jana's banana boat

haigler creek fire department

2011-05-17T07:20:00.003+02:00

Here's the new fire truck. Dale is the new fire chief and I am his assistant. This 1962 International started it's career in Oregon, migrated to Phoenix, then to Young and now is parked at Porter Place on Lofgreen Acres at Haigler Creek. Come on over and we'll spray ya down!!

Life at Haigler Creek Hideaway

2010-10-19T00:29:00.002+02:00

Fall is finally here, we think, and we are preparing for the winter by stacking up the wood, canning and freezing veggies from the garden and planting the garlic. It has been a wonderfully busy summer and we are enjoying the cool evenings and glad to see the garden slowing down. It has been very productive and we are a little tired of squash and green beans. We just harvested the potatoes and they are really good this year. The tomatoes are mostly still green but we'll just pick the whole plant and store it in the garage and hope they ripen a little at a time so we can enjoy them throughout the winter. If not, we'll have great salsa.
The missionary work is going well. We are still teaching our investigator, Paul Anderson, who has set a date for baptism on Dec. 12. We are fellowshipping several couples in the branch who are less active and have nonmember spouses. Getting involved in several activities in the town (ie the Gila County Fair and the Pleasant Valley Singers) has enabled us to make new nonmember friends. Helping to build a greenhouse for the school is the latest project that has kept Grampa busy.
We have a new grandbaby boy born in Shanghai, China on 10-10-10! His name is Jackson Platte Lyman and he is the son of Bekki and Tyler Lyman. President Ellsworth, our mission president has given us permission to visit them and the new baby next month, so we will spend Thanksgiving in Suzhou, China.
Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!!

Young Missionary Experience

2010-06-14T07:23:00.002+02:00

June 13, 2010
We still have not received the corrected mission call. If it doesn’t come by Fri., Pres. Brenay said to call Pres. Whipple (the stake president). However, we have been called as branch missionaries and as such we were given a referral that we made an appointment for today at 2:00. After church we were about to drive away from the parking lot, when Brother Williams of our branch came up and said we should go with him to talk with this lady who was across the road and down a ways. She was yelling, "shame on you for going to that bad church." We did. Bother Williams was already talking with her when we arrived. The lady was a lesbian (she advertised it with her shirt) who was obviously full of anger and hate for the world. She was telling us how terrible we were for going to a church that discriminated against her. We tried talking for awhile but we could feel such a bad spirit that we didn't even want to talk with her. Dale asked her several questions to see if she was open to finding new truth, however she just wanted everything to be proved. She just wanted to argue and accuse and judge everyone. There was such a terrible spirit there. We finally excused ourselves saying we had an appointment to go to, which we did. We left and started out for our appointment with this referral that was given to us last week. It took about 45 mins to get there but when we arrived, there was such a difference! This man has been prepared by the Lord and has humbled himself. He agreed with everything we told him about prophets, the need for them, Joseph Smith, etc. It is true that he has had a very hard life and made some serious mistakes, but he has been humbled by them and has submitted himself to the Lord and is earnestly seeking truth and the true church. He is very grateful for God in his life and acknowledges Him in all things. The full time elders came also, although they were an hour late and we had already taught him about the Gospel, the Book of Mormon and the need for a restoration before they arrived. He took the challenge to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and he offered a very nice prayer at the end. He is anxious to come to church as he agrees with everything we taught him. Wow, what a different in attitude! It was like night and day. There could not have been two more opposite extremes than was exhibited in the example of these two people. They had both been through difficult experiences in their lives but each had come out with such opposite thinking and attitudes. It was an amazing experience to feel the spirit of the Lord so strongly and working so effectively in this man's life and to see such a proud woman who had so much anger and hatred and had allowed Satan to rule her life. We are grateful to have had both experiences to see the difference and to confirm to us that there is a God and there is a Satan and they are in direct opposition with one another. It could not be clearer than that.

Everything good comes from the Lord and everything bad is from Satan (Moroni 7: 15-16). We hope we will always choose the good but know that being mortal with weaknesses, we will sometimes fall short and perhaps choose unwisely. We do know, however, that as the years go by we are becoming better and stronger as we choose well and follow the Lord's plan and commandments. That's all we can do, but those small steps bring us closer to Him. A testimony is fragile and so it is necessary to nourish it with the good word of God daily and pray for the guidance of the Holy Ghost in our lives each day.

