Hello Sister Kenison…
Thank you again for helping me out with addresses and information. We really enjoyed our visit there, and the entire family were thrilled with the AOA gifts you folks made for us to take home as souvenirs. If you don’t know what the were, I’ll show you what they gave us, and how they looked when I gave them to the family…
Each of the kids received their own slice of walnut trunk with their names and years of service etched into them to hang on their walls. They LOVED them! And, I added a few small rocks from places on AOA that held special meanings for us.
Elder and Sister Toone were especially helpful and considerate of us, and went out of their way to be kind to us. He even let us borrow some fishing poles to go fishing in the pond behind his house. The girls were so excited, and we all caught some pretty respectable bass!
I mentioned to Elder Toone that we’d love to try our luck fishing in our old pond behind the Jameson home. The one with the island, where we used to play as a family, and catch some great fish. He looked a bit confused when I told him of the “pond with the island”, and it made me wonder if there even was a pond still there. Let me tell you what apparently happened…
While we were at AOA, the director, along with Brother Doxey and Peter Lasig, determined that they wanted a pond at the base of Spring Hill, because there was a constant flowing spring that fed naturally into that place. So, one of the projects we helped with was creating a large pond there. It was about an acre in size, and to help out with some struggling geese, whose goslings were in constant threat by some of the local foxes, we built an island in the middle of the pond for those geese to nest on.
At the deepest part, it was around 7 feet deep, and after it filled up, I waded out to the island and planted it with native grasses and wild flowers. Below is another photo of it, looking up towards the water tower on Spring Hill…
However, when we hiked out to the spot where the pond used to be, all we found was a big mud hole, and a large gash in the earth where the dam had been breached. That beautiful pond is now just a memory I suppose. Perhaps one day, it will be repaired with a more secure spillway so it won’t get washed out again. We made some wonderful memories there!
I told the girls how sad it was that it was gone, and mentioned that if I could just access to a nice D-8 Cat and a backhoe for one week, I’ll bet I could whip that place back into shape. Maybe not… I guess we’ll never know. But some wonderful memories will live on in our hearts and minds forever!
Another place that has “disappeared” from there was the “grove” just West of “little valley”. I’m sure you must have heard of this place. When we were there, and “Dignitaries” such as Apostles or other Church authorities would come to visit, they’d go to this place to sit and ponder and discuss the future of that hallowed land. They had some nice 18″ long logs cut and stored there to provide them a place to sit in peace and quiet as they contemplated the future of AOA.
That grove was also the spot where we blessed our little baby Adam on Easter Morning, 1990.
Unfortunately, that beautiful grove is no longer there either. I hiked back to that spot while we were there to see what remained after some pretty substantial flooding that took place years ago… but not much was left there.
The large “open spaces” that were once there, have been eaten up by the river, and only small narrow spaces remain. But since the Lord controls the weather, my only conclusion is that the Lord no longer has a need for that “special” place. And I would never presume to know what His plans are for that beautiful spot of ground. However, our memories can never be taken away from us.
While I was there 30 years ago, I had some spare time in the evening, and I decided to get some oil paints and take up painting. I was able to do just enough art there that I was encouraged by the few paintings I did… and decided that when the time was right, I’d get back into art again… after my “Constructions days” were over. (I was a contractor for many years.) So, about 15 years ago, I took up the brushes once again, to see what I could do.
My first painting that I ever sold was called… “The Backroads of AOA”. A recently returned Mission President from South Africa purchased it. I’ve taken the liberty to send a “giclee'” print on canvas to Elder and Sister Hobley. Hopefully they can find a suitable place to hang it as a reminder of all those who have lived, loved and served there.
This is another painting I painted of a sunrise there at AOA. The trees were much smaller then! This one also sold to someone who had been there to visit.
Also, my wife thought that I should send a giclee’ of my best selling piece of art, (and her personal favorite…) titled “Behold Thy Son”. This is a simple painting where I tried to capture the emotion that Mary might have felt, as she watched her son being taken away to be crucified by sinful men… so ALL of us might be saved. This painting sometimes brings tears to the eyes of people… especially mothers, who can relate in some small way to the emotions Mary must have felt at that time in her life. But the good news is that next time the Savior comes, there will be NO sadness, NO sorrow, and NO suffering… at least not for those who have prepared themselves for His return. And those who serve at AOA are doing precisely that! Preparing this world for the return of our King, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
We send our love and best wishes to ALL who serve in that sacred place!
Thank you all for making our visit wonderful!