stake teacher runs the class from her computer, and the students go on-line 4 days a week (any time convenient for them) and complete a lesson each day. The lessons are colorful, interesting, use imbedded videos and forums where all students can answer the question and work together on an idea. Their individual responses come to the teacher, who can reply back to them specifically. Then once a week the teacher gets the class together, either in person, on a Skype audio program, or by what they call here "phone bridge." (the old "conference call") That is what we will try on Monday.

Steve/Dad and I are the teachers in our stake. We have 8 students in our class. Most are on the western side of our stake and state. We drove around once to meet them and get the necessary signatures. This Fri/Sat we drove around to see them in person, encourage, and see how they like the program. One young woman was working in a cafe after school. We stopped for milk shakes and a "hello." Two were playing football Friday night and we went to their game. (I think we drove 350 miles Friday)--just an ordinary day for us!) Today on the way home we stopped at a few homes and saw the families and students. This is a great option for kids who live too far away from a daily seminary option. We hope it will be successful in our stake. It keeps us busy each morning reading their responses and writing them back.

Last week we had a 2 hour bridge call with teachers in the program - it was kind of cool to be linked with teachers from Hawaii to England. They had to work hard to find a time that would work for all those time zones!

Besides our 8 on line students, we have a few other on the old home study program (either they didn't have a fast computer or their parents didn't want the on-line program), and 5 daily classes. We are just starting to visit them again. And we visit the two institute programs also. Our schedule will start to get busy again. We are grateful for the beautiful weather right now that makes the traveling so enjoyable. It's a time of harvest here, and there is a lot to see. It's been a great growing season in North Dakota.

We still have lots of interaction with our young Elders in all these locations. Last week we were able to help our Bismarck Elders teach a lesson in our home. We have district meeting every week we are here, and feed them afterwards. This next week we will be checking their apartments and cars and taking them to breakfast or lunch. They are great young men. And we are working on a Bismarck Stake Young Single Adult Conference for October. YSAs will come from several stakes for a 3 day conference here.

We worry in terms of HR (300 people), but actually there will only be 80 - much more manageable.

Well, that's a run down on how we are filling our time. We're happy and healthy.

Love - Kris/Mom

Mission Update

To Our Family and Friends,

Today is Tuesday, August 18th, 2009. We have now been on our mission for 6 1/2 months and we have seen winter, spring and a cool summer. Last week Bismarck made the national news with temperatures reaching 100 degrees. Wouldn't you know that we were traveling to Minot where it was only 97 degrees. We have come to be highly suspicious of temperature readings around here because there seems to be some exaggerations on the part of the populist. This may be the case with most places but maybe a wee bit more for North Dakota. When we were freezing at a -20 everyone told us that it was a -30. The other day when it was +97, someone told us it was +115. You can see why we are reluctant to accept some of the claims that people make. Most of the summer has been cool with temperatures in the 70s. We have had less than a week of temperatures over 90 degrees.

The other day, in a phone conversation, we were asked if North Dakota grew anything. How I wish that I had a camera that could take a picture of the vast fields of corn, wheat, barley, oats, flax, canola, sun flowers, every type of bean and all other varieties of crops. As far as the eye can see there are fields of beautiful grains and corn. Right now the sun flowers are maturing and one can see thousands of acres of "Yellow". There are also huge grass lands with cattle grazing. This year, because of the heavy snows and the later rains, the land is green and lush. Cattle have had all of the grass they could eat and they are healthy and fat. There are some worries over the crops because of the short growing season. Many fields were planted late because of the slow snow melt and the wet soil. The farmers and ranchers would like to have 3 to 4 weeks of high heat so the corn and sun flowers could grow fast and mature. This morning it was 43 degrees so we will see what happens in the next month. No one wants an early winter.

(This is not a river- this is a field of flax)

Today is transfer day in the mission. Because of the many states and cities, within the Rapid City South Dakota Mission, the mission uses a 12 passenger van, with a large trailer, and they run through the mission, picking up missionaries and dropping them off in their new areas. This transfer van is called the Transfer Train. It will gather missionaries from Minnesota on the east to missionary in Sheridan Wyoming on the west and it will take approximately three days to make all of the stops. Tonight it will reach Bismarck where we will greet some hungry elders with a hot meal. Besides the missionaries on the Train we also have other missionaries driving to Bismarck tonight where they will make transfers and take missionaries back to their areas. We feed this "Train" monthly and have figured a way to feed them quickly without a lot of clean up afterwards. We have picked up a ham that is cooking in a Crock Pot and we will include a big baked potato, some corn, whole wheat rolls, and some fruit. To finish the meal we will serve cake and ice cream. The cake today is made from the zucchini squash which two of our elders grew in their garden. These elders live on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and they planted a garden in back of their home. Among the lettuce and carrots they also planted about 10 squash plants, not aware of the law of the harvest, and are now feeding zucchini squash to all of Fort Yates, 25% of the Sioux Tribe. There have been a lot of laughs about the number of squash they have given away and so it is fitting that as these elders move on that we should feed Zucchini Cake for desert tonight.

