House Watching

We love the old houses here. Some are like mansions, and some have joined the carriage houses or barns of years gone by to their living spaces now. They don't "tear down" here. They just change and add on. Here are a few examples.







Speaking of house watching, What a blessing it is to have our neighbors, Kay and Ron Reynolds, Ashley and Charolette, keep an eye on our house (and our kids) while we are on a mission. Ron & Kay have always been ready to help with whatever and whoever at a moment's notice. We were blessed when they became our neighbors!

Boston Temple at Dusk

Temple Spires

The silhouette of temple spires
Against evening’s fading face
Beckons to my longing soul
To join the quest for holiness
To lift mine eyes unto the Lord
In this holy place.

Monday at the Office with President Jensen, AP's, Bergs, & Longmores

Christine & Levi 's Second Visit Sep 09

Zone Conference

Wow! Zone Conference is great. We learn so much about effective learning and teaching. Here are a few shots of behind the scenes setting up tables, carrying in supplies, greeting one another.

Autumn in New Hampshire

Each of earth's seasons has a personality of its own and brings with it the excitement of associated celebrations. So it is with our lives. Dad and I are in the Autumn of our lives. The experiences we have with our family and with our mission are colorful and rewarding. The harvest of our lives is abundant and diverse. Our children and grandchildren are our crowing blessings, our mission is an added bonus of fullfillment.
In our missionry work, I feel the blood of Abraham in my veins, the covenant of the seed of Abraham in my heart, and the far reaching joy of the restoration from both sides of the veil.
Here are some scenes from Autumn as it begins in New England.

Our Mission President, President Michael R. Jensen and his wife, Camille

Our Mission President is a dedicated and inspired man. This is an excerpt from a letter I prepared for President Jensen. I have to admitt that the schedule part would need a little tweaking for different stages of life, but I thought of it as a release letter for both certain stages of life, such as parenting, as well as for earth life.
"Isn’t it amazing how quickly time has passed since your arrival in the New Hampshire Manchester Mission! You have now completed your mission and are ready to depart for home. Thank you for your valiant work as an authorized servant of Jesus Christ during your mission. I trust that your mission is burned into your soul and that you will take home with you and use the spiritual confidence you have gained. “Cast not away therefore thy confidence, which hath greater recompense of reward” (Hebrews 10:35).
You will find that it will be wise for you to continue living many parts of the missionary daily schedule, including arising at 6:30 a.m., exercising each morning for 30 minutes, daily scripture study preferably early on in the morning before the day gets hectic, and going to bed at 10:30 p.m. Also, you will want to be at Church each Sunday partaking of the sacrament to renew the covenants you have made at baptism and to always have His Spirit to be with you, and to regularly place yourself in the temple to renew your temple covenants.
Remember you are a returned missionary and your responsibility is to set a righteous, inspiring example for the children and youth of the Church so that they can grow up to be just like you."

Latter Day Sons of Helaman

These are the great Elders we work with in our ward.Elder Miller from Salem, Utah and Elder Gonzalos from Salem, Ore.

Whale Watching

Grandpa and I went to Glouchester to go whale watching with Captain Jim's Whale Watching charter boats. Wow What did we see?!

Chris & Kaleigh Gillen's Baptism

Chris Gillen, 43yrs old, and Kaleigh, his 15 year old daughter, wanted to find a church. When Chris went to church with his Uncle Jim, he liked it. So he decided to go to the same church, the Church of Jesus christ of Latter-Day Saints with a friend who was a member. It felt right to them. They were both baptised, Saturday, Aug.15th
We have been encouraging them, meeting them at church, going to class with Brother Gillen, taking Kaleigh and her brother Shane to mutual, and doing some teaching. Grandpa (Elder Longmore) paid for Kaleigh to go to camp on the sly. Her Dad had just started a new job and they were really short on money. We think the world of them. They are just wonderful people. Shane has been coming to church too. He carries a Book of Mormon which is the media copy Chris's Uncle Jim gave Chris quite some time ago. Shane is a nice young boy, 12 years old. In the picture below notice the man in white standing in the back middle. That is Uncle Jim. He came from Maryland to baptize them. Chris is on the left and Kaylee in the center front. Who are those other two oldies?!
Chris and Kaleigh asked us to speak at their baptism. I spoke on Baptism and Grandpa spoke on the Holy Ghost.
Sunday the Mission President, President Jensen, had a investigator fireside at his home. Chris and Kaylee both told about their conversion. Their experience was simple and wonderful. Another girl who was there committed to baptism after she heard Gillens speak.

