Happy Birthday

So Sorry this letter is late.  But I had such a great Birthday, that I just didn’t get it done. 

On my birthday morning, the Sister Missionaries came over and fixed breakfast for me.  Delicious Chocolate chip Pancakes....Sister Olson’s family recipe.  Followed by lots of phone calls and people stopping by.  We were supposed to have a Branch Party...A SOUPer Supper....but it was cancelled due to the very very cold temperatures on Friday night.  One couple was so disappointed that they planned a Weenie Roast.  Saturday night was not as cold and Scot built a beautiful fire.  It was treated wood, so he didn’t let us roast on the fire, but we ate our stove cooked hot dogs sitting out by the fire.  We even had s’mores with marshmallows cooked over the electric burner on the stove.  We even tried to sing a few camp songs.  It was a fun time.

Sunday, we had the primary program.  I had practiced every day for two weeks to play the songs.  (Primary songs are hard...the notes jump around so much)  The program went so well.  Their favorite song was a new one called “A Never Ending Chain”.   Margaret, the Primary President, teacher and chorister asked me to come to the primary room about 11:15 for the treats she had brought to celebrate the completion of the program.  I went in and before I knew what was happening, the whole Branch came in the other door and yelled SURPRISE! It was a surprise party for me.  The kids were so excited, they had each made me a card and they gave me a jewel piece that hangs on a chain or bracelet and it has a BLUE jewel....Blue for Wilcox Academy where they all go to school.  Of course there was the song and a birthday cake. 

We had a guest over for dinner, Brenda Martin from Magnolia.  She is Second Counselor in the Stake Relief Society Presidency and is a good friend.  The day we moved into our little house here, the Elders from Magnolia came to help us move in.  The Elders brought with them some homemade rolls that she had made for us.  They are the Best Rolls.  I sent her a thank you and asked for the recipe and we have been good friends ever since. Magnolia is about 35 miles away from here, so when I knew she was coming to visit our Branch on Sunday I invited her for dinner.  She stayed and visited for awhile.  When you live in these small towns and Branches, it is so good to just sit and have someone new to talk with.  That night, our dear friends, Margaret and Jarrett invited the four of us for dinner.  (4= Senior and Sister Missionaries).   It was a most memorable Birthday.

Thank you to each of your for your calls, your texts, your face book messages and the wonderful cards.  I am so blessed to have each of you wonderful people in my life.  We love you!  Love Grandma and Grandpa

Man Hunt

We were able to go the Birmingham Temple yesterday with our dear friend Kay for her First Temple Blessings. It was beautiful day weather wise and a beautiful day spiritually.  This has been her goal and our goal almost since we arrived and it was a great blessing for her and for us.  Those special feelings just can’t be expressed in words, just know that it was one of the greatest blessing of our mission. 

I said in a previous letter, that the leaves were not as colorful as at home, well, I have to take that back.  In the past few days, we have seen greater color in reds, yellows and oranges amidst the shades of green.  It is a very Beautiful and Colorful Fall here in Alabama.

On Monday, we were making our usual preparation day trip to Thomasville to the cleaners and Wal Mart on Highway 10, when we were stopped on the road by a line of several cars. There was no accident, nor was there a flagger stopping us,; nothing that seemed to cause the stopping.   We were stopped about 20 minutes, when we saw a little flicker of flashing blue lights, then just more waiting.  About 5 minutes later, we saw two men dressed in khaki brown running down the middle of the street.  Then we noticed they were chasing some little critters.  As they got closer, we could see that they were little dogs they were chasing.  As they got closer, we rolled down our windows and could hear the dogs yapping and sniffing.  We wondered what they could be chasing, drug dealers or something.  The Sister missionaries were with us and told us that one of their investigators works at the Work Release Facility and had told them that a prisoner had escaped Saturday night.  Could this be what the dogs were after?  We could now see that the dogs were Beagles and they had little antennas’ attached to their heads. One of the men in brown, picked up one of the dogs and took him to the back of a pick-up, picked up something from the bed and let the dog smell it.  The three dogs sniffed all along the side of the road.  At the first car, the dogs sniffed; then they were waved on.  They sniffed at the second car and it was waved on.  As they got to our car, all three of them were barking and sniffing, when the lead dog made an excited bark and all three took off....they had the scent.  We were waved on.  Would we ever know the rest of the story???

Tuesday, the Sisters visited with their investigator again.  She told them they did catch the prisoner about 11:30 on Monday Morning in Possum Bend.   That is exactly where we had been stopped.  We were witnesses to a “MAN HUNT”. 

It was just like on TV. 

We think this is a pretty small quiet little community and then once in a while, something pretty exciting happens. 

