THE KILLING

Well, Elder Bayles never seems to amaze me.  All of our lessons are where the church is, a twenty minute drive.  Thanks goodness we have a key because there are no stores, gas stations, or rest areas for miles.  I often have to stop between lessons (shocker) to visit my favorite room.  Well, coming out of the rest room Elder Bayles whispers, "Stop".  I did and he whopped a mouse with a broom.  What a protector he is.  My knight in shining armor.

We love the countryside here.  This spring has been a burst of green everywhere.  The hills are full of color.  I have grown to love the dogwood tree but don't have a picture.  I waited too long.  There are white ones and pink ones.  They're tiny and full of blooms.  I'll get a picture next year.  The azalias are vibrant in red, white and pink.  This place is alive with color.

Tuesday we had breakfast with a great couple in the ward.(The Terrels)  She fixed ham, bacon, sausage, grits, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, biscuits and gravy, tomatoes, pound cake, apple sauce a big glass of milk and a big glass of orange juice.  We rolled home.  Boy was it good.

Elder Wilcok, Carilli, Clawson, Cutler

Wednesday was district meetun again.  Boy do we love these elders.  They are so dedicated to the work.  There is going to be a transfer Wednesday and I'm sure it will be Elder Cutler.  We always take the elders out for lunch of the day before transfers.  They're wonderful.  We eat at O'Rileys.  Best lunch ever.
Great news.  Carolyn is going to be baptized Sunday.  Yahoo!
We have a new couple we are teaching.  He's the one who was bitten by 2 copperheads.  They are reading the Book of Mormon and like the concepts we teach.  We need your prayers in their behalf.
We had a miracle this week.  Warren, who never is without a cigarette, finishes one and lights another.  He has smoked all his life. He is probably 64.  His wife is a member and they have reared their grandchildren.  He told us last week that he wants to join the church.  Every missionary since forever has tried to teach him.  He wants us to give him the lessons and we start tomorrow.  He will need lots of help to quit smoking.  We need your prayers again.
The 6th was Granny and Granddad's wedding anniversary.  I still miss them.  What great examples of how to live the Gospel.

We had 45 minutes between lessons so we went for a ride.  We ended up at Farmers' Lake.   We didn't even know it was there.  It is so beautiful.  It may become a refuse for us.

I did laundry.  I didn't realize that a burgandy wash rag was left in the washer from the last wash.  I now have pink garments and dad has pink shirts.  He says they're not that pink.  We'll see.  I soaked them in bleach but they're still pink.  Hopefully time will make the pink whiter.
I spoke in church Easter Sunday.  There wasn't an empty chair.  I was very nervous but it went well.  Kristin, Tiff and Clark Skyped us over the Easter weekend.  Even though we miss them we are so happy here.

Wed. May 3rd. 1905  We rose in good time this morning and after eating breakfast sat and talked awhile  after which we started in the direction of Raleigh.  After we had traveled about three miles we sat down under the trees and had a rest.  I also wrote a letter to Eva.  At eleven o'clock we started on again and began asking for dinner but did not get any.  It rained on us nearly all forenoon and part of the afternoon.  We went into a man's house and stayed until the rain stopped, then went on again.  On acc't of it being so stormy we commenced asking for entertainment quite early and after being refused twelve times had to get into a barn where we stayed the remainder of the night.

      Home on Prospect Hill

We have been on our mission for 3 months.

Okay, I just looked at my last blog and saw Tiffy.  I realized I omitted other birthdays. (in-laws and grands) How could I do that?  I love our WHOLE family.  I'm going to do better and make it up one month at a time.

Jalen's birthday was on a blog 'cause we were there on our way here, January 19th.

    Dianne's birthday was on January 20th and I gave her her present before we left so I just had it done in my mind.  I am so glad she is part of our family.  She has made our son, Clark so happy.  I couldn't find a picture of her without Clark; just as it should be.  We love you Di.    

Well, right after that is Ashley's, February 1st.  She was our first and life took on a whole new meaning when she came to us.  She lights up a room wherever she goes.  We love you too.

