Sunday, November 23, 2014

We are learning the 'fine art' of cramming as much in a week as possible!  We are getting pretty good at it too......even if I must say so!

I wanted to share a foto of our little Christmas tree.  I made the tree skirt.  We wanted a small tree on purpose (because we don't have room for a very big one) AND it has ornaments on it that we are collecting on our travels around our mission!!  I think we will leave it up all year round just because.....  :-).

On Sunday evening we attended a missionary fireside which was very well attended.  It was primarily for the youth of the stake.  Elders Laws and Erickson spoke on their individual conversions.  It was excellent.  We had the opportunity of having a Missionary Foto Op at the end.  LOVE OUR MISSIONARIES!!

Monday was another FULL travel day for us as we drove back up to the GREAT KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE MISSION.  It was bitterly COLD and SNOWING!!!  Our first snow of the season.  And it was so pretty too.  Fortunately, the roads were fairly clear so we didn't have any problems.

We did not get a chance to attend a temple session but we at least got to go to the Louisville Temple and see it again!  It was just gorgeous with the freshly fallen snow.

We have been handing out little individual bottles of the HAND SANITIZER to each of the missionaries.  We hope they get the message of staying WELL AND HEALTHY this winter season!

We were able to slip by the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory again!  Love coming to this place.  We did a little 'Christmas shopping' while there!

I was amazed at how beautiful the table settings were at this particular Zone Conference.  It made the missionaries feel so special that so much work had been put forth in decorating for them.  And the meal was just as good as the decorations were pretty.

On this trip I was able to finish yet another afghan!  Ready for the next recipient to get.  Glad I have this crocheting work to keep my fingers busy when Wayne is busy with lots of missionary medical stuff.  This one is for a non-member.

President Brough.....what a great mission president he is.  He LOVES his missionaries and they in turn LOVE him!  We love he and his wife!!!

It is with GREAT ENTHUSIASM that the missionaries sing 'That Song' (Called To Serve) to those who serve them a great lunch.  Love it when they do this!!

There is something so pretty about the bridges that we cross up in this neck-of-the-woods!  We criss-cross the Ohio River a number of times.

Two of the Zone Conferences are held in Indiana.....yup, part of the Kentucky Mission.  Between the two towns (New Albany and Evansville) we pass by Santa Claus, Indiana.  I needed a little break from driving so I made an executive decision to stop here for 10 minutes and take a look!!!  Wayne was busy the entire time on the phone and I think he missed it all!!!

When we finished our Zone Conference in Evansville, it was time to head back to Peachtree City, GA.  We actually drove on Friday part way back down the road to make it a more manageable drive on Saturday.  We ended up staying the night at a Hampton Inn in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.  Glad we did because we found a 'Trail of Tears' Museum.  We took a few minutes and visited here.  Kristina is a Cherokee herself and she volunteers at this location.  We had a great little visit with her.  And of course bought a few things.

And back into Tennessee......

And finally back in Georgia!  Felt good to be back 'home' after being gone for a week.

We stopped at NEW ECHOTA once back in Georgia.  It is the place where the Cherokee Indians were headquartered once they were ousted out of their home in the hills and mountains of North Carolina.  Very nice to visit here.

 A pleasant little surprise waiting for me at our apartment......a belated birthday gift from Andy and Geralyn!  They actually mailed it the first time ON TIME but it never made it to me.  They had it resent.  A beautiful bracelet from Nordstroms!  Amazingly I had purchased the matching necklace several weeks previously and had forgotten I ordered it.  When I discovered the 'set' I was thrilled.  I worn them to church today and they matched my outfit really well!!!  Kiitos Paljon A & G.

Another GREAT week......can't believe Thanksgiving is coming up this week.  Been too busy to even think about it.

November 16, 2014

What a FUN week this has been....in many different ways.  Let me begin by saying that we were off to the GREAT KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE MISSION again!!!  This time for more than just 1 or 2 Zone Conferences!  After church (and our speaking in Sacrament Meeting) we took off for our 7 hour drive.

Ok.....haven't seen one of these road signs before!  Only in Tennessee.....

And just like that we have driven right through Tennessee and back into Kentucky.

The stone walls in Kentucky remind us so much of Finland.  Beautiful.

We found the fall foliage to be much more 'brilliant' in color than in Georgia.

We LOVE the GKLM and the Brough's!!!  And it is obvious that the missionaries love their leaders!!!  It was a COCONUT PARADE for President Brough!!

With the power point presentation that Wayne has been doing for the Zone Conferences here he talks, in part, about good physical health.  He got a shot of President Brough doing his push-ups to insert into the body of the PPP!!!

The missionaries always SING to those good sisters who prepare their lunches for them.  We love to hear them sing!

Having a Zone Conference foto is also a MUST.  Here ya go......

After Zone Conference on Friday (and with only 5 missionaries who requested to be seen by the Doctor) we were able to leave a little early to begin our drive back down to Peachtree City.  We were able to drive through 'horse country'.  The Keeneland Horse Track was right on our way.