Along with the transfer we are also sadden to see a number of elders going home where they will be released by their stake presidents. This is what every elder looks forward to but when the two years are up they find that leaving the people whom they have come to love is very hard. Many tears are shed. In our area four elders, three of whom we have known since arriving in February, will complete their missions. They have served well and have been faithful servants. We will all miss them.

One of these elders has served 18 months on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. His father will be driving out from Seattle to pick him up later this week. Interesting enough his father also served on the same reservation when he was a missionary thirty years ago. This coming Friday, Elder Davis will be adopted into the Sioux tribe. He is being honored because of his service to so many people, in and out of the church. He is embarrassed over the attention and would rather not go through such an honor but it would be looked upon as an insult to the tribe if he refused. This young elder stated that all he ever wanted to do was to teach these people the gospel of Jesus Christ. He would have wanted to baptize a few more families rather than receive an honor. His father will be with him and he will see how much these people love his son. There are many social problems on the reservations but Elder Davis has never been judgmental and has just loved each and every one he ever met. I will include a picture of Elder Davis.

Our summer months have been spent in preparation for the new Seminary Year, which will start next week. (We realize that Seminary started this week for those of you in Highlands Ranch.) During the summer is when "In-service" is taught to the teachers. Because of the distances involved in the Bismarck North Dakota stake we have put together in-service lessons which have been mailed to our teachers, followed up by a visit from us. It has been a joy traveling around and meeting with our wonderful teachers and discussing better ways to teach the Book of Mormon. We have made the rounds three times to teach in-service and one additional time to deliver materials and manuals. We have now put 24,000 miles on our Honda Civic since leaving Colorado. We think that we have traveled most of the roads in the western half of North Dakota and a number of the roads in South Dakota. No wonder we have seen so much of this beautiful land.

We want to tell you of a Sister in Fort Yates who has now read the Book of Mormon 18 times. She was baptized about 18 months ago and has never stopped reading the Book of Mormon. A quick calculation shows that she completes the reading of the Book of Mormon every month. About a week ago she received her endowments in the temple. Before she was baptized she had a history of alcohol abuse. She now is running a 12 step program in Ft. Yates for alcoholics. She believes that the Book of Mormon was written to her people and that it has given her the strength to keep sober. I can tell you that she will read three chapters today, and every day. Her testimony is that it was written to the Lamanites. She loves this set of scripture.

We are enjoying our preparation for Seminary, which will be a study of the Book of Mormon. The story that we have just related is a perfect example of how we should all be searching for the truths found this book. We have been memorizing the "Scripture Mastery" scriptures and have done better with our memorization than we had anticipated. Out of the 25 scriptures we have about 17 memorized. By doing this we have come to appreciate the beauty of the wording and phrases in this great book. The writings of the Book of Mormon are masterful and filled with beauty. We marvel over it all. We are also reading and we would like to complete the book by the end of the year. We are taking it slowly so that we can study in detail and not just read. We want to be prepared for our teachers and students. We are encouraged to spend two hours studying a day. If we did this faithfully we would have completed the Book of Mormon by now. We had better focus on this great study.

It is a great blessing to be able to work in the temple here in Bismarck. We are so thankful for the training and experience that we received in the Denver temple. Even though there are always things to learn regarding the ordinances of the temple, we came into this mission prepared to do temple work immediately. We have explained too many of you before that working in a small temple has its challenges. The majority of temple workers for the Bismarck Temple come from one ward, the Bismarck Ward. The closest town outside of Bismarck is Minot, two hours away. You can imagine that most of the work that is done in the Bismarck Temple is done by the Bismarck ward. This does not take anything away from the other wards and stakes in this temple district. Those who come from Rapid City or Sioux Falls have to drive 6 hours to get to Bismarck and then return or stay over night. With that said we would like to say that we have never seen the temple closed because of a lack of attendance. We understand that even during the severe blizzards that local people still showed up at the door, willing to work. Well, we are blessed to work with these wonderful people. Everyone wants more people in the temple but we need to be grateful to those who make it all happen. Our temple presidency works very hard to keep everything working and we so admire them. They are always happy and excited to see us and take every opportunity to greet us and thank us for coming to work in the temple. We are thankful for this part of our mission.

We love our time while serving in this area. So that you know that not everything that happens in North Dakota is "wonderful" (That is how this news update sounds) we want you to know that we also see a lot of heartache and sadness. Our missionaries want to teach and baptize. They plan and prepare only to be forgotten or turned away. I cannot say how many times we have gone out to work with the missionaries only to find that their appointments are not home or will not open the door. We see them at the door of the chapels waiting for their investigators to arrive only to be disappointed. On the reservation we drive to the homes of members to transport them to the church and find that they have slept late and are not ready to go. There is far too much of this but all of these things do not take away from the excitement of the "Work". We have also seen baptisms of families and individuals. The story that we related to you above is most precious. We love the service and the time together and we are happy being here.

