Week 76

This is a day that sort of snuck up on us--our last Sunday in the mission.  I spoke in church, we were both released from our branch callings (Sunday School teacher and counselor in Elder's Quorum presidency), and we had some tearful good-byes and hugs.  We love the members of the Marksville Branch, and it has been such a privilege and pleasure to be with them for the last 18 months.

Our dear sisters

Leading up to today there was, not surprisingly, a lot of eating.  Monday night we went with Sister McDavid to one of our favorite Cajun seafood restaurants--Steamboat Bill's.  Tuesday Brother Bonham, our Seminary and Institute (S & I) Area Coordinator came up from Baton Rouge to take us to lunch at another Cajun favorite, Rosie Jo's.  He also loaded up all the S & I office supplies and equipment we've been using during our mission to take back to the LSU institute for storage.  Tuesday evening, the Greens had their traditional pre-transfer dinner for our district (and for the first time, it wasn't a Southern specialty--grilled burgers and brats).  Wednesday was Kerby's birthday, so I made one of his favorites, crawfish etouffee.  Today after church, Sister Ferrington fed us one last fabulous meal, including her fabulous coconut cake.  She knows that Kerby doesn't really like coconut, so she made him an apple pie.  He was in heaven.

Because there is not a couple replacing us our apartment is being closed.  We had to pack up all the furniture and furnishings provided by the mission and get them to Baton Rouge for storage.  The senior couple responsible for finance and housing told us there wasn't a lot of room in the storage units, so they wanted us to pare down as much as possible.  That means our couch went to a member of our branch, and a lot of things that would be usable if someone were simply stepping into our apartment went to Goodwill or the dumpster. 

We rented a U-haul truck, and with the help of the elders and sisters in Alexandria we got everything loaded Saturday morning.  Then we drove down to Denham Springs (Kerby driving the truck and me driving our car) to meet two senior couples and four young elders to unload the truck into storage. Interestingly, Elder Beardshall (half of the senior couple pictured below) was in the Alaska/British Columbia mission at the same time Kerby was serving there.  They didn't know each other well, but did remember each other from short interactions 50 years ago. 

Loading top, and post-unloading bottom

We're staying in a motel now--tomorrow we'll finish packing our personal belongings, load the car, and clean the apartment.  First thing Tuesday morning, March 10, we'll head west.  One night in Texas, two nights in Denver (because there are four darling grandchildren and their wonderful parents there), and arrive at Nora's sister's home in the afternoon on Friday the 13th. 

We did lots of "for the last times" this week--last time at the food bank, last visits with our inmates, last S & I video conference, last visits with some of our branch members in their homes, last trip to Baton Rouge (and last look at crawfish ponds and rice fields on the way to and from BR).

When we finished our previous mission in Oklahoma in 2017, I was able to do a "by the numbers" recap of the many things we had done during the mission.  That's harder to do this time, because it was such an entirely different type of mission.  We learned a lot about ministering to the one.  We saw some people change dramatically.  We marveled at the dedication and testimony of seminary and institute teachers.  We marveled at the tremendous resources the Church makes available to help members in every aspect of life--Come Follow Me, Addiction Recovery Program, Self-reliance materials, seminary and institute manuals, hidden gems in Gospel Library, etc, etc.  We loved and were loved by wonderful people who welcomed us so warmly.  Elder Kerr baked more cookies and cinnamon rolls than you can shake a stick at, and we loved taking a bag of goodies with us as we made member visits.  We put 42000 miles on our car getting to all those visits, meetings, and Louisiana explorations. We did some things that were easy for us and we did some things that were hard.  We grew closer to each other and to the Lord.  And we know that every one of us is a beloved daughter or son of Heavenly Parents with a loving Savior whose greatest desire is to have us return to Their presence.

Week 75

Mardi Gras was Tuesday, and we decided to go to Lafayette to watch a parade in a bigger city this year.  It was great fun and the crowds were bigger than in Alexandria.  We were farther back from the road than last year, so we didn't expect to get any beads, but the "throwers" have very strong arms so we got quite a few.  (This was one of three different parades along the same route on Tuesday, and there had already been several parades earlier in the week.)  A lot of people were tailgating, just like for a football game, with grills and lawn chairs, and just a general party atmosphere. Here are far more pictures than anyone needs, but we wanted to remember our last Mardi Gras:

At the very end of the parade a truck with high wooden sides drove by and some people were throwing their beads BACK into the truck.  There must be a limit to how many beads folks want around the house if they go to a parade every year.  Still a lot of cleanup after one of these--beads all over the road!

