What We Really Do as Agriculture Church Service Missionaries

We suppose that people may think, based on our blog, that we do a lot of sight seeing and maybe not so much work. Well, most of what we do is pretty boring, mundane stuff that we don't bother to mention here. However, this morning, we did get help from Brothers Ross and Ben Smith with some heavy concrete work. We were pouring footings for the last two supports for the large "poly tunnel" (a partially covered vinyl quonset hut with open sides and ends) that makes a nice rain shelter for part of the Liahona Youth Activity Centre. But this past week we have done the following more typical things: scrubbed walls, replaced loose tiles, cleaned away peeled paint and applied damp seal, painted, repaired warped flooring, tightened windows, fixed a door so it swings properly and latches without having to slam it, removed, cleaned and replaced light fixtures, repaired window blinds, installed a man hole cover, cleaned out a shed, winterized the camp water system, bought and set up storage shelves, mowed a lawn, trimmed a hedge, whacked weeds, tidied up flower beds, fixed a faucet leak, etc etc. We also set up a system with forms for a survey of 51 homes and inspected 7 of them for needed repairs, upgrades, etc. We could take pictures of all that stuff and post it here but we don't think it makes very interesting reading. Well, maybe once - so you can see what we do most of the time - and this may be that once.

On the other hand, we probably are doing a bit more sight-seeing than some of our predecessors. The Church asks the Elder to work 30 to 40 hours a week and expects that the Sister will do very little of the work and gives her a page and a half of ideas about things she can do like volunteering in the community, etc. Sister Pemberton, however, is spending most of her discretionary time working with Elder Pemberton and puts in at least 20 hours a week of "farm" work. She does most of the mowing, and nearly all the painting and cleaning. We are running about 65 - 80 hours a week between the two of us. That takes a little pressure off and lets us take an hour or two during runs for parts or materials to see some sights. Our big trips - Norwich Cathedral and the Tower of London - were done as part of other trips we had to take anyway.