December and January

It is amazing when I look back at my last e-mail and realize it was at Thanksgiving time. Our lives have been very wild since then.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

A Senior Missionary Conference was held at the mission home. Seven couples and 4 senior sisters gathered for dinner and then a fun evening together singing carols and having a gift exchange. After breakfast Thursday morning the training went until 1 pm and then we had lunch. We are blessed with great, faithful, hardworking senior missionaries who have made a difference in their areas.

Thursday, December 4

Your Dad did a radio talk show interview with Pres. Shan Thompson of the Jackson Stake presidency on the Paul Gallo show on 97.3 FM. It started at 7 am. They spent about 45 minutes answering questions about the Church from him and from callers. He felt quite anxious and unprepared (2 days notice in the middle of zone conferences) beforehand, but it went better than feared. He quickly learned that he needed to be short and concise in his answers before they moved on to another topic. The interviewer was direct and asked a few difficult questions, but fortunately he was fair. A few minutes after the interview, on the air, he expressed satisfaction with the interview and felt that it was better than he expected. Dad was just very glad to have it over with. They both did really well. It was good to have Pres. Thompson there because he has a great Southern accent. In the days following, we heard a number of good comments from members and non-members alike. And it has been circulated through the public affairs committees through the South.

Our Zone Development Meetings (where we visit each zone and your dad interviews each missionary) were centered around the Christmas holidays. We had a very spiritual training and testimony meeting around Christ but we also played Christmas Carols on the chimes and had a fun gift exchange. Some of the missionaries are very clever with the small amount of money that they had to spend on their gifts.

We enjoyed a wonderful shrimp and pasta dinner with Bishop Gwinn from the Purvis Ward over the Christmas Season. They live just outside Hattiesburg MS. He and his wife grew up in the Hattiesburg area and have a nice family of 5 boys. She told of the strong anti-Mormon prejudice and bigotry in the area. Most of the youth that we talked to at church told of their classmates telling them that they were going to hell. Sister Gwinn told of an experience with a non-member neighbor with whom she has walked for some time. She had a preschool, and when she found out one of the mothers was LDS, she kicked her out of her preschool. Sister Gwinn told this non-member that she happened to know the member of the church very well. Sister Gwinn told her that she had been very hurt by that incident, but that she had never mentioned it to others or said anything derogatory about being kicked out. She said further that she felt that the member of the church was the true Christian. The woman (who rarely ever admitted making any mistake) said, “I was wrong.”

Friday, December 21, 2007

The office missionaries came over to the mission home for a couple of hours in the morning to make cookies, candy, etc. to prepare goodie plates to be distributed to members of the Jackson Branch. Your Dad and I have missed going around to the neighbors delivering goodies. Last year we tried it and everyone thought we were nuts!

This time we got the missionaries involved. During the next couple of days when they visited the members of the small branch or their investigators they had a treat to give them. These humble black members were very excited to be remembered.

We received a new car for our use – a white 2008 Toyota Avalon identical to our 2006 Avalon, which had just under 50,000 miles on it. It had 4,000 miles when we arrived. That means we have traveled over 45,000 miles in the last year and a half.

On Saturday the 22nd Catherine and Matt, and David arrived for a few days’ visit for Christmas.
We had the Assistants over for dinner on Christmas, and then they went back to the office to start on transfers. That is one amazing thing I have realized- the mission moves on with it’s 6 week schedule no matter what is happening in the world or what holiday it may be

December 31, 2007

New Years Eve was a quiet evening at home preparing for zone leaders council the next day. This day marks the mid point of our mission. We only know that because the missionaries mentioned it. We haven’t given it a thought- just forging onward. Time is flying by

As the New Year begins, we find ourselves grateful for the past 18 months of experience, for the privilege we have been given to serve with powerful obedient missionaries and the new days and weeks ahead to learn and improve. The spirits of the missionaries seem high and they appear to be ready for the New Year and a new start. It is an overwhelming responsibility to be in charge of the lives of these missionaries, but with the Lord’s help we are finding the confidence we need to continue the work.

On January 2nd we sent home 11of probably our finest group of missionaries. Nearly all of them had been zone leaders and 2 of them had been Assistants. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for them in His Church. I know they will be GREAT leaders. We love them all!

Our friend Connie Taylor (her husband was a Methodist Minister) was baptized on January 12th. She has a beautiful singing voice, and so she sang 3 numbers during her baptism. It was a beautiful baptism and the Lord’s spirit was surely there.

