People, Places, Elders and a moth

This blog entry is mostly in the form of pictures. We enjoy working with investigators and members as well as closely with the full-time Elders. Here is a pictorial view:

As we enter our city, we see this sign. At this end of the city it is very near our home.

We visited the Sacred Grove with Tatika and her daughter. It was a great experience.

This young man is one of only a couple of youth in our branch. We love their family. In this picture, he wanted to try out Shauna's hat. He is a lot of fun.

We had the privilege to attend the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Here we were with some family and one of the actors.

Shauna made a dress for Mary and they are posing together as "twins."

We have district meeting at the Hornell church. Here we are just before transfers. Elder Case is the tall one.

District meeting in the Wellsville chapel.

The Elders have an interesting way of parking sometimes.

The beauties of the area are astounding.

The small hamlet of Rexville is barely out of our area, but we visit some wonderful people here. This is a building near their home. Troupsburg in a small hamlet south of Hornell and is in our area.

This is Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. It is in the village of Hammondsport in the Bath Branch.

As promised. A moth. (on our front step - it looked like a dead leaf)

We love the work and the people.

The Story of Lottie Still - from Find-a-Grave to family connections

One of the activities we do here, basically at times when we have a little free time, is to photograph and transcribe gravestones in a local cemetery and adding them to the Find-a-Grave repository. Consider this something like the process of indexing that we do for FamilySearch genealogy service, only among gravestones. When we started the Hornell Rural Cemetery a few months ago, the list of memorials for the cemetery was about 7000, with most of them only dates and names and not pictures of gravestones. Now, after our work there, having finished about a month ago, there are 9770 memorials for the cemetery with 75% having gravestone pictures. We are now working on the Hornell Hope cemetery, which is about the same size.

One interesting aspect of this work is when we have a feeling of focus on individuals whose gravestones we record. In researching a bit further, especially through Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org on some of these, we find that we are related to many of the people buried in these cemeteries. This is primarily because many of our ancestors came from early times in New England and these people here also have the same background.

One such person of focus is Lottie Still.

As I was going from stone to stone, I photographed this stone. Later, back at home, I tried to figure out who the person was and find them in the directory. He name is on the top of the stone, barely readable, and the dates: 1875  and 1901 on the front side. That is all. I had to return and by closer examination and feeling the raised letters on the top, determined this to be Lottie Still. She died here at age 26. I dutifully entered the information into Find-a-Grave.

Somehow, Lottie did not leave me alone. I felt that I needed to get more about what happened. I kept searching records off an on for a few weeks and came up with little. I found other people with the name of Still in the area, but nothing seemed to match. I could not connect her to anybody here or to our family.

After a while, I found an obscure reference in a New York City newspaper mentioning a major train accident in Kansas City, Missouri and one of the victims was  Lottie Still from Hornellsville, New York. It appeared that she and a friend were traveling from Hornell to San Francisco and happened to be in the train when it was hit head-on by another train and many were injured and a few perished.

Then, a later date, I was visiting the Hornell City library and asked the head librarian about their genealogy references. I was not thinking at all about Lottie at this time, but for casual interest. But when she mentioned that they had microfilm copies of the local newspaper, and that of that, all had been digitized or indexed except for the year 1901. That triggered the thought that I might look for something about the train accident. After going through a lot of turns of the crank, I come up with the date and found several references to the accident and the mention of the local woman Lottie Still. The first accounts mentioned her as injured, then as seriously injured and then as having died - all in the hospital in Kansas City. The later article said she would be brought to Hornell for burial.

In another article (I almost missed it), Lottie was reported to be only having lived in Hornellsville for about 8 months, living with her uncle, Rev. W. H. Manning. That was a breakthrough. I love doing family history research as it is really like detective work and when you have a breakthrough, it is exciting!

Through more research, I found the sister to Rev. Manning and that she was born in Massachusetts and moved to San Francisco. In more research, I discovered Lottie's brothers and her mother's records, but never her father. Then, in a simple Google search, I found in a California Supreme Court record as issue of inheritance concerning Lottie's brothers and it mentioned the name of their (and Lottie's) father, Alden Peasely Still. Now I know that Lottie is the 9th cousin of my great-grandmother, Annie Isadore Roundy. We have been working on temple work for her and her family.

