For the past two Relief Society activity nights our Branch sisters have been sewing and tying lap quilts. We have made 32 to be donated to a local rehabilitation home. Laurel also had the pleasure of making a special one for Rachel, the young sister who was hospitalized
for so long. The sisters wrote messages to her on the back. It was a great project.
In October one of the Family Home Afternoon groups took a little trip to Brother Ken Miller's guitar building shop. He also builds mandolins, violins, and ukuleles. It was very interesting and a good fellowshipping opportunity with his nonmember wife. She is so nice and gracious. They performed together for us, as well.
We enjoyed a beautiful leaf ride with our friends, Tom and Emma Flinn, to what is called Dry Falls. As the picture shows below, it is anything but! The trail to the falls winds down the hillside and behind the falls. It is a beautiful spot! We had a great day out with these friends, who are also nonmembers, but who somehow want to hang with us. We have come to know them pretty well working together at the Food Pantry and on the House Raising Volunteers committee.
Lynn was asked to name and bless the new baby of a less-active family. It was a good omen that they desired this, even though they don't attend church or live its principles. We were happy that they recognized that every child deserves the blessings of God.
Since our area did not receive the movie, "Meet the Mormons", we were allowed to view it in Zone Meeting through our President. It was wonderful! We hope you have had the chance to see it, too. If not, watch for it to appear online or on DVD before long. It warmed our hearts.
Laurel has at least two new projects to dive into when we get home. She will be making a chair with a seat woven from men's ties and a tie skirt. She has been haunting thrift shops for ties in the shades she wants. It can be tough to find ties here, because nearly all men dress casually to xxxcasual.
We had fun on Halloween hanging out with all the missionaries of our District at Chelsie's apartment and then at our house. (More about Chelsie in a minute.) She lives right downtown in an upstairs apartment with her front door on the main sidewalk. Trick-or-
treaters flooded the area going from store to store for treats. One of us would sit at Chelsie's open door and hand out candy. They emptied a big storage tub!! We thought that was a lot of candy until we spoke with the mayor's wife. They live on Duke Street where
THOUSANDS of kids go to trick-or-treat. So many go there that the police block off the street for the night!
Asheville Stake Conference was held Nov. 1 and 2. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited and spoke, along with Elder Randy Bluth of the Seventy. It
was so uplifting and restorative! They stood for over an hour afterwards to greet every single person that wanted to shake their hands or get a hug. Our recent converts were
thrilled!
Lynn is not quite released from the cardiologist's care, but rather must check in with one in Utah. He is doing well, however, so we expect everything to be fine.
Rachel spent 10 weeks in the hospital, near death several times. With three priesthood blessings, countless prayers, and endless faith, she was finally released and able to come home. Her recovery is taking time, but she is a walking miracle. We now are finally teaching her the review lessons required after baptism. We are grateful the Lord spared her life and gave her another chance to change her life. We love her!
Charlie has pretty much quit taking the lessons. He likes to listen and learn, but he doesn't have any desire to change. The Lord requires a change of heart if we are to truly come unto Him. We hope at some point he will gain the desire to really listen and accept the gospel.
We have begun to re-teach Carolyn Crawford, Terry's wife. He built the flower stand for the chapel awhile ago. She apparently was taught some by a previous couple, but didn't choose to accept it. She is a sweet person and loves her husband. We hope to make progress this time. He would be active if she would come to Church with him, and he would like to have an eternal marriage. Here's hoping.
Lynn was asked to speak to the Blind Association again this year prior to Thanksgiving. He
did a wonderful job, then we sang a few songs for them with the ukulele. They loved it!
They even requested a couple of songs that he sang last year!
Laurel went down for several days with back trouble after serving in the Food Pantry. It has taken quite awhile to get back to normal, but she is nearly there. It sure makes us grateful for good health when we have a sick or pain bout.
We have enjoyed monthly trips to the Atlanta Temple with the Branch. We hope to get one more in December before we leave. It is a treasured time.
November 23 our Branch had a full-blown Thanksgiving dinner after Church. Everyone helped with food and cleanup. Fellowship was at its best, many came who hadn't been in a very long time. It was terrific!
Monday, November 24, we had a rare Branch Family Home Evening in the form of a baptism. Chelsie Ann Renae McRae was baptized by Elder Nathan Bean after investigating for over a year. She says she was "Bean-dipped!" It was a rocking' event!! "Power in the Blood" (Pentecostal style) was the opening song--can't call it a hymn. Oh boy!! Most different baptism any of us have ever attended! However, the spirit throughout the service was powerful. Chelsie is an exceptional woman of 25 with two degrees. She is a marketing specialist. She will help bring younger blood into the Branch. We are so grateful for her testimony and faith.
The Elders, Lynn, and Brother Moore spent all day on Tuesday building a shelter for Buzz'
pet Emu, Carl. It (no one knows what gender it is) was getting rather cold with temps down to 15F. Hopefully, now it will be okay. The next day they finished building a ramp for Marlene Bryan. Service, service, service! Good for the soul!
The Flinns invited us and the Elders to Thanksgiving dinner. They are very gracious and considerate of our health code. We enjoyed a lovely meal followed by a walk along the river. Their home is right on the river's edge--Paradise Lane, aptly named. They called us the next day to come help eat the turkey soup. Yummy!
We are preparing for the Branch Christmas party on Dec. 13. Lynn is the chairman. He has written a lovely script of scripture, songs, pictures, and actors for the Nativity. It will begin with a big dinner, then the Nativity, ending with a Nativity display in one room, Mr. Kruger's Christmas showing in another room, and Santa in yet another room. Laurel is in charge of decorating and the extra room events.
With everything we still need to accomplish and the events that occur, our days are loooong
and yet FLYYYYY by! It seems like only a week until we leave this beautiful place and our beloved friends. We can hardly stand it! We do look forward to reuniting with our family and friends at home, though. Wish we could just zap back and forth at will.
"HE IS THE GIFT" on christmas.mormon.org is a beautiful new short video. Please share the website with your friends and enjoy exploring it yourself. Happy Christmas season!!
Love, love, love,
Elder & Sister Ogden
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| Ken & Virginia Miller |
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| Dry Falls |
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| Three Elders squished in the back seat |
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| Toasty Elders toasting marshmallows |
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| Glorious autumn glow |
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| Elders Shumway & Bean, Chelsie McRae, Elder Milstead, Aaron (Chelsie's friend), Elder Hunt |
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| Coooold Thanksgiving morning on the river walk |
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| Tom & Emma Flinn, good friends |
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| Murphy District - behaving for just a moment |