More birthdays net blog.  This is just during our mission.

THE TRIPLE THREAT

Dad has discovered a three-way use for the missionary name tag.  #1  name tag  #2  tie bar  #3 spill on tie stopper or spill cover-upper.  What a brilliant man.  He never ceases to amaze me. 

Dad's triple threat.

Yesterday was a very special day.  40 years ago Tiffani was born.  What a happy spirit she brought into our home.  Her Granny and Grandma could not believe how seldom she cried.  Granny always said that she was just so happy to finally be on earth.  She was such a fun little girl and always smiling.  She was my sunshine.  She is such a good example for me of a woman of God.  Her faith never wavers.  We are so blessed to have her in our family.  She loves being a wife and mother.  We love you Tiffy.


We stopped to see Tim (the one we took Kristin to see his homes)  He gave us two flats of pansies.  We hurried home and planted them in 6 pots our landlady gave us.  It was so good to work in the soil. (sol as they say in NC)

Tim is amazing with the things he has in his home.  He lives among all these antiques. Holding invitations to Pres. Lincoln's funeral. I even held a ribbon that the people who were invited wore.

This was a good week.  Carolyn said she wants to be baptized.  We will set the date Tuesday with her son.  He will be doing the baptizing. A dear sister in the ward has asked her nurse to hear the Gospel and she want to but is waiting for her husband to hear it too.  He wants to but got bit by a copperhead and had to heal so we will meet with them this week. They are already reading the Book of Mormon.

This is a home used for summer cooking and storage behind an inactive member's trailer.  I fell in love with it. They used to have chickens on the porch but twice snakes got them.

Lucy got sick and her engine light would not go off so we took her to Virginia to be worked on.  I hate those kind of expenses but she feels better now and carries us everywhere.  (In Caswell you don't take things, you carry them)  We taught the Gospel in the waiting room.

At mutual that evening we found a man who is not a member but is reading the Book of Mormon.  We will keep in touch with him.

Our little friend who stays at our home. 

We love the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all our hearts.  It is so true.  We are so blessed to have a forever family and thank our Father in Heaven every prayer for that gift.  We love you.  I think my companion's kinda cute.  I think I love him.

Great members who took us out to dinner.

Mon. May 1st. was a nice day.  We rose early this morning and after eating breakfast started on again toward Millbrook.  After traveling until noon we asked for dinner which we got after being refused nine times and it was getting late we decided to try Uncle Sam again.  We made a fire in the road and tried to sleep but the wind was blowing and it was so cold we couldn't sleep much, so we started another fire among the trees to brake the wind.  I got about an hours sleep during the night.

Got lost (shocker) and found this church.

A wild plant that takes over found also in Japan and China called
Kudzu.  It completely covers things including homes etc.  In the spring wisteria grows in it and is beautiful but the people  hate it because it overgrows everything and chokes plants out.  

SECOND TORNADO ALERT

Well, Baylie turned 20, oops 4 and Cameron turned 9 this week.  Love our grands.
Monday is PDay so we do work around the house and clean.  Dad mowed our lawns in great heat but forgot to drink.  He was so hot. (Why not, he's hot!)

When he rested a bit we took Lucy to the car wash.  Dad put the card in to pay and I was just sure he would roll up his window and I kept my usual quiet.  You know what happened.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  It was good for the soul, at least for mine.
Tuesday was zone conference.  I love zone conference.  The Elders teach us along with the Mission President.  It is always amazing and inspiring.  The church is in such good hands.  While there dad kept going to the restroom.  On the way home he got quite ill.  We made it home and decided to go to Virginia to the hospital but a huge storm came up and traveling in it was impossible.  There is not a medical facility here so we waited until morning and went to a Health Care Center that has a nurse.  They took urine tests and called Dr. Taylor with the results.  At 4:30 that evening we got some antibiotics and he is much better now.   We were so worried it was a stone but it wasn't.
We got in Lucy one day and couldn't figure out why she was green instead of white.  When we checked her
 out we realized it twas pollen.  There are so many trees in bloom here that the pollen is visible.  Thank goodness we don't have allergies.  We have to keep using Lucy's wipers to keep it off.
We are teaching a woman, Carolyn, who comes to church but has never let the missionaries teach her.  She is letting us.  We are so excited.  She says she will be baptized.  Please include her in your prayers.

