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Ferryville is a little village with a population of 192 in Southwestern Wisconsin. It is located on National Scenic State Highway 35 between Prairie du Chien and LaCrosse Wisconsin. Ferryville is at rivers edge and is an excellent area for hunting, fishing and water sports. Along with being a sportsman’s paradise, Ferryville, is a motorcycle riders dream due to the hills, valleys, curves and just pretty scenery. We may be a small village but we have plenty of friendly people and lots of beautiful scenery.

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Ferryville, Wisconsin. The people, the location, the place for all seasons. Jerry Bordman and I'm a commercial fisherman. Jerry, how long have you been a commercial fisherman? Well, at 80 years old and all my life. Is commercial fishing something you can do year round? Yes. How long have you been calling this area of the Mississippi River your home? All my life. I was born born here on the river. Matter of fact, my brother, my oldest brother, my folks used to live on the islands and he was born on the refuge before locking dams. And he's still alive? I think he's probably one of the last few people. He's 88, basically. This is something you've done your entire life? Yes. So what is commercial fishing on the Mississippi River? Like the type of fishing we do, we sane, we call sandy and then deal netting, tram netting, hoop netting, hoop nets and fox traps. Many various different types of fishing and all various different skills. The fishing nowadays is very easy. It's a lot of manual labor, but it's still easy. What it used to be, I can remember when, like back in the late forties and early 50s, there wasn't hardly any boat landings on the river. And so when we were standing underneath the ice, these fish had to be hand slated to the banks, to the railroad tracks and carried up over the railroad tracks and then carried up over the road bank. Now that was work that I want to tell you. So gradually the boat landings opened up where you could get to the landings and transport your fish. In 1947, the dyke going to Lansing, when the ice went out that spring, they went out thick and it took every one of the bridges out. Therefore you couldn't get the fish to Lansing because that's what the main market was. You had to go by a boat and hope you have enough ice to get in there in the wintertime. My oldest brother. And my dad stood at the Windowski bridge there and they watched that ice take that bridge out and they just went to Lansing and come back for that about a half an hour before that. Wow. That was how long did it take to fix that bridge? 1956. Ten years? Yep. Put in ten years. Wow. Like I said, that was the biggest market around. We had a lot of markets around, small markets. Quite a few of the one in furnishing and one in the big halls. The big bunches always went to landscape. So, Jerry, is commercial ice fishing your big time for fishing, or is it during the summer as well? No, we used to fish year round, but now the markets have gone and the only fishing that we do now is we fish under the ice. In the spring, when the ice goes out, we sell all our fish to New York live. We shift them all live to New York. They go out and semis tanks on with liquid oxygen and we put £20,000 of fish on a truck. And also in the springtime, when the water opens up in, we have what they call a Jewish holidays. At that time, we go for the big carp. For the holidays, they want the big Carp, anything £12 and up, and then after that usually done from the summer. So besides the carp, what other kind of fish are you fishing for? Buffalo carpent. Buffalo, primarily because catfish, we catch a lot of catfish in the scene, but in the state of Wisconsin, if you're sanding underneath the ice, you can only keep £100 of fish per haul. So you'd mentioned that you sell all of your fish to the state of New York. Why is the market in New York rather than anywhere closer to here? Because that's where the population is, and especially a Jewish population. And the Jewish population is not as big as Myers. Like a filter fish. There was millions and millions of pounds of carp crawd in, you know, the year turner all made into filter fish. As the years progressed, I guess what is that?

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Franciscan Spirituality Center
920 Market Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
608-791-5295

