This fall has been a great time for us. The weather has gotten cooler, but we have had sunny days and the leaves are starting to turn. And amazingly, we have a beautiful pink camellia blooming in our back yard.
October started out a great month for us. Conference was wonderful and the missionaries always look forward to hearing the General Authorities. When they announced that President Eyring would be the new counselor they were excited that he had set us apart for our mission.
The week of the 7th of October was very busy with departures and arrivals and transfers. On that Friday evening about 6:00 we were just starting to fix our dinner of leftovers when our doorbell rang. Dad went to the door – and there were Diana, Catherine and Jenn standing on our front porch….talk about SURPRISE!!!!! They came to help us celebrate our anniversary. We had a great few days with them. We also enjoyed a phone call from David who was in Hong Kong on business. It just so happened that that weekend was Fast Sunday here so we didn’t have to speak at any ward, and with transfers over we had a few days break. It was GREAT for us to have them here!!!
On Saturday we drove down to Raymond, Mississippi about 45 minutes southwest of Jackson to tour some of their antebellum homes (before the Civil War) during their fall pilgrimage. They have restored their old courthouse and hotel and some of the buildings in their town-square. The homes are wonderful and they take you back to the lazy-dazy days of the south with the beautiful live oak and magnolia trees and big green lawns and very interesting homes.
We spent part of our trip searching for a white cotton field to take their pictures in.
We ate at Mama Hamills, a local southern eatery, and we also took them to Gloria’s Kitchen in inner Jackson. She was there sitting on her front step when we came and was very willing to have her picture taken with us. Our meals were the real southern home cooking: collard greens, red beans and rice, fried chicken, coleslaw, creamed corn, and ribs, etc. YUM!
We also enjoyed family home evening with the Al-Halteh family. They are an Arab family originally from Jerusalem who joined the Church here several years ago. He has a small men’s clothing store in Canton with all kinds of interesting “southern” men’s clothing. (The black southern men like colorful suits - light blue, yellow,, burgundy, large pinstripe navy and black etc. He also sells the shoes and hats to match).
After the girls left, we celebrated our anniversary at the Cedar Grove Inn, a bed & breakfast in Vicksburg. It was built along the banks of the Mississippi in 1842. It has some of the old original bedroom furniture (canopy beds) chairs and tables, and a beautiful Centennial piano (built in 1876) and an old phonograph.
The front door is the actual door with a hole where a cannonball came through during the siege of Vicksburg curing the Civil War. (It has been patched). There is a cannonball visible still lodged in the parlor wall. The house was hit approx. 41 times, most holes have been patched.
When we got there the lady recognized our badges and introduced herself as the person that takes care of all the special events there at the house. She is a member in the Vicksburg Ward. While we ate dinner, a couple approached us to say “HI”. They are members of the church and were visiting from Nevada. We spent the evening enjoying a big photo album which our girls made for us with letters from family and friends. The album is a very precious gift which we shall always treasure!
I received a phone call the other day from a gentleman named Jamil introducing himself as Johnnie’s grandson. He was looking for the sister missionaries who had visited his grandmother (Johnnie). I had met Johnnie at church (she always wore a beautiful hat and a matching suit) so I knew whom he was talking about. Jamil wanted me to tell them that his grandmother had died. He said they were about the only ones who had visited her towards the end before she went to the hospital in another part of the state. He said, “That says a lot about your church and the way they take care of everyone, even those who do not join your church”. The sister missionaries went to the funeral which was held at the Greater Alpha and Omega Church here in Jackson, and there were only 2 other white people there. The family was greatly appreciative of their attendance. Johnnie had been a preacher in that church for a long time but wanted to be baptized into ours – she just could not make that commitment to leave the social part of her church.
I was in a store in Canton picking up a gift for someone. One of the ladies at the counter looked at my badge and said, “You’re that church who visits each other and takes care of each other, right?” I said “Yes”. She said, “I’m Methodist, what makes your church different from mine?”
We had a short conversation about the Restoration (she had people waiting to be helped), and I gave her a pass-along card and my mission card. (Thanks Norm Rose) . She was a very sophisticated southern woman, and when I left she asked me to come back soon. It’s interesting the responses I get from people seeing my badge and the opportunities to talk about the church.
President Garrett, president of the Gulfport Stake, told us about the experience he and his wife had last year when they went on a cruise to South America. They were on the cruise by themselves and they were just getting out of a dancing class when there were some very well-dressed people coming into the ballroom holding some books, which he identified immediately as Books of Mormon. He is quite a kidder, and so he thought he would have some fun with them. He walked up to the big group and asked them what they were there for. He said they covered-up and hugged their books and said, “A lecture.”
He said, “What kind of lecture”? They said that they were a group from a school studying archaeological sites. He said, “What do you expect to learn”? (He wished they had said, “We are from BYU and we are learning about the Book of Mormon – But they didn’t). He said they stuttered and stammered trying to answer him. Finally he introduced himself and told them he was a stake president from Mississippi and recognized their books immediately. After he introduced himself to them, they told him that they were with a group from BYU studying the ruins, and they welcomed him to their lecture and their books were brought out into the open.
He told about this experience to the missionaries and asked them, “Why didn’t they tell me about the book”? - “They were afraid!” We have to all check ourselves and our desire to share about the Church, the gospel and especially the Book of Mormon wherever we are because we never know whom the Lord will put in our path.
Your dad had a meeting with Elder Anderson of the Seventy the other Fast and Testimony Meeting. He stays with us every 3 months when they have this meeting. During the testimonies a black woman bore her testimony about tithing. She is the only active member of the church in her family and her husband is very ill. She said, “We are living on one income now and doing well because of the things I have learned in this church. It’s what’s in your heart, not the jewels and money that you have. The Lord will bless you when you follow His laws.” It was an amazing testimony because she has been through so much and has had lots of debts.
We remind the missionaries, “The task ahead of us is never as great as the power behind us.”
Recipe for Fall:
SWEET POTATO PONE
1 cup molasses
2-1/2 cups raw, grated sweet potatoes
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups rich milk
1 Tbs. melted butter
1 tsp. Powdered cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbs. brown sugar
Add molasses, well-beaten eggs, milk, melted butter and ginger, in order to the grated sweet potatoes. Mix well. Turn into a well- greased baking pan, and bake about 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven, sprinkling the brown sugar and cinnamon over the top after 25 minutes. (it doesn’t say the size of pan).
Last Thanksgiving David and Catherine and Matt were here to celebrate with us. This Thanksgiving we are saying good-bye to 11 missionaries. What a great day to be going home after a successful mission. Elder Robison one of the assistants will be in that group. We will surely miss them.
We will be welcoming 14 new missionaries the day before Thanksgiving. Two of those missionaries are the first Spanish speaking elders to come to this mission and then transfers are on Thanksgiving Day. We will be fixing dinner on Thursday for all those missionaries transferring around the mission who are not having dinner in members homes - about 30-40
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU!!!! WE HAVE MUCH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR, ESPECIALLY YOU!!!!!!
We love you all very much!!!!
Mom and Dad