It’s been a great Sabbath day.

Jordan, Israel &Egypt

2009-11-02T07:26:00.003+02:00

Haigler House Sphynx in Cairo, Egypt

Typical scene from a Greco-Roman Temple

The Garden Tomb

The sea of Galilee from Mt. Carmel

Hi everyone,

We just returned from a wonderful trip to the Holy Lands. It was so inspiring to actually see and walk in the same places that the Savior walked and performed many miracles. We were especially touched at the Garden Tomb to think about the Atonement and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As our guide so appropriately put it, the best thing about the tomb is that it is EMPTY! We all repeated the resounding AMEN!

Egypt was awesome with all it's amazing old Greco-Roman Egyptian Temples. Many date back to 3000BC. The Pyramids are even bigger and more amazing than they seem in pictures. We loved everything but it is good to be home and back to our house building project at Haigler Creek. The dreams are becoming reality and that is very exciting. Enjoy the pictures!

Love to all, Jana & Dale

Oct. General Conference Weekend 2009

2009-10-05T06:28:00.004+02:00

The back of the house with Dale meditating. This is the garden entrance to our new home

Success! Julie finally caught a crawdad.

What a surprise to be awakened at 1:30 in the morning with a knocking on the window outside and a light shining through the window at Haigler. I awoke and wondered who was there. It was a little scary but it was the Smiths just arriving. What a fun time we have all had watching conference and enjoying a turkey dinner that Bob and Peggy cooked for us on Sunday. The talks were awesome and inspiring. The weather was wonderful and we were thankful that it didn't rain and get our house under construction wet again. The woodens, Peggy & Bob with Kevin and April and their families, the Smiths, Cord and Gayla and kids, Art & Jacque and Ashley and friend were all here with Dale and I.

Between conference sessions the Smiths and dale and I went walking up the creek to explore and they also had the grand tour of our house in its framed in stage. It has been a lovely weekend.

The beginning of our House at haigler Creek

2009-08-31T05:02:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone,

Here are a few pictures of our new house, at least the foundation. We are pretty excited to see a little action after waiting for four months to get the much longed for building permit. Finally!! While we waited we kept ourselves busy building a fence and planting a garden. The animals have pretty much been kept out except for a few problems with the racoons getting into the corn. They go right up the posts and over the fence. Well, that problem is now solved with the electric wire we ran across the top. It seems to be working and we have now harvested afew ears of delicious corn. The squash is prolific and the carrots are ready now. Cucumbers are awesome and the tomatoes will be ready in a few weeks. It is really fun to harvest the fruits of our labors. We'll keep you posted on the progress of our house if we can find the lost camera cord!

The chain saw

2009-05-03T21:19:00.003+02:00

Here is a little video clip that was supposed to be a still picture, but it provides the real sounds of the Dale's daily activities. The cedars around the lodge look great now thanks to Dale and his chain saw.

Work at Haigler Creek

2009-05-03T21:03:00.003+02:00

Well, the work is moving forward and this week we are one step closer to building our retreat in the mountains. We don't have the septic tank in yet but they layout is done, the plans are in and we are awaiting the ok and permit to be issued. Also this week, a surveyor came out to put in a "benchmark" to make sure we build 16.6 feet above the creek and he determined that our property was at that level. That was great news because at first he said we needed to build up 6 feet. After a few more calculations and Dale's talking to him he said it was ok at ground level. We are planning to be up 3 feet anyway. We are now awaiting the plans to be reviewed by the county and the permits to be issued.

We are working really hard to clear all of the old dead wood and trees and each we burn for three or so days without stopping. Wow, it is looking nice and we are so pleased that it is so pretty up there. It is very rewarding even if our backs are sore and my fingers are stiff and swollen. We'll heal.

Enjoy the pictures.

Dale and Jana

QUICK UPDATE

2009-02-08T15:58:00.005+02:00

Hi all,

It's been a while and there have been many changes in my life. July 19, 2009 was the biggest as that was my wedding day to Oscar Dale Porter. We were married in the Mesa Temple. We honeymooned to China and have been going ever since. We spent 6 weeks in Provo, then another 6 weeks in the mountains at Haigler Creek and then 4 weeks on a road trip that took us to Plano Texas, then Augusta Georgia, on to DC, then Philadelphia, then Chicago, and lastly home via Utah. All of this to vist a few of our 17 children and 54 (with 2 on the way) grand children. Wow!! It was delightful, educational, fun and we were really able to get to know one another. Altogether we put an additional 7000 miles on the car, but it was wonderful to see many parts of the US that I had not seen before.