We thank you all for your texts, photos, calls and notes.  (And Colored Pictures!).  We are blessed to feel your love and your support.  Love Grandma and Grandpa

Where are the missionaries?

November 2, 2014 and daylight savings time has ended and boy is it dark early here in Alabama.  I never really noticed too much the difference it makes, but as a missionary, it is tough.  Most everyone is home and snuggled in when it gets dark and are not too excited to have the missionaries stop by.  It is especially difficult for our Young Sisters.  Camden, is not a metropolis...there are not hundreds of street lights and business lights to brighten the dark.  When the sun goes down, it is dark.

We are working on ideas that will help the Sisters be obedient and successful after 6 or 7:00.  If you have any ideas....send them to us.

It seems that all of the country is experiencing an early cold snap and Alabama is no different.  The high yesterday was only 46 and the low was in the low 30’s.  In away that doesn’t seem that cold, but the big change in temperature has been hard to take.  On the bright side.....it is sunny and the leaves are starting to change and it is beautiful.  We don’t have many red or orange leaves, but the yellow and so many softening shades of green tell us that fall is here.

At Testimony Meeting today, our dear friend Jimmie said he doesn’t think we know the impact we are having on this community outside the members of the church.  We were not able to go to the Wilcox Football Game on Friday night and he said everyone was asking “Where are the Missionaries?  We so love to have them with us”. It really helped us to know that even our little efforts are noticed and loved.  We went to the School Carnival yesterday and were surprised at how many of the teachers came up and talked to us since they met us on our “Show and Tell” experience.   

The best news is that our Dear Friend, Kay Dunnam is going to the Temple on Saturday for her Endowments. She joined the church in 1988 but then became inactive about 5 years later.  During those years of inactivity, she was captivated by Family History work.  She has 3 very large binders, with names, pictures, and histories of her family.  4,000 names.  She has had some of the most wonderful experiences in finding these family members and learning of her heritage. 

We are so blessed that so many of our relatives have done so much work in finding names and stories.  There is always more to be done.  We need to find Pictures and family stories.  My sisters and I have a huge project when we get home; the closet in the playroom is full of boxes of pictures and “stuff” that we need to share. You grandchildren, ask your grandparents about when they were growing up....what they did for fun...for work...school...etc.  For example, did you know that your Great Grandmother...Alice  Johnson Hepworth played softball in high school.....”in a dress”?   

For Family Home Evening, make sure that your family has all 4 generations on the Family History Site.    Well, you can see that we are teaching Family History and I wish I were better prepared.  We love each of you and are so very blessed that we know about the Plan of Salvation and that we can live together as a family forever. Love Grandma and Grandpa Hepworth  

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

Meet the Mormons

Have you been to see the movie, “Meet The Mormons”?  WE got to see it Friday at our Mission Interviews. Wow, what a great movie.  It was more than I expected it to be.  We had been told in our Zone Meetings last month, that no missionaries were to attend.  The Church did not want this to be a” proselytizing” movie or a “finding” movie.  They did not want Missionary Badges showing up with investigators or with member families, and the press than saying it was a proselyting tool.  The five families that were selected to represent our membership were great choices.  They have had many of the same life experiences and challenges that all of the world experiences.  The film is not showing anywhere near us, but our Mission President wanted us to have a chance to see it, so we got to watch it.  We even had popcorn, candy and carrots( for Healthy eaters).  Be sure to see it.

We had Stake Conference this weekend.  It was sooooo fantastic.

I wish there was a way to tell you about each of the speakers, but that always looses something in the telling. Our Area 70 is Elder Meredith is from Nashville Tennessee.  He is an absolutely fantastic speaker.  I am sure we will see and hear from him a lot in the future.   Think about this....in 1974, this area was part of the Southern States Mission.  Guess what Temple District they were in???? Mesa, Arizona, Provo Utah or the Salt Lake Temple District.  Then in 1974, they announced a Temple almost in their backyards.....the Washington D.C. Temple.   There were two people in the congregation that had received their endowments at the Mesa Temple and they lived in Montgomery Alabama.  They have the same problem here that we experienced in Oregon. They were so thrilled to have the Washington DC Temple and then they got the Atlanta Temple and now they have the Birmingham Temple and it is harder than ever to get to the temple.  We hope you will each increase your attendance at the temple....even you who do baptisms.   He wants to give you more of His blessings. 

WE are trying to get our youth to the temple this Saturday, we only have three and one of them now has the ACT tests.  I hope the other two will stay committed to attend.  We have asked the adults to give us some family names and we do have a few, so we hope we can get their work done.  Keep the Missionaries in your prayers. (including us)  We love you so much and are so glad we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ to give us direction and peace.

  Love you!!! Love Grandma and Grandpa