Chris & Kaleigh Gillen's Baptism

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Dallin & Kaylee

Journal Entry July 24, 2009

Monday night Dallin was in a head on collision. He was on a motor bike and the other vehicle was a four wheeler. Dallin’s friend signaled him that a four wheeler was coming, but Dallin didn’t see the signal. He rounded the corner and was hit, head on. He flew over the handlebars and broke his femur. The bike landed on him. Thank goodness he was careful to wear his helmet.
Wednesday, Kaylee was thrown off an inner-tube being pulled by a boat that was going way too fast. She did a triple cartwheel and ruptured her spleen. She called Claine, her Dad, Wed night and asked what she could do about pain. As Claine talked to her and asked her questions, he realized that she had more than a pulled muscle. He told her to get to a hospital. They life flighted her to Price and then took her to Utah Valley Regional Med Center by ambulance.

We are so grateful that Dallin and Kaylee have had Priesthood blessings and are on the mend. The Lord watches over our family and hears our prayers. We may not always be able to control our circumstances, but we can always call upon our Heavenly Father in prayer for his help.

Please be careful in cars and in everything you do. As the missionaries are taught, the laws of nature still apply to all of us, even when we are in the service of the Lord. Do your best to be obedient to safety guidelines and laws, and stay close to Heavenly Father so that when you are in unexpected danger, physical or spiritual, you will be strengthened and guided by the Holy Ghost.

Obey the commandments and council of the prophets. Therein will be your protection from spiritual danger and untold heartache. We pray for you every day. We have seen the hand of the Lord in the lives of our children and grandchildren while we are serving our mission. We have had miracles in your lives. We thank Heavenly Father and pray for his continued blessing to be with each of you.

Isles of Shoals Cruise

Saturday we met Helen and Tom Longhurst. We all enjoyed the Isles of Shoals Cruise. It is a 2 1/2 hour cruise of Portsmouth Harbor, Three Lighthouses, and Isles of Shoals. A narrator pointed out historical points of interest along the way. It was a most enjoyable day. My sunburn is a warm reminder of a happy day. The protection in my mositerizer just didn't do it.
Today I gave a talk in church. It is always a joy to pray for help and feel the inspiraion of the spirit come into my heart and mind.

Joe Craig

A Miracle to us: E. Longmore has called Joe Craig, a Visitor Center Referral from 2003, one of only a half-dozen people in our area book, 50+ times, no exaggeration. E. Longmore has felt strongly that he needed to talk to him and he has not given up. Sunday, en route home, we also stopped by his house in Auburn (we have stopped several times before and found no one at home). There were several cars there, so we drove on down the street and called him. “Miracle of miracles’ he answered the phone. At first he said he had things to do around the house etc. E. Longmore felt that he should leave a spiritual thought with him. He brought up the Book of Mormon and said that it was a second witness of Christ. Joe said it was more than that; it contains ‘plain and precious truths’ that were left out of the Bible. After talking for a while, Joe said we could come and meet him. He needed about 30 minutes to shower. We had a great visit. He said that he really liked the Book of Mosiah where the prophets talk about justice etc. This led into a brief discussion about justice and mercy in conjunction with the Atonement. He said it was not hard for him to believe that God has spoken to other of His children in addition to those in the Bible. When we opened the Book of Mormon to read where Nephi talks about this in 2 Nephi 29 (we had brought a media center copy with us), he immediately stepped over to an end table where, next to the phone, was his own copy of the Book of Mormon. It is amazing what he know so much about the Book of Mormon and has such a strong testimony of it when he knows virtually nothing else about the Church. We asked how he knew it was true. He had kind of a blank look on his face. When E. Longmore said that it was the Holy Ghost testifying that it was true, he said, “like the feeling when I talked to you on the phone.” His son died when he was twelve years old (he would now be 28, the same age as our own son, Danny). E. Longmore and I both felt that his son was anxious to share the gospel with his father. He is a bit reticent about scheduling more visits, but said we could call. That is an invitation we won’t pass up!

