The Iron Rod Activity

Sorry this is late, but we had a very busy day yesterday.  With the Sister Missionaries living with us and they not having received many miles for this month, we took them to see the residences of all the less active families who live way out in the country.  The Loop took us about 50 miles.  We stopped and visited with two families and the others were not at home.  It is working out very well having them live with us, but I am sure that they are excited to get into their own place and settle into their missionary schedule.  The young missionaries have a much tighter schedule for their time and the Senior ....well we just have a few rules.  Of course I am “mothering” ....that’s what the Mission President said I was to do while they were here with us, so I have been doing my part.  We hear them as they sing their opening songs, say their prayers, and do their companion study.  They really are dedicated to Serving the Lord.  It makes us so proud of Shayla, Cody and Derek, for we now see how hard they worked to serve faithfully. 

Thanks for the music ideas you sent.  I ordered a cd from DB. We had our “Precious Above All” Activity last Saturday night.  Kay Dunnam, our Relief Society Counselor was the chairman and I tell you, she is really organized and thinks of everything to make her idea come to reality.  First, we covered all the windows and doors in the church, so that the inside of the building was almost totally dark.  Kay, Dad and I and the Sisters built the Iron Rod out of PVC pipe. It started at the front door and wound down the hall to the Primary Room. In that room, we had the Great and Spacious Building, which Kay’s grandchildren had painted... it even had the people starring out the windows.  Margaret presented the Dream and the interpretation for Our day.  Then they took hold of the Rod again and wound out into the hall and down to the Priesthood room, past the dirty river and then down to the Chapel where the only light was the Tree of Life.  Kay had cut down a tree, removed all the leaves and painted it white, then wrapped it in clear Christmas lights.  At each place setting we placed a shiny green apple with leaves that said “Precious Above All.  Dad gave the talk  at the tree, going over the importance of the Iron Rod being the Word of God and how we must hold Tight to the Rod.   We finished the evening with a Spaghetti Dinner and all kinds of fresh fruit for dessert.  We had set us for 32 adults and 8 children and we only had two children’s chairs vacant.  It was a wonderful success.   

We had a food 4^th of July, but it was nothing like at home.  The Sister were to do their regular Missionary day and they did.  We cooked hamburgers on our George Forman grill at 6:00.  Had a 4^th of July dinner, Burgers, P. Salad, Baked Beans, and watermelon for dessert. One of the members from the Magnolia Branch, Brother Stockman, came over to spend the afternoon and evening with us.  His wife is in the hospital and he is having a hard time of it.  He told us, he wanted to do something, so he thought,  “I’ll go over and see the Camden Missionaries.”  (Magnolia is 35 miles from us.)  So that’s what he did.  The five of us had a very pleasant evening.    The Sisters wanted to go to the “fireworks” so we took them over to the Alabama River to Miller’s Ferry.  They did have a show, but it only lasted about 10 minutes .....the finale was good.  There probably wasn’t 75 people there to watch, although they may have been watching from boats and other properties along the river.  

We thought of all the things that our family does to Celebrate the Birth of our Country and were so glad for the traditions that our parents have left for us.

The longer we are here, the more we see the importance of our family and the love and support we give and receive from each other.  Stay close, love each other and make wise choices.  We love each of you and pray for you at least twice a day.  Love, grandma and grandpa