https://www.fscenter.org

Steve Spilde: Today, I am honored to welcome Sister Sue Ernster to the podcast. Sister Sue is a
friend. She shares an interest in golf. She shares a love for Franciscan values. It is my pleasure
to introduce her to the listeners of this podcast. Welcome, Sister Sue.
Sister Sue Ernster: Thank you, Steve. It is an honor to be part of the podcast, and I am
humbled to be asked.
Steve: Sue, you have several important positions within the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual
Adoration community. You serve as Vice President for the community. You also serve as
Treasurer, which is basically the Chief Financial Officer. Have I described you correctly?
Sister Sue Ernster: Yes, those are the two roles or positions within the community. I see both
of those positions as positions that promote and facilitate the mission of our congregation. As an
elected leader, it’s helping to promote the mission and vision. And then as the Treasurer, it’s
facilitating the procedures and helping to manage our finances so we have the capacity to engage
in mission and support those in mission.
Steve: Say you meet someone on the street that’s not familiar with congregational life, and
when you say, “the mission of the community,” how would you describe that to someone who is
basically new to the church?
Sister Sue Ernster: We as Franciscans say quite frequently that our mission is The Gospel, and
also meeting the needs of the times. The needs change, so sometimes how we live out The
Gospel looks differently, yet it is still grounded in meeting the needs of the times. We were
founded for education and nursing. Some of those have shifted to somewhat being more, maybe
not as institutional, but on the margins working with the immigrants, our Afghan guests, as well
as meeting people where they are in their spiritual journey and spiritual quest.
Steve: At one time, someone in your position would have been described as a nun, correct?
Sister Sue Ernster: Correct. As a nun, there is a slight distinction …
Steve: Between that and a sister, right?
Sister Sue Ernster: Yes, you are correct.
Steve: You use the word “community life” kind of interchangeable with that, correct?
Sister Sue Ernster: Yes, that is correct.
Steve: I think if someone met you on the street, they would be surprised to find out that you’re a
sister because you’re relatively young, [and] you’re one of the coolest people I know. How did

Sister Sue Ernster Podcast
2

you become a Franciscan sister?
Sister Sue Ernster: I got to know our congregation of FSPAs … After I graduated college, I
wanted to integrate my faith along with my accounting and financial background – those together
– to serve more fully. I didn’t want to see them as distinct, but [rather] more integrated. I had
the opportunity to volunteer with FSPA for two years as a Shared Horizons volunteer in David,
Kentucky. That’s how I got to know the sisters. I stayed connected with them after I left David
and moved back to the Midwest. After five years of being an affiliate with our congregation,
several friends paraded out, “You seem to be most happy when you’re with the sisters.” As I
looked at it and thought about it, what drew me to FSPA were the people – the sisters I knew – as
well as no matter when I met them or engaged with them, they were always truly happy no
matter what the situation is. There was true joy with them, and that was what I wanted.
Steve: For someone who is kind of unfamiliar with congregational life, the sisters are women
who have taken a vow to basically be of service with their lives,...

Franciscan Spirituality Center
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La Crosse, WI 54601
608-791-5295

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Steve Spilde: Welcome. My guest today is Wendy Mitch. This is weird, because I consider you
a friend. I’ve known you for a couple of years. We visit on a regular basis. But the irony is I
have never actually met you. We’ve never been in the same room together, and yet I feel like
you’re a friend because this relationship began with a class at the Franciscan Spirituality Center.
We met, started having future conversations, [and we] continued to have conversations [and]
kind of hit it off. And yet we live in this new world where we’ve never actually been together
before. Welcome, Wendy.
Wendy Mitch: It is very odd, and it’s even odd for you to be welcoming me because it’s so
familiar. It will be fun to finally meet you.
Steve: That’s coming up in March. You’re doing a presentation a weekend for the Spirituality
Center, “An Integral Approach to Spiritual Development.” That will happen March 11 th and 12 th ,
[and] we’ll talk about that in a bit. But I’m looking forward to that day when we can say, “Hey.”
One of the things I appreciate about you is your energy. Our energy levels are very different.
You’re the sort of person that finishes your workout at the gym at 5 a.m., and at 5 a.m. I’m still a
couple hours from waking up.
Wendy: There are many people like you, that is true.
Steve: My challenge of the winter is to just get through it and survive [and reach the point
where I can say], “Oh, my goodness, I’m excited because it’s April and I didn’t die during the
winter.” Your winter challenge is going to Africa and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
Wendy: It’s not something I recommend to everybody, that’s for sure.
Steve: You just got back. Tell me about that.
Wendy: A friend of mine does these sorts of these crazy expeditions. She has climbed Mount
Fuji, Machu Pichu, Mount Baker, and she was doing this while I still had kids at home. I often
said to her, “When my kids are gone, I want to go on one of these excursions.” So a year and a
half ago, she said, “You want to hike Kilimanjaro with me?” I said, “Where is that? Is that in
Wisconsin? Is that right near Mount La Crosse [or] Granite Peak?” I had no idea it was in
Africa, it was in Tanzania – I knew nothing. In my naivete, I said, “Sure, why not?” We were
supposed to go last year, but COVID derailed that. So this year we went. We had 12 climbers –
10 were from the United States, two were from Spain. Nine of us summited. It was the most
challenging physically, mentally experience of my life. [It took] six days getting up Kilimanjaro,
which is 19,340 feet in the air – it’s one of the seven summits – and then two days to get down. I
don’t want to say too much about it, but the summit day was a 6½-hour climb, from 15,000 [feet]
to 19,000. I just did everything I could to stay alive – just put one foot in front of the other.
Steve: Which would be hard under the best of circumstances. But you were doing it in the

Wendy Mitch Podcast
2

middle of a blizzard ice storm [and] subzero windchill. You actually could have died if things
had gone bad.
Wendy: Yeah, they were bad, and our guides were watching us like hawks. There were about a
half-dozen times where I thought, “This can all be over if I just curled up under that boulder and
just shut my eyes.” We left at midnight, so we were kind of exhausted when we started. But the
exhaustion, the ice blizzard pelting my face, 40- to 50-mile-per-hour winds that just blew me
over sometimes … A lot of us would just kind of get blown over – not where we’d fall, but we’d
trip – and the temperatures just being relentless. It was a...

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Franciscan Spirituality Center
920 Market Street
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608-791-5295

https://www.fscenter.org

Steve Spilde: Welcome. Today it is my strong pleasure to welcome Shannon Evans to the
podcast. Shannon is coming to the Franciscan Spirituality Center on February 26 th . The title of
the event is, “Sacred Listening,” which is a lot of what we do, but we’re going to hear her
perspective on it. She’s going to talk about how we hone in on the still small voice of God and
tune out the false self. It’s my pleasure to meet Shannon. It’s my pleasure to introduce Shannon
to our audience. Welcome, Shannon.
Shannon Evans: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Steve: I don’t really know you, Shannon, but we’ve been chatting before we started the
recording getting to know each other. You’re a pleasure to visit with, and I’m looking forward
to getting to know more about you. My first question is, who is Shannon Evans?
Shannon: That’s a loaded question, isn’t it? First and foremost, I think the essence of how I
would identify myself is a spiritual seeker. I find my most alive self in contemplation in nature
and experiencing God as present in all things and connecting all things. That’s definitely where I
find my main sense of being. I’m also a mom; I have five kids – one through adoption, and the
other four through my body. I’ve been married to my husband, Eric, for 15 years. We are
transplants to Iowa, but I think we’re here to stay – we’ve been here six years. I’m also a writer,
mostly spiritual nonfiction, although I dabble in poetry and fiction a little bit. Currently, I’m the
social media editor at National Catholic Reporter, so that’s my day job. I’m an animal lover, a
baby lover, a yogi wannabe – those are all little pieces of who I am.
Steve: You said you were a transplant to Iowa six years ago. What brought you to Iowa?
Shannon: My husband actually got a job at a parish here in Ames doing campus ministry and
music in liturgy – originally it was kind of a job that covered all of those things. He left that
position a year ago to do Spiritual Direction, and we’re still here, so I think we’re staying.
We’ve kind of made our home here now.
Steve: Where did you grow up?
Shannon: I grew up in Texas, mostly. I was born in Arkansas, but grew up in Texas. I got
married after college in Texas. My husband and I were actually Evangelical missionaries after
college before we had kids, so we lived in Indonesia for two years and traveled some other
places short-term as well. [We] moved back to Texas and got involved in a Catholic worker who
convinced us to become Catholic, then [we] eventually moved to Iowa. We’ve done quite a bit
of hopping around, hence the need to put down roots somewhere.
Steve: You grew up in more of an Evangelical atmosphere. How would you say your religious
understanding has evolved as you’ve grown older?

Shannon Evans Podcast
2

Shannon: You know, it’s interesting. My parents are Baptists. My mom is a social worker.
My dad was a pastor and then taught theology at Baylor University. They actually would
probably never have identified as Evangelical. They were pretty mainline, so they weren’t
Southern Baptists [and] not super-conservative. I was really raised with a very balanced
spirituality, and one that was very much centered on what we in Catholic circles call “The Works
of Mercy,” or just helping people is probably what my parents would have said. That was very
much emphasized as part of what it means to have a Christian spirituality for me growing up. I
kind of had my prodigal years, and then when I sort of came back to the idea of wanting a
relationship with God, I was then drawn in college to...

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Franciscan Spirituality Center
920 Market Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
608-791-5295

https://www.fscenter.org

Steve Spilde: Today, I am pleased to introduce Peter Watkins, a Spiritual Director and Retreat Leader from the Twin Cities. Peter has been a teacher of religion and theology at the high school, college, and graduate levels. On February 18th and 19th, we will be honored to welcome him at the Franciscan Spirituality Center when he presents a retreat called, “When Bad Things Happen: The Book of Job for Troubled Times.” Welcome, Peter.