Our plans had been to be snowbirds and spend the winters in Mesa, but it seems we keep going to the cold places and sending time in the mountains. Last week-end was back to Chicago for a blessing and baptism of Rebecca and Adam Driggs. Fortunately for us their cold spell of subzero weather warmed up to the 30's and it wasn't quite so bad.

Our plans for the next few months are to work on building a cabin at Haigler Creek, a quick trip to Texas for Sarah's baptism, a road rip to Calif. for children visits, and then on April 7th we are off to England to work in the Preston Temple for 6 months.

Life is great!! Retirement is fun and family is marvelous. We do enjoy it all. I am posting a few of the wedding pictures and one of the falls we discovered at Haigler Creek this past fall. That huge piece of driftwood looks great in our front yard but it was not easy Dale to carry it up the canyon and out of the cliffs to the truck!

Love to all out there.

Jana Porter

I'm home Now

2008-05-26T05:42:00.002+02:00

Now that i am home and I have not even bothered to put anything on my blog, it has forgotten me and I can't seem to get here except through the link on someone my kids' blog sites. so this is the test to see if it is still really there and I can really put something on it! If so there will be more to come.

Beira Pictures November 25, 2007

2007-11-25T22:10:00.000+02:00

Care For Life, Manga and downtown Beira

Beira Trip, November 2007

2007-11-25T21:07:00.000+02:00

Wow! We really had a fun time in Beira. The chapel was gorgeous, the weather was lovely and we loved the slower-paced city with much less traffic. The famous coke bottles were something of an oddity.

We had some great dinning experiences--great food and good company, and yes we did do some work too. I taught two members several piano lessons and was able to help them learn to play and read with their left hand. It wasn't as hard as they thought. We set up the district's little distribution/family history center and got the computer set up for the FH.

We spent some time touring Mbatwe, one of Care For Life's community projects that has been very successful and then visited a local wood carver who lives in manga and arranged for some purchases the next day. Walking down the middle of the village to Vasco's house and taking pictures of all the cute kids on the way was really fun. We were able to see all six branches in Beira district. Inhumizua was lovely but it was too dark to get a picture. It is all outdoors, even the chapel. The fence is going up around the property in Manga which will have a new chapel just like the Beira chapel by next year. It's exciting!!

Mozambique Piano Recital

2007-11-01T00:02:00.000+02:00

back row: Elder Dow, Kabe, Lourena, e Celso. front row: Sister Allred, Alice, Bina, Mércia, Suny, Lizi, Joaquina, Herménio, e Francisco.

Suny, Sister Allred, Joaquina, Lizi, Lourena, Francisco, e Kabe
Sister Allred, Lourena, Joaquina, e Alice

October 20, 2007 Recital Day

What I really love about my mission is teaching members to play the piano! I have always loved teaching music and this is such a joy to see and hear them learn to play the hymns and to then play for their sacrament meetings and the baptisms. On Saturday the 20th, Elder Dow, who also teaches some members in the Magoanine branch, and I held a recital for our students so that they could play for each other. Some are just beginning and others are playing the simplified hymns with two hands, but all are working hard and practicing to learn the skills needed to succeed. Some were unable to attend because of work, school or other obligations but we had a great time and all those who participated earned a certificate of acheivement and participation. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Maputo English class

2007-09-24T20:27:00.000+02:00

September 24, 2007

Tomorrow is a huge holiday in mozambique! It's like their Independence Day. All of the stores were very crowded as people stocked up on food for their celebrations. There wasn't much left at Shoprite. Sister Wick and I had the delightful task of taking the Elders to their homes in T3 and Magoanine. It took us 3 hours to accomplish this because of the horrific traffic and because the Elders were about 45 minutes late. It's the last time for that! Anyway, the huge rain clouds that looked so threatening have not materialized and we merely got a few sprinkles.

