A couple that we are trying to continue teaching has been unavailable for some time. His business is keeping them so busy that we haven't been able to meet with them. Lynn has been writing epistles instead. He teaches a good lesson via the letter then does another one the next week. We hope to see them before long.
We enjoy preparing food and serving it for the Soup Kitchen every several weeks. We meet many people who need a good meal and a good visit with someone friendly. This is also our experience working at the local Food Pantry. It makes us appreciate our own blessings, but it also softens our hearts for those who are down on their luck or are even suffering from their own poor choices. We feel ever more how much we are all part of Father's family. We know He loves all of us and wants us to come home to Him.
Our one FHE group is gradually growing, and the others are soon due to start. We love all these people! We so want to see their lives succeed!
The Addiction Recovery Program is now underway. One person has started coming. We have ordered business-type cards with the info of the meetings so we can hand them out and post them. Smoking is the biggest problem we see here. Chewing and drinking are also big. Of course, there are other behaviors or emotional problems that plague people. We hope some will take advantage of the help the program can provide.
After District Meeting on Thursday we took the group to a nearby pizza buffet for lunch. The Zone Leaders were there as well, so we needed a place that could feed them A LOT for little. :) It was a great deal, and the elders were all so happy! This time we met in Blairsville, GA.
One struggling family asked us to visit them the other day. They actually had been on our minds and plan to visit. As a result, we arranged a meeting with them and the Branch President, and they came to Church. We think (and hope) they will come more often now. Their family needs the gospel, as we all do. We find it interesting here that even when families are rather poor or have terrible living conditions, they are still loving and quite close. The parents might have bad habits, but their kids are always great. They love their parents and the parents love them. It's great to see.
We visited one man who recently moved here. He lives in a RV trailer out in the sticks on the edge of the woods and a hayfield. We drive down a grassy lane through a cornfield, cross a creek (no bridge, so wade or risk the car), drive through the hayfield and find his
unique dwelling place. He has no running water (uses the creek and a rain barrel), no internet (a tv with VCR and tapes), barely any cell reception, not sure what he does for power, just him and two big dogs in the wilderness. What a guy! He is an active member, and he even invited the elders out to his place for dinner. Guess we'll drop them off at the cornfield and pick them up later. They're excited!
Saturday we made our first trip to Asheville. Laurel attended the stake women's conference, and Lynn prepared his Sunday School lesson. The conference was wonderful with speakers, music, and an original reader's theater. Later we were able to get some vital shopping done at the huge mall. Thank goodness! Murphy only has a Wal-Mart and a Burke's (like a mini Ross). (It took me less than hour to exhaust those resources!) We at last own a decent cheese slicer!
Today, Sunday, Lynn returned to Asheville for Priesthood Meeting. He has been Churching it since 8:30 a.m., returned about 9:45 p.m. This is the first time we have been apart for more than an hour since we started our mission. It was strange! We are so used to being together, and we like it!
We pray for all of you and thank you for your love and prayers. We and all the missionaries really need them! Love all ya'll!!
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| New Murphy Elders - Crestani and Bacon |
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| Post District Meeting Pizza Lunch |
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| Asheville Stake Women's Conference Reader's Theater |
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| Tree in our front yard - don't know the variety, but it's pretty! |
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