We miss you all. We pray for you at home but we know what capable leaders you have and how strong your testimonies are. We encourage you to support the missionaries in your stake and wards and especially the new converts. May our Father in Heaven bless each of you.

Love from here,

Elder and Sister Harris

July 10, 2009

I started looking for the last time that we reported, and went back a ways before I found something - so we are behind. We wondered what we would do during the summer, but we have kept busy every day.

In our CES work, we are trying to arrange classes and teachers for next year. Most of the ones from last year will continue, but we are finding more youth sprinkled all over the stake who would like Seminary or Institute. We are still attending the Minot institute Wednesday nights, and we are sending out email Inservice lessons to help the teachers prepare for this year's study of the Book of Mormon. We're re-reading the BOM ourselves, and working to memorize all 25 Scripture Mastery scriptures before the start of the year.

Because we don't have Bismarck Institute on Thursday nights, we are able to work in the Temple on both Thurs and Friday nights some weeks. This saturday we will also be there with our District, and another Saturday we will go with a sister receiving her endowment. With summer vacations taking members different directions, the temple presidency are always happy to see us come through the doors to help.

We're enjoying our Elders in this Zone. We feed them lunch after the weekly District meetings (12 people), and feed the Transfer Train when it comes through every 6 weeks (as many as 22). We inspect their apts and cars (the level of cleanliness and order is improving), give them a big candy bar as a reward, and take them to breakfast or lunch afterwards. They like to see us coming. We also have weekly opportunities to visit and teach investigators with them.

We have been at the McLaughlin Branch for about 2 months now on Sundays. I think this week we will begin to attend at Ft. yates again. We love the members in those branches and are involved in their lives and challenges. We were in McLaughlin for the 4th of July and enjoyed the parade and pot luck at a member's home.

We have Stake Youth Conference in two weeks. They are going up to a Youth Camp about 40 miles out of town. We asked if we could attend to be with our Seminary youth and help in any way. We liked the thought of standing by the wall observing. This morning we got a call saying their key note speakers couldn't come, and could we speak for an hour, introduce the theme, and make it fun and exciting for the kids??? The theme is about being an outward example of inward beliefs, taken from 1st Timothy 4:12. I don't have to describe the overwhelming feeling we have about this assignment. Will you please pray for us?? That is a serious request. Please - we need your faith and prayers.

We are in the season of serious thunderstorms. Wed night a tornado took out part of Dickinson, where we have attended seminary and church. But inbetween the weather is beautiful. Some of the planted fields are canola, and right now their yellow blossoms turn the whole field bright yellow. It is beautiful to see as we travel. We'll put on some pictures. We are happy and healthy.

Love to all of you - Elder and Sister Harris

Father's Day Visitors

From Katie:
WOW!! What a weekend we have had! Friday night around 11:00pm, Layna and Matt called us because they decided that they wanted to spend Fathers Day with our dad. We emidiately agreed to come with them. So we left Denver early Saturday morning, telling almost no one where we were headed, including mom and dad. After driving all day through WY, SD and ND, we got into Bismarck around 6:20pm. One problem, mom and dad weren't at their apartment. so as we were waiting for them, we drove around the close resturants looking for them and trying to call from my cell. When I finally got a hold of Dad, they passed us in the car. I chatted with them (never mentioning that we weren't in Denver) while they unloaded groceries. When hey finally went into heir apartment, we snuck up to the apartment, knocked on the fron door and yelled "happy fathers day!" when dad answered. Mom was changing and didn't realize it was us. She was QUITE surprised when she came out expecting from young single adults from the area. It was a WONDERFUL surprise!! Probably the only fathers day gift dad would happily accept! Mom and dad showed us around Bismark, showing us the church bld, temple, capital, parks, and river. We ended with dinner at Golden Corral, where everyone got whatthey wanted, including dessert.

Sunday morning Dad made us an excellent breakfast of friend potatoes and sausage! YUMMY!!!!! We drove 2 hours with them to the branch at McLaughlin. There were probably 16 people there besides us and mom and dad. We only stayed for the sacrament and then had to leave. It was a tini bld with wonderful members! It was a tearful goodbye and we wish that we would have had more time with mom and dad. It was so WONDERFUL to see them, see where they are living, see a little of where they travel, and see the wonderful work they are doing!! Bismarck is lovely and we could easily see why mom and dad love it so much!! What a wonderful weekend, however short it was!!

On the Road Again.... (humming)

The trusty road warriors have been on the road again. As with anything done over and over, we are getting very good at packing, living out of the car, driving several hours at a time. We really enjoy the spring greenery all around - it is beautiful in all directions.

Tuesday we had District Meeting at our house, and fed the missionaries lunch afterwards. What great young men. When they sing together, teach, and testify there is a wonderful spirit in our home.

