Back to Work!

Hi Everybody,

Well.....the fun and games are over and now it's back to work!  We've sure had a good time showing everybody where we've been for the last 16 months.  The common refrain was "it's so green," and I guess you know that we'll miss the green when we come back to the desert.  Speaking of coming back, we got THE phone call from the mission office the other day saying that our release date is officially September 18th.  Oh my gosh, that will be here before we know it.  We don't know what to think to have an official release date so we won't think--and we'll just work and work and make these 8 weeks some of the best of our mission.  Four of them will be summer weeks where we're trying to get all the planning and preparation done for the school year, and the next four weeks will be complete craziness with Freshman Orientation and new people moving into the branch and beginning our new course of study for Institute and all the activities that we'll be helping with in connection with CURW and, yes, the intensely stressful Friday Forum.  So we'll mentally get prepared for all that.  We don't know what the status is of our replacements.....our supervisor was hoping to have us a name soon so we can start the orientation via email but haven't heard yet. 

Enough of all that!  We'll back up to a last week of contrasts between playing and working.....and both were great.  We think that Annette and Barb were probably glad to get home and sleep on something besides the futon and the sofa.  And we want everybody that took a shower in our bathroom to know that now we have a new shower head!  Sorry we didn't get it on before you all came.  So just so you know, you can now relax in the shower rather than feeling like you've just been hit with a fire hose!  Want to come back for another go-around?  We'll take you any day!  The other thing you should know is that you probably had the best weather this part of the country has had for months.  How lucky can you get!  For the next 6 days the temperatures are supposed to be in the high 80's low 90's with 80-90 percent humidity.  Does that not sound fun or what!  We're so glad you came to see us and you at home let us be part of the newest missionary goings on.  Wow does life change from one day to the next! 

We took sort of a round-about way getting the girls to the airport.  How do you like us calling them girls?  Dad felt like the big brother all over again!!  Nobody even questioned the fact that he was a Mormon man with 3 women trailing along with him.....even at Niagara Falls.  Speaking of, the Falls were amazing!  We saw them on our way here but that was the end of March and they were still frozen.  It was nice back then though to only be wandering around with a handful of people as compared to last Tuesday and Wednesday.  That still even wasn't too bad because of being weekdays.  We spent all day on Tuesday taking at least a million photographs and riding the Maid of the Mist which was an adventure being surrounded by all that water and we looked pretty classy in our blue rain ponchos.  What was even as spectacular was our climb up these sets of stairs (yellow rain ponchos) where we stood on the "hurricane deck" next to of one of the sets of falls where the power of the falls practically blew us off the landing (ie hurricane deck) and there was absolutely no way to not get wet.  At one point we were actually standing in water rushing across the boardwalk and of course I (being afraid of being carried off) went back down a couple of levels and Dad and Annette and Barb went back up for a second time and I took pictures from the safe section.  Actually it was all safe.  The rest of the day was a picnic and then going to the aquarium where we saw a sea lion show and the I-max production of Niagara Falls. 

So.....a perfect day.  Right?  It was which was great because 3 miles away from our hotel at 8:30 at night, our car died on the freeway....even on the freeway that was where one freeway merged into another one and there were just hundreds of cars coming around us like crazy.  Our car just flat out died.....no nothing, no power steering, no brakes, no lights including hazard lights (and it's getting dark) but luckily we coasted to a shoulder spot where we had about 6 inches between our car and the road.  We called AAA and we called 911.  Within minutes we had a policeman with his flashing lights to keep us safe and 2 big tow trucks (who were having their slowest night all summer) to haul us and our car off to our hotel which amazingly enough was across the road from a car rental place and just a couple of miles down the road from a Toyota dealership.  Long story short, the problem with the car was the alternator and the battery (which 2 days earlier our mechanic had told us were in great shape) which had to be replaced but they were able to do it for us that very next morning.  So....we rented a car and headed back to the Canadian side of the Falls for another few hours viewing while our car was being fixed.  Annette and Barb made their flight at the Rochester airport, we made it back for Institute in Owego....only a few minutes late...and all's right with the world!!

It was so good to be with our Owego people again!  They are some of the ones we will miss the most when we leave the mission.  They are salt of the earth, faithful, obedient people who have worn their lives out in service to each other and anybody else who needs to know that they're loved and that Heavenly Father knows who to send them to. 

The next day was being with our missionaries and our new mission president and his wife who came to visit and interview and let us feel of their love and support.  It was just our district of 8 Elders and Sisters and we were appreciative of the very personal attention they gave to all of us.  Remember to pray for the mission presidents and their wives when you pray for the missionaries.....they need extra blessings with the many, many things they have to do and deal with.  Sister Rogers and I shared how hard it is to be away from grandchildren all of whom live within 15 minutes of our home-homes!

