Week 47

Being present when someone enters or leaves mortality is a tender and sacred experience.  We had that experience on Thursday morning.  Just after 7 am I got a text from the wife of the man in the branch who has had leukemia saying he was in the hospital following a surgery, but had been non-responsive for several hours, and could Elder Kerr come give him a blessing.  We hurried to the hospital, and when we entered the room the nurse was checking his vital signs and was clearly concerned.  Then Kerby gave the man a beautiful blessing.  Shortly after, the brother coded and they rushed a crash cart down the hall.  Then the wife had to make the decision whether or not to resuscitate him.  I held her while she said that he wouldn't want that, after which he breathed a few more breaths then passed away.  After some tearful moments, Kerby gave the wife a beautiful blessing, and we stayed with her until her daughter and son-in-law arrived.  Again, it was a sacred experience.

Now here is the "tender mercy" backstory.  On Wednesday our car was really acting up when we started it--four different times it made awful noises and had a hard time starting.  We called the service garage for an appointment, and they said to bring it in at 7 am the next day.  On Thursday morning Kerby was going to wear his jeans and a polo shirt to just run it over to the garage, but instead he came out in a shirt and tie--he said, "I just felt like putting my tie on."  He left, and I planned to take a shower, but instead got busy on the computer for a few minutes.  He called to say the car was acting perfectly and so he was on his way home, since the mechanics had nothing to test.  Immediately after that I received the sister's text, and I called Kerby to tell him.  I quickly put on some clothes, met him in the parking lot, and we went to the hospital.  The tender mercy is that normally we are at the gym without our phones at that time of day, and had that been the case we wouldn't have gotten the message until quite a while after the brother passed away.  (And our car continues to operate normally!)

The former branch president and his wife flew in from Idaho on Friday, and we met them at the funeral home where he and Kerby dressed the man in his temple robes.  Kerby and I are saying the opening and closing prayers at the memorial service tomorrow evening. 

Compared to that, nothing of much importance happened this week.  We were able to find a couple of people home when we went visiting in Marksville.  Cotton fields are still pretty as the blossoms continue to open. We stopped in "our" cotton field, and took this picture of baby cotton bolls:

Amazing that we wear what's growing inside of these!

We continued south to Simmsport, and saw lots of corn harvest on the way.  Just a few months ago we drove by these very fields when the corn was less than a foot high. 

Week 46

Stake Conference was this week, and, as always, a wonderful spirit and wonderful messages.  The entire Baton Rouge Temple Presidency and their wives were at both sessions.  Last night they talked some about the physical changes that have been made during this almost two-year renovation.  For one thing, the steeple is now 15 feet higher and has stained glass and inner lights.  The ceilings inside are about two feet higher, and there is a completely new foundation.  As with most temples, the stained glass and molding details reflect the locale.  Here those details are magnolia blossoms.  The new doors each weigh 700 pounds, but, as the stake president quipped, all you need is a temple recommend to open them!  The open house is October 26-November 2, and the re-dedication is November 17. 

July 29--Almost finished!

Today the talks focused more on the spiritual aspects of the temple.  The temple president was a career Navy man, and he talked about the importance of lighthouses when he was a navigator.  He likened temples to spiritual lighthouses in our lives, beacons to keep us in the right way.  President and Sister Varner both spoke, and we always love hearing them speak.  The Stake President, President DeFord, spoke about fasting, and it was truly masterful.  He used Isaiah 58 to talk about the reasons for and results of fasting.  The elements of the fast are 1) abstaining from food and drink for 24 hours, 2) prayer, and 3) fast offering.  He said that when we pay our tithing we live the law of sacrifice, but when we pay our fast offering we live the law of consecration.  (Yesterday he said that fulfilling church callings involved the law of sacrifice, but magnifying our callings was the law of consecration--interesting to think about.)

After conference, President and Sister Varner came to our apartment for lunch before they headed back down to Baton Rouge (actually, Denham Springs).  We had a delightful visit, and we're so grateful to know them and work under their direction on our mission.

