This weekend our good friends from our ward, Bob and Mary Moreland, took us on a ride to see some Amish Country. We don't know exactly where we were but it was beautiful and we learned so much about this wonderful people. We learned that they only go to church every other week and they hold their meetings in someone's home or barn which is scrubbed and cleaned totally for the occasion. Each family takes at least one turn each year. They are grouped in districts with a Bishop for each district that is chosen by drawing lots. If they want to go to church on the other Sundays, they can attend in another district. There is so much more about their religion that I can't explain it all here. We learned the the children go to school in a one-room school house until the 6th grade only. There are many school houses so that the children are within walking distance to them. They are taught the basics and as you can see the playground is very bare--swings and a teeter-tauter is all. This people are industrious and teach their children to work at an early age. They go everywhere in these buggies--the entire family together. They also don't like to have their pictures taken. Even the dolls the children play with have no faces because they do not believe in having graven images. When a couple is married there are no photographs taken. Families live close together in a little compound of homes, barns and dairy cows! Their main source of income is providing milk for the cheese factories. They have several cheese factories and make every kind of cheese you can imagine! We tried them all as we shopped--they had little pieces cut for sampling! They make fudge out of cheese that is really good too.
In this buggy a woman is driving it. They have been shopping. The buggies parked under the blue barn are in a Wal-Mart parking lot. They have been shopping too!! And Wal-Mart provides a place for them to park the buggy and horse that is protected for the horse. I suppose they also provide someone to come and shovel out the stalls from time to time also! We had a wonderful day with Brother and Sister Moreland. We have decided that we will have to go back and spend another day to learn more about these people. We spoke to several of them and they are very nice. Mary said something to one little girl about the "Wizard of Oz" and the yellow brick road and she had no idea what Mary was talking about! They are so protected with no TV, computer, radio or outside news. What a simple life!! We could incorporate some of that into our lives and make ourselves less busy and cluttered with things that really don't matter and don't help our eternal progression!! Maybe we are TOO BUSY! But we know we have a good life and a great family life that is as important to us and theirs is to them. And we know for a surety where we want to end up--as an eternal family with our Heavenly Father.
This weekend our good friends from our ward, Bob and Mary Moreland, took us on a ride to see some Amish Country. We don't know exactly where we were but it was beautiful and we learned so much about this wonderful people. We learned that they only go to church every other week and they hold their meetings in someone's home or barn which is scrubbed and cleaned totally for the occasion. Each family takes at least one turn each year. They are grouped in districts with a Bishop for each district that is chosen by drawing lots. If they want to go to church on the other Sundays, they can attend in another district. There is so much more about their religion that I can't explain it all here. We learned the the children go to school in a one-room school house until the 6th grade only. There are many school houses so that the children are within walking distance to them. They are taught the basics and as you can see the playground is very bare--swings and a teeter-tauter is all. This people are industrious and teach their children to work at an early age. They go everywhere in these buggies--the entire family together. They also don't like to have their pictures taken. Even the dolls the children play with have no faces because they do not believe in having graven images. When a couple is married there are no photographs taken. Families live close together in a little compound of homes, barns and dairy cows! Their main source of income is providing milk for the cheese factories. They have several cheese factories and make every kind of cheese you can imagine! We tried them all as we shopped--they had little pieces cut for sampling! They make fudge out of cheese that is really good too. 
In this buggy a woman is driving it. They have been shopping. The buggies parked under the blue barn are in a Wal-Mart parking lot. They have been shopping too!! And Wal-Mart provides a place for them to park the buggy and horse that is protected for the horse. I suppose they also provide someone to come and shovel out the stalls from time to time also! We had a wonderful day with Brother and Sister Moreland. We have decided that we will have to go back and spend another day to learn more about these people. We spoke to several of them and they are very nice. Mary said something to one little girl about the "Wizard of Oz" and the yellow brick road and she had no idea what Mary was talking about! They are so protected with no TV, computer, radio or outside news. What a simple life!! We could incorporate some of that into our lives and make ourselves less busy and cluttered with things that really don't matter and don't help our eternal progression!! Maybe we are TOO BUSY! But we know we have a good life and a great family life that is as important to us and theirs is to them. And we know for a surety where we want to end up--as an eternal family with our Heavenly Father. 