So we hit the ground running after all our wonderful playing and haven't taken a deep breath yet.  The next day we took Valerie to the DMV to start the process to get her driver's license re-instated.  How hard it is for people to climb back out of the pit when they've made years of bad choices but how wonderful it is to see them take the first steps back up.  Got back from there in time to help Kristie, one of our former YSA who now teaches in China, get her U-Haul, get it loaded at her storage unit in Cortland, and get it back for transport back to Utah.  It was so good to see Kristie again....she was one of the absolute stalwarts of the Branch and we miss her.  By that night we were dead!  Yesterday was the Stake Big Event at Watkins Glen and those of you who have been there know what fun is to be had there with hiking and swimming and playing volleyball and flag football and a bounce house and bar-b-que.  We mostly worked helping with the food and other things as I don't think we had another hike in the gorge at Watkins Glen in our legs!  That's also a time when the whole zone of missionaries can get together to play and it was great to see some of "our" Elders and Sisters who have been transferred to other places.  We're glad that many of them will be in Utah after their missions going to BYU or UVU or anywhere else close by.  We've already promised them the garage code and told them you'll share the soda in the fridge. 

This Sunday is just about over.  Just have a branch mission correlation meeting left.  Our "Sunday drive" today consisted of going up and down the streets in downtown Ithaca looking for "for rent" signs on the houses.  We're getting our second set of Elders back on the next transfer in August and we've been tasked with finding them an apartment....for less than a thousand dollars a month....which is impossible.  We've forgotten in all these years how to find apartments for rent!  But today was just driving and looking as it is the Sabbath!  We have a great branch mission leader and his wife who are helping us.  They know how to work "Craig's List!"  Housing is so incredibly expensive here.  We don't know how people can afford a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in an old run-down building for anwhere from $1000-$2000 a month.  Location, location, location.

Goodnight all.....almost.  Our upstairs neighbor, John, will be home tomorrow after many weeks of hospital and rehab care.  His brother has been here trying to get the apartment ready for him to come home to and Dad's been helping while I type this email.  We've missed John.  The brother has taken both the dog and the cat so that job is done.  We'll probably be a little more diligent the next little while in making sure John has food and any other needs that he might have.  And we'll also tell him that the best thing he can do while he continues to recover is to read the Book of Mormon.  He's active in his church but it seems that he's been sort of out of sight out of mind in that regard.

We love you all.....before you know it, summer will be over so make the absolute best of it and don't forget to keep doing good things for other people and sit outside in your lawn chairs once in a while!  You all are THE BEST!!!!!

XOXO  Dad and Mom and Grandpa and Grandma and E and S Jolley

Time flies when you're having fun!

Hi Everybody,

We're imagining all of you together today for Zac's missionary talk and it seems like Ithaca is a million miles away from where everybody is.  Luckily Annette and Barb are still here so that helps the homesickness.  Yes-----our mission is almost over with and yes we still do get homesick on occasion!!!!  Missing everybody is the price we pay for having a happy family that we love and love to be around.  How blessed we were to see most of you this past couple of weeks and how blessed to know that the ones at home were preparing to send missionary #5 into the MTC this Wednesday.  Wait a minute.....didn't you just do that with us?? 

Us "old guys" have had way too much fun this last week on the second go around of Palmyra and Watkins Glen and Treman Park and Buttermilk and Taggaunook Falls.  After dropping Bryce off at the Syracuse Airport last Tuesday morning, we took the back roads to the airport in Rochester and we found this scenic drive that followed the shores of Lake Ontario and it was beautiful.  And.....we discovered a lighthouse!!  We went on the tour of the museum, climbed the stairs to the light, and explained to the docent there what Mormon missionaries do.  I never buy t-shirts and I even bought a t-shirt with the lighthouse on it!

Palmyra wasn't quite as crowded this last Wednesday and Thursday as it was the week before so we were able to have a little more extensive tours and wander around a bit more but by the time we left the weekend crowd was coming in.  The weather was absolutely spectacular.....bright blue skies and sun and temps in the high 60's mid 70's and NO humidity.  Here's a great story from Pageant the night before we saw it (Tuesday night).  This was told to us by a senior missionary who was there.  It just poured and poured rain all day Tuesday and then about a half hour before it was time to start, the clouds moved into the surrounding hills and there was this little spot just right over the Hill Cumorah where the clouds cleared and the stars came out and Pageant was presented and when it was over the clouds all came back and it rained again the rest of the night.  Here's two other fun incidents from our 2 days in Palmyra this past week.  Barb and Annette saw a family from Salmon that they know and had a good visit with them and we were in the Sacred Grove and there was Nellie Myett and her two kids from our ward at home.  It's such a small world in the Church!  With all those thousands of people there, what are the chances of seeing someone we know from "home!"  Also the anti-Mormon protesters were small in number again this week as they were last....totally unlike what we experienced last year where they were a complete distraction and so mean and nasty.  We still don't understand that....why people feel such a need to harass the ones who come seeking a spiritual experience with such absolute untruths.