Wednesday morning we packed the car and drove to Minot, 2 hours north of us. We attended the Minot District Meeting, inspected some missionary apartments and cars, and did some other CES things while in town. We stayed overnight at our favorite bed and breakfast, the Dakota Rose.

After breakfast the next morning we drove 2 hours back to Bismarck, quickly grabbed a few things we needed, and drove on to Pierre, about 4 hours south of us. We met with the new Senior missionary couple there, the Faerbers from Idaho Falls. They are part time proselyting missionaries and part time CES missionaries for the Pierre District. We did a little training about CES things for them. We had dinner with them and the full time Elders in Pierre that night.

Thursday we worked with them again in the morning, took them to lunch, and then drove 3 hours west to Rapid City So. Dakota. We stopped at the famous (at least in billboards all over the western US) Wall Drug. We didn't buy anything, but did see lots of tourists and lots of tourist trinkets. On to Rapid City, where we attended a Young Single Adult conference Friday night and Saturday during the day.

Friday night they had games and treats at the stake center there. Saturday we had breakfast at the church, a service project at a local Children's playground, a trip to Mt. Rushmore, and lunch in a nearyby city park. That evening they had special speakers and a very nice dinner and dance at the church. We really enjoyed getting to meet the YSAs from Rapid City, Sioux City (SD), and Gilette, Wyoming.

Today is Sunday, and we got up very early to drive 5 hours north and NW to attend church in Dickinson, North Dakota. That is one of our Bismrack Stake branches (also seminary class), so we knew a few people. They had a regular 3 hour block church, and we got to know some of the people there, before driving 2 more hours east to Bismarck. I hope that makes sort of a square.

Someone will add up hours and directions and figure out we should be somewhere in Nebraska or Montana. Chalk it up to my sense of direction. At least we got home! Tonight we will attend our Bismarck Ward YSA fireside. It's all good.

The weather has been very nice/some rain but easy driving and we are in good health. Watch for postcards from Mt. Rushmore next week.

Thanks for emails, letters, calls, pictures. We love hearing from you.

Love you-Mom/Kris/a.k.a Sr. Harris :)

p.s. - today we passed North Dakota's highest "peak" - 3118 feet. Anyone wanting to climb the tallest mtn in any state might as well start with North Dakota.

Memorial Day

It sounds like almost everywhere had cold rainy weather for the holiday.   Saturday we went to Ft. Yates to join the Elders there for some service projects.   (we got to wear jeans - a first for us)   First we went to the ranch of the RS president and helped her family brand cattle.   You can see from the pictures that Dad got right into things.   I held everyone's cameras.   Well, someone had to do it. :)   They fed us lunch afterwards set out on the tail gate of a truck. (my first tail gate party). 

Working with Elder Davis - he took hold of the back leg and Steve "flopped" the calf on its side.

The family branded about 70 caves on Saturday.   They end up with a tag in their ears, three different shots, the brand and for the males they are made steers.   These people made it all look so easy and they were very fast.

 

Next we went to a woman who's not a member of the church, but likes the missionaries.   She is 80 years old and lives alone in Ft. Yates.   We helped her plant her garden in the back - tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, and do some yard work there.   She showed us many quilts she has made, and gave us some beautiful key rings made from antlers that are carved into animal shapes.   Her son carves them, and they are her "thank you" gift for helping.

What a wonderful picture of Elder Davis and Elder Grant with a sweet Sioux baby girl, framed by the center of a Star Quilt.

We did a couple of other things for people before leaving Ft. Yates.   When we got home we had ice cream with a couple we know here in Bismarck.

Sunday we went to McLaughlin Branch to church (about 100 mile drive) to do music for sacrament mtg, and then drove to Ft. Yates to help there at the end of their meetings.   Wonderful people in both places.   We met with the Bismarck YSAs that evening.

Seen on many fences in North Dakota.   A boot on the fence was a sign that the person living down the lane was home.  Now boots on fence posts are just decoration.

North Dakota has one of the largest oil reserves in North America.   This is a site you see all over the Northwest part of North Dakota.   The people tell us that as long as the company can get $60.00 a barrel they can continue to drill new wells.   The storage tanks will fill and then the crude oil is trucked away by trucks to Mandan where it is refined.

Another sign that one is traveling through North Dakota are the piles of rocks in the fields.   The farmers pull them into one big pile.   These giant rocks are all over the land - remnants of the last Ice Age.   Steve remembers Denmark looking like this.

Monday morning there was a temple endowment session we attended.   They also do one on Labor Day.   Some people come who can't get to the temple other times.   It's graduation time here, so in the afternoon we attended an open house for one of the graduates.   Except for an hour's walk around the local golf course (where we found 8 golf balls in different places around the sidewalk and gave them to golfers we saw) we stayed inside where it was warm.

Summer's officially started. Yahoo! 