We had the privilege to attend a 2- day Mission President’s Seminar in Orlando a couple of weeks ago. We were instructed by Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Walter Gonzalez of the Presidents of the Seventy. It was a great experience. We enjoyed meeting the other mission presidents in the American Southeast area. The evening before we returned home to Jackson we had dinner with George and Marge Romney. It was so good to see them - just like old times.

On Saturday the 19th Jackson MS and surrounding areas had snow. It only happens once every 10 years. The missionaries had a great time having snowball fights and playing in the strange white stuff. The mom of one of the small children from the Jackson Branch said their daughter didn’t know what to do with it and didn’t want to touch it.

We have been experiencing tornado warnings and several violent storms. It is amazing the feeling that goes through your body when you know Mother Nature is in charge. About 2:00 am the other morning we had a very bright lightening storm with continual rolling thunder. The trees and bushes were completely still but the tornado warning went off 2 times. In the morning we awakened to hear that the tornadoes went around us and hit northern Mississippi and lower Alabama. We were so spoiled in Oregon.

We received a letter from a new convert. She said:

“Before my baptism and confirmation on August 25th and 26th my husband and I were married civilly on August 18th. We wanted to follow the correct steps, and make sure we were both on the right road of repentance, in order to gain the full blessings of the teachings of the Church, and to be able to work towards our goal of being married in the temple. We truly cannot wait for that special day to come so we can be married for time and all eternity along with sealing our daughter to us.

Growing up as a young girl, the only church I really knew was the Catholic Church. My grandmother took me as much as possible, which led up to my joining the Catholic Church by baptism, confirmation, and first communion when I was 15. When I grew older I went with my friends to many different churches; Baptist, Mennonite, and even non-denominational churches. My great-grandmother took me to a Holiness Church and one time to a Pentecostal Church. As you can tell, each time that I went to a new church I was searching for the “right” church to join. Each time that I went to a new church, I prayed to find the answer as to whether I should join that church. I wanted to belong not only for a sense of being a part of a church, but so I can gain more knowledge of Jesus Christ and His teachings, so I can live as Jesus Christ wants me to live. I never felt that any of those churches were where Jesus Christ wanted me to be. I also was searching to be truly baptized by immersion, just as Jesus Christ was, because being baptized with sprinkled water just wasn’t enough for me. It didn’t make me complete.

Searching for the right church is how I can relate to Joseph Smith. He wanted to find the true church just as I did. He prayed for an answer as I did.

I received a Book of Mormon in 2004 from two missionaries who asked us to read Moroni 10:3-5. I put it on the shelf and left it there. Hurricane Katrina hit Waveland in 2005 and it wasn’t until the first missionaries came to visit us in 2007 that I took the book off the shelf and read again Moroni 10:3-5. This time, alone and with a sincere heart, and desire to know the Truth I truly felt the Holy Spirit and I knew I was making the right choice.”

We don’t find a lot of converts like this but when the missionaries find them it really builds their faith.

The missionaries had mixed emotions when they heard about President Hinckley. He is the only President of the Church that most of them remember. They love his example, his sense of humor and especially his talks and wisdom. They know, however, he is happier now and that the Church will move onward with another servant of the Lord. We loved him and we will miss him. We all sustain President Monson. It was a little over 2 years ago that he called us to this calling. Time goes by fast!!!!

Our “Baptist Preacher” neighbor came over to convey his condolences about President Hinckley’s passing. That was very thoughtful of him.

We went out to lunch with the office staff the other day. We all walked up to the counter of this small little restaurant to order. The lady looked at our badges as people always do. She said, “You belong to Mitt Romney’s Church. Everyone here really likes him and we are all voting for him.” We couldn’t believe what we were hearing because there has been so much Southern Baptist animosity against the church.

We attended Fast Sunday meeting at the Jackson Branch. A year ago I wrote about Craig and Lateshia Wesley being married and then their baptism. Craig bore his testimony this last Sunday about the blessings of the gospel and their excitement about taking the temple prep classes. They will be sealed in the Baton Rouge Temple on February 16. Tears came to my eyes because it is such a miracle to see him now and how far he has come. Lateshia had to have Craig come up to the podium to hold her hand while she bore her testimony. Days like this are paydays for missionaries!!

We love hearing from all of you (we could hear from David a little more frequentlyJ), and Becca and Andrea are great at checking in with us regularly.

We love you all and know the Lord is blessing you while we are here. He is certainly blessing us.

LOVE.


Mom and dad