He's official

Well, Dalon is officially a missionary. We had a great send off dinner - thanks to all who came or sent their best wishes. Wednesday we piled all the kids in the car at 5AM and took him to the airport. My folks met him in Salt Lake and transported him to the MTC. Below is his address at the MTC. He will be there until mid-November. I'll be posting this on the family blog and the Work family site as well. If you want the latest on our family in particular we will continue to post at www.workhouse7.blogspot.com
Thanks to all who have visited the site and commented to us! It's been fun to hear from you.

All our love,
Arlen and Kari

Elder Dalon Grant Work
MTC Mailbox # 235
CHN-HK 1114
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Just call me Hannah

"Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord." (1 Sam. 1:28) Today I am Hannah. From the day Dalon was born, my focus has been to teach him to love and serve the Lord and today he enters the MTC. He actually made my job easy because he naturally leans toward the light of Christ. He innately does good, desires and seeks good in this world and shuns the rest. What have I done to be so blessed? The truth is that he is lent to me and now I am, in a sense, giving him back.

Last night Dalon was set apart as a full time missionary by our Stake President. The blessing was awesome and so personal, so specific for Dalon's needs. The Lord loves him so much and has so much in store for him. Isn't that knowledge what keeps us all striving? Arlen also gave him a father's blessing and many more promises and much more insight was imparted. It was a wonderful night-even amidst the last minute packing that needed to be attended to.

I'm so grateful for all those who helped guide Dalon. Most of his life so far has been spent in Robinson/Waco area so all those who influenced him there are now part of this exciting time for us. The growth and learning he attained while living there has made him the wonderful person that he is. And so, with tears of joy for him and tears of selfish sadness for me, I eagerly await his first letter from the MTC and his first phone call at Christmas and I wonder if he made his connecting flight in Dallas.... I may be Hannah, but I'm also still Kari.

To the temple

Friday the 10th we took Dalon to the Lubbock Temple where he received his endowments. I think when I saw him walk into the room looking SO young and handsome, it became a surreal moment. I couldn't wrap my brain around the fact that my child was there-with me- in the temple. He looked a little lost but later he remarked the he could have stayed there forever! Good sign! My thoughts, "He gets it!" The next day he turned 19.

Today Arlen and I celebrate 20 years of marriage. We'll be going to St. Johns in the Virgin Islands to celebrate. I'm so excited to go someplace different and beautiful and will post all the pics when we get back. I even got a passport. Does that mean I'm somebody now?:-) A passport makes a person want to get up and go, so I'm hoping to have many other trips to various and asundry places!!

Lastly, I'm now an official real estate salesperson. Who'da thunk it? I guess all that moving, remodeling, building of property, staging of property, etc. led me in this direction. I never thought this is a place I'd go. The Lord provided this opportunity when we needed a little extra to help with Dalon's mission. He knows best, so we'll see where this takes us and I'll keep ya posted.

Kirtland events

Our time in Kirtland, Ohio was very interesting. I think I learned more about the history of the church in this spot than in any of the others. We started at the visitors center in Kirtland where they had a display on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was of special interest to us, one of our relatives on my dad's side, Anthony C. Lund, was the choir director for many years. He was the director when the "Music with the Spoken Word" program began to be televised. So, it was cool to see his name on one of the plaques and see some of the interactive displays they had. We then toured what was left and had been restored of the original town. Once again we were honored to walk where Joseph had walked and see where revelation had been given and to know of the people who were instrumental in building the kingdom in this place. The Lord always knew who was needed to move the work along and led Joseph there. We saw the Kirtland temple last. It's a beautiful structure and I don't want to take away from the sacrifice the saints made to build it and provide a place where temple work could begin, but it saddened us to feel that the spirit no longer resides there. Even the children remarked that it felt odd and empty to them. It is now just a building.

Kirtland pics

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One amazing experience

Before we left New York we took a little detour farther north to the great Niagara Falls. I had been to the falls when I was about 14 yrs. old with a 4-H group. That particular day I remember being gray and rainy and not very impressive. This trip with the family was spectacular. The weather was perfect, the sky brilliant and the water so impressive as to render one speechless. I heard the boys say things such as "Awesome!" "Whoa!" and, as we leaned over the side of one fall to look at the water pounding the rocks below, Dalon exclaimed in his best Darth Vader voice, "Feel the Power!" It was amazing. One of our pictures is of a statue memorializing Nikola Tesla, a pioneer in hydro-electric power. Of course, with all the engineering minds in our family he is HIGHLY revered!!

Niagara Falls

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Other Palmyra Sites

We visited the print shop where the first Books of Mormon were printed. E.B. Grandin originally turned down the opportunity to print the book. He did not want his reputation ruined by associating with Joseph Smith. The Lord softened Mr. Grandin's heart through his friends. When his friends told him he was nuts for not taking $3000 in gold and assured him they would see it only as a business venture, Mr. Grandin changed his mind. He was the only printer in the area with a certain kind of print machine that allowed the printing process to be much faster. Little did he know how he would change the world by accepting this one job!

The Martin Harris Farm was mortgaged for $3000 in gold so that the Book of Mormon could be printed. (The house that stands there today is not the original home, but they allow us to come take pictures although there are no tours.) I marvel at the dedication of the Saints at that time.

Sacred times

Walking through the Sacred Grove was one of the best experiences our family had. All the children remarked how quiet and peaceful it was. As we walked through the elegant, tall trees with the sun peeking through the leafy canopy, we could see how Joseph Smith would go there to pray on that very important day. We were also in awe of the circumstances in which he lived, how hard he worked and the load he carried on his shoulders once he had been visited by our Heavenly Father and the Savior. It seemed appropriate that as you turn away from the front of the humble home in which he lived, you are greeted by the marvelous view of the Palmyra Temple erupting through the trees. A powerful tribute to Joseph and his stalwart family.

The Sacred Grove and Smith Farm

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The Hill Cumorah

Our first stop was the Hill Cumorah visitor's center. The building is beautiful and had some marvelous original paintings of scenes from the Book of Mormon. About three minutes after we arrived at the site a huge bus of teenagers arrived from Utah. An institute director from Weber State University organizes a Church History tour each year. (We actually ended up dodging this group at several of the other Church history sites!!!) Anyway, the missionaries at the center were very concerned that our experience not be upset by this onslaught of teenagers, so they allowed us to be in the various rooms alone and then we could have teaching moments with our kids. In the room with the Christus, we heard the presentation with the tour group and then we were allowed to stay in there by ourselves. When the missionaries found out Dalon was going to Hong Kong on his mission they allowed us to hear the presentation in Cantonese!! Very fun.

The Hill Cumorah

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Church History Trip - Chatauqua, NY

We recently had the pleasure of taking our family on what we termed a 'Church History Trip'. We made some side trips to Niagara Falls, Aunt Jolyne's and Arlen's brother, Glen's home. But our focus was on learning more about Joseph Smith and the beginnings of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. On Friday, June 29th we started out for New York. We drove all night with Arlen doing a majority of the driving, but Kari and Dalon spelled him off a couple of times. The 24 hr. drive was a hit with the kids - HA! We arrived Saturday in Chatauqua, NY where we camped at the Chatauqua Family Campground. (See separate post.) The area was absolutely beautiful and we were blessed with a secluded campsite with a private pond and room to run. The kids could run and play and make all kinds of noise without bothering anyone. Perfect!
Landon fast became the resident fire builder with Arlen's supervision and instruction. The weather was beautiful, but chilly at night - something our Texas bodies were not used to.

Chatauqua Family campground

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