Sister Bayles, Margaret and Christine

Jesse took us to Danville for his wife's birthday.  He had us call the elders in Danville to invite them too.  He also took our landlady.  He and his sweet wife are so good to the missionaries.  We really pigged our.  Blimp time.
When I got in from hanging out our laundry Friday, I felt itchy.  Dad checked me out and sure enough I had a tick.  They say ticks are numerous here.  They brush them off their arms when they are outside.  No one seems to worry, they just check  every day for them.  Ugh!
We got to see Erik's boys on face time this week.  I love face time.  They certainly seemed bigger.
We had a tornado watch Saturday evening.  They really make me nervous.  It passed us by again but where the church is got hail the size of quarters.  Lucy was happy that she didn't have it. I kept hearing water somewhere but Dad said it was in my mind.  I kept looking and looking for the problem.

 Finally when we were getting in bed, Dad heard it.  He said it was probably out on the street.  I kept at it and he finally went outside to show me he was right.  When he opened the door he found that one of his canes had fallen when an extremely loud thunder clap had sounded very close.  It fell off the porch and onto the faucet causing it to turn on.  How weird is that?  Thank goodness I love my companion.

April 25, 1905   After eating breakfast we stayed at Mr. Oneals until about nine o'clock and started for Wyatt Station, getting there a while afternoon.  We bot us a pound of cake (bread) here and after getting to a creek ate them.  I also wrote a letter to Eva.  About half past six we started asking for entertainment but each time was refused.  We got into Rolsville about nine o'clock but could not get any place to stay, so we went to a store and bot two cans of sardines and a pound of cake, after eating them we went out about a mile from town and built us a fire in the middle of the road and stayed there until morning.  While one would get warm the other would get cold and we had to keep rolling all night in order to keep warm.

Main Street Cleaners

(Marilyn, Gwen’s daughter) Having had only outdoor plumbing in Blanding, Peggy pledged to our Mom when she saw her cleaning the porcelain toilet, “We’ll be kie-ful (careful) and not pee.”

We needed to get dad's suit cleaned and as the cleaners in Yanceyville has seen better days we went to Danville to a cleaners.  On the way home we went through the historic area.  These are only a few of the homes we saw.

BASKETS

my first basket

On PDay I went to a class on basket making.  I was wondering how to talk about the Church when a gal asked what my badge meant.  I told her I was from the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints.  She said that her best friend in high school was a Mormon.  We started talking about the church and it certainly got quiet.  I passed out 3 pass-a-long cards.  There were only 8 in the class so I felt good.  The others mentioned what strong Baptists they were.  I'll not give up.  I'm sure there will be more conversation next month.  I'll make sure of it and pass out more cards and invites.

Wednesday was district meeting.  I love district meetings.  Those young Elders are so full of the Spirit and so anxiously engaged.
We are teaching a couple the lessons after baptism to prepare them to go to the temple.  He was baptized in December.  They are so cute.  They have been married 35 years and he just up and decided to join the Church. Dad taught a lesson on the priesthood.  The Spirit was so strong it could be felt by all of us.  His wife began to cry and we just sat there when it was over saying nothing.  We basked in the Spirit.  They are anxious to go to the temple.  He had never passed the sacrament so Dad arranged for him to do it Sunday.  He beamed and his wife cried.  It was a blessed event.  The Gospel is so true and your dad teaches it with such a strong testmony.  I love him.
Lucy's engine light is on so we are using a higher grade of gas hoping it will go off.  Clint had her serviced before we left so nothing should be wrong.

Mormon family

Saturday we went to a primary activity and then had a meeting that was cancelled so we went to a reenactment. 

investigators?

