Fall in Alabama

Dear Family,

Fall has come to Camden.  (Well, all of Alabama)  The days are warm and sunny, not too much humidity and the nights are very cool.  The humidity at night makes a huge difference.  The temperature does read so cold, but skin and bones really feel it.

We heard an interesting fact about our County....Wilcox County.  The whole county has 5 stop lights and Camden has 4 of them.  2 of them are on our 4 block main street (its called Broad Street) Bet there’s not many counties in Utah that can “brag” on that fact.  Grandpa and I joke that if you have 4 cars lined up at a stop light or stop sign, we have a traffic jam.  Most of the time there are only a few cars on even the main roads. Most of the people work at the paper mill, so they work a variety of shifts, so its not like everyone is going to work at 6 or 7. 

I mentioned a short time ago that Edward brought us a couple of bags of peanuts....harvested right from his garden.  So I looked on the internet as to what to do with them and decided to try boiling them in very salty water and then baking them for 1 hour and then just letting them “dry out”.  Well first of all it was a big job just getting them washed, then I did the boiling and the baking and then they have been drying.  I know that walnuts and pecans have to dry out before they are tasty to us.  Otherwise they are soft and chewy.  Ours have finally reached a point where they taste like peanuts you buy at the store.  I told dad I would not complain about paying $1.99 per pound at the store again.  It was a lot of work for 2 big bowls of peanuts.  But another memorable experience here in the South.  I keep asking people for their recipes for dishes that we have really liked and almost always there is an ingredient that I will never find at home.  Today’s new item:  Shoe Peg Corn. Debbie Tait made a dish called “Redneck Caviar”  She said it is a real popular item for tailgate parties.  After church today, we had a “Going Home” party for Sister Ray as she completes her mission on Wednesday.  It was suppose to be just a “snack”, but it filled two tables with 3 delicious dips, chips, 4 different kinds of sandwiches, veggies and desserts.  The children have really loved having the Young Sisters and it is hard for them to say good-bye.  Sister Ray is from Sierra Vista, Arizona.  (Janet and Wayne were stationed there for awhile). 

Saturday we went to our first Black Funeral.  Our dear friends and members of our branch, Roy and Betty Westry, it was his sister who passed away.  We weren’t sure what it would be like and it turned out to be pretty much what we expected.  They are VERY VOCAL from the start to the finish and it gets louder and louder as the service progresses.  The Minister really keep them stirred up and involved.  Roy had said to us right after her passing that he was so glad to have the gospel as he knows where she is and what needs to be done for her. It brought him such comfort to know the Plan of Salvation.   I guess you have all seen our Face book picture of our being “Show and Tell” for the Pre-K class with our dear little friend Miley Vick.  When she introduced us she said, “These are the Hepworths”,  They are Missionaries for my church”, They have come to tell people about Jesus”.  The teachers and the children were so excited to hear all about us, our family and how we came to be in Alabama.  They loved the story about Joseph, the little boy living in our home with “The Green Alligator”.  Alligator’s are big in Alabama. 

This turned out to be a long letter, when I thought I didn’t have much to say.   WE love each of you and are so thankful for the little texts, notes, letters and pictures.  Thank you for just being YOU!  Love Grandma and Grandpa