Wednesday of this week was transfer day, and Elder McNairy finished his mission to go home.  Since there are no longer sisters at the Greens, they didn't have missionaries over for pre-transfer dinner on Tuesday--so we did  We made red beans and rice, cornbread, watermelon, and lemon pie.  A pretty good Southern dinner! 

Elder Haney was transferred to Natchez, so still in our district, but two hours away.  Before he left, he sent me this picture of him preaching the gospel in the clutches of a giant crawfish at Swamp Daddy's restaurant.  The missionaries work so hard, but they have fun, too!

We drive by LSUA campus on our way to and from Marksville, so on the way back from Marksville on Tuesday we stopped to see the Epps house.  We've recommended the book Twelve Years a Slave before, and wanted to see the house where Solomon Northup's master lived. 

The Epps House

Week 45

The first Sunday we were in Marksville, the sight of a great big Adirondack chair at the back of the room was sort of surprising.  It soon became absolutely normal.  We sit on folding chairs, and one sister can't sit comfortably on them, so the last branch president had this made for her:

On Tuesday we got the rain we had expected with Tropical Storm Barry several weeks ago.  The heavens opened and just dumped rain off and on for hours.  Our electricity was out for about 90 minutes.  Kerby had a follow-up doctor's appointment, so we set out, practically needing to paddle all the way.  To our surprise, the electricity was out all over town (not to our surprise, many streets were completely flooded).  The power was out at the clinic, right next to the hospital, but came on after we'd been there about 30 minutes.

We got 4.3 inches of rain that day.  The year-to-date rain here is 41 inches (compared to 33 normally).  Also, when we go to the gym in the morning, the humidity is generally between 94% and 98%.  We'll probably dry up and blow away when we get back to our desert.

This picture is of the pond across the road from us.  Normally the drainage pipes are very evident.  Tuesday afternoon there were ducks swimming far above the usual level of the pond with pipes far under water.

Same spot; flood day, top--normal day, bottom

About two months ago, a prisoner from Central America joined our group at the prison.  He is absolutely the sweetest man, and we love him so much.  His English is not very good, but he tries to participate in the whole Come Follow Me discussion as well as he can.  When it's his turn to read aloud, he reads from his Spanish scriptures while we follow along in English, and he follows along in Spanish when others read.  This week Elder Kerr wanted to use quite a bit of a conference talk, and had the bright idea to use the translate function in Word.  It worked beautifully, and now communication is even easier. Just before the closing prayer, this man said, "This hour is my favorite part of the week."  Other prisoners have expressed similar sentiments either in private or in the group, and being at the prison has certainly been an unexpected blessing for us.

 Baptisms are always highlights, and we had a baptism yesterday.  Ryne has been part of the branch ever since we've been there and long before.  Finally everything came into place for him to be ready to join the Church.  His wife has been a member her whole life, and it's exciting to watch this family progress and grow.

Happy Day!

Week 44

Friday we went to Houston to attend the temple.  We arrived at about 5 pm, and with  Friday night and Saturday morning combined, we did work for 19 Kerr family names.  So lovely to be there and participate in those ordinances.

Going into the temple on Friday, one of our YSAs from Stillwater was waiting outside for her best friend, who had just gotten married. That was a fun surprise.  Inside, the mother of a former student (who we had seen on our first Houston trip) was there again, and it was good to see and visit with her. Then on Saturday, we saw a senior missionary couple from our mission--they were there with their granddaughter, who leaves next week for the Salt Lake City Mission.

Saturday afternoon we went to the Holocaust Museum Houston.  It was the grand reopening in a newly remodeled space.  To see a picture of the whole museum, click here:  Holocaust Museum Houston  You can't really say you enjoyed a museum about the Holocaust, because it is all so horrifying, but this was really well done and very informative.  The videos and displays were excellent and the focus a little different from other Holocaust museums we'd seen.

It is the nation's fourth largest Holocaust Museum, and: "works to build a more humane society by promoting responsible individual behavior, cultivating civility, and pursuing social justice."