 What an experience.  We are so grateful for the Patriots who fought for this great freedom we have. So many died for our liberty.  We must do all we can to preserve it.  We encourage all to vote.  We gave away 3 pass-a-long cards.  That is so easy to do.  I invite ya'll to do at least 5 a week.  
I knew everyone's name at church Sunday.  YaHoo! 
Today Dad decided to wash the car.  At the car wash I wondered when he was going to roll up the window.  After a soaking I realized he wasn't.  We laughed our heads off.  Me more than him as it was his window.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone and we must share it.  It is so true and the only way back to our Father and each other.


Tues. April 11th 1905  We rose in good time and after eating breakfast we left Driver's on our way to Eagle Rock.  After walking until noon we ask for dinner which was given us by a man by the name of Gunter.  After having quite a long talk with him we started on again  About six o'clock we started asking for entertainment and after being refused five times we finally got to stay with a man by the name of Senter, but had to go to bed without supper.

A little about names:  (Marilyn, Gwen’s daughter) They knew some people named Hopper who named their little boy Claude---Claude Hopper?  My Mom knew a boy at the BYU who was named Lyndon Sherwood Treegiggle and they called him The Laughing Forest.


I love your Granddad.  He is my strength. (even in car washes)

Visit from the Batchelors

Rather than re-posting here what is already posted on the Batchelor Pad, we've decided to just link the two.

Visiting the Missionaries

Day 1 - Milton & Miss Brody's

Day 2 - Old Salem and Mayberry

Day 3 - Yanceyville and Farm Country

There are sooo many more pictures we could have posted, but hopefully these will suffice.

A GREAT VISIT

Another great week.  We were able to visit with Cynthia, Jeff and wife, Ed  and his daughter, Elizabeth.  We were excited for the visits.  We did Meals on Wheels Thursday and when we got home Kristin and the kids were just getting out of their car.  Kristin is going to do a blog on our time together.  It was sooo good.
Friday Scott had surgery which made me uncomfortable in that I felt so unhelpful.  It all went well.  We prayed a great deal this week and will next week when Clark has surgery.

old farm home

Molly turned 9 on Sunday.  It's hard to believe she is that age.  Time goes way too fast.
Sunday we were so surprised to see Matt at church.  He came on his own and stayed for all three meetings.  We have been working with him for several weeks and think he is such a great young boy.  He's 18 and has read the entire Book of Mormon.  He's a very bright boy.  It was fun to have Kristin with us.
Some things I learned in Relief Society:
You can put lipstick on a pig but he still a pig.
If you run around with dogs you'll get fleas.
Look for a guy in the trash and you'll marry trash.
Women fluff, toot or shoot chickens.
A possum is a flat animal that lives in the middle of the road.
In the South you don't have family trees.  You have family vines 'cause they don't split or branch out.
   Second and third cousins are fair game.
   You go to a family reunion to find a husband.
If you don't know someone's name you just say "Sugar or Honey."
You don't push a grocery cart you push a buggy.

I love this place.  I love the people and their instant friendship.

Thurs. April 6th. 1905  In about the middle of the afternoon it commenced raining. About six o'clock we started asking for entertainment (a place to sleep) but every place we would go they would tell us to go to the next place.  We tried it about eleven times and it was getting late so we decided to get into a school house and stay there until morning,  It got quite cold so we cut some wood and made a fire.  Our supper that evening consisted of a Methodist chicken, without body parts or passion.  (they went without)

Gwen Hurst was born Sept. 9, 1910 in Dublan, Chihuahua State, Old Mexico, the 10^th of the 13 children of Arthur and Mary Hurst.  (They were in Mexico because THEIR parents were polygamists who had been driven out of Utah in the 1880’s.)

George, one of the big teenage brothers, pulled aside 8 year old Beth and told her, “Gwen’s the 10^th child, and you know what we do with the 10^th one of everything---10^th chicken---10^th potato—10^th egg---it goes to the Bishop for Tithing.  One of these days we’ll be taking that baby to the Bishop for Tithing.