Sebastian's Baptism Poem

SEBASTIAN’S BAPTISM

Baptism is a witness of
A promise that you make
To follow Jesus, do his will,
His name upon you take.

You witness that you love him
And that you will obey
As you repent and are baptized
On this special day.

Then as a member of his church
You’ll serve and love and pray
The Holy Ghost will be with you
To help you every day.

Obedience will bring you peace
True happiness within
Joy will be yours while in this life
As you follow Him.

On the earth you walk by faith
Yet one day you will see
Your Heavenly Father face to face
And with Him you will be.

Sister Connie Longmore
NH Manchester Mission

Sebastian's Baptism

July 12, 2009 Journal

Yesterday, Sebastian, a nine-year old boy Elder Gonzolas and Elder Kessler taught, was baptized. He was confirmed today. He is such a good boy. During the baptismal program, he looked right up at Dean (the whole time) when Dean talked to him for a minute about the Holy Ghost. We wanted to give him something for his baptism that would mean something to him. I got on line at Deseret Book, but that was a frustration. The items were few and expensive and I couldn’t open a picture of a book to see what it said. So I thought maybe we could give him a double frame with his picture in one side and a poem about baptism on the other. I called a friend to get a copy of a poem I wrote for her grandson when he was baptized, but she didn’t return the call until Friday night. In the meantime, I prayed that I might be able to write another poem. The thoughts began to come Wednesday night. I wrote it out and Dean was pleased. So we took his picture when he was in white at his baptism, and we gave it to him today (Sunday) just before he was to be confirmed. He was pleased and Dean heard him say, “It rhymes too.” Dean assisted in his confirmation.

Tutoring of the Spirit

July 9, 2009

I have had an insight that will help me to progress and not be held back by focusing on my shortcomings and mistakes. I learned that if I think about the promised blessings I have been given that my thoughts and focus will chart a course to have those blessings realized. If, instead, I focus on the hardships or challenges I have, it binds me mentally and spiritually.
NH Manchester Mission Secretary

Christine, Levi & Boys Came To See Us

It was a tender mercy of the Lord to send us Christine, Levi, Gideon & Joseph on the same weekend our new little Hyrum Daniel Carver was blessed (28 Jun'09). It would have not just been sad, but also lonely if they had not come. We had such a good visit. Saturday we went to the beach, played in the surf, and built sand castles. On the way home we stopped at Hampton each to see the annual Sand Castle competition exhibits. After we went home, we cleaned up and had dinner at "Out Back". Sunday we went to church and on the way home we stopped at the Robert Frost farm. The time went by way too fast. When Christine and Levi were loading the kids up. Gideon said, "I want to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Longmore forever. That made my day!

What a blessing our family is.

We missed being at Hyrum's blessing, but what a blessing it was to hear how our children have rallied together.
Danny brought the boys (Keri had committed to take care of her sister's children while her sister was out of town,or she would have come). Deana & Deanna came with their families and they were a great help. Cara & Dustin were hosting some of the family in the middle of their move. All helped and sustained one another with the move, and with the new baby. We have an awesome famiy!

Cheri and Curt hosted everyone for lunch. Grandma Wake enjoyed being there too. It was a time to celebrate Hyrum's birth and blessing and to say good-by to Cara, Dustin, and Spencer. Cara & Dustin are moving to Texas the first week in July. Thanks to all of our children. You have made sacrifics to help each other. We can't put into words the joy your service to each other brings to us. It is a great blessing indeed.