We are temporarily staying with some wonderful people...the Hamricks...real southern hospitality!  This is what's in their back yard...the Elk River.  I am standing on a rock at the edge of the water.  It is so very beautiful here!

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This is one of the few major highways through West Virginia. 

It is very windy and that is what we would encounter in

the mountains where we will be living for the next 18 months.

As we made our way into West Virginia we passed through Amish Country in central Ohio.  What a pleasant, peaceful way of life.  Yes, there were horses and buggies all around.
Oh, and they make delicious cheese!

West Virginia is known as the Mountain State and is the 41st in size.  The total population for the state is 1,819,777.  We will be living in the town of Webster Springs with a population of 700-1000 people.  There is one medium-sized grocery store that is connected to Ace Hardware, a Rite-Aid drug store and a post office.  There are also several tiny stores that seem to struggle to stay open.  There is one fast food place...Subway...no theatres...no clothes shopping and just a real simple life style.  This town is considered in the middle of the Alleghany Mountains. Two-lane very windy roads connect the small towns and because you have to drive slowly they don't measure in miles but rather in time to get somewhere.  Directions are very interesting with "over the bridge, turn by the white barn and house is by the biggest oak tree around". Our church covers 100 mile diameter of members and we will put at least 500 miles on our car weekly.  We are finding members who are needy and haven't been attending as well as teaching lessons about the church to non-members.  This is such a wonderful way to serve and help 24/7!  We are so enjoying what we are doing. 

Well...it took us a week to go about 2,000 miles.  We sure do live in a beautiful country!  First night was in Rawlins, WY then on to Omaha, NB then to 2 nights in beautiful Nauvoo, IL.  He we spent some time with our dear friends from Yakima...the Thompsons.  Georgia is pictured to the right.
The area is beautiful...the Mississippi is very wide and everything is green and lovely.








Here is the Nauvoo Temple at night.  It is so sacred.  We were able to go inside and do a session.  So wonderful.  

From Nauvoo we headed North to Kirtland, Ohio and
enjoyed the sights there.  We also enjoyed seeing the
Amish people in central Ohio.  Beautiful country as well.

Here we are at the MTC in front of the World Map. What a thrill to be here!  There were 5 days of great instruction and practical work.  We so enjoyed it.  Facts:
2012 - Jan - Aug - 7,500 Miss. thru MTC
2013 - Jan - Aug - 17,000 Miss. thru MYC
There are 50,000 members who are in the process of submitting their papers to serve a mission!  We are so excited and privileged to be a part of this great work!

Here is the Provo MTC. Acres and acres of buildings to train the Army of Missionaries that go through here.  The cafeteria is run by BYU and it is huge and delicious!

Here we are with our wonderful Elder Finch.