July, Our Final Month

There has been a cooperative relationship growing between the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the LDS Church for the past year.  As part of that effort, we have been scanning books which will be on the Church's web site, plus the library here will also have them available on their web site.  There are plans to have the Church scan more than just the family history books.  There are other documents and photos that the Society would love to have scanned.  It would be very expensive for them to hire it done, so they appreciate that we do it for free.

Also there has been some discussion between HSP director, Paige Talbot and Family Search in Salt Lake about the possibility of putting a Family History Center in the building.  The Church would provide computers and other equipment needed for the center.  It would be a benefit to both the Historical Society and the Church.  The Historical Society would see an increase of traffic and possible paying patrons and have a large amount of scanning done for free. The benefit to the Church and the Family History department is obvious.  

One of the obstacles to putting a family history center here is the massive card catalog on the main floor where the center would be.  HSP has made various inquiries over the years about getting them scanned, digitized and indexed, but the costs would have been astronomical, in the millions of dollars.  With the plan to put a family history center here, the Church offered to do it for free. 

The process has begun.  A senior missionary couple serving in Delaware have been called in to scan the card catalog.  Elder and Sister Longhurst have been here a couple of weeks and will be here for 2 more until they are done.  They have some volunteers from the local stakes who also help them.  Sister Longhurst is the one we met at the DC Temple when we were there with Matt and his family.

They are scanning up to 20,000 cards a day.  There are about 1,000,000 cards to do. They will be put on line to be indexed in short order.  They may be part of the indexing process in general, so be ready to help.  They will be easy to do, so I'm told.
You can see that the cabinets take up quite a bit of space that will be used for the center.

I can just imagine how the new Family History Center will look here.  It reminds me of the Family History Center at the National Archives at Kew in London.  It worked well there, and I think it will here too.  With a new temple and a wonderful Family History Center, good things are happening in Philadelphia!

We reached a milestone that I didn't dream we would reach.  On July 8th we scanned our
200,000th image!

It was in a book that is typical of many books we scan.  It was typewritten and bound in a green binder.

Also this book is the 1,360th book we have scanned.

We thought this book would have already been on line.  But it wasn't and we got to do it.

Here is a picture of the cabin where Lincoln was born.

It was a little surprising to find Meriwether Lewis in the book, Meriwethers and Their Connections, 1892.

I'm a little skeptical of this notice in The Martin Pridmore Family Record, 1972.

That book did have some nice fashion statements from 1902 though:

It also showed how the cost of living (and dying) have changed over the years.

I'm going to miss all the good stuff we find in the books here.

We were hoping to be here when they put the Angel Moroni on the temple.  But it isn't going to happen until some time in October.  It has been so fun to watch the temple be built.  A part of my heart will always be here.

I love the granite carvings.  Beautiful.

Just to the west, across the street the new stake center is coming along nicely.  It will be done about the same time as the temple.

4th of July

This is Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  It has 6 lanes and a median and they closed it off for the celebration.  At the end of the street you can see the Art Museum where the Rocky Steps are.

I saw more about 'shark week' than I did about the 4th.

People began to settle in for the fireworks.

It was a long wait.  We were lucky that we could watch from our apartment.  I waited up until 10:30, but got tired and went to bed.  Jerrol woke me up when they finally started at 11:30.

I think I am a little spoiled by Provo and Mapleton.   These were okay, but I was a little disappointed.  They only lasted 15 minutes and there was no real finale.  I talked to some people during the next few days and they said this wasn't a very good year for the 4th celebration.  The concert at the Art Museum wasn't all that great and there were no patriotic songs at all.  Anyway, at least I can say I was in Philadelphia on the 4th of July.

Just for fun, here are a few things in Philadelphia that I found  interesting.

This made me laugh!  I guess you can do what you want to in this place.

I suppose there are limits, and if you go beyond them and end up in the pokey, don't worry, we can still send you something to read from this helpful bookstore.

The Mural Arts Program is an anti-graffiti mural program in Philadelphia that was founded in 1986. 

The program is currently one of Philadelphia's largest employers of artists, employing over 300 artists a year.  They also hire prosecuted graffiti vandals at a rate of over 100 per year and involves them with the creation of murals around Philadelphia. 

We pass this one on our way home everyday.

This one is on the building across the street from where we live.

 We see these next two (among others) on our way to and  from church.

They have a bus tour that takes you all around to see the more than 1,000 murals in the city.  They are truly amazing works of art!

This is a view from the window when I was at the eye doctor at WillsEye Hospital.  This is the Walnut Theater, the oldest continuously operating theater in the English speaking world and the oldest in America.  It opened in 1809.  

Genghis  Khan is being featured at the Benjamin Franklin Institute.

In the background you can see part of the new Comcast building is on it's way up.   It will be the tallest building in Philadelphia. 

It's on the next block from the present tallest building, which is the original Comcast building.

Philadelphia is an interesting city.  Even though I'm not a city girl, I think I may miss it after all.

We are in our final days of our mission.  There is a lot to do to get ready to come home.  The final blog of our mission will be coming up.

Our replacement couple is getting trained and will shortly be entering the MTC.  We are excited for them!

