Another Chapin Baptism!

The Elders' investigator, Tim, will be getting baptized next Saturday.  I am so impressed with this man.  He has been to church at the branch 4 times now, and I can see a difference in his countenance every time he comes.  He missed a couple of weeks because he was on vacation in FL, but he went to church both Sundays he was down there.  When he got back, he called the Elders and said, "I'm ready to get baptized!  What do we have to do to make this happen?"  They ended up teaching him 3-4 nights in a row this past week to get all the lessons in, and he is ready to go.  We will NOT miss that baptism!  He kind of bore us his testimony in Sunday School class today, telling us how the gospel has totally changed his outlook on life.  It is very apparent!  He will be a strong member, and his wife, I don't think, will be far behind him.  They have a son too, but I'm not sure how old he is - maybe not eight yet, so he'll have to wait a while...but then, his Dad will be able to baptize him!  I expect that Tim will also be baptizing his wife.  :o)

Last Supper with Sister Barlow's Crew

Sister Derrick will be going home in three weeks.  Today was the last time we'll have her here for supper with us.  She is a darling missionary.  We will miss her!  So glad we got to know her a little better before she leaves.

Sister Derrick with Jack and me

 The Barlow Sisters - Sister Bowman, Sister Daniels, Sister Derrick and Sister Clark

Sister Derrick and Sister Clark (the hip popper and chin dropper)  :o)

Guided by the Spirit Again

This afternoon I had an hour to "kill" before I had to prepare the finishing parts of supper for the Sisters.  I came into the computer, of course, and started to log into FaceBook.  I was prompted to go to Referrals first and see if there were any new names of people who needed to be assigned to missionary areas.  I pulled up referrals and, as always, it went to the first page.  No referrals.  I just knew that there was something there for me, or I wouldn't have felt such a strong prompting to check referrals, so I went to the second page.  Sure enough!  There were two names of people who had requested missionary visits clear back on August 6th.  I have no idea why they took so long to show up in referrals!  One was a woman in Conway and the other was a soldier from Camp LeJeune in the Myrtle Beach area.   I assigned them and sent the cell phone texts out to the missionaries.  I know that the Spirit guided me today.  Every soul is important to Heavenly Father.  He wants us all to return to Him.  :o)

Sister Barlow's Farewell Dinner with the Office Staff

It has been a great year with Sister Barlow.  What a blessing she has been to us in the office!  She has helped me so much with the Harvester.  I kind of toss things together and take it in to her and together we work and giggle and work some more to get it "perfected" and ready to go out to the missionaries.  We have had such a great time working together that I'm sure the others in the office a skeptical, wondering if we really ARE working together!  :o)  We will miss Sister Barlow!

Dinner at Bone Fish Grill
l-r Me, Sister Munson, Sister Barton, Sister Barlow, Elder Larsen, Sister Larsen and Jack

Feeding the Greenville Spanish Elders

Elder Parker and Elder Whitchurch stopped at the office for some media after a doctor appointment.  It just happened to be lunchtime, so...

We went to Zaxby's!

Frogmore Stew

I found out after arriving in South Carolina that Frogmore Stew, aka Low Country Boil or Shrimp Boil, originated here.  There is actually a town called Frogmore, SC.  We decided we should serve it to the missionaries, so that's what we did last Sunday for supper...

Sister Roundy and Sister Clemons joined us Sunday, August 17th for Frogmore Stew.

West Columbia Sisters' Miracle

Sister Hart and Sister Johnson had been working with a couple who could not be baptized because they were not living the Law of Chasity.  They wanted to get married, but could not because the woman’s previous husband refused to sign divorce papers.  The Sisters decided the family needed some help. They sent a prayer request out to the mission, and then they fasted and prayed that the woman’s ex-husband’s heart would be softened and he would sign the papers.  The two Sisters had been thinking a lot about this woman and her family.  They knew that it would be good for her to move out of the place where she and her three children lived because it was a bad environment.  They also felt that the ward members needed to fellowship them more.  They fasted and prayed for all those things.  Their fast was on a Sunday.  That evening, just after they broke their fast, the woman’s ex sent her an email.  He told her that he would not only sign the divorce papers, but that he would also sign custody of the children over to her and her fiancé.  The sisters were unaware of the email until they visited with the family the next day.  When they arrived at their home,  they found out about the email, and they also found out that the landlord had evicted the woman and her children that morning.  They had to move out that afternoon.  Ward members were rallying around them.  They got a hotel for them to stay in until they could find another apartment, they brought meals to the family and they have been trying to find her fiancé a job.