Week Two 9 May 2016

We are almost settled in now. Just a few small things to complete our little apartment. We are delighted with our location and ward. 

PREPARATION DAY

Lane and I drove to Peggy and Vaughn's home in Southport. The scenery here is beautiful. Everything is so green and today the temps are getting to 89 degrees! The air-conditioning is a life saver. From the Vaughns' home we drove to a little restaurant called "Olivers" at Cape Fear which is on a river which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. From your table you look out of windows onto the river. In the photo are Mike and Nancy Madeo, Vaughn and Peggy Hyde and Lane and me. 

OLIVER'S

View of the river out the window of the restaurant.

The Seniors!

CATCH OF THE DAY!

I promised this old fisherman that I would put him on Facebook. He caught a tiny little silver fish! We all had a good laugh about it.

THE REAL CATCH OF THE DAY!

This fisherman caught a sucker trout which was a good size. They were fishing from the pier.

PIER

Lane and I on the pier with the beautiful old homes, which used to belong to the ships' captains, in the distance.

ZONE MEETING

Every Wednesday we have either a Zone Meeting or District Meeting. This week was Zone Meeting. There were four Districts present, about 35 Elders and Sisters and 8 Seniors. The Zone Leaders are in charge and hand out training assignments to the Elders and Sisters. The Seniors basically sit and listen.   At times we broke into our Districts and later the Seniors went off on their own. We shared conversion stories. Above are Lane and me, Vaughn and Peggy, the Junckers, and the Petersens.

The Junckers and Petersens are serving on a military base, Camp Le Jeaune in Jacksonville. 

MYRTLE TURTLE

See who I met on my morning walk today! I spoke to a guy who is in charge of the condominium grounds and he tells me that there are a few alligators that wander around the ponds in the area. They are protected and it is not legal to feed them.

MORNING FOG

This morning, after more rain last night, we woke up to fog. I had to walk on the treadmill in the complex weight room instead of outside. It was quite spooky.

FARMERS MARKET ON CAPE FEAR RIVER

Today, being Saturday, Lane and I took a drive to the Famers' Market in downtown Wilmington. It was very expensive so all we bought were a scone and some sesame crackers called Benne Wafers. There were mostly baked goods and fresh vegetables and fruit.

CAPE FEAR RIVER

We walked over to the banks of the river for a photo op. The bridge in the distance is a drawbridge which lifts up to allow tall tankers to pass up the waterway. The bridge is up in the photo. As soon as the tanker passes, the bridge is lowered for the cars to cross from one side to the other.

BATTLESHIP NORTH CAROLINA

Across the river is the Battleship North Carolina Memorial. It is a historic landmark. She was the first newly constructed battleship to enter service in World War Two and the most decorated battleship of World War Two. You can see her in the distance. She took part in every Naval Offensive in the Pacific.

HISTORIC SOUTHERN MANSIONS

The downtown Wilmington streets are lined with these old southern mansions. They are very beautiful.

AT LAST, OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!

Its so good to be beside the seaside! Lane tested the water and pronounced the temperature acceptable. The beach, Carolina Beach, stretched for miles and there were tons of holiday makers swimming and enjoying the sunny weather. 

SEA, SAND AND DUNES! WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR!

OLDE SALTY'S

We asked a local where we could find some good seafood and he sent us to Olde Salty's on the second floor of a restaurant. There was a Mexican Restaurant on the ground floor. We sat outside and enjoyed the sea breeze, crab cakes and shrimp. Time for a nap so we headed home after lunch.

MISSIONARY WORK

In case you think we are just partying, here is what we have been doing as far as missionary work is concerned. We met with the Bishop and he gave us the names of 6 families (some single folk) who need strengthening. We met with one couple already, Dora and Ich (his ancestors are Japanese but he was born in California) Hoshiyama. We also went with the missionaries to visit a lady investigator who is married but her husband is not interested in the gospel. We dropped by her home again to take her a little birthday treat. She is very sweet and welcoming. We have another appointment on Tuesday with the missionaries to meet with the Evancos. Lane attends the PEC meeting two Sundays a month at 7:30am and we both have to attend the Ward Council meeting on the other two Sundays at 7:30am. We have joined the choir and will be singing at our ward conference in June. Saturday evening we had the missionaries over to dinner. As we walked out to see them off at 9:30pm, a lady in the condo opposite to ours came out too and saw us. She asked, "Are you Mormons?" Turns out she is a member but has stopped coming. She asked if we would show her the way to church on Sunday and has a single mom and her 11 year old son staying with her. She wants the missionaries to meet with them and teach them the gospel. Today a sister at church gave us the name of a single lady who is totally inactive who she thinks would benefit from a visit from us. We will visits her on Wednesday this coming week. The ward is very friendly and we feel like celebrities. We have our first dinner invite from a police officer in the ward. They are Alice and Robert Bridge. We are going to them for family home evening Monday and I am taking dessert. So, you can see, we are busy in between having fun and getting to know this beautiful state.