ICE

 This was our scene on the way to the mission office Tuesday morning.  Snow was expected during the night, so the roads dept. lays a brine solution on the roads.  So it was not bad to drive.  The snow was very wet and stayed on the trees, making them quite heavy.  By Wednesday morning we had ice falling from the sky.  I had never seen anything exactly like this, but it was crystalline, stuck to the trees, glistened, and made the trees even heavier.  By the afternoon the tree limbs became so laden with snow, ice, etc. that they began to sag onto power lines or crack and hit power lines, snapping them.  By evening many people were without electricity with temps in to the teens.  The photo below is right by the mission office.  In a 3 block span there were 3 power lines laying in the road.  The mission office was without power Tues-Thurs.  When it finally came on the heating system went amiss and we did not have heat until Friday noon.  We stayed in the mission office to field calls until we were too cold to stand it, then we went home.  Wed. morning we heard a crack and both thought the other had fallen.  As it turned out, a tree limb next to our bedroom had cracked and hit the roof above our bed.  Within 2 hours we had a leak in the door casing which lasted 2 days--at which time it became frozen enough not to drip...

 Pennsylvania is laden with beautiful trees and when they become too heavy the limbs snap, leaving the tree scarred as the limb is ripped from its place.  It is actually very ugly to see the majestic trees lopsided now because of missing limbs.  I saw large 10" diameter branches stripped to the ground and even some trees just uprooted.  We are not talking just "some" but thousands of trees.  Yesterday while traveling on the freeway north of Philly, Elder Jones saw a pick up that was traveling ahead of him when a tree tell onto the road, hitting right in between the driver and passenger of the truck, making a hole in the cab of their pickup.  There is still much work to do to clean up the aftermath of this ice storm.  Below is a tree at the Mission office.

Special missionary moments this week:  Elder Jones mentioned to the mission president that he would like the assignment of dealing with a particular elder who might be having trouble (he explained his background in dealing with juvenile delinquents, etc.).  Anyway, within 4 hours the president called with an assignment, so Elder Jones contacted the Elder yesterday and got to visit with him.  Also, our mission Mom asked Elder Jones to meet with a Sister this next week to assist her with the emotional problems she is dealing with.  You all know just how much Elder Jones enjoys this and we are happy to be of some help to lighten the mission president and his wife as they have so very many missionaries to worry over.**Another moment was getting to meet with the Valley Forge West Zone in their training this week.  It was so very cold that we stayed until they completed the training and then Elder Jones insisted on taking them to a warm place for hot chocolate and a bite to eat.  They certainly are committed Elders and Sisters--no complaining, but they did ask me for tissues as their noses were running.  We enjoyed a ward fundraiser for girls camp last night and a pot luck today at our ward.  We were also asked to give a lesson in a week to a group of seniors at their FHE.  We are, of course, going to speak about member missionary work!  This coming week we will be engaged in 4 zone conferences.  One in Reading, PA, Cherry Hill, NJ, Dover, DE, and finally, Valley Forge, PA.  During these conferences Elder Jones inspects the cars and has prepared a short power point presentation on car safety.  I will speak just a bit about commissary.  AND, the missionaries will each be receiving their I-pad minis and will be trained on their use as a proselyting and accountability tool.  We feel very blessed to be on this mission and do so appreciate our children and their dedication to this cause.  We love you!