June, Blessings and Challenges

This was a great month, even though it brought along some difficult challenges.  The last of May my knees went out on me.  I stayed home and rested for about a week, hoping they would feel better.  They didn't.  They got worse, and I couldn't walk at all without holding on to something.  So I got an appointment with a doctor who gave me shots in both knees and a brace for my right knee which was worse.  He also gave me pain pills, Tramadol, which gave me a terrible headache and nausea.  But I found I could do okay on extra strength Tylenol.

Jerrol was a trooper and did an awesome job at the library without me for 2 1/2 weeks.  I rested and hoped that I would be recovered enough to meet our son and his family in Washington DC for a visit.

The shots helped enough for me to get around with a cane.  On the 17th of June we boarded the Amtrak train and met Matt, Lisa, and their kids in DC.  It was a wonderful three day adventure!  They rented a scooter for me to ride, so I was able to go along and see all the wonderful sites.

First, we went to the Washington DC Temple where they did baptisms.  

We met another missionary on the grounds.  She happened to be Sister Longhurst who has been assigned with her husband to come to the HSP library where we are and scan the card catalog.  (More about that in the next blog.)  What a coincidence!  She volunteered to take our picture.

After getting some lunch and changing our clothes, we headed for the Capitol.

The dome is being repaired and renovated.

Jaana is taking a little ride with me.  I liked that scooter.  I want one.

The Washington Monument

I took a lot of photos, this is one of my favorites.

Looking from the Washington Monument toward the Lincoln Memorial, you can see the WWII Memorial.

I didn't expect to be so moved by being there.  It was amazing!  There were so many who sacrificed so much.  I had recently watched the movie "The Longest Day" on D Day, so I  had much of it on my mind.

Jerrol and Peyton at the WWII Memorial

Another place that tugs at the heart is the Vietnam War Memorial.  Jerrol had a list of names of people he knew and the family helped him find them.

We went to the Space Museum, the Native American Museum, and the Natural History Museum.  I have lots of pictures if anyone wants to see them sometime.

While we were at the Natural History Museum, I had another trial come.  I began to see many floaters like spider webs in my left eye.  Soon my eye clouded over and the floaters were backed by a film like waxed paper.  It was scary. I didn't know what was happening.  There was no pain, and I hoped it would just clear up. 

We went on to the Lincoln Memorial, the last stop of the day.

This feels like a sacred place to me.

That night we drove back to Philadelphia and got home late.  The next morning (Saturday) we went to the Wills Eye Hospital emergency room.  I had a broken blood vessel in my eye and a torn retina. On Monday and Wednesday I had laser treatments at the Wills Eye Hospital

to repair my retina.  Then it has been a matter of waiting for the blood to dissipate and my vision to clear.  It has slowly cleared and after 2 weeks, I have only a couple of faint and fading floaties that should be gone soon.  It has has made me appreciate my eyesight.  Being blind in one eye and lame was humbling.  But I have felt the blessing and protection of the Lord.  Wills Eye is one of the top eye hospitals in the nation.  I was fortunate to be here.

While Matt's family was here we made the rounds of Philadelphia's best sites.

I thought they would run, but they took their time going to the top of the 

Rocky Steps at the Art Museum.

One of my favorite places is Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was approved and signed.

 

Can you imagine how hot it must have been in there during those deliberations in July with the windows closed?

Right next door is the Liberty Bell.  You can see Independence Hall through the window.

They came to the library to see what we do.  Paige Talbot, the director took them into the vault to show them the treasures.

Paige had a little trouble with the locks when we were done, so Peyton had the honor of locking the doors.

Since Kyra and Jaana are such great fans of Jane Austin, I showed them an early edition of Pride and Prejudice that we found at the library.

The following weekend we were in Palmyra, NY.

This is the beautiful Palmyra Temple.

If you look closely at the middle window, you can see that it is mostly clear.  It is the only window of a temple that you can see outside.  This is so you can see across the way toward the Sacred Grove.

The Sacred Grove is just beyond those trees and across a road.

This is the monument at the top of the Hill Cumorah.

The visitor center at the Hill Cumorah.

At the visitor center here at the Sacred Grove, they had a wheelchair that we used for me.

This chair had big wheels for going over the gravel path. We were worried that it would rain since it rained hard the day before when we drove up from Philadelphia.  But it turned out to be just cloudy.

Such a wonderful, peaceful place.

This is the replica of the Smith home where the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph.
 
The missionary tour guide took our picture.

It would be a fun mission to be a church history tour guide.  They were wonderful!

This is the Grandin Print shop where the Book of Mormon was first printed.

We visited the Whitmer farm where the Church was organized.

Such humble beginnings for the Church.

It was great to have Matt and his family here.  It wasn't too hard to say goodbye because it won't be very long until we see them again.

Are we really in our last month?  My goodness!
I have mixed feelings.  I will be happy to be home, but will miss so many good friends here too.  Today after church, one of the little girls in the Sunbeam class came up to me and showed me a picture she had drawn.  There were a number of stick figures and she began naming them.  I was surprised and touched when she pointed at one and said, "This is you."  I am really going to miss Primary here.