Love Elder and Sister Harris

Dad and I have had a big weekend. There was a big youth activity Saturday morning at our church (for the Stake, which means lots of travel for everyone outside Bismarck.) Then seminary graduation Saturday afternoon, which went very nicely. We did a lot of work to prepare for that - collecting lists of stake awards and special recognitions for students and teachers, printing the program, arranging music, printing diplomas and Stake President's Awards, etc - but all went very well. I played the organ for the graduation - my first chance since coming here. (don't want to get too rusty).

A special treat was that the missionaries here before us, Lund and Karen Johnson from Pocatello, came for the graduation and we got to meet them. It was so fun to see them face to face, and we visited all weekend about various things. They had a busy schedule seeing the people they wanted to see, but we ended up at the same activities. They are great people and we are very happy to know them.

Today was Branch Conference in the two branches on the Reservation - McLaughlin South Dakota (10 to 1), and Ft. Yates (1-3). We attended both, and I played the piano for both meetings. All the Stake people also attended both - following each other in cars down to McL and then back to Ft. Yates, and finally home. You will notice that the small branches only have a 2 hour block, but most people drive a ways to get there. For us it's 1 1/2 hrs each way to Ft. Y. (McL is another half hour further). That would be like driving from HR to Ft. Collins each week for church. If we drove that far in Colo, we'd be in traffic all the way. Here we drive along the Missouri River, a very quiet ride (at 65 mph) - past buffalo, cows, horses, wild turkeys, fields turning green, flooding (we see willow trees putting on leaves, and the water covers their entire trunks) and other signs of spring. We enjoy the drive very much.

Saturday at the stake youth activity, we walked into the gym and knew the name of every seminary-aged teenager there. It was a great feeling to be able to visit with each one. We are beginning to feel very much at home here. All is well. Thanks for your continued prayers.

Love - Mom

Oh the Sun Shown Down and the Floods Came Up

We’re whizzing down the road on our way to Williston, 4 hours away, and our hearts are turning to song: “Oh the sun shone down and the floods came up…”

We have had one week of warmer weather (meaning the temperatures were above freezing) and the snow has begun to melt. Since the ground underneath is still frozen, the water is running downhill. As we drive along the roads the barrow pits on either side are filled with water, and in many places entire fields now look like small lakes. Some roads are closed because the water on one side is flowing over the road on to the other side. We drove through an area like that yesterday when we took someone home from church. Picture shows the flooding-- You can seewhere the fence was in what used to be a field by the side of the road. We are seeing this all over ND.

The ice has broken up on top of the rivers, and there is worry that the ice, logs and other debris will form dams at the bridges, flooding land behind it, and then when the water breaks through, the debris will tear up the bridge. (The pieces of ice look to be 24 inches thick and some of the pieces are raft size) There will be major flooding in Fargo this week, but Bismarck is in the middle of the state. Nevertheless there are flood warnings for the local area since the small contributories are causing some real problems. Once again we are driving into the western part of ND as a big storm comes into Bismarck. This is a rough spring for this area of the country. Picture shows the broken ice, piled up in front of the bridge.

“We are all enlisted….” For the last few weeks we have attended two different branches on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. There are less than 30 members attending each Branch, the majority of them are middle aged women. One of the branches has about 350 members and the other over 400, but few are active and most unsupportive. It is very touching to hear them pray that their children and grandchildren will be strong and remain active. We drive an hour and a half from Bismarck to get to the branches, but there are two Elders and a Senior Couple who live on the reservation and work there full time.

On Sunday we attended the Ft. Yates branch. It was a great day for them, because they had over 30 people attending. The Branch President is Native American, and his wife was the RS President until Sunday, when she was sustained as the YW President and another woman called as RS president. The Branch President serves without counselors and his only help are the full time missionaries. They have a 2 hour block; one hour for Sacrament meeting, and the 2nd hour for Relief Society/Primary/Priesthood/Young Women. After the meetings there is pot luck on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. The Branch president brings the main dish (he is a chef in Bismarck) and the members bring other dishes. After lunch the members fill plates with the leftovers and take them home. We have supplied our baked beans for two Sundays and we go home without leftovers.

We can’t say too much about the branches since we have only attended for three week but we see that only a few of the sisters come dressed in dresses and a few boys and men in white shirts but the remainder come to church in T-shirts and pants. This seems to be the dress for most attending. We are using surnames such as “Yelloweyes” “Elk” “Baldeagel” and Antelope”, different from Sollee, Condie, and Webb. These are brother and sisters that we will come to know and love. We both have noticed that there is a very strong presence of the Spirit in our meetings and we are both humbled and blessed with the outpouring that seems to be with us all.

We will both assume responsibilities in the branch and if possible we will try to meet with some of the inactive leaders of the past to invite them to join with us once again. There are duties that we can assist our branch president without making him feel intimidated. This is our hope and our desire.