When we were in the Palmyra temple a couple of weeks ago I baptized Shauna as proxy for Lottie and did the confirmation after that. I felt a distinct feeling of celebration from the other side of the veil.

Recap of the past two months

I have basically relied on Shauna reporting our activities in her weekly mail messages. I know that many do not see her messages, so I apologize for not posting much here. This summarizes the past two months in a lot of pictures.

We have been busy with helping the Hornell Branch members and investigators in visits to their homes and taking some to the temple. We also have enjoyed having Mary and her family close by so we can get together. We feel so blessed to be here and to share in the Lord's work here in this beautiful place.

This area is referred to as the "Southern Tier" and is really a place of beauty and a place of a much slower pace of life. The people learn to get along with little and still find ways to help those around them and show kindness to others. Unfortunately, most of the people are very cautious when dealing with us and the missionaries because of the strong bias of the local churches against us and our religion. Still there are many who welcome us and our message. The Lord will help those who sincerely are seeking to the truth.

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Our first two elders - Smith and Wagstaff, as we have lunch with one of our sisters of the Branch

The son-in-law of that sister was baptized recently. This is him and his family and the Elders who were involved.

At the Palmyra temple with one of our dear sisters. She came to do the work for her mother. It was a very spiritual experience for all of us.

This mother and her daughter come with us to church and other activities.

We help out at a weekly luncheon for the disadvantaged people of the city of Hornell. It is sponsored at this Presbyterian church and different denominations help each week. Our branch provides food and services about every six weeks in rotation.

We had a fun branch activity at this property of one of our members in Canisteo. The pond (above) and the eating area (below).

One of the people we met at the ecumenical lunches (mentioned above), and his dog, Badge, at his home in South Hornell. I did some research and found that he is my 13th cousin (the man, not his dog).

The elders with an investigator walking and talking on the Hill Cumorah.

Our current elders - Elder Larson (from Draper) and Elder Smith (from Safford, AZ)

In the Elders' apartment is this famous "Deer Elder."

Our grandson about to eat the "Mojo" burger at Rudys in Medina. Those who accomplish the feat get to write their names on the wall (see behind him for part of that). A closeup of his previously earned name-on-the-wall is below.

A granddaughter in the tree at our park near our home in Hornell.

We joined the family at nearby Letchworth State Park.

This is the Genesee River and falls in the park.

Here we are at the Stony Brook Park (even closer to our home) in the Dansville area.

A month ago, we went with other senior missionaries to Watkins Glen and on the the Priesthood Restoration site in Pennsylvania. This is Watkins Glen.

Here we also visited the Josiah Stowell and Joseph Knight homes.

On our way to Palmyra from Hornell, we pass by the beautiful Canandaigua Lake.

From a hill area north of Hornell you can see in the distance the many windmills in the Cohocton area.

Hornell is famous as being the home of actor Bill Pullman. This is the house that belonged to his parents. The owner is a member of our branch (she wants to sell it if you are interested). She has spoken with Bill Pullman when he visited the place.

 The political leanings here are fairly pronounced (below is an enlargement of the sign in front of a home at the hamlet of Loon Lake within our branch).

Views of the area, Easter and getting to know people

Over the past few weeks, we have enjoyed getting to know the people of the branch and area more. This region of New York is referred to as the "Southern Tier," meaning basically that it is the southern part of central and western New York - the counties along the Pennsylvania border. It is a mostly rural area and the pace of life is much more relaxed. The branch covers an area of 640 square miles and has a population of a little over 40,000 people, and is mainly a lot of small hamlets and a few villages and a city (Hornell). Everything in New York is divided into townships and in the area of townships there are the villages, cities and hamlets. We live in the Town (township) of Hornellsville, which contains the city of Hornell, and part of Steuben County.

There are a lot of rolling hills and small roads going everywhere. One day we headed out to visit a member family who live out quite a ways. It is not uncommon to have a fair amount of land with a house on it, lots of woods - all beautiful. Here is a picture we took as we left their place, showing the sunset.

