The Windmills
Time Machine -- Witness of Raising Lazareth
Elder Carper's birthday
Ryan & Liz
Ryan & Hali
Ryan & Hali
Fall Back SundayFa
8.14.15
We are driving through
the mountains from Tehachapi to Bishop (we are setting up a house for the MLS
couple who is coming tomorrow) and we see the numerous windmills that frequent
so many of the mountains and hills in our mission area. There are thousands of them. Not all of them are always moving, but, of course,
that has to do with the airflow and maintenance of the turbine. Wind power
plants are turbines that use the energy in the motion of the wind to make
mechanical energy, which is then converted to electrical energy. 1) Wind blows toward the turbine's rotor blades; 2) The
rotors spin around slowly, capturing some of the kinetic energy from the wind,
and turn the central drive shaft that supports them; 3) The rotor blades can
swivel on the hub at the front so they meet the wind at the best angle for
harvesting energy. 4) Inside, the gearbox converts the
low-speed rotation of the drive shaft into high-speed rotation fast enough to
drive the generator efficiently. The generator, immediately behind the
gearbox, takes kinetic energy from the spinning drive shaft and turns it into
electrical energy. That is power!
Many of the homes,
carports, and businesses have solar panels on their roofs. They use the power from the sun to run their
homes. We can change sunlight directly to
electricity using solar cells. Every day, light hits the roof's solar panels
with photons (particles of sunlight). The solar panel converts those photons
into electrons of direct current ("DC") electricity. The electrons
flow out of the solar panel and into an inverter and other electrical safety
devices. The inverter converts that "DC" power (commonly used in
batteries) into alternating current or "AC" power. AC power is the
kind of electricity that your television, computer, and toasters use when
plugged into the wall outlet. The use of
solar panels cuts their power bills to almost nothing. That is power!
It is amazing how we,
as a people have, been tutored to access and use the power sources that exist
on this earth for our daily living.
Last Sunday Mike and I were
asked to visit the primary and act as eyewitnesses to the story of the Savior
raising Lazarus from the dead. We wore
biblical costumes, and set the stage with a few of our photos from our Israel
trip. The primary leader informed the
children that we had come through a time machine, and we shared what we saw, as
recorded in John 11. Our point was to
help the children understand that Jesus has power over death. Now, that is power!
We had fun studying and
practicing our story, but were also reminded how Jesus Christ has the power
over all things. He lets us access our
wonderful inventions and many great comforts of this world, but He also is
mindful of all we do and are. He wants
us to succeed in our endeavors, live a life of service and worship, and give
the credit to Him, the Father of us all.
I’ve been thinking so much about His power and what a miracle this life
is!
The children were fun and
very attentive. But when question time
came, the older ones were more concerned that we could have a computer, watch
and two rings when we came from the past through a time machine. They were really cute.
We had the privilege to read
Sister Katie Jones’ letter this week, and she mentioned a few of the tender
mercies that she is seeing on her mission. My heart fills with joy when I see
the missionaries recognize, though their job is challenging, the many moments
of tenderness from the Lord. When we
arrived in Bakersfield, we started a book in the mission office where
missionaries could jot down a recent tender mercy on an index card. We compile the cards in the book, and leave
them on the table for other missionaries to read. The intent is three fold: the missionaries
notice and are mindful of their individual tender mercies; they have the
opportunity to read other missionaries’ experiences; and we share one or two
each month in the newsletter. It has
helped us all pay more attention to the many miracles that enrich us
daily. Some of the tender mercies
mentioned are individual gifts that help the missionary or his/her family, and
others affect the zone or ward. The other day a missionary wrote: While we were on an exchange, my companion and I had been
tracting for about five hours. It was hot outside. We had no water, and
strangers treated us rudely -- the odds looked like they were against us. My companion said, “What I would do for some
cold water . . .” I remember looking at him and saying, “The Lord will bless
us.” About an later we walked toward our
bikes and inside our helmets were two very cold bottles of water. We looked at each other with watery eyes,
smiled, then bowed our heads and prayed in gratitude.
We keep thinking our daily work
is going to slow down, but each month brings new surprises. This transfer period we had zone
conferences. We traveled, attended and
presented nine sessions in five days. It
was a great time to get to see all of the missionaries. President and Sister Wilson are inspired
leaders and we love seeing them work with the missionaries. We, along with the other senior missionaries
spent twenty minutes each addressing our particular areas. Naturally, we presented our Golden Plunger Zone Awards, and that is
always a lot of fun. The zone leaders
also taught their zones for a half hour.
It is interesting to see the skills each set of zone leaders use as they
address the assigned topic.
We’ve had a variety of
activities to attend to, and one special opportunity was the privilege to help
clean the LA Temple. When possible, we
take the missionaries who help us with moves to lunch. It such a joy to get to know them better and to
hear their stories. But one of the
greatest joys is when they invite us to go on a teaching appointment with
them. We are amazed at the skills they
develop to share their message. We can
feel them teaching by the spirit. The
future leadership of the church will be in good hands.
It is amazing to see how well
our children do without us. They are
doing well and moving forward. We are excited
as we anticipate two weddings in the next few months. My Ryan is marrying Hali Nielsen on October 9th. We are thrilled to have Hali officially join
the family. And Mike’s Ryan is marrying
Liz Hunt on January 16th and we are also delighted to have Liz join
our family. What a wonderful time this
is for our sons. We received a picture
of the kids having Lori’s traditional cookie dough Sunday evening treat at our
house. They called it “Throwback
Sunday.”
We continue to miss our family
and friends, but we are also grateful for this wonderful opportunity to
serve. We witness the presence of our
Lord and Savior as we see and feel the power of the God. We love you and hope all is well with you.
