WEEK 31   28 NOVEMBER 2016

PDAY - TABOR CITY

On 21 November 2016 we drove down to Tabor City to visit the area in which Elder and Sister Madeo serve. They stay in a cute yellow house in a mostly black area. They have a branch of about 200  members of which about 70 are active. They home teach about 9 families and teach family history classes. This photo was taken in the foyer of The Boundary House Restaurant in Calabash.

TRANSFER DAY FOR ELDER RAWLINS

We drove Elder Rawlins and Arveseth to Raleigh for transfer day. Elder Rawlins has been transferred to Durham as District Leader!! Elder Arveseth got a new companion who has 6 weeks left of on his mission.

WELCOME SISTER HIGBEE

Sister Smoot's new companion, Sister Higbee

SISTER BINGHAM

Sister Beard's new companion is Sister Bingham.

ELDER JENSEN

Elder Jensen, who only has 6 weeks left on his mission, is Elder Arveseth's new companion.

ZONE LEADERS

Elder Nadault is joined by Elder Shearer as the Zone Leaders.

SUNSET OVER BRUNSWICK RIVER

On our way home form Raleigh we were blown away by this gorgeous sunset over the Brunswick River in Wilmington.


MISSIONARY WORK

We spent Tuesday traveling with the missionaries to Raleigh. Elder Rawlins was transferred to Durham as the new District Leader and Elder Arveseth got his new companion, Elder Jensen. Wednesday was District Meeting in Wilmington. We took pumpkin pie for breakfast. The missionaries enjoyed the feast. Thursday was Thanksgiving and we went to the Bishop's home for a turkey dinner. Since it was Thanksgiving we thought it better not to do visits. Many folk are out of town and many have family from out of town. Saturday we spent 3 hours at the AT&T store to get Lane a new phone as he lost his phone when he went to hit balls at the golf range. Later we took Josh and Samantha to dinner to celebrate their engagement. Congratulations!! Sunday, after 5 hours of church we had the privilege of visiting with Rebecca and Shannon Rudd for a lesson. We discussed the Apostacy and Restoration. We also touched on some other gospel topics. They are such a welcoming sweet couple and we enjoy our time in their home. 

Have a great week!!

Week 29 & 30   21 November 2016

PDAY AT ELIJA'S RESTAURANT

We met the Madeos for a late lunch at Eljah's on the Cape Fear River.

HEY THERE MATIE!!!

We found this fellow outside one of the quaint little stores on the broad walk.

LATE LUNCH WITH MADEOS

Mike and Nancy Madeo with Lane outside Elijah's.

SUNSET OVER LELAND

We get the most beautiful sunsets here in Leland.

PRITCHARDS

Damion Pritchard with his grandmother Denise. We have become friends with Denise and visit her on a regular basis. She has her mother Suzie, her husband Charles who is disabled and Damion living with her,

DISTRICT MEETING 17 NOV 2016

Photo taken with Elder Brazinsky's camera and emailed to me. Don't know how to eliminate all the extras around the edges!

CRAZY CROWD

Elder Peseta, Elder Tebbs, Elder Sprunt, Elder Brazinsky, Elder Rawlins, Elder Arveseth,
Sister Peterson, Sister Beard, Sister Smoot and Sister Burdette at District Meeting.

NORTH CAROLINA RALEIGH MISSION WILMINGTON DISTRICT

Sister Beard drew the members of our district. Lane and I are on the left, the four sisters follow and finally the 6 elders!

WESLEY SKIPPER FUNERAL

On 18 November 2016 we attended an inactive member's funeral. Wesley Skipper was a brother to Denise Pritchard (above).  Elder Martin, the two Elders and I went to support the Skipper family, many of whom are in the Leland Ward. Wesley was cremated. The wooden box with his ashes is on the little table behind the flowers. It was a lovely funeral, very comforting for the family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANE!

For Lane's birthday we went to Ripley's Aquarium with Fred and Louise Carroll. The aquarium is on the Myrtle Beach Broadway in South Carolina.

CHRISTMAS IN THE AIR AT THE AQUARIUM

The Aquarium has about 30 Christmas trees up throughout the building. This tree was in the entrance area.

SHARK TEETH???

This is a replica of a 65 million year old fossil of a shark. I am sure it could have swallowed a human being whole.