Wednesday at district meeting Elder Kerr took this rather shaky selfie of our whole district.  Transfers are this coming Wednesday and we're pretty sure we'll be losing a few of these folks.  (Of course, we're losing us, too, but not until the next Tuesday!)

Normally at the Oakdale prison we meet in a section of the chapel, but this week we were moved to the religious services library because the Catholics were having their Ash Wednesday service in the chapel.  We walked in with the visiting priest who marked all the participants with the ash cross on the forehead.  He normally comes on a different day, but Ash Wednesday is important to the Catholics.

We visited the Alexandria institute class Wednesday evening, and were so happy to see the young man who was baptized a couple of weeks ago attending.

On Thursday we finally got to see our inmate at the Pollock prison after six weeks of lock-downs.  It was so good to see him.  He got quite emotional at one point in our discussion about the Savior's grace.  We will miss him and the men at Oakdale when we go home.  Unfortunately the senior couple that was assigned to take our place here was reassigned to an entirely different mission, so we don't know when there will be someone to visit these men again.  While waiting for the chaplain to come escort us to the chapel, we visited with the Catholic Priest in the lobby.  He had his container of ashes and told us that it was going to be Ash Thursday since he couldn't come the day before.  He told us about the symbolism of the ashes--signifying humility before the Creator and recognition that man is "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," and the cross on the forehead reminds them to focus on God and not on themselves.

After Pollock we went to Marksville for the first of this round of missionary apartment inspections, then we visited the seminary class (one whole student) in Marksville.  Friday we did the inspections in Alexandria and Pineville.

In our never ending quest to eat our way across Central Louisiana, we had dinner with the Boswells and Greens in Alexandria on Friday night and with the Stephensons (my former student) in Pineville on Saturday. 

Today during testimony meeting so many people expressed their love and gratitude to us for serving here, and it was very touching.  They also thought it was our last Sunday, so they had a surprise Linger Longer after church!  Before we ate, the branch president's wife said, "We lived in Utah for 10 years, so we know that all you get to eat out there are casseroles and jello salad.  We put together this Louisiana Survival Kit so you can keep up your new eating habits."  They gave us a fun tote filled with 10 different mixes (gumbo, jambalya, red beans and rice, etouffee, etc), some seasonings, a How to Talk Louisianan book, a little recipe book, an Official Cajun t-shirt, and a card they had all signed.  Then they served red beans and rice, cornbread, slaw, cabbage, and coconut cake.  We were surprised, pleased, and stuffed!

Here are some of our dear friends from the Marksville Branch:

Week 74

Tuesday started very early--up at 3:45 am so we could drive to the Leesville seminary.  As mentioned previously, class is now held at the teacher's home on Fort Polk (and starts at 6:05 am) so we had to leave early enough to get to base, go through security check, and get to class.  The teacher is absolutely wonderful and it is a constant source of amazement to think of all the dedicated sisters and brothers all over the world who willingly and lovingly teach youth in early morning, home, or on-line seminary.  The teachers have an enormous impact on the youth.

Driving home from Leesville we passed the area where the tornado hit in December.  Even though cleanup has been taking place, it still looks pretty bad.

This was a gas station until December's tornado

Debris at the destroyed church, but at least it's in piles now

Tuesday afternoon and evening we spent visiting members in Marksville.  All expressed their love  and appreciation for us serving a mission here.  We've certainly made some good friends.

After the prison on Wednesday we drove up to Many to visit the new institute class there.  Rain was forecast all afternoon and night, so I drove up to avoid darkness coupled with rain coming home.  Frequently the rain was torrential and none of the 1 1/2 hour drive was pleasant because of how wet the roads and windshield were.  But at least Kerby was going to have to deal with the double whammy of dark and rain.  After class the rain stopped and he got to drive home on almost completely dry roads.  Just can't trust the weather man!

We had stake conference this weekend.  Kerby needed to attend the leadership meeting at 3 pm, so I helped the Marksville folks who had been asked to prepare the meal for the interim between that meeting and the Saturday evening session.  We were able to catch our mission president and wife, President and Sister Varner for a picture after dinner.