The waterfalls this week with the girls have been the best!  A couple of good rainstorms have had them literally gushing water like we've hardly ever seen before.  Standing up by Tagaunoock Falls was like getting into the shower....soaking wet.  As we hiked, we wondered if people seeing our name tags thought that Von might be one of "those" Mormon men with more than one wife!  The plan for the next couple of days is #1 get the car fixed, and then get the laundry done and everybody packed up and a round-about way to the airport in Rochester via Niagara Falls.  We had thought to go to Kirtland too but a bit of a problem with the car alternator and battery means we best not go anywhere until it gets fixed which the garage promised to do on Monday.  Then all our fun and games are over and it's back to gearing up to making these last two months of our mission be the best yet.  Two months??!!  How can it be?  We just barely got here!

Well.....goodbye everybody.  As we left Church with the branch today, we heard the ward singing and their closing song was "God Be With You" and it's interesting that if you love the people and the places you go, you always want Heavenly Father to let his blessings be with them....and we know that He will, whether at home or here in upstate New York.

We love you and pray for all good things for you today and forever!!

XOXO  Dad and Mom and Grandpa and Grandma and E and S Jolley

Short but Sweet???

* Apologies! I've had quite a lot on my plate this last week and a half and I really enjoyed reading Mom and Dad's letter and thought I posted it but apparently I didn't. Oops. Here it is!

Hi Everybody,

This may be the shortest of all time emails since we left Utah! Shall we say that it’s what happens when we do missionary work and play at the same time? How fun it is! It has been great to be surrounded by family and get to show them where we live and what we do and have our little apartment be wall to wall makeshift beds at night-time. But now the top shelf that was once full of cookie and peanut butter cereal and XXXbags of M and M's, and a freezer full of ice cream is gone and we’re going to have to start eating healthy again. But wait-----round two starts tomorrow with Annette and Barb and it’s fun all over again…..probably just a little bit more sedate. We’ve walked trails and seen waterfalls and gorges (the saying “Ithaca is Gorges” is on lots of license plates and t-shirts), we’ve gone to family home evening where luckily the activity was soccer, went to Church where we doubled the attendance at the branch, and just had a great time being together.

But some of the best of all times was when we all met together in Palmyra for the Church sites and the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We did temple work in our beautiful little temple overlooking the Sacred Grove, sang “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” in that same grove, saw where the Book of Mormon was printed, wondered how 9 people could possibly sleep in the upstairs of the Smith Log home (makes our apartment look like a palace), rode in an elevator with Sister Holland, raised the roof on the hotel swimming pool, had a bar-b-que with our amazing Brother Baker (all 15 of us), and marveled again at the amazing Hill Cumorah Pageant. And we were literally surrounded by people driving cars with Utah license plates. We “ran into” people that we haven’t seen for years such as a used-to-be-little boy that the last time we saw him was when he played on Dad’s Colts baseball team in the 1970’s. He recognized “Coach Jolley.” Imagine that after 30 years! We met someone who knows someone who is going to the MTC the same day as Zac and then to the same mission, someone who used to run cross country and play soccer the same time in high school as Bryce, a young man who is from Orem but being offered a football scholarship to Cornell (we tried to recruit him), and many other people we knew from Utah or who knows somebody that we know. Would you say it’s a small world in the Church!

Isn’t it just the best to know that we can go all over the country, even all over the world and meet people with whom we share our faith. And these last few days, we’ve loved seeing people just like us….senior missionaries and volunteers; people who wear our same name tag….just different names. There were missionaries and volunteers all over the place in Palmyra. The work is “rolling forth” just as the scriptures say. Our testimonies were strengthened our spirits were lifted by the amazing work done by people who do it simply because they want to serve and they love Jesus Christ.

Well…..it’s 11:30 at night and nothing beyond this point will make any sense so it’s time to quit writing this bitty little thing. We promise better next week. We love you all! Thanks for the text messages as you travel, for the messages and the pictures from home from those getting ready for the next missionary to leave (in less than 10 days….yikes!). Soon there will be 5 of us full time missionaries and we’ve remembered even more how important the work is of member missionaries. Thanks for your great examples to all of us and for being “true to the faith that your parents have cherished.”