“As Sisters in Zion we all work together…” Saturday there was a Relief Society celebration with both branches, held in Ft Yates. The women attending (20 - about the same number as the original RS meeting) stood to sing “The Spirit of God” as an opening song, and I think it was as thrilling to me as when we sang it with 2000 missionaries at the MTC. Their program went from 10:00 to 3 and included several talks and lunch. There had been a lot of effort in invitations, table decorations, and hand outs. They asked that I be their Key-note speaker which was a great privilege.
Two of the sisters are originally from Samoa, and did a Samoan dance during lunch. (We seem to see the Samoan culture throughout the church where ever we go) The one sister went home to look in her book (on the Samoan Temple) and found that it had been written by Carl Harris. She was very excited that his brother was in their branch. And as always, there are connections. We met a 90 yr old woman at the branch in McLaughlin South Dakota who comes from Tremonton and went to the same high school as Elder Harris and my mother. Picture shows Brand Pres and his wife on the top left, flowers from Steve to women, wagon wheel part of my talk.

“There is work enough to do…”Besides our work in the Branch, we have been wearing other hats. We went to Fargo for a conference with other CES senior couples. We learned how to prepare for Seminary graduation and how to order next year’s supplies, got some good ideas for in-service meetings, and enjoyed the fellowship of the other Senior Couples. We have visited a member in the hospital, helped Elders with car maintenance issues, attended Young Single Adult firesides and Institutes. We work in the Bismarck Temple once a week. We had dinner with a woman being baptized this weekend, who’s first exposure to the church came when she lived in Olathe, Ks (where we did) next to friends of ours. (Gaylin and Pam Thomas) This week we are traveling through Williston, Ray and Minot attending the Seminary and Institute classes.

“I’m glad they called me on a mission…”Here are some things we like about our mission: First and foremost – doing all these things together. It’s great to work together on every assignment, to plan, prepare and pray about the same things. Steve tells me that we are finally getting our second Honey Moon, and in many ways that is true. Next, we like the variety of the work we have here—always something different, and very often, something new. Many times our days fill up with the unexpected – the call to go to the hospital, the unexpected visit of missionaries from another town, the request to talk in a ward or branch. We are among wonderful faithful people, and are inspired by them.


Picture shows a white buffalo in the field. They are very significant to the Native Americans. There were about three of them on this field.

We send our love to each of you – our friends and extended family. Thanks for your support.

Elder and Sister Harris

The Snow is FINALLY Melting

Hi everyone - tomorrow and Friday Steve and I will be in Fargo, for a quick meeting with the other CES missionaries from our area. We'll be meeting people that we have only heard on conference calls. Everyone says it's a fun get together. We are driving with another couple who come from Rapid City SD. We'll be back by Friday night. Just wanted you to know that our cell phone will be turned off most of the time, and I don't think we are taking our computer for this short trip.

There are things I see or use every day that remind me of each of you. Katie made that wonderful calendar from your pictures. In March there is the picture of Andrew at the 4th of July celebration at Nana's park, many of us on top of Colt's mountain, Addie-Laurel-Hauna at Adele's shower (what a picture of 3 beautiful girls!) and a picture of Madison and Kaylee. I carry my scriptures in the bag that Kayla gave me, eat the granola that Addie made, listen go the Go Gear that Layna and Max loaded for me, and soon will be using the Web Cam that Kirk and Tristin got. There are so many things that keep me saying "thank you" over and over in my mind. We never feel far away from the family.

It's not that warm here, but still warm enough to melt some of the snow. I feel like Noah, getting excited to see the dry land appear! The gutters are running with water wherever we look, and the snow is disappearing off the lawns. We had a heater plug put in the engine after last week's -20 degree weather. Hopefully we won't need them again until next winter.

I told you I didn't see any plug-ins?? When the snow melted, there were plug-ins outside our very apartment house about every 10 feet. I'll have to take a picture to show you what these look like. As the snow melts, the Christmas decorations are appearing. A big pile of snow in someone's yard turned out to be a full size Santa on a sleigh. Rudolph and the elves aren't looking very good after 4 months of ice and cold. There is water from the melting snow, and then it freezes at night, so there is always lots of ice in the morning, but soon Steve and I will be able to walk outside in the mornings.

Last weekend we went to the McLaughlin (South Dakota) branch, on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, with a congregation of native americans, whites, and even a man from Yugoslavia. We met a 90 year old woman who comes from Tremonton and is a cousin to a man who was one of Dad's good friends in Elwood. Always a small world. I am going to the reservation Saturday to give a talk for their Relief Society celebration. There aren't many people, but I feel there is a lot for us to learn from them.

Elder and Sister Harris

Photo Update

North Dakota Bismarck Temple

Snow bank next to our Garage. Our fear is that when this snow melts that our garage will be submerged in water. (We do not stay awake at night worrying about this)
The Minot ward building.

This is the back of the church. Yeah - they don't try to get in that way.

They did shovel the sidewalk to the door.