We love the Varners

Our Area Seventy is Elder Rene R. Alba.  His talks on Saturday and Sunday were so very spiritual and interesting.  He was born in Mexico.  His father was a member of the Church when he married, but his mother was Catholic.  She became interested in the Church because of the hymns, which she loved, and she finally agreed to let the missionaries teach her.  When they gave her a Book of Mormon and asked if she would read it, she began to cry.  She was finally composed enough to tell them she didn't know how to read.  They came every day and taught her how to read, using the Book of Mormon. And she never missed a day of reading the scriptures, albeit slowly, until her death at age 95.  Elder Alba shared many more stories from his life and insights from the scriptures in most uplifting meetings.

Before they headed back to Baton Rouge today, the Varners had lunch with us.  We always enjoy visiting with them.  They are very loving and have influenced us so much on our mission.

Week 73

Monday was our last Temple Prep class, and the parents of one of the sisters in the class wanted to make us a farewell meal.  So they fixed venison/chicken/sausage jambalya for the whole group and brought it to the church for us all to have before class.  Such fun and so good.

The Petches (the good cooks) are at the far end on the right

We planned to go to the early morning seminary class in Leesville on Tuesday, but got a text from the teacher on Monday night that she was sick.  Apparently half of the folks we know have come down with the gombu--missionaries and members alike have been catching and sharing horrible colds for the last couple of weeks.  Fortunately we've escaped the contagion.

After the prison on Wednesday we drove up to Natchitoches to visit both the seminary and institute classes.  We got to town early so we could go to Olivier Woodworks.  We've seen examples of their cypress furniture in a little gallery on Front Street, and I've become obsessed with the idea of having a cypress souvenir.  Cypress trees are so ubiquitous to the swamps and bayous of Louisiana and so absent from the west that we thought having a "cypress something" would be a great reminder of our time here.  The owner of Olivier's (the daughter of the founder, who died a few years ago) gave us a tour of the workshop and told us some of the history of the shop.  The straight line rip saw was built in 1914 and the lathe is also over 100 years old.  We asked if they ship furniture, and she said it was interesting we'd asked, because she and her employees had just been discussing making some of their pieces with removable legs so they could be shipped.  We placed our order, and our sofa table will be the first piece made with the new portability! 

The last time we could see our Pollock inmate was January 9th--the prison has been on lock-down every week since then.  Our Oakdale inmates said they heard there was a fatal stabbing up there, but I don't know how they would know that. . . .  This week's lesson was on agency, etc.  Prisoners at any correctional facility probably thought laws and rules interfered with their freedom, but once they have broken those laws, they REALLY learn about loss of freedom.

We visited a sister in Marksville on Thursday, then went to scripture study at the church, followed by another fabulous meal.  Sister Misner invited us over for her famous gumbo.  It was absolutely fantastic, and it's amazing how each person's gumbo is just a little different from anyone else's.  She served hers with sweet potatoes.  She also pulled out a box of special Mardi Gras beads and we all wore those to celebrate the season. 

In full celebration mode

Friday was a quiet day--we both had lessons and talks to prepare.  It was also Valentine's Day, and we're grateful for all the people we love.

On Saturday we attended a baptism for a wonderful young man in the Alexandria Ward.  The talks, testimonies, music, and the ordinance itself were especially spiritual.  Tim is excited to serve a mission as soon as he's been a member a year. 

We were both asked to give talks in Sacrament meeting today, but when we got there we learned that a member of the Stake Presidency was also speaking.  In order to leave him enough time, Kerby spoke and I'm now well prepared for March 8th.  (Stake Conference is next week, so can't speak then.)  This will make six times we've each spoken in Sacrament meeting--just a bit more often than that happens in Utah!

Week 72

As we drove the elders and sisters to Sister Ferrington's home for dinner last week we talked about Louisiana foods we'll miss when we go home.  Gumbo was high on the list.  We commented that you can make gumbo when you get home, but one elder said, "Yeah, but I like it when you can just go to people's houses and the gumbo is already there."  Sister F had prepared a huge pot of gumbo, and we enjoyed every bite!  For some reason (which no one has been able to explain) the two traditional side dishes to gumbo are either potato salad or baked sweet potatoes.  You put the potato salad in the bowl with the gumbo and either mix it in or sort of keep it on the side.  We've had sweet potatoes on the side a couple of times, but this was the first time with potato salad. 

Me, Sister Ferrington, Elders T'auraa and Waite; Sisters Woolley and Wright

Lots of folks around here have kumquat trees and either just eat them or make kumquat preserves.  Because I ate kumquats in Taiwan, and didn't know where else they grew, it was a fun surprise to find them here.  Sister Brown gave us some from one of her trees.

