Love the City of Brotherly LOVE

Rodin's, The Thinker, several minute walk from where we live

the peaceful Rivers and bridges

the skyline 

Boat house row

The Shore is close enough

The beautiful churches showing William Penn's dream of freedom for all religions

Great places to eat, not just pretzels and Philly cheese steaks 

Philadelphia Inquire Building with the Delaware river near

Independence Square

Penns Landing

The Liberty Bell

Building the Philadelphia Mormon Temple

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

William Penn

 The Art Museum

We love the city for many more reasons than this. We so much enjoyed the diverse culture, weather, and work which we got to do for the year that we served here.

Pioneers continued

Nik and Kallie are Pioneers. Here they have just finished their tour of the Temple (not the Philadelphia). They are learning about the Temple and the sweet peace that it brings. They have many family members who have gone before them and many that are alive  today that will learn from them as they step forward in life.

Here is an old Morrison family photo probably taken 55 years ago. As a young girl I was taught by my grandparents great example. Now I hope to do the same.

The Independence ward stick pull

A visit with the Bartholomews 

Each day I take photos of the temple.This one was taken with the full moon in early morning

Here I am at the end of our service at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania with a photo of Edwin D.Woolley, my grandma Celia's grandpa. He is my Quaker Pioneer that heard about Joseph Smith, sold his very fine property ( which later was bought by Du Pont  to become prime land including Longwood Gardens ). He lead the  Saints to freedom and safety in the Salt Lake Valley. And continued a long life of service as first Bishop of the 13th ward.

Our final photo at HSP, our home of service for the last year.

We are Pioneering now as we set an example of service to our Church and community by volunteering to help others. This past year we scanned books that will now be on line for all the get more information about their families that have passed before.

Serving at the Philadelphia Temple VIP (pre- open house)

A few weeks ago our grandson Seth and Mackenzie came to for a quick visit. We got to share our first inside visit of the Philadelphia Temple with them!!!This room is the side waiting room next to the temple

Early morning

At sunset

sun on

Early evening Moon on the adjacent

Full Moon ( middle of the night!)

I can not express the joy that we had watching the temple being built and finally this week taking people through. By some luck I happened to take the very first official VIP group through which included two Catholic Priest. We are continuing these last few days serving at host for the open house of the temple. This is a glorious way to end our mission here in Philadelphia,

The Grand finale

Looking down to the Art Museum as we approach our final week here in Philly, We will post some of our favorite sites that we see every day.

We loved sharing walks in the green hills  

 walks our in the beautiful  green mts. (this is near Craig's home in Virginia)

Nancy came up for a short visit to see her sister and we had a fun visit down memory land in Valley Forge Branch/ward/stake.

Our finale day at HSP 

 we at a brunch with the staff and our Family Search team went our to lunch. The best part was the people we worked with and finding my Woolley ancestors in  Chester County

a mixture of friends and fun

Ocean City, New Jersey with some Senior Missionaries turned out to be the perfect way to spend a Saturday Evening. We ate at the famous Crab shack then played in the water and walked along the board walk

Had to get in the water

the food and the friends were the best

Men and hats

Ole dance

We finally got our first chance inside the Philadelphia Temple grounds.  BEAUTIFUL

the temple is ready and so are we

Happy 4th with Lit Bro Craig and family

Lexington town , a few minutes from Craig and Jill's home in Buena Vista, is home to Washington and Lee University. Part of our weekend celebrating the 4th of July, we spent learning more about the South, the Civil War, Democracy, and our continued love of family and our freedoms.

The Blue Ridge mountains are the skyline that surrounds the beautiful campus of Southern Virginia University, where Craig and Jill's family live and work. We got a chance to visit, play, and of course, eat, with Dallas, Chelsea, Candace and Craig and Jill and all their extended loved ones ( including Candace's dog!)

On the drive out we went to Gettysburg, right during the annual reenactment of the big battles.

We stopped in Charlottesville to see Candace off before she goes to Bermuda, with her new Au Pair job. Tough Life! 

We took a lot of photos, sadly, my photos of the grandkids didnt turn out. Spending time with family is a great way the hasten end of our work here in the East. We have had so many wonderful Historical side trips. This area of middle Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia are some of the finest in America, the Blue Mountains covered with rich green, rivers, and creeks make for great memories.

Before we left we taught Institute at Penn and I was reminded of how much I love to teach. In the preparation I learn so much more. And serving the Young Single Adults is always a joy.  HAPPY  family celebrations and LOVE of our country, even now, as things in America are not as great as I pray for.