LION FISH



SAWFISH


JELLY FISH



OCEAN ISLE BEACH

We ended our day with a visit to Ocean Isle Beach. It was rather windy so we did not linger. What a delightful day to celebrate my wonderful husband's birthday!

CAPE FEAR CHORALE

On Sunday we ended the week by attending the Cape Fear Chorale performing music from Gilbert and Sullivan. Our Bishop's wife, Susan Carroll, sings in the choir.

MISSIONARY WORK

Some of the highlights of the past two weeks:

We had another good lesson with Josh and Samantha discussing the Plan of Salvation. We are also visiting and teaching Shannon, Rebecca Rudd's husband who is not a member, every Sunday afternoon. He is a very attentive student and enjoys our lessons. It was very dark the night we tried to visit William Wesley Skipper. We could not find the home amidst the trees. We had to use our cell phone lights to see our way.  We were not successful in our efforts. When we arrived home we called Dyion Skipper who is Wesley's cousin to find out if we had the correct address. We found out that Wesley had died that MORNING!!  Wesley is also the brother of Denise Pritchard and son of Suzie Skipper, both of whom we visit fairly regularly. Next day we went to visit Suzie and Denise to express our condolences. A memorial service was held on Friday 18 November 2016 at our church. Weslsey had been cremated and his ashes were in a wooden box on a small wooden table in the front of the chapel, with a beautiful green plant standing beside it. I enjoyed the lovely funeral service. Lane was asked to say the closing prayer. The two elders attended with us and after a quick lunch in the church hall we headed for Lumberton (1 1/2 hours away) to take the missionaries for their interviews with President James. Our newly baptized member, Osey Saunders, gave his first talk in church on Sunday. It was outstanding. He told the story of his conversion. 

THOUGHT FROM DYION SKIPPER:

 When someone was going on a long journey, his father always used to say, "Drive carefully and remember the Holy Ghost never travels faster than the speed limit!"

Have a great week!!

week 28   November 7, 2016             "MORMON HELPING HANDS"

SAFETY MEETING     SATURDAY 5 NOVEMBER

Before we go out to our project we all meet in the Relief Society room for a safety meeting and a prayer. Today two of the sisters in the ward had sandwiches, fruit, cookies, pastries and water ready for us to pack into brown paper sacks to take for lunch.

CREW

Some of todays crew: Bishop Carron, Elder Martin, Elder Arveseth, Elder Rawlins and John Carron.

KATIE MOORE

This is Katie Moore. She is a 69 year old widow who owns the single wide trailer that we worked on. Her husband of 48 years died in May this year so she has had to face this trial on her own. She was very upbeat and spunky and not going to let this get her down. She has lost almost everything and only a few belongings were salvaged.

GUTTING THE TRAILER

The men had to remove all the floors, duct work for the air conditioner and furnace, part of the wood panelling, cupboards and vanities that were all under water. The inside of her trailer had stood in 4 feet of water so everything up to the water line had to be thrown away. 

RUBBLE ON THE SIDEWALK

Wheelbarrows and garbage cans were used to carry all the rubble out onto the country road sidewalk ready for the city to pick up and take to the dump.

WATER LINE ON THE BRIDGE

Katie's trailer stands about 40 feet from a canal leading to the Cape Fear River. Five miles away is the Black Foot River which rose 22 feet above its banks. With both rivers rising the whole area was under four feet of water. When they were allowed back after the evacuation, Katie's nephew took her in his motor boat to see the damage to her home. This is the wall of the bridge over the canal. You can see the yellow water line showing how high the river rose.

SAFETY MEETING      SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2016

Sunday was another day for Crisis Cleanup by Mormon Helping Hands. Our two faithful sisters, Bess Skipper and Gwen Cannady were ready after church on Sunday with items of food for us to put into sacks for our lunches at the sites.

SAFETY MEETING

We were given permission to come to church in our work clothes to save time going home to change. We packed our lunches, had a prayer and headed out to 3 different projects.

ANOTHER FLOODED HOME

Pat Sneedon is a member of our ward whose home was flooded. We were assigned to her home to help with the clean up. All her belongings had been dragged out of the home and were sitting on the grass in front of her home. You can see the carpets (there were about 5) spread out on the grass.