There are also a lot of small lakes and ponds - and swamps and streams. It is quite wet here. Below is the hamlet of Loon Lake. It is about 20 minutes northeast of Hornell, and is on the route we take to get to the temple in Palmyra.

This morning, I took a walk up the hill across from our home. I went about 3/4 of a mile and a rise of about 400 feet and took this picture looking into the valley where Hornell is situated. Hornell is along the Canisteo River.

Our church building is situated in the very north part of the township area, near the village of Arkport. It is on a road called "The Avenue of the Oaks." One of the members said that when the church building was being built, that they decided to plant some oak trees out front, since there really are not many (if any) actual oaks on this avenue. The building was completed in 1999. It is a smaller building but works well for us.

The village of Canisteo is a nice community and a number of our members live there. It is just south of Hornell. The village boasts of having the largest living city sign. It is made up of small trees or bushes.

Over the Easter weekend, we had family come and visit. The branch had an Easter egg activity and Aaron's family was there.

Also that weekend, Mary's family were at the Moore farm nearby and we joined them to watch the family perform the Greek tragedy, Antigone. They did an amazing performance.

The work we do here is mainly to visit members and especially those who need support or help. We love getting acquainted with them and making new friends here. People struggle with problems of life and we see how the blessings of our Savior and His Atonement can touch and lift people. In one of Shauna's recent letters she summarizes:

Our new friends in the Hornell branch are wonderful!  We are still trying to get names down and meet everyone.  If I have time I ask them for their conversion stories.  I asked one sweet sister how many in the branch were converts - first members in their family.  She said about 98% had searched for the truth and found it.  Every story I have heard so far has the common theme of seeking the Lord in prayer for His church and the missionaries or friends coming to their door.  Many were brought to the gospel through their spouses.  As missionaries we truly do not ever convert.  That is left to the spirit and the Lord preparing them for the gospel.  It is like being 180 years back in time during history of this area as the church was organized and everyone were converts.  They are an impressive group as they try to love each other and serve the Master.

We see the Lord's hand in the work here. It is a blessing to have this opportunity. We miss friends and family back home, but know they are in good hands. Our prayers are for you all.

Visits, Spring and the temple

We are enjoying the visiting of homes of members here. The Relief Society president and the Branch President gave us a list of people to visit and it is fun to get to know them. We also have enjoyed the start of Spring and especially listening to the messages of General Conference.

Shauna gave a wonderful summary in her weekly message:

"It is a wonderful thing to be in a little town in southern New York state, hidden deep in the rolling hills just waiting to burst with spring, and hear the words of prophets and apostles living on the earth today.  What wonderful messages of peace and strength.  The Holy Ghost will indeed support us in the trials of today if we just listen for His still small voice."

This is in front of one of our members' homes, showing Spring trying to get through the snow

We have had a lot of rain here, but I guess that is normal for this part of the country. Yesterday, in our travels, it rained off and on, but the day was pleasant, nonetheless. In the morning, we took the Elders with us as we drove to the temple in Palmyra. This time we even did it without consulting a map guide on our phone. State highway 21 actually connects our little town with the temple, though we vary from that highway at times for better connection. At the temple, we enjoyed meeting our daughter and two grandsons and participated with baptisms for the dead. The temple workers comments that it was the busiest morning at the baptistry on record. I had the honor of baptizing two grandsons, my daughter and my wife all as proxy for deceased family relatives. As we came out, we saw our mission president waiting there.

This is Elder Wagstaff and Elder Smith standing with President Evans at the Palmyra temple

Also, in the past week, we started another form of service for the area. I am a member of Find-a-Grave and was curious about any requests for photos of graves in the area. People who have ancestors or family in particular cemeteries request someone to go there and take pictures of the grave stones. I found that the main cemetery near here, the Rural Cemetery of Hornell, had well over 200 requests still pending. We visited the cemetery and started taking pictures of gravestones, transcribing them and uploading it all onto the website. Some of you may have seen FamilySearch presenting Find-a-Grave entries as source material. That is what we started doing here in some of our off-times.

We love working and serving here!