Have a "Blessed Day"

Dear Family,

The weather here in Camden Alabama is so changeable....one minute the sun is shining and the temperature is very mild and the next day it is grey and cold. The fact that there is so much humidity here, make the warm warmer and the cold colder.  AND we are older and the cold is harder to take.  On our PDay, we bought grandpa a warmer coat and I got a couple of sweaters.  We are saving them to “open” on Christmas.  It is hard to be away at Christmas. But it sure helps to have fond warm memoires of times together and that the family is keeping on with the traditions. 

We were invited out to dinner last night by one of the families here in our branch.  It is a very old home built in 1820, that the original owners daughter has turned into a restaurant.  It was decorated so beautifully last night.  Everything in in Red, White and green.  Old fashioned Christmas trees, garland, twinkling lights and antiques Christmas dishes, platters and bowls.  It was like walking back into the past.   The food was delicious.   A real Christmas Party!  For dessert we had BLACK BOTTOM PIE.  This restaurant’s pie is listed in the Book: 100 Best Places to Eat in Alabama.  It was so light and fluffy, its amazing it stayed on the plate. 

We had our District meeting in Selma on Friday.  We have such great young elders in our district.  It makes me think of Derek, Cody and Shayla.   They were well prepared with their seminary studies and the Mastery Scriptures.  Each meeting we play some come of game like scripture chase or something. This week our District Leader handed us a sheet with 10 partial scriptures and we were to find the exact scripture reference.  I did horrible on the day we did the scripture chase, but this time I did pretty good.  I got two and guess right on three others.  It is interesting that I know the scripture when he reads it or lists it, but I don’t know exactly where it is.  I try to study these during my study time, so that I will be better prepared. The work in our District is very slow. It is probably due to the Christmas Season, the amount of rain and the days being so short.  People are reluctant to have you in when it is dark.   We spent last week driving to each of the less active families homes, so that we know where they live and can find it when it is darker.  We found a couple of them home and were well received.  Another, we knew they were there, but they wouldn’t come to the door.  The two members of the Branch Presidency are that family’s home teachers, so they are going to invite us to go with them this week, so that at least we can meet them and ask if we can come back to visit and get better acquainted

  We have been attending the high school basket ball games.  We have one member on the Jr. Varsity team and three on the Varsity.  The Varsity team had a tournament this past week end.  They came in second which is really pretty good as they have the smallest of the schools that participated.  We have met several members of the community and now have friends when we walk into the gym.  The City Librarian has stopped to visit it with us twice and invited us to come down to the library.  I think she is interested in genealogy.   I wish we were better prepared on that topic, but will do the best we can.  

I didn’t know that missionary work was so difficult at times.  It has certainly changed my prayers for our missionaries and their service.  The Gospel gives us so much help in our daily lives and once you start living it on a regular basis it is very easy...almost like breathing....it is so natural.  I wish each member could feel that guidance and that peace in their lives. . .

WE love you and pray for you in all of our prayers.  Our Mission President says we should “Pray Out”....meaning we can’t pray enough.   Have a “Blessed Day”.   (They say that a lot in the South, even as you leave the drive thru.) We love EACH of you, Grandpa and Grandma