PAT SNEEDON

This is the owner, Pat Sneedon. Lane and I visited Sister Sneedon the first month we arrived in Leland. At that time she told us she was in a flood zone but had never been affected by any flooding in all the years she had lived there. Well that has now changed. Her home was under 3 feet of water and the black mould could be seen throughout the house growing on the walls.

SIDEWALK PICKUP

We hauled all the furniture and debris to be thrown away, onto the sidewalk ready for pickup by the city. They will take it all to the dump. You can see the empty yard in the background which, a few hours earlier, had been strewn with the rubble.

MISSIONARY WORK

We had our usual visits with owners moved, one had died, some not interested and some not willing to answer the door. We did find Brother Lines who is retired. He left the church when he was 15 years old. We were amazed that he is Kayla Lines', who is being taught by the missionaries, grandpa! He was very pleasant and invited us in for a chat. We left him with a pamphlet. We also had a good lesson with a young couple who have been inactive for a number of years. We will visit them again this week. We made our second visit to the county jail to visit an incarcerated member. We took him a  Gospel Principles Book and hope he will read it.

PRE-EARTH LIFE SCRIPTURE

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou calmest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1: 5)

 Week 27     October 31, 2016                  HALLOWEEN 2016

PDAY IN WILMINGTON

Our three senior couples visited the Wilmington Broadwalk.

ELIJAH'S

We had a delicious lunch at Elijah's on the broad walk. I had the tuna steak sandwich and Lane had fish and chips.

MARTINS

Lane and I on the broad walk.

OSEY SAUNDERS

Elder Rawlins and Elder Arveseth with Osey Saunders who was baptized last week on Saturday. The Elders tracted Osey out and we were so excited that he has chosen to be baptized! We know he will be richly blessed following in his Savior's footsteps.

LANE AND ME WITH BROTHER OSEY AND JEFF HOLLIS

Lane and I with Osey Saunders and Jeff Hollis who assisted the missionaries in teaching Osey and had the privilege of baptizing him.

RELIEF SOCIETY MURDER MISTERY DINNER

Relief Society sisters gathered for a fun dinner and mystery murder. We were given clues to a murder mystery and had to figure out who the culprit was.

TRUNK OR TREAT

 
Our two missionaries really got into the spirit of Halloween by doing their own "Trick or Treating"!

STAR WARS COUPLE

Lane and me practicing sword fighting in front of the missionaries decorated trunk.

CHILI COOK OFF

Our ward had a chili cook off before the trunk or treat. It was fun fun fun!!

PIRATES AND PRINCESSES

The Bowman's in our ward hosted a fantastic Halloween party at their home. They certainly went all out with the decorations! There was also great food. This pirate at the entrance to the property advised you that you had found your destination. There was a whole front garden full of witches, ghosts and ghouls.

WELCOME

This gentleman was at the front door to greet the guests! They had skeletons dancing in a circle in the garden and a huge blow up slide/jumping castle for the kids. Everyone was dressed up for the occasion.

HURRICANE MATTHEW

Lane and me standing on the back steps of the home we were sent to help clean up. The members were divided into teams and sent to different homes affected by the flood waters from Hurricane Matthew.

LOST!

Mary, the widow who owns this home, has lost not only the home but almost all of her belongings. FEMA has offered her $6000 for her home! She had no flood insurance.

RUBBLE

This is what the roadway looked like in front of the house. Everything was dumped in a mountain of debris waiting for the city to come and collect it and take it to the dump.

MISSIONARY WORK

Once again we had a first hand view of where bad choices can lead one. We traveled down a backwoods road looking for an inactive member. Our GPS lead us to pull up in the drive of a treed property with a rather old home and a shed. There were a number of persons coming and going from the shed. Outside they had a large bonfire going. One of the men, an older man, made his way slowly and hesitantly to our car. With eyes barely open he asked what we wanted. We told him the name of the gentleman we were seeking. Lo and behold, he was IT. He was very friendly but one could see he was under the influence of something, not sure what! We chatted with this lost soul. He had not been active for many years and had been in and out of prison 8 times. He did not elaborate except to say he was currently on parole for cutting someone up real bad! We invited him to church but know the invitation fell on deaf ears. Such sadness in our world. It breaks your heart to see the path that some folks follow. A path that leads to unhappiness and incarceration.

