Sunday, November 29, 2015

It has been a busy week.....travel and Thanksgiving and trying to get caught up on things on the home-front in Peachtree City.....

As we left the Tennessee Knoxville Mission on Monday morning (we had spent the weekend in Kingsport, TN because the last Zone Conference ended on Saturday afternoon and we didn't want to travel on Saturday night or Sunday), we happened to have the view below.....and it just seemed so 'typical' of a lot of places we see as we travel around!  And a little frost on the ground made it even prettier.

We decided we were going to head to CUMBERLAND GAP.  We have talked about that for the past 1 1/2 years....wanting to visit there but not having time.  We TOOK the time to drive there today.  It was about 1 1/2 hours from Kingsport.  We found several old barns with 'quilts' painted on the side of them.  We have seen a fair number of these type of barns in Kentucky and a few more here in Tennessee.  They are fun to spot.  And we were following the 'Daniel Boone' Trail as he would have traveled....except he would not have nice roads, but he would have to blaze his own trail.

We knew we were on the right 'trail' when we saw the name of the road.....

We made it......And this part is in Kentucky.

 We decided to make the short hike up to the saddle of the mountain and from there on up to the peak where the 3 states come together.....Fortunately, we had cell reception in this part of the woods because Elder/Dr. Allgaier got a few calls.  

 Here is the Kentucky state sign at the peak.....

And, yes, the Virginia state sign as well.....

The third state sign, Tennessee.......fun to be up here at the try-state mark!!!

The view was just magnificent from the top.  You could see forever....and the day was absolutely perfect for being on top of the world!

Just another foto of the 'forever-ness'!

We finally made it home on Tuesday afternoon.  I think the missionaries missed us!!!  The Sister Missionaries actually put the notes up and the 2 sets of Elders that also live close by added their little 'love notes' to the Sister's love notes.  We feel loved and blessed!

We feel like it has been forever since we have been in our apartment.  I think it actually has.  We love our mission and the traveling but it is nice to be 'home' some time too.  I was able to get the last of these 3 red/white/blue afghans finished and in the mail!!

 Thursday for Thanksgiving, we had a Senior Missionary Dinner at the Mission Home (Georgia Atlanta Mission).  It was so fun to see the ones we knew and good to meet the new couples!

I actually ventured to the Posti on Friday and got this little flyer in my bag.  Only in Peachtree City would there be a golf cart contest for the cutest decorated golf cart!!  Go figure!!

I am not happy when my fingers are not busy.....so here are the 3 afghans I am working on right now. I kind of switch off each day and work on a different one.  I get kind of bored working on the same one for a week or two at a time.  I know....count me crazy!

It was good to be back at the Atlanta Temple again on Saturday.  The weather was gorgeous......and we have to enjoy it while we can.

Saturday afternoon I was able to get a few crocheted snowflakes made and will use them for gifts over the next few weeks as we travel around to other missions!

We don't have too many 'dull' moments when we are home.  We love having the missionaries visit us....these are the Spanish Elders that came for a visit.  I am in the kitchen doing some work....that is what the Elders are doing.....looking at me while I am telling them something!

We don't really get to see a lot of 'pretty' skies here in our apartment in Peachtree City because there are just too many trees and our apartment is ground-level.  I think that is why we try to get 'higher floors' in our hotel rooms.  So we can see something pretty once in a while.  BUT, this morning there was a little bit of a pretty sunrise.  I'll take it....whatever we can get.

And, with that, we finish yet another week.  WOW......don't know how this happens......love our mission, love our family and the support they are to us as we strive to serve the best we can.  Everyone be safe this week!!!  Love y'all......

Sunday, November 22, 2015

 AND.....it was off again this week for Zone Conferences in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission.  We LOVE our mission and the beautiful country we get to see as we drive around!  

 On our way to the eastern part of the mission, we passed by the MAYFIELD DAIRY and have said for the past 1 1/2 years that 'one day' we were going to stop and take a little tour of the factory.  Well, today was that day.  It was a nice little diversion for about 30 - 45 minutes.  AND we got a free cone of ice cream at the end of the tour.

Believe it or not, we actually had to go to the Western part of North Carolina to get to our first Zone Conference.  Because that part of NC is in the TKM!  Go figure.

There are always Zone Conference fotos during the lunch break.  AND President Griffin ALWAYS does a selfie with the missionaries!  It is so fun to watch them do this.

I have to say that is was probably our LEAST favorite Hampton Inn to stay in!!!!  It did NOT have a regular overstuffed chair for me to sit in.  Elder/Dr. had his desk and chair but ....... well, what can I say.  Oh well, at least we had a comfy bed to sleep in.

And then compare this room to the last one!!!  Well, there is really NO comparison.  This was a FANTASTIC room!!!  And it was actually cheaper than the room with NO chair!

We found out that the Church leased a really neat building for a chapel in downtown Chattanooga.  We had to go see it after Zone Conference.  This is a pre-Civil War building.  General Bragg actually had this as his headquarters during the Civil War.  So neat that the Church could lease it for our meetings!  Very special indeed.

It was great to see some of the fall foliage still shining with brilliant colors as we traveled around.

Prior to Zone Conference starting, I noticed Sister Griffin (Mission President's wife) talking to a few of her 'children......Sister Missionaries' in a far corner.  Just too cute not to take a foto of them.

Yup, and President Griffin at another Zone Conference taking his selfie.

We made our way on Friday afternoon up to the Kingsport TN area where the last Zone Conference would be held on Saturday.  We decided to stop in the Visitor's Center just to see if they had any books on the local area.  These two gals were very helpful and didn't mind their foto being taken.

They told us about the beautiful new CAROUSEL which had just opened this year.  In fact, we were told, that every one of the horses/animals on the carousel were hand carved by the local townsfolk!  It took a few years for all of them to be completed and then the carousel to be assembled.  And the result is BEAUTIFUL!!  Rides were only $1!!!  Can't pass that bargain up now can you.....

These two sweet ladies helped prepare the lunch for the Zone Conference.  It was delicious.  

After Zone Conference on Saturday, we headed back downtown to see if the Christmas parade was still going.  In fact, it had just barely started.  So we got to see most of it.  AND, of course, Santa arrived!

We have seen some beautiful sunsets up here this week.

Tennessee has certainly been good to us this week......and we appreciate that.

 We attended church in the Kingsport Ward on Sunday and got to see of the Elders we had seen at Zone Conference.

After church we drove back downtown so we could see Church Circle one more time and get a few fotos.  This area reminded me of what Joseph Smith must have felt when there was a different church on every corner and was confused as to which one to join.  Hence, James 1:5!  And the rest is history.....thank goodness we have The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today!

Driving back to our hotel we saw some pretty Christmas decorations.  

And that, my family and friends, is our travels and adventures for this week.  I am sure there will be more to write about next week!!!  We are always amazed at the adventures we have!  We LOVE our mission.  We LOVE our family for supporting us!  We truly feel blessed.......see y'all next week!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Well, hello again!  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was writing about last week!  Take my advice.....don't get old because the time seems to fly by and somehow you wonder how so much could happen in a week!!!  I know we certainly feel like that on a weekly basis!

Last Sunday evening after I sent out my 'weekly update', Rodney (our neighbor who used to live across the hall from us, paid us a visit.  And the Elders (Norlund and Parkin) came over for a visit with us as well.  Rodney had something he was showing the 'guys' on his cell phone.

On Monday we took Elders Norlund and Parkin to do a little 'birthday shopping' because they both had birthdays this week.  Elder Norlund was SO excited he found a vest he really liked!  I had to open up his pockets for him on his vest.

We took them to Dickey's Bar-B-Que for their birthday dinner.  We should have discovered this place about 1 1/2 years ago.  It is really good!

Tuesday it was back on the road again.  We headed back up to the North Carolina Charlotte Mission for the last week of their Zone Conferences.  Got to love the road signs along the way......we MUST be in the Bible Belt.

We absolutely LOVE being with our wonderful missionaries in all 9 of our missions.....along with the wonderful mission presidents and their wives!  We feel SO blessed to be associated with all of them.  Here President Alexander is thanking the Relief Society Sisters for preparing our lunch on this particular day.  And then the missionaries sing to them!

 While we were gone this week we celebrated VETERAN'S DAY!  I had to think of my father who served in the U.S. Navy as well as my wonderful eternal companion and his service in the U.S. Navy!  How grateful I am to have their service for our country.  By the way, that is Jonathan and David with Wayne.  We were serving on Guam toward the end of the Viet Nam War time.  It was obviously Christmas time.

Count me crazy, but I found a crochet pattern for this cute little basket!  I decided to take a 30 minute break from working on an afghan to make this basket.  The only yarn I had with me was red, white and blue.....but actually worked out well since it was Veterans Day!

On Thursday, November 12th our Zone Conference was actually held in the Colfax, N.C. Chapel.  I felt so blessed to be able to be here.  This is the ward I was attending with my family when I was baptized at age of 8 years.  The top right foto is what the original chapel looked like.  The bottom right is what the 'new' chapel looks like.  It is hard to believe that it has been 59 years ago this month that I was baptized!

During the lunch on this day, the Relief Society sisters had a short video about the stake that they wanted to share with the missionaries.  However, that meant video equipment had to be set up.  AND how many Senior Elders does it take to figure out how to connect everything??  They finally got it going ...... bless their hearts!

There was absolutely NOTHING spared for the missionary lunch today.......complete FULL turkey dinner and everything completely homemade.  Including the variety of pies!!  And look at those decorations.  NOTHING SPARED!!!  Seriously T.H.E. best!!

And I got some good 'cousin time' in today......Aleta VonCannon Knudsen (and we got to visit her parents grave site behind the chapel after lunch), Polly McNeill who helped prepare the lunch AND Faye Collins.  I surely feel blessed that I have so many cousins living right here in our mission area.

In between the Zone Conference and going to Faye and Ronnie Collins home in the evening, we had to make a trip to the hospital in Wtilkesboro (about 1 1/2 hours away).  Poor Sister Spain had to have emergency surgery for her appendix that morning.  Her companion, Sister Sherwood, kept us closely informed so we knew almost minute by minute how things were going.  Sister Spain was recovering very well.  She was able to go home the next day.  We took little stuffed animals to both of them.

 At our last Zone Conference for this week we got to see Elder LeSueur and Elder Jackman.  We had gotten to know both of them when they were in Mt. Airy.  Elder LeSueur was 'seen' when we were at Gene's having a ground steak.  We just 'happened' to be there when he needed to be seen.  AND Elder Jackman had to have an emergency appendectomy!  What is with these missionaries and their appendix!!  We surely love them.....

As we finished up our Zone Conferences, we were leaving the chapel in Greensboro.  We happened to turn on the radio, which we always never do.  We were hearing about the horrible massacre in Paris, France.  I decided to change my FaceBook profile to show support for France by adding the red/white/blue.....like so many others were doing.  

And at the same time we started driving toward what we thought would be our stay for the night in Spartanburg, S.C. we got a call from a mission president in the Georgia Macon Mission.  Arrangements were being made for a missionary to be sent home on an emergency basis.  Elder/Dr. Allgaier would need to accompany him.  How long would it take for us to get back to Atlanta??  We headed straight there, cancelling our hotel in Spartanburg, S.C.  We got to see the pretty night time skyline of Atlanta as we made our way to the Atlanta Airport.  It took us 7 hours to drive back but we made it in time for the flight!

Several tender mercies of the night:  1) Since I would be home alone and have to unpack the car from our 1-week trip that we were just finishing, I was praying for a close parking space in front of our apartment.  That would be a huge help.  2)  I was praying that the Elders would show up to help me unpack the car!!  My prayers were totally answered!  As I was about 5 minutes from pulling into our apartment complex I got a phone call from the Elders.  They wanted to know where I was.  They had come by the apartment when they thought I would be home and the lights were out and there was no Maryland car in the parking lot.  Was I okay?  I told them I was 5 minutes away.  They said they would meet me here.  When I pulled in and saw a parking space right in front our of apartment, I knew the Lord had heard my prayers and answered BOTH of my concerns.  The Elders were standing outside waiting for me.  They completely unloaded the car for me.  Tender mercies!  A.B.S.O.L.U.T.E.L.Y!!!  Prayers are heard and answered.  This is a foto of the hotel room that Wayne had for a few hours in Salt Lake after he arrived and made sure the Elder was safely in the care of his parents.

It was so good to pick him up some 18 hours later.

You may remember Jack and J.T.  New converts.  Father and son.  Well, today was very special for them.  They passed the Sacrament for the first time.  We bought Jack a new tie.  Jack has been having some eye problems, hence his wearing a patch over his eye.

 Even with the chilly temperatures, it was fun to see this little family driving their golf cart to and from church today.  Don't worry.....they had blankets to wrap over their laps to keep them warm.

And, that, folks, wraps up yet another week.  We head out tomorrow for the Tennessee Knoxville Mission where we will be for the next 8 days.  We get back to Peachtree City 2 days before Thanksgiving.  Y'all have a great week.  Can't wait to see the adventures for this week!!  :-)