Saturday trip to the Amish & Mennonite communities

Last Saturday after our shift at the Temple we went with another missionary couple -the DeMordaunts -to visit some of the Amish & Mennonite communities in Iowa. It was very interesting. These pictures don't do it justice, but I hope you can get a little feel for the beautiful countryside. The people do NOT want their picture taken, so we respected their wishes, but they were all very kind and gracious. The Mennonites are not as strict in their attitudes towards modern day life. This store pictured below is run by them. It is called THE DUTCHMAN and it has wonderful produce and all kinds of bulk food, and hundreds of bolts of material, because they make their own clothes, of course. It was such a fun place to visit. I want to go back.

The DeMordaunts from Rexburg. Wonderful people. He was Mission president in Africa, and also in the Temple presidency in Idaho Falls. She was at BYU when I was. She was a member of another Social Unit...but I remember her a little. We dated some of the same boys! :)
By the way, the wind was blowing really hard...she doesn't wear her hair this way :)

This little pond and beautiful grounds were someones yard!!

An Amish farm...they use NO electricity or cars etc. All their farms were beautifully kept.

An Amish barn...don't know what the symbol means, but I thought it was interesting. We saw lots of similar designs on the barns.

An Amish garden. They grow all their own food. Can you see the buggy on the road?

This was their "work buggy" . Their regular buggy is enclosed like the picture below.

I had to take a picture of this buggy fast while they were driving away, because as I said they do not like their picture taken. The horses really move at a fast trod. It was quite amazing how fast they could go. We talked quite some time with a nice young man in a furniture shop about their community. He was about 16-17 and said they only go to school until the 8th grade (& that is in their own community schools) When we asked him why, he replied that was just what has always been done! I guess when they live as simple as they do, you don't need much formal education. He said there were about 75 Amish families in the area. We also stopped at a little greenhouse and bought some flowers. The family there were a little nervouse about us, I think, but said if we came back in July they would give us a buggy ride. We are going to try and do it.