On a happier note we witnessed Osey Saunders' baptism. What a wonderful time for him. He is going to be an incredible member of the church and has a strong testimony.

This past Sunday was different. We attended sacrament meeting then headed home to change into work clothes and then met back at the chapel. We were divided into teams and assigned to different projects where folks needed help cleaning up homes and properties damaged by the rising waters of the Black River which rose 22 feet as a result of Hurricane Matthew. Our team went to a little wooden house which had been under 3 feet of water. Mary, the owner, is a widow. She stood confused and devastated as we emptied her house of its contents and then started ripping out walls and floors. The rubble, consisting of plaster board, wood, kitchen sink, furniture, clothing, books etc was piled high on the side of the country road in front of her home. I heard that FEMA had offered her $6000 compensation!! She had no flood insurance. I am not sure what she will do, whether she will sell the property or try to rebuild. As we left after the cleanup, we drove home with a prayer in our hearts for Mary and the other folks who have lost so much in the wake of this disaster.

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK (Courtesy of my granddaughter)

"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9)

Week 25/26    October 18/24, 2016

FISHY FISHY

Wonderful seafood lunch! I had blackened tuna sandwich with sweet potato fries.

LOVE THE ATLANTIC

The Atlantic Ocean is so warm with no rough crashing waves like the Pacific in California. I would love to have a long swim in this ocean.

GOOD FRIENDS

Peggy Hyde, Nancy Madeo and Maureen Martin - three senior missionaries loving the sea, sun and sand.

THREE COUPLES ON PDAY!

The Madeos brought their canopy to the beach. We asked a lady sitting near us to take our photo relaxing at Caswell Beach, in the gorgeous, warm, fall weather. 

OSEY SAUNDERS' BAPTISM

Elder Rawlins, Osey Saunders, Jeff Hollis and Elder Arveseth before the actual baptism.

TESTIMONY

After his baptism Brother Saunders bore his testimony. This is unusual, but he has such a strong conviction that he requested to bear his testimony.

REFRESHMENTS

After the baptism we had refreshments in the RS Room.

PDAY AT WILMINGTON WATERFRONT

Three senior sister missionaries on the broad walk in Wilmington. It was a glorious day and we were enjoying the warm fall sunshine.

THREE SENIOR COUPLES

Madeos, Martins and Hydes outside the restaurant on the Wilmington Broadwalk.

ELIJA'S RESTAURANT

This is Elijah's. We had a delicious lunch. I had the usual tuna sandwich, Lane had the fish and chips.

MISSIONARY WORK

We had a couple of interesting experiences this past week. First we were requested to visit someone in jail. It was a sad tale we heard of choices that have led this person down the wrong road and now they face up to 40 years behind bars. One thing we have confirmed on this mission is how critical our choices are to our future. Second, we were at Costco buying lunch. Lane put a $10 note on the counter and before the clerk could take the money a young lady standing next to us handed her credit card over and said she wanted to pay for our food! We were stunned! It turns out that the young lady is an inactive mormon, recognized our badges and wanted to do us a good turn. After expressing our gratitude for the unexpected gift, we proceeded to eat our lunch together. After a life of being fully active in the church this lady went through a divorce. It was a difficult time and she moved with her two children to another town. Because of the trials she endured she became inactive. We told her that this meeting was not a coincidence! We knew that we had been put in her path for a purpose! We told her how important it was that her children be taught the gospel while young and that if she returned to fellowship it would bring her peace, comfort and stability in her and her family's life. We bore our testimonies to her. She was very receptive and gave us her address and phone number and we in turn passed that on to the two sister missionaries in her area. They have an appointment to visit the family and we also have a date to take them out to lunch in a weeks time. God works in mysterious ways. We always pray that we will be lead to those whom we can help. The third blessing was our second baptism in two weeks! The Elders tracted out a wonderful family. The head of the family, Osey Saunders, was impressed to let the missionaries into his home when they called. They commenced teaching them and that was the beginning of the end! He was soon studying, reading and researching the gospel himself and received a strong witness that it was true. He was baptized this past Saturday, confirmed on Sunday and now starts a lifetime of learning and progressing in the gospel. We are hopeful that his wife and grandson will soon follow his example into the waters of baptism. 

SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)

No matter what our weaknesses or sins are, the Lord will forgive us if we will repent and follow Him.