The trees here were just amazing in color.....just could not get enough of their beauty.  A very nice lady asked if we wanted her to take a foto of us with the trees in the background.  We never pass up anyone offering to take our foto together because that doesn't happen often!

On Friday we drove as far as Corbin, Kentucky where we stayed the night.  The next morning we drove past the original KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN location.....the very first one to be built!  Had no idea that it was located here.

The Colonel was even there to greet us!

It was a foggy drive going down through the mountains.  The fog made the mountains even prettier.

We made it back into Atlanta where we met Elder/Dr. Chuck and Sister Jolynn Bean who had come up for the Mission President's Seminar as well.  They drove up from Florida.  We went to dinner at a little place call 'The Flying Biscuit'.  It was a fun little restaurant.  As we approached Atlanta we had a few extra minutes before meeting the Bean's so we stopped in at a Michael's because I needed to get some more yarn for the next afghan (one for a friend of Becky's).  And, of course, I had to check our Becky's products and make sure they were all straight and tidy!

The next day, Thursday, we had the Bean's meet us at our apartment here in Peachtree City.  We would take them over to Senoia for lunch and to look around.  Wayne found this cute little saying which of course I just had to purchase!  Reminds me of my sweet little Hooter!!!

After walking around a bit we had lunch at the REDNECK GOURMET CAFE!  Always a treat to eat here.....had our usual 'redneck burger' with fried green tomatoes on it.

We walked around a bit more after lunch.  'The Walking Dead' TV series is filming in town for season #5 right now.  We walked down toward the set.....you can see it off in the distance.

It was fun to see some of the Christmas decorations around town.....including this pretty sleigh.

The 'boys' made it back from their 'Walking Dead' adventurous tour.

Back at our apartment.....Elders Laws and Elder Erickson were on exchanges this week.  Both have had knee problems.  YEA that Elder/Dr. Bean could see them both and talk to them.  Tender Mercy......especially since he is an Orthopedic Surgeon.  They were both so pleased to be able to see him.

It was time to be off and get checked into our Marriott Hotel by the Atlanta Airport and get ready for our dinner with the 18 Mission President, the wives and the General Authorities and their wives.

On Friday morning we had a breakout meeting with the mission president's wives and the general authority wives.  It was great to meet with all of them.  Great foto op for them.

As we drove back into our apartment Friday afternoon we found this WARNING sign planted in several locations around the apartment complex.  Duly noted!

Saturday morning we headed up to the temple for a sealing session.  We saw Elder and Sister Morten from the Georgia Atlanta North Mission.  How fun to see them again!!  We went to lunch with them at Mimi's Cafe not far from the temple.

It has been another great week.  And now we prepare to head back up to Kentucky again tomorrow!!!  Oh how we LOVE OUR MISSION!  Have we said that before??  :-)

Sunday, November 9, 2014

 What another fantastic week in the mission field!  It was another week 'at home' with no outlying Zone Conferences scheduled.  We miss our traveling and look forward to getting back on the road.  In the meantime. we are enjoying our beautiful fall foliage here in the Peachtree City and surrounding Atlanta area!

 We purchased an oil paining of the skyline of Hong Kong when we were there in September.  We finally got it back from the framers!  LOVE IT!!

I got Matthew's baptism blanket finished!  We will be seeing him in early December when we are able to attend the baptism in Maryland.

Friday morning we headed up to the Atlanta Temple.  Wayne had made arrangements to meet a missionary there so he could make a house call.  It was, again, a gorgeous fall day to be out and about.  And the gorgeous red trees on the temple grounds were breathtaking!

Wayne got a phone call from one of his mission presidents just as we were about to go in the temple.  We had a little delay in getting in but all was well!

We didn't realize that one of our Georgia Atlanta Mission Zones was having a temple session and leadership training that morning!  President Harding saw us as we were going in the temple and he was leaving.  He invited us to come over and have pizza and see missionaries who might want to see the Elder/Dr. and be with them.  We were able to go over.  Wayne ended up seeing 10 missionaries and we had a slice of pizza too!!

After having been asked on two previous occasions (and having prior commitments)we were able to finally speak in the White Water Ward Sacrament Meeting today!  Glad that is over......for now!

As soon as Sacrament Meeting was finished we went to our apartment, loaded our luggage and headed to Kentucky!  ROAD TRIP!!

Got to LOVE this sign.....unique to the south!

Interesting story behind these apples!  Even though our gas tank was full when we left Peachtree City, we had farther to drive today than we had gas.  That meant we had to stop (even though we didn't want to do that on a Sunday) and get gas.  Wayne had just gotten out of the car and was ready to start pumping when a lady walked over from her car (she had filled her car up) and talked to me.  She had just picked apples and had more than what she needed.  She offered a 'snack' to us!  How sweet she was.  She seemed like a very nice lady.  I thanked her, told her we were about ready for a snack but didn't have any with us, and this was helpful to us!  We ate them as we drove up the road and are still alive to tell about it so she must not have put any 'poison' in them!!  Sound familiar 'Snow White'!!

Now we are ready for Zone Conferences here in the great Kentucky Louisville Mission this week!!!