Sunday, September 19, 2010

Colorado Old Home Weekend



After driving east through Utah from St. George and over the brilliant foliage covered mountains on I 70, we finally arrived in Fort Collins.  We were welcomed by our old friends, Donna and Bill from our old neighborhood where we enjoyed visiting in their home and eating a wonderful home-cooked meal together.  After catching up on the happenings going on in our lives, we went to the home of another pair of friends, Niel and Janette, to stay for the remainder of our stay in Fort Collins.  The next morning we attended an open house for our old ward (church) which we had not been in for eleven years, ever since we relocated to Utah.  The old Lynwood Chapel has been completely remodeled and the stake was hosting the open house not only to highlight the improvements in the building but to give people an opportunity to explore what the church has to offer those who attend.  It was fun,  informative, and well-attended.  We were amazed at the improvements made in the building's appearance and accessibility throughout.  Best of all we saw many of the old friends from years gone by--all looking older, but still pretty active and healthy.  The old feelings of fellowship and good will still remained after all these years.  It was heart warming to experience these feelings.  This was heightened later that evening when we attended a session of Stake Conference and saw even more of our church friends from years ago at the meeting.  I got all choked up as the meeting started when those feelings of love and familiarity continued on into the evening.  I thought to myself,  "I wonder if this is the kind of joy we will experience when we pass to the other side and see all our old friends and family again."  I think so.  I hope so, because it is a truly marvelous and satisfying feeling to have.

We drove around the town to see some of the changes that have occurred.  It has grown much larger, but all the old landmarks and neighborhoods we knew so well have remained.  Our old house was a different color, but it and the neighborhood looked much the same.  The Colorado State University campus has grown a lot.

Tomorrow we plan to attend another session of conference and go to the rededication ceremonies for the remodeled chapel.  The next three days we plan to visit more friends in nearby towns and drive up to see Stove Prairie School  in the mountains where I used to teach elementary school.  I'll try to take some pictures and get them posted to this blog as soon as I can.

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