Outside--replica of crematorium smokestack

Can't capture all the stones in one picture--see the link for a better view

Had never heard of mobile killing units, but were many of them

A pretty sobering exhibit 

But always, hope (viewed from below and from above)

Aside from the Houston trip, the rest of the week was just filled with our usual activities.  The temperatures were a bit cooler this week (mid- to high 80s) which was a nice break from the high 90s.  Humidity still high, but we're not outside a whole lot.

Week 43

Well, it was a quiet week in Alexandria.  We just had a couple of things other than our usual round of activities.  On Tuesday we made a presentation about the changes coming to the seminary curriculum and our new on-line seminary teacher to the bishops' training meeting.  Thursday we participated in a lesson with our Marksville elders--a man they've been teaching for a couple of months. Tonight we had the seminary/institute faculty training.  Those used to be once a month, but now the face-to-face meetings are just twice a year and the rest of the training consists of 5-minute micro-training on line every week or two.  Not all the teachers were there, but it was great to get together.  Such dedicated teachers, all of whom love the gospel and are committed to their callings.

We never did get much rain out of tropical storm Barry last week, but Marksville got over 12 inches,  Cottonport (a town in our branch) got 19 inches, and Oakdale (where the prison is) got 17.  In Pineville, some homes were without power for up to nine hours.  Kerby's barber lives in Pineville, and had an alligator wander into the yard just enjoying the water.

This is Grand Lake in Marksville on Thursday--still overflowing.

A little soggier than usual

When we arrived in September, the cotton was mostly ready for harvest.  It is sprayed with a defoliation agent to make the leaves drop off so it can be picked.  Therefore we had never seen a field of cotton in the growing stage.

Here are a couple of cotton fields before the bolls form:

Cotton fields

The other thing that happens to cotton in July is blossom formation. The blooms are cream or yellow on the first day, turn pink on the second day, then dry and drop off.  We pulled into a field near Marksville to capture these pictures:

Cotton blossoms

We're quite fascinated with cotton plants, so there will probably be more pictures to come documenting the growth and development of cotton. 

Week 42

What an interesting few days for Louisiana.  Tropical Storm Barry has been forming in the Gulf of Mexico, and it's primary land target is virtually all of Louisiana and Mississippi.  It was supposed to hit yesterday and move quickly North.  Instead, it got stuck at the coast and really hammered New Orleans, Baton Rogue, and other coastal areas with rain.  Though we've had rain almost constantly since 1 pm Saturday, it hasn't been very heavy and the winds haven't been bad. We still should get some heavy rain this afternoon.  Here's what the radar looked like this morning:

Church was cancelled in preparation for flooding and power outages, and Marksville did get a lot more rain that we did yesterday. All of the missionaries in the south part of the mission were evacuated, staying with missionaries farther inland.

On Tuesday we went to Marksville for visits, but also had our interview with President Varner.  He was interviewing the missionaries there (and the Natchez elders were also in Marksville), so we just all met at the church.  What a heavy responsibility mission presidents throughout the world have!  They need to interview each young missionary every six weeks, constantly provide guidance and encouragement, be aware of the health and safety of all missionaries, oversee Zone Conferences every six weeks and other special mission conferences, and numerous other duties.  Our mission includes all of Louisiana except the Shreveport area, all of Mississippi, and a little bit of Arkansas.  President and Sister Varner might be on the road away from the mission home for 7-9 days at a time. They are both wonderful!

Wednesday was "teaching day" with our prisoners in Oakdale and our institute class in Alexandria that night.  We both love teaching the gospel, and especially love the growth and insights that come from preparing to teach.

Zone Conference was in Monroe (2 hours north) on Thursday.   The theme was JOY, and President Varner's talk was wonderful.  He talked about five principles, and even though they were directed at missionary work, they apply to life in general as well.
    Principle 1: Feeling joy increases our desire to share the gospel
    Principle 2: Joy is a principle of power
    Principle 3: Joy is contagious
    Principle 4: Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause
    Principle 5: We can feel joy even in the face of opposition and rejection

It's always a neat experience to be with the young missionaries.  They have a lot of fun together, but they are also dedicated and intent on doing their best to share the gospel with others. Listening to their comments and testimonies is inspiring.

