MONROE - Dan and Marie Wilkes are not your typical Mormon missionaries.
Many Mormons, especially young men, travel to a new community for a year or two of service and proselytizing when they're in their late teens or early 20s.
The couple, married 46 years, with four daughters and 10 grandkids, never got the chance when they were young - despite a lifelong membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS for short, though members commonly refer to themselves as "Mormons," after the testament they follow alongside the Bible.)
When they were in the typical age-range for going on mission trips, Dan was caring for his sick mother.
"And then the time kind of passes," said Marie, 65.
Now they're seizing the chance. The couple is spending a service year at the Monroe LDS branch at 714 24th St. They arrived here in October from Star Valley, Wyo., a town Marie describes as "a place people come from, not that that they go to."
Mission trips like theirs are part of a growing push from the Utah-based church to encourage participation from retirees in mission travel.
"They call us 'senior couples.' That's a kind word for old," joked Marie.
She closed down her quilt shop in 2010, and her husband Dan, 66, retired the same year from a career at the local gas-electric utility. They wanted to keep being productive members of society and "not just sit around and play," she said.
"We always thought we'd do this," she added. "You don't just want to be a taker all your life. We want to be contributors and givers."
Their mission president assigned them to Monroe, and they soon discovered a personal connection. Dan grew up in Bedford, Wyo., and remembers when a local company imported in a cheesemaker from Wisconsin to help with the local dairy industry operations.
"I love the cheese and the Swiss heritage," he said.
They've been occupying their days here by helping out at the church - speaking during the Sunday worship meeting, leading activities, supporting other members - as well as volunteering in the community at the Green County Family YMCA and Pleasant View Nursing Home.
"They're fabulous," said Jenn Stollenwerk, life enrichment supervisor at Pleasant View. The Wilkes lead hymn-singing hours, play games, read stories and visit with residents one-on-one. Pastors often come to Pleasant View, she said, but the Wilkes will visit with residents regardless of church affiliation - and "that's where they're just phenomenal."
The YMCA sports program director, Chad Shelton, also glowed about the couple's volunteer work. Mormon missionaries have helped out at the rec center before, usually two young guys, he said, but the Wilkes are the first retired couple.
"It's been great. Being retired, they've seen a lot and done a lot," Shelton said.
In their free time, they enjoy walking around Monroe and looking at the older homes, hiking in the New Glarus Woods State Park and sharing meals at restaurants around town or at home with members of their church.
Marie leads a quilting workshop on the first Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. at the church, open to anyone and to all sewing abilities. (The next one is Saturday, March 3.)
"The biggest part of quilting is social," she said. "I tell 'em, don't expect perfection."
In October they head back to Wyoming, where their house will have sat empty for a year.
"It'll probably be kind of weedy," Marie said. But the weeds may flourish again soon enough: "We'd like to do this again."
Many Mormons, especially young men, travel to a new community for a year or two of service and proselytizing when they're in their late teens or early 20s.
The couple, married 46 years, with four daughters and 10 grandkids, never got the chance when they were young - despite a lifelong membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS for short, though members commonly refer to themselves as "Mormons," after the testament they follow alongside the Bible.)
When they were in the typical age-range for going on mission trips, Dan was caring for his sick mother.
"And then the time kind of passes," said Marie, 65.
Now they're seizing the chance. The couple is spending a service year at the Monroe LDS branch at 714 24th St. They arrived here in October from Star Valley, Wyo., a town Marie describes as "a place people come from, not that that they go to."
Mission trips like theirs are part of a growing push from the Utah-based church to encourage participation from retirees in mission travel.
"They call us 'senior couples.' That's a kind word for old," joked Marie.
She closed down her quilt shop in 2010, and her husband Dan, 66, retired the same year from a career at the local gas-electric utility. They wanted to keep being productive members of society and "not just sit around and play," she said.
"We always thought we'd do this," she added. "You don't just want to be a taker all your life. We want to be contributors and givers."
Their mission president assigned them to Monroe, and they soon discovered a personal connection. Dan grew up in Bedford, Wyo., and remembers when a local company imported in a cheesemaker from Wisconsin to help with the local dairy industry operations.
"I love the cheese and the Swiss heritage," he said.
They've been occupying their days here by helping out at the church - speaking during the Sunday worship meeting, leading activities, supporting other members - as well as volunteering in the community at the Green County Family YMCA and Pleasant View Nursing Home.
"They're fabulous," said Jenn Stollenwerk, life enrichment supervisor at Pleasant View. The Wilkes lead hymn-singing hours, play games, read stories and visit with residents one-on-one. Pastors often come to Pleasant View, she said, but the Wilkes will visit with residents regardless of church affiliation - and "that's where they're just phenomenal."
The YMCA sports program director, Chad Shelton, also glowed about the couple's volunteer work. Mormon missionaries have helped out at the rec center before, usually two young guys, he said, but the Wilkes are the first retired couple.
"It's been great. Being retired, they've seen a lot and done a lot," Shelton said.
In their free time, they enjoy walking around Monroe and looking at the older homes, hiking in the New Glarus Woods State Park and sharing meals at restaurants around town or at home with members of their church.
Marie leads a quilting workshop on the first Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. at the church, open to anyone and to all sewing abilities. (The next one is Saturday, March 3.)
"The biggest part of quilting is social," she said. "I tell 'em, don't expect perfection."
In October they head back to Wyoming, where their house will have sat empty for a year.
"It'll probably be kind of weedy," Marie said. But the weeds may flourish again soon enough: "We'd like to do this again."