Peter Watkins: Thanks. Good to be with you.

Steve: When you come in February to talk about Job, let’s figure out today first of all what the Book of Job is. My understanding at a basic level – at least this is the understanding for many people who know about the Bible – Job was this character in the Old Testament. At the beginning of the story, Job is very rich, and then he loses all his wealth and his family to a terrible tragedy. For a long time, he didn’t complain or curse God. And then at the end of the story, because he didn’t curse God he gets all his wealth and his family back. At least that’s the understanding a lot of people have, which I think is, at best, really an oversimplification, and at worst is really a twisting of the story and missing the most important points. Tell us about the Book of Job from your understanding.

Peter: Your explanation, your kind of synopsis there, was kind of the original story. It was an oral tradition – it was kind of a folk tale – and it was, bad things happened to him, Job remained faithful; therefore, God rewarded him. It was kind of a superficial story that was taught: Make sure you remain faithful to God, even in the midst of suffering. Which is fine, except a wise rabbi, or a group of them, took that story and just, like, sliced it in half. And what they did was … It’s kind of a ____ story, so you have the folk tale on either side, but in the middle you have this really amazing, poetic, very deep theology, this dialogue, this conversation among Job and his three friends. And that’s really where so much of this story happens.

Steve: In your sense, how old is the Book of Job that we find in the Bible? Are we talking 3,000 years old?

Peter: I don’t know. It’s part of wisdom literature. We do know that the author had some understanding of the Book of Isaiah [and] probably studied some Egyptian mythology. He knew the prophets. He was just brilliant, this author. I can’t remember the dates offhand, but certainly it was a later book that was written.

Franciscan Spirituality Center
920 Market Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
608-791-5295

https://www.fscenter.org

Steve Spilde: Today, I am happy to welcome Marcia Bentley back to the podcast. Marcia is a friend, a colleague, and a fellow Spiritual Director. Today, I invited Marcia to talk about her recent move. I think people underestimate how much energy is involved in a move – physical, emotional, and spiritual. Marcia, can you tell us about your recent move and what triggered it?

Marcia Bentley: Good question, Steve, as always. What triggered it was that I had been thinking that as I’m approaching 70, I probably needed to find the place where I wanted to live the rest of my life. Whether it be short or long term, I didn’t know, but there also were some physical reasons. I have some arthritis, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to live where I was living in an apartment building where I had to carry things up and down the steps, shovel snow around my car – things like that that just had me thinking that I needed to start facing those situations and make some choices for myself.

Steve: Where did you move to?

Marcia: I moved from a two-story apartment with stairs to a condo building – I actually bought a condo – and this building has elevators and it has a parking garage. I don’t have to shovel snow anymore, and I can do elevators rather than carrying things on the steps. My body is already thanking me for that decision.

Steve: I’m sure a lot of people listening come from a variety of situations. They may not live alone, [and] they may not be 70, but yet the experience of moving is common to all of us – sooner or later, we end up moving. Moving is demanding in many ways. First of all, there are the physical demands. What was the most physically challenging aspect of the move for you?

Marcia: Physically, it was partly because of the physical challenges I was already experiencing that I decided to move. And then, I did a lot of the moving myself [and] I had to carry all these things down these steps, so it was like this kind of torture to my body in a very intense sort of way for a limited period of time. It reinforced my idea that I needed to do this, but boy, there were some days it was tough.

Steve: People are oftentimes prepared for the physical demands to move, and that’s why people hire movers. That’s why “Two Men and a Truck” is in business, so people can farm that out. People I think oftentimes are surprised by how tired they are during a move, and they chalk it up to all the packing and the moving of things. But I think there are also other things involved in that. Part of that is an emotional experience. I would guess you’ve had a surge of emotions. Part of it is positive emotions; you’re excited about the move. What excites you about this change?

Marcia: Whenever you decide you’re going to purchase something or make a change, I come up with a list of things I would really like to see. In this case, it was, what would be my requirements for a new apartment or a condo? I came up with a long list of things, and this new place that I found meets almost all of them. That was really exciting for me to just find the right place. As soon as I stepped into this condo when I was doing the showing with my realtor, I stepped in and I knew immediately this is the place I want to call home. It just felt comfortable and warm and very quiet, so there was that excitement of, I have found my space [and] this is what I’ve been waiting for, and just little things I’ve found since then besides being very quiet, which helps my life of prayer. It’s in a friendly building; I’ve met a number of my neighbors. One of my neighbors, when he saw me parking in a numbered parking space, yelled out, “You must have been the one who bought...