I told you we hadn't seen plug ins, but now we have. The trucks from the oil fields were plugged in over night. The boxes on the side of the hotel are the connections.

Native American Art: Dedicated to the Bald Eagles who live in the river.

March 1st Report

We had a great week in North Dakota. Here's a run down of our important activities.
Monday - didn't leave town until 4, but eventually got to Williston. There are a lot of things we saw along the road that we would like to take time to see on later trips.

Tuesday morning we visited the Ray seminary - one good woman teaching 3 kids in her living room. We took them sweet rolls and gave a large candy bar to any student who is consecutively reading the scriptures. We met the 2 missionaries serving in Williston and bought them lunch. The substitute seminary teacher in Williston asked us to teach the lesson the next morning, so we spent part of that day preparing the lesson. (Romans 8 and 9)
Wednesday morning we taught seminary and took sweet rolls to the church in Williston, and met 8 great kids and their Seminary substitutes, the Quallys. They have already served 2 missions and are preparing for their 3rd. Their first mission was in Nauvoo, because Bro. Qually could drive a horse and buggy. Their second was to a church dairy farm in Alberta, Utah, where they did a variety of things, but mainly taught English to people from Burma who were working there. The church as amazing assignments for Senior Missionaries.

We drove to Minot and met their 4 missionaries for lunch at a place called "Space Aliens", where they were having an all-you-could-eat-ribs day. Those young men didn't go home hungry! We drove 2 of the Elders to the church in Minot where they were meeting a ride for a teaching appointment, and then came back at 5:30 to go with them to see a single sister they are visiting. Back at the church at 7:00, we attended the Young Single Adult Institute class, and provided apples and caramel dip, and oranges for treat afterwards. There is an amazing amount of snow on the ground in Minot. Diane, two of the young men at Institute are from Nigeria, going to college in Minot. We took some pictures at the church that we will post later. As we have driven between these cities the sun has been shining, and there is snow as far as the eye can see. It is very beautiful, but it will be fun to watch it melt and all turn green in a month or two.

Thursday morning we attended the Minot seminary (sweet rolls again) and enjoyed the large class there. Afterwards we headed for home in a minor snow storm, but got back to Bismarck without any difficulty. That evening we attended the Bismarck Institute again.

Friday was sort of our "P-day" (preparation day, for those who don't know.) We ran errands, got our hair cut, etc. That evening was a satellite broadcast for CES teachers (seminary and Institute) called "An Evening With a General Authority", where we listened to an address by Elder Quentin L. Cook. His comments were excellent - I will try to send you a printed copy when it's available to us. As the special number, they had a chorus of missionaries from Temple Square who sang phrases of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in different languages. Dad/Steve set up the satellite and we planned for treats afterwards there also for the teachers who attended with us. We taped the broadcast, and are making copies to take to the teachers in outlying areas this week.
Saturday we worked in the temple until it closed, around 3:00pm. We had a variety of assignments there, and got to meet more people. We had the 4 Elders from Bismarck/Mandan to dinner, so we prepared that when we got home from the temple. After they left we got thinking about the meal the Young Single Adults in Bismarck are having tonight before the CES Satellite Broadcast, and decided to go to Sams and buy more food. Things have been assigned, but we didn't think there would be enough. Guess we'll see in a few hours. We made flyers to take to church today to remind all the singles of the broadcast. Elder Hales is speaking. Some of you might see it on BYU TV.

his morning I got to accompany a vocal duet and play the hymns for the Visiting Teaching meeting during Relief Society. I practiced at the church Friday when we went over during the day to make sure the satellite was working correctly. (reception was fine, but the language was Spanish...we eventually got that corrected.) This morning the hymns had been changed, and the opening song was one that I have never even heard, much less played. What are the odds? It's hymn #311 "We Meet Again As Sisters". The women seemed to know it, so apparently they sing it up here. I came home and listened to it a couple of time on my CDs to hear the measures I didn't get right. :(

Well, it sounds like lots of driving and lots of sweet rolls and other treats. Yes, it's been all of that, but we have really enjoyed meeting some of the teachers, students and missionaries in our stake. We have been interested to see parts of North Dakota that are new to us. We are happy to be busy. The trip we took this week is called "the Northern Tour", so in future letters when I say that's what we did, you will know without me taking many paragraphs to describe it all. I imagine there are some of you even in my own family who will not want to read this much about our activities here.

One more interesting thing. Friday at the church we met two men who were waiting to receive temple recommends from the Stake President. These men are close to our age, and were converted when they read the Book of Mormon in a Greek Orthodox abbey. They were cloistered monks who never cut their hair, on their head or on their face. One had his previous driver's license with his long beard to his waist - scary! Someone left a BOM in their mailbox years ago that was in the monastary library, and when they read it they knew immediately that it was true and joined the church. They gave up their vocation and all the security of being there. They now live in Minot and have jobs and all the stresses of our world. Very interesting to talk to them. They have very firm and strong testimonies.

