GOD BLESS AMERICA

The Fourth of July was this week.  It is a working day for all of the missionaries until 6:00 and then they can go to members homes for bbq, fireworks, etc.  The senior missionaries are supposed to man the office as usual.  However...we have one couple who really wanted to have the office close for the day so they could do "fun" things on the holiday.  President Hughes said, "No, the office needs to be open" so the sister asked if we could take 3 hour shifts so someone would always be here.  He reluctantly agreed.  We had just planned on being here as usual, but ended up pulling the 8-11 shift.  On the way home, we stopped by the Cave Hill Cemetery.  It is a national cemetery so there are a lot of white military markers, including many from both sides of the Civil War.  In addition, Mohammed Ali and Colonel Sanders are buried there.

Kentucky has really big cemeteries but this is by far the biggest one I've ever seen.  It was chartered by the General Assembly of Kentucky on Feb. 5, 1848 as a rural cemetery.  It was dedicated in July of that year and Cave Hill Farm became a beautiful and historic cemetery. There are rolling hills and ponds, and a natural spring that feeds Beargrass Creek.  It is just beautiful.  As the city prospered, the headstones and monuments grew.  I got so many pictures of interesting ones.  

There are many modern mausoleums and markers, but I found the older ones more interesting. It is truly a "garden cemetery".  They even have a "Scattering Garden" to scatter loved one's ashes.

After visiting Colonel Sanders, we decided to grab a bucket of his chicken and take it home.  That was lunch and we had time for a nap!  After that, I cleaned out some drawers and that evening we had hot dogs and listened to the fireworks.  The AP's came over and got a key from us for the office.  They bbq'd outside and locked themselves out!  Elder Breinholt had a good visit with them.  I, of course, was in my nightgown so I hid in the bedroom!  They are such great young men.  They left me a note on my computer while I was in Idaho:

The weather here has been nearly unbearable.  The highest has been around 97, but with the humidity, the heat index is 111.  This is an example of what the office window looks like when we get here at 8:

We're supposed to cool down into the mid 80's for a few days so that will be nice.  All in all, this week has been good.  Next week will be busy as we have new missionaries arriving, transfers, and releases.  Four weeks from tomorrow we will be on the road towards home.  It is amazing that the time has come and each week is flying by.