Help with the Mail!

President Holm took the opportunity to interview all his missionaries as he traveled around the state with the No More Strangers Firesides.  Thursday he was at the office with the Elders and Sisters who are in our area. Whenever missionaries are in the office, they are always anxious to be of help.  I was behind in labeling, so a couple of Elders volunteered their services.  :o)

Elder Hutchinson and Elder Speck helped me label cards and letters.
 Elder Speck is one of the Chapin Branch Elders.

Elder Arrington - Cotton Picker

Monday, the Fentons had to drive up north of here and set up an apartment.  When they got back, Sister Fenton was raving about the beautiful cotton fields they saw.  When we told her that we had never seen a cotton field, she decided that we needed a little field trip.  We closed the office at 4:30 and two car-loads of us drove  over to Congaree - a different, but closer area that had cotton fields.

The fields we saw had recently frozen, and had turned brown, but when we drove up to one, it was being harvested - so we parked and walked out to watch.  Two huge combines were combing the field in strips - picking cotton and hauling it back to a huge baler.  Once the cotton bolls were dumped into the baler, a couple of tampers went over the top of it - pressing it down and compacting it.  Then the combine dumped more on top and the process was repeated till the combine was empty.  Then it would take a few more swipes through the field.

Jack got curious, and walked right out to talk to one of the drivers, who had gotten down out of his machine. When the drive climbed back in, he invited Jack to go out into the fields with him - and of course, he accepted the invitation!

Elder Arrington aboard the cotton combine!  Lovin' every minute of it!

Photo of a beautiful little cotton boll that Sister Fenton brought back to the office

No More Strangers Fireside (Ephesians 2:19)

Several times a year the mission holds firesides at 6 different Stake Centers in the State.  We got to attend the one at the West Columbia Stake Center last Saturday night.  The fireside only lasted an hour.  The chapel was packed with missionaries, investigators, members, and recent converts.

Four recent converts spoke.  I didn't take notes, but these are some of the things that I can remember.  Laura was in a wheelchair.  She was baptized in September after attending a Book of Mormon class that the Irmo Ward  member held in her apartment every Friday night.  Laura had a friend who was going to the class, and Laura felt, one week, that she needed to go with her friend.  She is so happy with how the gospel has changed and enhanced her life.

A young, Latino man spoke next.  He was grateful to the missionaries and others who fellow-shipped him and taught him about the church.

A middle aged woman also spoke.  She said her daughter had been a member for 30 years, but it was her granddaughter who actually invited her to go to church.  She's been going ever since and was recently baptized.

I can't recall the other convert who spoke, but I'll add it when I do.

A young man played a violin solo that was amazing!  I think he is a music major at the university.

Fast and Testimony Meeting - Chapin Branch

I think we have been assigned, by President Holm, to a unit that is much like the North Ogden 7th Ward we left in Utah.  I say unit - because it isn't a ward - it's a branch - the Chapin Branch.  A branch is a much smaller unit or congregation.  It is a ward in embryo.  The Chapin Branch is special.  People love and care about one another.  In Fast and Testimony Meeting Sunday, it was evident that there is a great deal of caring and serving that goes on in the Branch - and we are thankful to be a part of it.

The first sister who spoke, was the compassionate service leader in the branch.  She stood at the pulpit for a few minutes, then she said, "Brothers and Sisters...I'm just HAPPY to be here!"  She had just come back to church after having had a knee replacement.  (I feel her pain!)  She said that because of her position as compassionate service leader, she got to make her own dinner assignments, and she picked the best cooks in the branch.  That comment made everyone laugh.  :o)  She's a sweetheart, and I can't wait to get to know her better.

Another woman, who had to be assisted to the pulpit because she had just had foot surgery and was wearing a walking boot, bore her testimony about missionary work.  She said she works at Dillard's, and one day a woman came in, who was obviously struggling.  She soon realized that the woman was there to buy a dress to wear to her husband's funeral.  She broke down and told her story.  Her husband's death was unexpected and very devastating to her!  The sister from the branch told her, "I just feel like I need to give you a hug." And she did.  She also gave her a pass-along card.  She said it was the only one she had left in her purse, and it just happened to read, "Families Are Forever."  On the back of the card was an offer for a free DVD. A few weeks later, the lady came back to Dillard's and found the Branch sister (I wish I knew everyone's name!).  She called to her and said that she watched the DVD and she loved it...AND she had ordered 3 more copies to give to her children.  We don't know the rest of the story yet, because the Branch sister has been off work since her surgery.  Hopefully, there will be more.  :o)

Several others also bore their testimonies, but I didn't take notes on all of them.  President Bruno was last to speak.  He said it makes him feel so good that there is such a feeling of unity in the Branch - that the members all lift and serve one another.  He has a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and loves the people of the branch.

I love being in the Chapin Branch.  It reminds me of home.

Dear Office...

Missionaries often stick little notes in with mail they send to the office when they are requesting media or paying for name tags.  Here's a cute one I got Friday...

Sunday Dinner

We had Elders Brimhall and Loos over for dinner tonight - along with Sister Barlow.  Jack thought it would be fun for her, for a change, to come eat with the Elders instead of the Sisters she lives with.  It was nice having her here.

During dinner conversation, Elder Loos was telling us that he and his brother want to go into business together when they're out of school - his brother as a dentist and he as an orthodontist.  Their placard will read "LOOS TEETH."  :o)

After dinner, the Elders shared a message with us... How we can help our non-member friends and family fight off the fiery darts of the adversary.  :o)

Lesson, complete with visual aids, including fiery darts.  :o)
Love these two great missionaries!

Old Mother Hubbard

That's how I was beginning to feel!  The shelves in the media room were getting pretty bare!  We needed more of several kinds of pamphlets and pass-along cards - the ones that are mainstays of the missionaries! Jack is the one who'll be doing the ordering.  He, because he's ordering supplies, is designated as Mission Secretary, as well as Financial Secretary.  I made a list of the things we needed and he put in the order.  I was feeling very on-top-of-things after he sent it in (all supplies are ordered on-line).  The first of last week, FED-EX brought in a load of supplies, so I went into the back room to open boxes and replenish our shelves.  The first three boxes were missionary daily planners.  Then there was only one box left.  I thought maybe all the media supplies hadn't come in this FED-EX shipment.  Alas, they had.  Unfortunately, they were all in that one box!  Where we thought we had ordered 3 boxes of an item - Salt Lake Temple pass-along cards, for example - we were sent THREE pass-along cards!  We got THREE Joseph Smith's Testimony pamphlets, THREE Restoration pamphlets, TWO Finding Faith in Christ pass-along cards...it was like a stab in the heart!  I was wigging out! Clearly, it was a case of Jack's not being trained properly...and that happened, pretty much because there was nobody there to train him!  The person who had previously ordered supplies had returned home even before we got to the mission. I felt bad for Jack, because he had no idea!   But he knows now!  That afternoon, he called Salt Lake and put a rush on a new order.  It arrived in 4 days.  So now, we're good to go. As I was putting things on the shelves, I really felt like Mother Hubbard - after a grocery shopping spree.  :o)