If you have ever seen the reality television show Duck Dynasty, you'll get a little thrill when I tell you that the Duck Commander store is in Monroe, so we stopped to see it before driving home.  If you haven't seen the show there is really no way to explain it, but suffice it to say these down home Louisiana boys with their flowing beards, sunglasses, and crazy lifestyle developed quite a following. It all started with making duck calls.

Don't know which one this is, but a fairly accurate woodcarving of anybody in the family

Duck hunting is really popular here, and we see often these blinds for sale 

On Friday we went to Pollock, about 30 miles north of us, to have our pictures taken for ID badges at the Federal Correctional Complex, Pollock.  We should start some time next week providing religious support to a member of the church incarcerated there who requested it.  Whereas Oakdale is a minimum security prison, Pollock is a high security prison.

Will begin here next week--there may be other prisoners joining us when they know there are Latter-day Saints coming

Last week we had the 65,000 mile service on our car.  That's 25,000 miles since we left home almost 10 months ago.  We're so grateful for comfortable, reliable transportation!  The last couple of days have cooled off, but for over a week, the temperatures have been in the high 90s and the humidity has been very high, as well.  The heat index most days was over 100 degrees--one day 110!  Again, so grateful for air conditioned apartment and car.

Week 41

We mentioned the storm and wind damage last week.  Kerby went to the dentist on Tuesday, and the beautiful lush woods usually seen from the dentist chair had suffered a bit:

Wind kind of spoiled the view

On Tuesday afternoon we visited in Marksville, and found a man that has been on the records for years, but no one in the branch had ever seen.  We had a wonderful visit with the man and his wife--turns out he's a project manager for a big company and they spend months (up to 18) in different locations working jobs.  He hadn't been to church since he was 14 years old, but had some fond memories.  We were so pleased to find him and know more about his story.

On the highway that leads to his place is this icon of Southern grocery shopping:

Southern icon

It's the only one we've seen since coming, though there are still 600 of them in the South and Midwest. 

With no mountains to block or interfere with clouds, we get some incredibly large cloud formations.  The clouds in this picture aren't very big, but they just looked interesting.  They did sprinkle on us, but spared us a downpour this time.

Dark clouds on the horizon

Pineville, on the other side of the Red River from Alexandria, held its 4th of July lake-side fireworks display on Wednesday.  We didn't go to all the pre-fireworks hoopla, but left home about 8:30 hoping to slip onto a little side road to watch.  Well, Pineville may be a small town, but when every resident is out to see the fireworks, it gets pretty crowded!  Cars were pulled over on the service lane of a highway, so when we found an open spot, we pulled in too.  We got out our lawn chairs and sat between the front of a big pickup truck and the back of our car, expecting the fireworks to be quite a way back on the lake.  When the first boom came, we were happy to see that the entire display was directly across from us.  We had the best seat in the house (or on the road. . . .).

On the 4th, we ate lunch at a place called Rosie Jo's.  It was absolutely fabulous Cajun cooking in a hole-in-the-wall sort of place.  The dipping sauce for the fried green tomatoes made eyes water and noses run--just delicious.  We'll definitely go back to sample more of the great food.  This sign hangs on the wall:

We kind of agree

We had five men in our study group at the prison this week--we really enjoy being with them.  Before our mission we often joked that we'd be called to teach institute at the prison in Gunnison, UT (it really is one of the mission options available).  After our experience here, we think that might have been a pretty good place to go! 

We had our second Personal Finance class this afternoon.  The class members are so willing to participate, the materials are excellent, and we have fun while learning.  Here's a picture of part of the class:

Most of the men were missing today

Our mission president invited the whole mission to read the Book of Mormon in three months, ending this week.  We finished it this morning.  What an amazing testament of Jesus Christ. Every reading brings new insights, increased testimony, greater gratitude for Heavenly Father's plan, and more understanding of the Doctrine of Christ.  What a great blessing the Book of Mormon is!