Week 12

Not a whole lot of activity to report this week because we were both suffering from nasty coughs/colds.  We did finish our class visits for the semester--a home study evening class in Rosepine on Wednesday and an institute class on Thursday evening in Leesville.  Leesville is an hour to the west, then Rosepine is another 20 minutes to the south of Leesville.  We truly enjoy visiting the classes and so appreciate the dedication of all the teachers.  They really love their students and put so much into their lessons.  Anything we can do to support, help, and love them is the reason we're here.

In case it seems like we do a lot of driving, we had our 40,000 mile maintenance check on the car just before we left Utah, and next week we will have the 50,000 mile check.  We are on the road a lot!  Speaking of driving, here are some random observations about driving in Louisiana:

• Most roads have no shoulders--you are either on the road or in the rut next to the road (made by all the people who didn't stay on the road) or in the big ditch; I've spent most of the mission scared to death we were going to drive into a ditch
• Most roads are very narrow
• Street signs in Alexandria are dreadful--and in some cases non-existent--if there is one, it is tiny, dark, and way off to the side of the road
• Few roads have left turn lanes or protected arrows
• Several highways converge in what the missionaries call the Masonic Circle of Death--it's a traffic circle about 3/4 mile around with a copse of trees in the middle so you can only see the road right ahead of and behind you; it has confusing signage, but I finally know where to get off
• There must be fewer lights per capita in Louisiana than any state in the union--it is so DARK except right in the city, and most of our driving (much of it at night or very early in the morning) is in rural areas
• Louisiana has an amazing network of state roads most of which are fairly well maintained, but it can be extremely confusing, especially in the DARK 
• We are more grateful than we can say for Gretel (that's what we call Google Maps because she can find her way home)
• Louisiana drivers generally seem to be more polite and patient than Utah drivers

A few random thoughts on religion and churches:

• There are churches everywhere--some absolutely huge and some very small, but you can't go far without finding a church
• We've seen all denominations and several non-denominational churches, but the predominant churches here are Baptist (on virtually every other street) and Pentecostal
• People are overtly religious--we are told regularly to" have a blessed day" by store clerks, waiters, etc.  Also, when you ask how someone is, the answer is often, "Blessed, I'm blessed"
• It's not uncommon for people to see our name tags and tell us "thank you for doing a good work" (of course others look at us with suspicion or confusion)
• Lots of churches have marques with meeting information or scriptures, but quite a few put thoughts up.  A couple of favorites:
• Want home improvements?  Bring your family to church.
• Jesus's manger--the first King sized bed.
• A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles. (that one was on an insurance agency marque, not a church)

Back to the week--it was a week of good-byes.  The Nygrens, the Seminary and Institute Coordinating Missionaries in Shreveport, leave for home on the 19th, so the Blackburns, S & I CMs in Ruston, and we met the Nygrens in Shreveport for dinner and then attended an amazing extravaganza at the Shreveport Community Church called Sounds of the Season.

Farewell to the Nygrens (she's in red)

Today was the last day for President and Sister Horner at church.  Last night Sister Misner invited lots of folks from the branch over for a farewell dinner.  It was fun to visit and eat good food, but the Horners will be missed terribly.

Farewell to the Horners (seated to my right)

When we left it was dark, the driveway and road were extremely narrow, and, guess what---

We backed right into the ditch

The front wheels barely touched the road, the back tires were up to axle in mud, and we weren't going anywhere!  It was quite a surprise to suddenly be looking heavenward.    We called Triple A and they were sending a tow truck to get us out, but the host's son-in-law lives next door and came home from work before Triple A came.  He hooked on a chain and pulled us out with his truck.  No damage to us or the car, so now we've experienced my big fear and  lived to tell the tale.

Today was the Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting.  There were four Sunbeams and nine older children.  No little one-liners here; all the older children had pretty massive parts to say.  One family with three children is very musical and those kids sang just beautifully.  We have no choir seats in our little triple wide trailer, so the poor kids had to stand the whole time. But all Primary Programs are heartwarming, and this was no exception.