The weather has been WONDERFUL!!!!! About 79 – 83 degrees. A slight breeze and very low humidity….Our morning walks have been great with clear blue skies.
We have had a wild few weeks since I wrote last. Elder Lund was stranded in the Dallas Airport Monday night the 11th and they didn’t get on the first plane into Jackson on the 12th so they didn’t arrive until 11:15 in the morning.
The Zone conference was to start at 8:00 that morning in Hattiesburg which is 2 hours away. We got a sack lunch for them before we picked them up and sprinted down to the conference. We arrived about 1:15 and so we had an abbreviated training. I didn’t even get to thank the ladies that fed the missionaries before we got there.
The Lund’s are great people. They just roll with the punches. He is a wonderful teacher and he had the missionaries really listening to everything he said. After the conference we took pictures and then we sprinted back to Jackson for a fireside at the stake center in Clinton. We had 2 1/2 hours to drive back and grab something to eat. Needless to say McDonalds drive-thru was about the only choice. What great sports they are, they said it sounded good. They have been in England for the last 3 years and they said they didn’t get any drive-thru there.
The fireside went really well. We had several investigators there. Sister Lund talked about her patriarchal blessing and how she and Elder Lund met. It was a great story. He went to Montana on his mission and she is from Montana – they met through his brother whom she was dating. Elder Lund talked about our relationship to our Heavenly Father. He reminded us that the first word of the Restoration was “Joseph”. Heavenly Father truly did know him and called him by name. He talked also, about he and his wife’s courtship and how her blessing (which mentioned her being a missionary) has come to pass.
We went back to the mission home for a short but good night’s rest. We were back at the Jackson stake center in Clinton, (1/2 hour away) at 8:00 am to start the zone conference. We were there until 3:30. We left to drive 4 ½ hours to Shreveport for our conference the next day. We had a great time in the car visiting with them. We even stopped in Vicksburg for a short visit to the visitor’s center. There is a movie about the battle of Vicksburg in the civil war. It’s a beautiful park and lots of interesting information about the Confederate Army. On the way, sister Lund and I had Parker stop several times to take pictures. Such as, the Mississippi River, Cotton fields, Mississippi and Louisiana welcome signs, water towers etc. It was fun to have someone else besides me wanting to hop out to catch that “Kodak Moment” or even, take the picture out of a moving car.
Our conference was great in Shreveport. The Lund’s were very complimentary about our missionaries. We took lots of pictures and then we had to drop the Lund’s off at the airport about 4:15. After our 5 hour trip back to Jackson, we were glad to sleep in our own bed. The Lund’s still had two more missions to visit until they could go home.
While we were gone to a Stake Conference the weekend before the Lund’s came, we had a sister named Debbie Moore get baptized in the Jackson Branch. She had cancer and the missionaries had a hard time baptizing her because she had no strength in her legs. This last week she died. She lived not quite two weeks after her baptism. What a great blessing on both counts.
This last week was our hectic week again. Zone Leader’s Council on Tuesday, Departures on Tuesday night and Wed. morning, and Arrivals on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.. We had two elders go home. Both of them were in the office. Parker’s assistant Elder Cahoon from Bountiful and our Media secretary Elder Merrill from Snowflake AZ. They have only been gone a week and we miss them a lot. They really are like family.
We had three new Elders come. They are all OUTSTANDING. One is on scholarship for aerospace Engineering, one is on scholarship for architecture and the other Elder is a great people-person – lots of personality!!!!!
We went to the baptism the other night of Terry Hitt. He is engaged to a new convert (They met on the internet). They are now in Salt Lake for Conference and then they are going to do baptisms at the Temple. At his baptism, he said that the day had been hectic, and he hadn’t been able to spend the day praying before his baptism like he wanted. He’ll be a great member!!!!!
I went out with the sisters to teach a couple of lessons last Wednesday. I loved it but was surely nervous. I don’t know if I helped them very much – I need more experience or confidence or something!!!!!
We received a note from a couple in Louisiana the other day. They wanted us to know how great the two missionaries were who came to dinner at their home. They said that they gave them a spiritual message that was just what they needed to hear. They said that the missionaries had no way of knowing that unless they came with the Spirit. What a wonderful note to receive. We have really been working with the Elders on having the Spirit with them so they can bless the lives of the members.
There is one wonderful Southern custom I am having a hard time getting use to. The Elders stand at the back of the chairs until all the women in the room have been helped into their seats and then they sit. They do not start eating until I start. I am not used to eating first. I am usually in the kitchen until the last person is served---but not here!!!! I have to have everything ready before we start serving…The Elders are GREAT at helping. They always help finish up anything such as water, butter the rolls etc. They clean up all the dishes and put them in the dishwasher and wash the rest. Some moms and dads have really taught them well!!!!!! Just like our grandsons.
We love all of you and pray for you each day. Thank y’all for fasting with us for Catherine and Matt. We felt the Unity and know it will make a difference!
Way to go Becca!!!! What an accomplishment!!!!
Congratulations Olivia---you’re a Big Girl now:-)
After Conference we are off to Hattiesburg for the night and then we drive to Gulfport early Monday morning. I will try to take some more pictures while Dad is in some meetings I don’t go to. We will be gone all week long, but you can get in touch with us on our cell phones.
We love y”all – I’m starting to get used to saying this now. Thanks for the wonderful support and help!!!
Love,
Mom and Dad