This Tuesday there are mission transfers, and the Elders and Sisters move to different locations on what the missionaries call "the Transfer Train." The mission owns a 15 seat van, which drives around the mission picking up and delivering missionaries. (our mission is all of North and South Dakota and come pieces of states that touch. It can't be a fast trip) We may have Elders or Sisters spending the night with us during some transfers. It's nice to know that we won't ever have to ride the "transfer train" and can stay comfortable here in our apartment.

We love all of you. We pray for you, and and grateful for your prayers for us.
Elder and Sister Harris :)

Answering Some Questions

Frequently asked question: What will you be doing on your mission?

Frequently given response: We don’t know

Today’s response: We know! Here is our “job description”

We are officially named Seminary and Institute Coordinators, and most of our work is in the Bismarck North Dakota Stake. This Stake covers 2/3 of North Dakota, and is comprised of 4 wards and 6 branches. There is one ward in Bismarck, two in Minot, and one in Williston (by the Montana border.) Each of those cities is about 2 hours apart. There is a seminary class in each of those cities, and in one of the branches. In addition, there are parents or teachers holding home study or daily classes in smaller areas scattered throughout our stake. An institute class meets Wednesday in Minot and Thursday in Bismarck. We are the link to the CES system. We will be involved with everything that makes these classes happen – selection of teachers, registering students, tracking attendance, teacher inservice, reimbursement, ordering supplies, certificates and graduation. We are supervised by the area office in Minneapolis. Much of this is “office work” A big part of our responsibilities will be visiting these classes, getting to know the teachers and students.

Part of our activities here in Bismarck involved the Young Single Adults and their activities. They have their own SS class that we attend, and when in town we attend all their activities and their institute.

In addition, we are missionaries, and work with the Elders and Sisters in these areas. We will let them know when we are coming to their areas, and offer to join with them in their missionary work while we are there.

We are just picking up speed, but this week is kind of an example of our work here “at home”. Monday night we had FHE with the YS Adults, this morning there was a conference call with our Mission President, tonight the missionaries are teaching a discussion to a young women who will be baptized this weekend here at our home. Tomorrow morning we will attend the Bismarck Seminary, and then later in the morning the missionaries are coming to our apt for their District meeting, and we will feed them lunch afterwards. We are working on our schedule for the rest of the week, but we know we will attend Institute here on Thursday night. Saturday morning there will be a baptism, and another one Sunday night, so our Mission President is coming from South Dakota for those, and we will have a chance to meet him. Next week we hope to be on the road to Williston and Minot to visit the groups there. The former couple said that when we visit, we give awards for consecutive scripture reading, take treats, and do whatever else the teacher would like.

In between these activities we are working in the office, getting settled in our apartment, and trying to work out the schedule for our new life.

WEATHER
Since everyone’s response to our North Dakota mission call has been “you’re going to be cold,” I’d like to mention the weather. They’ve certainly had some tough weather up here this winter, but since we’ve arrived it has just been normal winter weather. No one “plugs in” their cars in Bismarck, and many people leave their cars outside all night. We’re lucky enough to have a garage, but even some of the people in our apartment park on the street. We’ve noticed that even when the temperature isn’t above freezing, the snow is still melting in the streets during the day, so the sun does shine here, and eventually all the snow will melt.

WARD
Ward is great ward here in Bismarck. People come from all around the city and outside areas. We have been warmly welcomed. Most of the Stake organization and Temple Presidency comes from this ward, so many good people. And always the connections – The Stake President comes from Arvada; we were at a home last night where the woman’s mother was raised in Tremonton; the Elders Quorum President is the son of Lynn Southam, a former Denver Stake President and friend of Steve's through wood badge.

SHOPPING
There is everything here we are used to, in stores and franchised eating places. There’s a big grocery store just 2 blocks away (open 24 hrs) and several shopping malls. We went to the big one this morning to walk indoors, and there is every store that would ever be needed . There are the stores that remind me of shopping with my some of you (Zumies, the Buckle, Aeropostal, Maurice’s - you shopped, I paid), Target, Wal Mart, K Mart, and at the mall I found the store I was hoping to see – Christopher and Banks. Now I can settle down in Bismarck.They open the mall at 7:30 for walkers, and there were 30 cars when we got there this morning. The mall is in a big Y shape, and it takes about 15 minutes for us to walk around it once. Most of the other people there were MUCH older than we were – grey hair and everything. :p But since the streets and sidewalks are still snowbound, it’s nice to have an indoor place to walk.

APARTMENT
We are on the end of the 1st floor, and the building is very quiet. We have heard some footsteps upstairs, but never voices, music or bathrooms. There have only been occasional and accidental sightings anyone else who lives here. Our apartment is warm and comfortable and we have plenty of space. It was left well furnished by the previous missionaries.

That’s probably more than you wanted to know about Bismarck, but the bottom line is that we are alive and well here.