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: