Ogden Mission Blog: Another day, another mile...or 10 (2nd Anniversary!)

Last Sunday we enjoyed dinner at the mountain home of the Boyds, members in our Branch. Like many other families, their home is at the end of a long gravel road on the top of a "knob", or small mountain. They have only 6 1/2 acres, nearly all of which is woods. Their water is from a natural spring. It is the type of living many of us dream of. However, they work in Atlanta during the week and spend every weekend here. That's a lot of driving!

Every few days members invite us to dinner at their home or at a restaurant. They are so kind. I expect this to diminish, however, since the young Elders are now here. That's okay, because we can cook for ourselves easier than they can.

We visited Bro. & Sis. Barmes on Tuesday. He was the first Branch President when it was formed in Murphy in 1980. Sadly, he has become inactive after having his feelings hurt. He has allowed us to visit them and discuss the gospel, even have prayer. His sweet wife is Baptist but is willing to come to church with him, if he will only come. We pray that he will have a change of heart and rejoin the Saints here.

Wednesday we experienced our first transfer day in the mission. We had to rise at 4:15 a.m. to get ready in time to leave by 5:30. The Cherokee sisters were with us overnight so that they could ride with us to Knoxville, thus the single bathroom was busy! The meeting was thrilling! We all stood and sang "Called to Serve" as the "goldens" (new missionaries) marched into the chapel. We heard their testimonies and those of the departing missionaries. (sniff, sniff) Then President Irion announced all the transfers, new companionships, new district and zone leaders, and the new Elders we would take back with us to Murphy! We now have young Elders and us oldies in Murphy! Elder Crestani is from Sandy, Utah, and Elder Bacon is from Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is wonderful!
We focus on the less actives and they focus on investigators. We work closely together, planning together every Friday morning. Lynn is the Branch Mission Leader, so this works out well. One of the new Elders in our district and one of the departing Elders are from Aurora, Utah near Richfield. That made Lynn happy.

The chaos of all those transferring missionaries sorting out their luggage, bikes, finding their new companions, their rides, saying good-byes, etc. was something to behold! Our new Elders are on bikes, but the roads are pretty dangerous, so we now have a hitch and bike rack on the back of our Avalon. :} We are to transport them when needed to other locations they can bike around. Right now they are working Murphy pretty well.

After our District Meeting on Thursday, we fed all the Elders a build-your-own hogie bar. Those boys can certainly eat! I think we'll need to increase our food allowance now that these Elders are with us a lot. :)

Later we visited a shut-in couple, the Kodras, and held a mini Sacrament Meeting with them. We sang a hymn, had prayer and a brief message about the sacrament, then Lynn and Bro. Kodra blessed and passed the sacrament. We were all so moved by the strong spirit that was present that we were all in tears. It was a very special experience. We were allowed to do the same for another shut-in, Sister May, on Friday. Her non-member son-in-law even joined us. He is not interested in the Church, but he serves members that are in need frequently. There are many really good people all around.

To top off the day, we had a beginning lesson with an investigator and the Elders. He is a 17-year-old boy, the boyfriend of the one young woman in our Branch. He is a fine young man and reminds us of the quality of friends our granddaughters have. He has been raised Pentacostal but is so impressed by his girlfriend that he decided to investigate. We pray for him to realize the truth of what he is being taught.

One of the stalwart families in the Branch is moving to Charlotte, so we have spent some time this week helping pack and load them. They will be sorely missed here. Even though we were dirty and sweaty, it was a good experience helping and then meeting less-active and non-member people who were there.

Our sadness is that there are so many people who don't see what they are missing and what they could have. Sometimes they make appointments with us, then be sure to be gone when we come. However, we keep trying and praying for them. They aren't hard to love, even in tough circumstances.

We love our mission, we love our Branch, we love our friends and family at home and miss you! Thanks for your enduring support and love!