Home grown kumquats

We had a wonderful Temple Preparation class this week--one sister has her date to receive her endowment in March and the rest are working toward that (the brothers have to wait until a year after their baptisms, so late summer sometime).  We just love these couples and we love discussing the temple with them each week.  The last class is next week.

On Tuesday we had our 80,000 mile car maintenance done. That means we've put 40,000 miles on our car on the mission.  Kind of hard to believe, but so grateful for reliable, comfortable transportation.  In the afternoon we went to Marksville to visit some members. They make putting all those miles on the car worth it!

Wednesday was a busy day.  It started with our final interview with President Varner at 8:20 in the morning.  Zone Conference began at 10:00 (we helped a little with getting things ready for lunch between the end of interview and beginning of meeting).  It's a tradition that all missionaries going home before the next Zone Conference get to bear their testimonies near the end of the meeting.  However, since we would be leaving early to go to the prison, President Varner asked us to share our testimonies at the beginning of the conference.  We had tender feelings as we did so.

We zipped from Zone Conference down to Oakdale to meet with our wonderful inmates.  As always, they were grateful for the visit and we were all edified by our time together.  As we were leaving, one man said, "This is the favorite part of my week;" a sentiment they all share with us frequently.

From Oakdale we drove to Rosepine to visit the seminary class that evening.  The class only has two students, and it was amazing to see the transformation in the young man between our last visit and this.  He's absolutely turned on to the Book of Mormon and was so attentive.  It was great.  On our way there we passed a logging operation, which we've mentioned before as a major industry in central Louisiana.  Pretty interesting to watch.

So much logging and a couple of paper mills in the area

Thursday night we actually dipped below freezing, though we didn't stay there long and it's been back in the 70s this weekend.  It should start raining again tomorrow, and rain on and off all week.

One of the real treats that both paid and called seminary and institute teachers get every February is An Evening With a General Authority (via broadcast).  It was Friday night and Elder Bednar was the main speaker--though he used a less formal format than just delivering an address.  Prior to Elder Bednar, Elder Paul V. Johnson, the Church Commissioner of Education spoke.  I'll paraphrase one of the things he said that I've thought about since--Having the Liahona did not change the geography between them (Lehi and his family) and the Promised Land, but it did help them traverse it by the most direct route.  He said that while Lehi and his family were making the journey together as a group, they were also each experiencing an individual journey--they arrived at the physical location together, but their spiritual end-points were different.  He then quoted Joseph Smith, speaking about the progress of the Church in 1831,  "It was clearly evident that the Lord gave us power in proportion to the work to be done, and strength according to the race set before us, and grace and help as our needs required."

Elder Bednar responded to questions about receiving personal revelation and teaching our students about that.  Paraphrasing again, he said members of the Church who have the gift of the Holy Ghost and are trying to do the best they can don't need to focus on how to get the Holy Ghost to help us, we need to pay attention to what we do that drives it away (then stop doing that).  He said we don't need to "gear up" to receive revelation--having entered into covenants and by living righteously, we always have the Spirit with us.  He said, "You're living IN the revelation" even if we don't always recognize that.  It was a wonderfully uplifting and revelatory evening. 

Week 71

At the food bank on Monday we said good-bye to our favorite worker.  His parole date has finally arrived and he left the Rapides Parish Department of Correction for good.  We've commented that never in our lives did we expect to be praying for someone to get parole, and now we pray that he'll be able to quickly find work and be treated well as he makes his adjustment back to regular society.  Our experience working with parish (county) jail prisoners at the food bank and inmates at two federal prisons has changed our lives. 

Mardi Gras season is upon us (officially starts on January 6--Epiphany--and lasts until Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins [February 25 this year]).  Every weekend there are Mardi Gras balls, king cakes have been in stores and bakeries, and decorations are showing up.  The parades will be held closer to Mardi Gras.

We bought our first king cake of the season this week--cinnamon this time, and it's very good. The meaning of the cake, the colors, and other aspects of Mardi Gras are described in the February 10, 2019 blog post, so I won't repeat that here, but it's pretty fun to be in a place that celebrates it.

Our cinnamon King Cake

On Tuesday I went to the dentist, and even the dental office is celebrating Mardi Gras!

Celebrate everywhere! Sign says "A smile is good for the soul"

On a more serious and meaningful note, Alice was baptized on Tuesday evening.  She is a delightful addition to our branch.  Kerby gave the talk on baptism and I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost.

