On Tuesday Brother Bonham, the Seminaries and Institute (S & I) Director (located in Baton Rouge), and Brother Hadley, the assistant area S & I coordinator (stationed in Tennessee) came to the stake center to give us some training. It turns out we are part of a pilot program for using senior missionary couples as stake S & I coordinators. There are only about 10 couples doing this right now. As a pilot program, there are some things to be worked out as we go, and our training was helpful but certainly didn't teach us everything we need to know. But at least we can get started. He also gave us a boatload of stuff--nice printer, projector for powerpoints or videos, paper supplies, manuals galore, etc, etc.
We are to visit every seminary class and every institute class in the stake at least twice a semester (some of them are two hours away, so we stay in the town overnight since classes meet a 6 am), give support to the teachers, help in training new teachers and in in-services, work with the stake priesthood leaders, and so on. We'll be teaching the home study class once a week (they do their own study daily and meet together on Wednesday right before Young Men/Young Women meeting). There may be a new institute class starting, which we would teach, as well. There will be more coming, but that's what we understand so far.
So, on Wednesday we had a conference call with two other coordinating couples in the morning, then went to our District Council--two sets of sisters and two sets of elders (all young missionaries) in this district. That evening we visited the home study seminary class and later the institute class in Alexandria.
Friday afternoon we had an appointment with the stake president. He's the head of the art department at Northwestern State University, LA in Natchitoches, about an hour north of us. Natchitoches is pronounced knack-a-dish with accent on the knack. Don't ask, 'cause I have no idea why that's so, but it's so! Anyway, it was a good meeting. He went to Kansas State University for his MFA, and his family was in the same ward I was in years earlier in Manhattan. They knew several of my friends there.
While Alexandria doesn't have a charming downtown, Natchitoches does. We can't wait to really explore it later, but many parts of it looked like the French Quarter in New Orleans. The movie Steel Magnolias was filmed here.
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| Charming Natchitoches |
The mission president, President Varner, and his wife stopped in to see us on their way home from a stake conference in the stake north of us. It was wonderful to meet them; we had dinner together and we got to know each other.
Seen while driving around:
- A flower called Lycoris--it's a bulb I've never seen before, but it pops up in medians and people's yards; quite pretty when lots are growing together
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| Lycoris--long skinny stalk with no leaves |
- So many egrets I might even stop getting excited every time I see one--they even hang around in cow and horse pastures, not just by ponds and lakes
- Lots of green, lots of lush pastures, lots of cotton fields (ready to harvest any time now)
Here are some Alexandria, LA facts:
- Sister Neill Marriott, former General Young Women's Counselor, was born and raised here; her mother just recently passed away
- Elevation 75 feet above sea level
- Central time zone
- Average yearly precipitation--61.4 inches
- On the Red River
- In Rapides Parish (parish is what counties are called here)
- Population 48,000
Some Louisiana facts:
- Nicknamed the pelican state
- State bird, the brown pelican
Well done. Very informative. Great photos.
ReplyDeleteLove it! You are going to be very busy but it looks like a beautiful place to be. Love you both!
ReplyDeleteLynnette