XOXOXOXO Dad and Mom and Grandpa and Grandma and Elder and Sister Jolley

Love from New York (taking a page from Carlee)

Hi Everybody,

Well, half of you are here in New York with us and we surely miss the other half!!  But we know that two trips to here probably isn’t do-able especially with one missionary out and another soon to be on a mission.  How about if we slip into the back seat of somebody’s car and come back for Zac’s farewell!  We’ve learned over this almost 18 months how hard it is to be gone from home for the very important life events!!  Usually when we’re missing some big family thing the same is happening to one of our missionaries (and Carlee and Cade) and we realize that we’re all in this great work together. 

This week has been a blur and a great one at that.  Not that you need to know our daily schedule but here’s a run down.  Monday was missionaries over for preparation day district study and then play games and then Meet the Mormons.  Tuesday was our adventure picking Bryce up from the Syracuse airport.  How glad we were to see him!  But we wondered if we were going to get there going through one of the worst rainstorms we’ve ever experienced and on the freeway of all places.  We got stuck on the freeway for 45 minutes because of an accident ahead due to the rain…..total dead stop.  So after us and the cars behind us backed up (on the freeway….never done that before) and got off on the closest side road, we got to the airport well after 11:00 at night.  Then the huge amounts of water on the freeway caused it to be closed again.  Long story short, we got back here and to bed by 2:00 a.m..  But we survived!  So then we had two great days showing Bryce around Ithaca and going on a couple of gorge hikes and going to Institutes and going to a special zone meeting to meet our new mission president.  We will miss President and Sister Wirthlin and President and Sister Rogers will be great!  

Then came our New York City adventure….all with President Wirthlin’s approval and encouragement (the Church likes the members our age to know that senior missionaries can take time out for fun….especially when family comes to visit).   On one of New York’s rare beautifully sunny days we drove to New Jersey  and parked our car (great thanks to Chris and Wendy Koller who live there just a few blocks from a transit stop) and rode the train into the city.  We checked into our hotel right next to Central Park where we experienced the plain old fact that space is an absolute premium….our hotel room was 2 beds in probably a 9x12 area and a bathroom that you couldn’t turn around in and we won’t say how much it cost for one night (a lot!).  But it was great to be so centrally located and we had a great time walking through Central Park.  Then it was take me out to the ballgame!  We sat in Yankee Stadium (on my bucket list for sure) surrounded by Mormons and listened to the MoTab Choir sing a set and then the National Anthem.  All the thousands of people there cheered loudly!!  The game was….well a typical game (a bit boring and the Yankees loosing) until the 9 through 12 innings  where the Yankees tied and then won in total excitement with a two run homerun in the 12^th inning.  Those of us who stayed were rewarded!!  After a subway adventure trying to get out of the area along with several other thousand people, we made it back to our hotel by way past missionary going to bed time!  The next day, July 4^th, was spent at the 9-11 memorial for a special time and seeing the city from The Top of the Rock (observation deck from the top of Rockafeller Center) and being on Times Square with the other millions of people all decked out in red, white, and blue.  It was fun….and it rained!  Then reverse of getting there to NYC brought us home where we excitedly waited for more family to arrive.  Brian and Melissa and the kids are now here and it was great fun figuring where we all could sleep in our bitty apartment.  Thank heavens for adaptable kids and grandkids.

This wasn’t a very missionary experience filled letter but hey, what better way to teach the concept of families can be together forever than practice it!!  Which is what we’ll be doing more of this week meeting Greg and Chelsea and the kids with time spent in Palmyra seeing all the sites and then going to the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  Now it all would be perfect if the Jacklins were with us!!

How much we love our family!!  The bigs and the littles and the old and the young, and the ones here and the ones not here and the ones in Idaho and the ones on missions and the ones we’ve known since we were kids, etc. etc. etc.  When we preach families, we preach what we’re so blessed to have!  When President Packer passed away, we felt such a sense of loss of a great voice who champions the family.  We’re so grateful that we can still read the things that he wrote. 

And lastly, how grateful we are to be on a mission and to teach how Gospel principles are absolutely necessary to direct every stage of our lives.  We testify on this Fast Sunday Sabbath morning  (in the office here on the computer next to Hannah who is literally “sawing logs”) that Christ lives!  That this Church has the fullness of His teachings…..and that His Apostles and Prophets direct the whole world in these challenging times with wisdom and necessary direction.  It’s up to us to listen and learn.

Love you all!!!!!

Dad and Mom and Gpa and Gma and Elder and Sister Jolley