Elders Woods

We are a family of seven. We live on 10 acres out in the country. We have a pond, a meadow and a woods. We named our woods, "Elders Woods" after the many missionaries who visited here on their p-day. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We belong to the church that sends missionaries out two by two on bicycles to share our beliefs with others.

LDS missionaries are dedicated young men who voluntarily give two years of their lives in service to the Lord. Missionaries work hard all week, but one day a week is called their p-day or preparation day. This is the day that they can catch up with laundry, email and letters to family. This is also their day to relax. We used to have missionaries come over to our property on their p-day and ride their bikes in the field. We had some pretty sweet hills at that time that they liked to ride. We also had a woods. One day an elder, (can't remember who) asked if we minded if he and his companion cut a trail through our woods in order to ride bikes and make it more interesting. We thought that was a great idea and so Elders Woods was born.

Each p-day for a while missionaries would come and cut trails through the woods. We met several different missionaries as companionships changed. We thought it only fitting to name our woods after these elders who worked so hard. They have gone home, but the trails remain to remind us of the good times we spent with these hard-working, service-minded young men.

We have three trails in our woods now and a tree house that we had built a couple of years ago. I love walking through the woods and watching birds and rabbits dart thorugh the bushes. In May the smell of the honeysuckle vines is intoxicating. The mulberry tree begins to share its fruit. The woods is a place of peace for me. I am grateful to have this wonderful place to go and be still and ponder.