I am posting a picture that we just got from Elder Bowler, who is the Elder in it and who helps teach the English class. This is a picture of Sister Wick's surprise birthday party. These are all of our friends from the Maputo English class. Under Elder Bowler's arms is my student Emanual who loves to play the piano. Behind me is Lara who is in the primary presidency.

Sister Wick is holding a picture that was drawn by Sarita, Lara's daughter who is kneeling and next to Lara. Nilsa, who came here 13 years ago from Brazil, is on my right. The picture is a very cool pastel of a Mozambican map and has many fun African designs drawn into the map. Elder Bowler and I loved it so much that two weeks later she brought one that she had made for each of us. We have a lot of fun in the class and love these people alot.

Namaacha Pictures

2007-08-25T20:19:00.000+02:00

Here are a few more pictures of our illustrious missionaries. Pres. Packard is the photograher. Elder McBride is on the tower, looking like the Assistant to the Pres. that he is and
Elder and Sister Reghin are an adorable couple who are converting all of Matola City, and Sister Davis and Sister Wick are enjoying their lunch.

Freedom from the Smog!!! Aug. 21, 2007

2007-08-25T19:50:00.000+02:00

Hi,

It has been a whole month since I last wrote. I can't believe how fast the time is going by. Last Monday was a very fun P-day. We went to the border of Mozambique and Swaziland to a place called Namaacha where there are supposed to be beautiful waterfalls. In fact I often buy water that is bottled from Namaacha and it is very delicious. This is the dry season, however, and it is unusually dry right now, so I was not surprised to find just a trickle for the water fall! We called it an "airfall!" Still, it was lovely and was a very fun place to explore and have a little picnic. Breathing clean air was wonderful and the weather was beautiful. We really had a great time getting out of the city for a few hours. Here we are, a happy bunch of great missionaries!

PIANO STUDENTS

2007-07-26T21:50:00.000+02:00

Joaquina
Charles
Suny
Artemisa

Nelia

Hi,

It has been a while since the last post. Since I just got home from Matola, where I was doing my favorite thing teaching piano, I thought I would post a few pictures of these wonderful students who are progressing really well. Last month we received 10 new keyboards from a Grant called the Harman Grant and I am excited that now many of the students are able to have keyboards in their homes to practice. They will really be able to progress now! Suny is going to play in his branch sacrament meeting this next Sunday and Charles has already been playing for a few months. Joaquina is thrilled to be learning We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet. In October they will all play on a little recital with about 15 other students. It is exciting to have some young students who have the time to practice and many years ahead of them to be of service to their branches and later to their wards. They are true pioneers here in Africa!! This is the beginning of wonderful things to come.

Jana

Francisco's Casa Nova

2007-07-13T22:46:00.000+02:00

July 13, 2007

Hi there todos! I just wanted to tell you about my friend and piano student Francisco. He is in the Maputo 1 ramo and is the janitor at the church. He loves music and I am teaching him to play the piano. His house was falling down and the Abdos saw that he really needed something more adequate for his wife and three little girls to live in so they undertook a project to build him a new house. Now they will be protected from the rain (not that we have had very much lately!). They still have no running water nor any electricity, but it is a much nicer place than before and they are very happy! Elder Abdo took the before and after pictures and sent them to me. The Abdos are leaving to go home to Brazil and we will miss them so much. They have really kept the mission running and in topnotch shape for the past two years. I will post a picture of them mais tarde. Tchau.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!

2007-07-03T21:30:00.000+02:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!!! I hope it is a great 12th birthday and I hope you enjoy seeing a few of the Elders here in Maputo, Mozambique, Africa. We had a BarBQue on Monday, P-Day, to celebrate the 4th of July. Sister Packard had this great idea for her grandchildren's birthdays and so I was able to get a fun picture for you too, Sydney. Tenha um bom aniversário!

Moças Acampamento

2007-06-29T20:44:00.000+02:00

Hi, This weekend was the very first ever young women's camp in Maputo, Mozambique, Africa. Sister Wick and I went to lend our support and enjoy visiting with some of our moça friends. It was held at the T3 branch where there is a lot of room and good security. The additional house in the back yard was a great place for all of the moças to sleep and have their fun activities. Elder and Sister Reghin are the wonderful pioneers who have helped these young women grow and learn how to plan and carry out this historic activity.

my new blog

2007-06-20T19:18:00.000+02:00

whatever..qualquer coisa