Poor Bethie!  How she suffered!  She knew it couldn’t be true, but she was too afraid to ask her Mom, and every time she looked at George, he’d wink and say, “Pretty soon now.”

Beth said later when they were old traveling companions, “She’s so bossy, sometimes I think I’d have been lucky if we had sent her off.”

I love my companion.  I hope he doesn't get transferred.

old barn

TORNADO WARNING

This week has been much better than last.  We gave away 3 pass-a-long cards.  Try it.  It's really quite fun.  I'm going to do much better this week.  We left many more on doors where people were not home.   We found a sweet little family who has not had their 8 year old baptized so we are working with them.  They have 4 wonderful children.

house down the street

Gas is $3.71 a gallon here and we have put 6,000 miles on Lucy.  She is very unhappy that she is out in the weather.  We had a serious tornado warning March 2.  We would not have known one was coming but Tiffani called us on the phone to see how we were doing.  It was very frightening.  We were at a member's home in the country and hurried back to Yanceyville to watch the news.  No news could we find.  We finally got CNN and saw the damage that had happened in Indiana.  It was headed right our way.  We made a plan and went to bed.  I guess it missed us 'cause we slept right through when it was supposed to hit here.  I heard the horrible thundering but dad snored on. (maybe it was him and not the thunder)
We visited an incredible member's farm this week.  Once you went through the gate you traveled back in time. When Kristin comes we are going to take her there and take tons of pictures and will make a whole blog about his place.  There is no way I can describe it.  He handed dad a book with his grandpa's name in it.  It was about the history of missionary work in North Carolina.

old jail and house of illxxxxxxxx

Sunday was fast day.  I love testimonies in Southern.  It's beautiful.  Latyca bore an incredible testimony, especially for a new convert.  We just love her.
We are so grateful to know that families are forever and just want to let everyone know the beautiful message.  Please give names for the missionaries to teach.  We are the only church with the truth and must share it.  I don't want my friends to say "Why didn't you share this message with us?"

Wed. March 29th 1905  We left Smiths about eight o'clock this morning to canvas Fuquay Springs. We canvassed a few houses on our way there.  After we got there we separated each one taking a street a piece.  The second house I came to a man came to the door and as soon as I told him who I was he said he couldn't do anything for me and shut the door in my face, as I went on and had several conversations and gave away nine tracts.  We got thru canvassing about eleven o'clock and came up the railroad canvassing from house to house.  I ask for dinner twice and was refused both times.  My companion got two or three ?ra?ewers? he went into a Doctor's house and gave the lady a tract, but as soon as she found out who he was she throwed it at his feet and shut the door in his face.  We stayed at Bro. Driver's over night.

Granny

George and Mary had a baby about every 2 years.  The children closest in age to Gwen were her early playmates,---Riley 2 years older, and Dora born on Gwen's 2nd birthday. The fall of 1916 Mother Mary was making plans to take Dora and Nedra to Monticello to be there to help oldest sister Inez, who was married and having her 1st baby.  Gwen couldn't go because she had started school.  The girls thought Inez was making a lot of fuss about needing her mother, when she was such a grown up lady.  Aunt Gwen was REALLY upset at being separated from her darling Dora.  It was bad enough to have to go to school without her, but now SHE was being taken clear up to Monticello and all because Inez was acting like such a baby! But go they did, catching a ride on the mail wagon leaving Gwen home to be tended and sent to school by the other siblings.  Gwen was bereft without her Dora.  She wouldn't eat and was pining so, that after a few days, it was decided that she should be sent on the next mail wagon to join Mother and sisters.  When Gwen got to Monticello, she and Dora embraced each other and Dora asked, "Oh Gwennie--are you still 6?"  and Gwen said, "Oh yes, Dora.  Are you still 4?"  (When any of us are separated for vacation or such like and are reunited after what seems like way too long, we still ask each other,  "Are you still 6?  Yes are you still 4?")  Those young Hurst children were always close compaions. from Stories Under the Quilt by Aunt Gwens daughter Marrilyn Jones Valenzuela.

tabacca shed

We love y'all.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  I love my companion.