Sister Alice

After the prison on Wednesday we went up to Many to visit the home study seminary class there.  We realized that this round of visits will be our last before we return home.  It made us kind of sad, and the teacher even got teary as we said good-bye.  It has been a rich experience to get to know the youth in the stake and their seminary teachers.  It's a challenge to have members so few and far between, but the folks are fabulous.

On Friday we went to the temple with Frankie from our branch.  We did an endowment session and then did sealings.  While in the sealing room, in walked our friend Lynn from New Orleans.  She and her husband will be returning to Utah in April after six years here.  We had lunch at Olive Garden before we headed back to Marksville and she back to New Orleans. 

Lynn and Frankie--so good to have friends

We're enjoying a balmy 77 degrees today (after highs in the mid 50's for a couple of weeks--that's not bad, but this is lovely). 

In a few minutes we're picking up the elders and sisters to go to Sister Ferrington's for dinner.  She's been such a delightful friend during our mission.  We realize more and more how many people we're going to miss when we leave Louisiana.

Week 70

Happy Chinese New Year!!  Even after over 40 years, I still have such great memories of celebrating Chinese New Year twice while on my mission in Taiwan.

We spent our Martin Luther King holiday exploring history.  First we went to Poverty Point in far northeast Louisiana (the near-by town is Epps).  This World Heritage Site has amazing mounds and C-shaped concentric ridges formed by a civilization from 1650 to 1100 BC.  It was especially unusual to have such a large area of building created by a hunter-gatherer people rather than an agricultural group.

Here is a description from the web-site:

Centuries ago, when Stonehenge was built and Queen Nefertiti ruled Egypt, American Indians were building earthen monuments in north Louisiana. Hand by hand and basketful by basketful, men and women shaped nearly 2 million cubic yards of soil into stunning landscapes. The result was a massive 72-foot-tall mound, enormous concentric half-circles and related earthworks that dwarfed every other earthen monument site for 2,200 years.

The amount of forethought and organization needed to build Poverty Point without the aid of modern instruments, domesticated animals or even wheeled carts must have been staggering. And for what reason? We still do not know, but clues are constantly being revealed. Archaeologists have much to work with, as millions of artifacts were found at the site. Domestic tools, human figurines and tons of stones from up to 800 miles away have led to speculation that Poverty Point was an ancient residential, trade and ceremonial center.

Arial view and graphic of the area

Mound A--the largest and most elaborately shaped of the mounds on this site

Stairway to top of Mound A and markers for one of many circular ritual sites

Some of the artifacts recovered at the site

It was really very interesting and it's always amazing to get glimpses of life so long ago.  From Epps we drove to Vicksburg, MS to the Vicksburg National Military Park.  We had been there about a year ago, but had only time to see part of the park.  This time we toured the whole park and really enjoyed our time reviewing Civil War history.

During the Civil War, the Mississippi River was critical to the success of the North or the South, and until Vicksburg fell, it was helping to keep the South's two halves together.  Abraham Lincoln said  Vicksburg was "the key!! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket."  From May 18 to July 4, 1863, General Grant led a siege on Vicksburg that finally ended in the city surrendering . The memorial park includes a 16-mile drive that takes you through areas held by either the Confederates (noted by red markers) or Union forces (noted by blue markers).  The park is full of monuments and regimental markers.  It's staggering how many men lost their lives in this war.

Some of the monuments erected by states to honor their dead

Of the 17,000 Union soldiers buried here, 13,00 are unknown--some veterans of Spanish-American, World Wars I and II, and Korean Conflict are also buried here; Confederates who died during the siege are buried in a cemetery near-by

The Cairo

Within the park is the USS Cairo Museum.  The Cairo was one of the Union's gunboats, an ironclad warship.  In 1862 it was going up the Yazoo River, north of Vicksburg, to destroy Confederate batteries when it was sunk by two quick explosions.  No crew members were hurt, but the boat sank almost immediately and was encapsulated in silt, mud, and sand.  The crew had no time to gather any belongings, so the goods stayed in the boat until it was salvaged in the 1960s.  Those artifacts are fascinating, and much of the original gunboat is preserved (and the rest reconstructed) at this museum.  Another enlightening and educational day in the South!!

Tuesday we had the eight young missionaries in our district over for dinner because the transfer was Wednesday.  We lost three elders and gained three--two in Alexandria and one in Marksville.

It was great to see our men in Oakdale prison again on Wednesday after the lock-down the previous week.  Pollock prison was on lock-down again this week, so we couldn't see that inmate.