Out and about

Sister Johnson made new friends with a member family in Columbus MS who love birds of all kinds.  Here she is with some chickens.  In addition to these, there are canarys, turkeys, geese, and quail.

Barbeque is a way of life here in the South, and it's all done on smokers from this size on up.  The BBQ restaurants have smokers out in the parking lots, and fire them up in the mornings so delicious BBQ will be ready for dinner.  Here's some fabulous brisket being slow cooked to perfection.  Sister Johnson doesn't really care for the smoke though.  We were invited to this home for Easter dinner and had a wonderful meal.

Elders Hardman and Savoie with three of their friends.  The goat will either be a pet or dinner someday, the family hasn't decided which yet.

This is our missionary district, just before transfers.  Elders Nelson (front row left) and Hardman (back row right) were transferred to other areas in the mission.  Elders Urry and Hidenshield were sent to replace them.  We love our elders and try to help them out all we can.  We especially like teaching with them, and meeting their investigator families.  We also transport them when they have a long way to an appointment on their bikes, pick them up when they have flat tires, make sure they have enough to eat and are keeping their suits clean, get them to the dentist for emergency filling replacement, transport them to Stake Conference and mission meetings, and the list goes on .  .  .  .

Front row:  Elders Nelson, us, Gervais
Back row:  Elders Hatch, Jones, Savoie, and Hardman

Transfers happen on a regular schedule every 6 weeks, and we will usually have 1 or more elders transferred each time.  It is very unlikely that Sister Johnson and I will be transferred from our area before we leave in July.  Our area includes West Point, Starkville, and Columbus MS.  Each pair of these elders are assigned to one of those areas.  We hold a district meeting and get together once each week. 

Pilgrimmage - A Southern Tradition

Each spring, a number of the traditional Antebellum homes open up for visitors for a week (for a fee of course).  To qualify, each home must have been built antebellum (before the war, meaning the War of Northern Agression, or the War of Northern Invasion - more on this later).  The homes are restored, most quite elegantly.  The women dress up in their Southern Belle costumes and host the guests.  Back in the day, some of these homes sat in plantations of up to 2,000 cultivated acres.  Now the grounds are much smaller, but most of them are still 1 - 5 acres, even in town.  It's a big job and quite costly to keep up these historic homes.

This is a lovely home in Columbus, MS.  It was stuffed with porcelain from around the world and other collectibles.  The grounds are very well kept.  There are a lot of antiques and period furniture - some original to the homes, but most not.  Over the years they have been "modernized", so some parts of the home are quite liveable, and other areas have been kept with the original look.  For example:  None of the homes originally had a kitchen - that was in a separate building close to the main house, to keep the heat away from the genteel owners and their guests, and because the kitchens frequently caught fire and burned down.  Modern plumbing, lighting, and heating have been installed since they were built.

Here's Sister Johnson chatting with some lovely Southern Belles

Sister Johnson and a hydrangea just coming into bloom. 

A magnolia blossom.  These are huge, about 8" diameter, pleasantly fragrant, and just starting to bloom.  Quite impressive when the entire tree is covered with these.  Too bad they won't grow in Utah!



Battle of Shiloh - 150th anniversary reenactment

On March 31, we attended the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh Tennessee 1862.  Civil War re-enactments are a BIG deal for the re-enactors, all those who were born 175 years too late to be in the real thing.  They try to make everything as "real" as possible.  All of the actual period relics are too scarce, valuable, fragile, or dangerous to actually use, so most of the items (cannon, rifles, uniforms,  costumes, etc) are replicas.  The more your stuff appears to be authentic, the cooler you are.

When we got close to the site, there were thousands of other people, close to 12,000, and cars trying to get there as well.  Its was obvious that the Mormons were not on the parking detail, as there was no organization or traffic direction at all.  Along the last road into the site, we were moving at exactly 0.5 mph.  When we got about a mile out, we paid $10 to park on someone's lawn, and walked the rest of the way in, faster than the cars were moving.  It had rained the night before, and cars were getting stuck all over in the fields they had designated for parking.  Big soggy gooey mess.  Sort of made you feel like you were there in 1862.

We found out that re-enactments are really for the re-enactors, and the public (even though we pay to get in), is really a distraction.  They are organized into regiments from the North and South, and are really into the play acting.  Cannoneers came from as far away as Illinois and New Hampshire just to participate - and they brought their own crews with them, so there is a lot of expense involved.  Good way to party for a week with your friends though.

When it started, it was confusing, and hard to understand - didn't really resemble the real battle:  First the Union cannon on the far side of the field shot for a while - big booms and lots of smoke.  Then the Confederate infantry marched onto the field and shot their muskets for a while.  Next the Union infantry marches on and shoots for a while.  Finally, the Confederate cannon line starts - this was the BIG event, and it was obvious that 95% of the visitors were Confederates or sympathizers.  There were about 30 cannon in a line, all loaded.  They start on one end, and fire down the line in about 3 second intervals.  Really pretty impressive.  Everyone hoots and hollers.  They reload and do it a couple more times.  Then it's over.  We learned more about the actual battle from the brochure we bought on site than from the re-enactment.  It was all good fun though, and a a great experience. 

The line of Confederate cannon

Confederate cannon crew

General Grant and the lovely Mrs Grant

Elder & Sister Smith with Sister Johnson on the tailgate of a pickup that gave us a ride the last way in.  They are our good friends here, they're from Middleton, ID.  They are serving in Bessemer, AL, and decided to make this trip with us, they are a lot of fun and we had a great time together.

Family in period dress.  Look like Yankees, but they're really Rebs

Southern gentry.  You can just put on your costume and walk around without actually being part of the official re-enactment. 

Southern lady spectators being transported by mule wagon to a prime viewing spot. 



Sister Johnson and Leigha Green

Here's Sister Johnson carrying out one of the more recent mission programs - reading the scriptures with new members.  Leigha Green was baptized last month in Columbus MS.  She is so sweet, and everyone loves her.  The members in this ward have really welcomed her in.

Note that they're reading from my iPad, which we have found to be a great tool.  We can access mormon.org and the videos, talks, and materials while we're meeting with people - much more convenient than trying to tote a laptop around and get it booted up up to work properly.

We're encouraging Leigha to put her profile together and post it on the "I'm a Mormon" section of the website. 

Giant cypress tree falls!!

Another "fallen giant".  Everything grows so fast here in the South, that what starts out as cute little trees soon become towering - and potentially dangerous.  With the recent tornados in this area, people are really starting to be concerned about big trees that are close enough to their homes to cause damage if they fall. 

This tree was in the front yard of the Reed's, one of the good members in Starkville.  It was so tall that I had to climb up it (felt like a little boy again, and the cypress limbs are perfect for climbing), tie myself safely with a rope, hoist up a chain saw, and cut about 30 feet of the top off.  It was so tall that a fall in the desired direction would have hit overhead power lines.  With the tree now at a manageable length, a rope tied to a pickup and my felling wedges put it on the ground safely.

Though this tree had to go for safety reasons, cypress is a very desirable wood for making furniture because it is moisture-resistant.  The best lawn or outdoor furniture here is made from cypress for that reason.  After I took this picture, I cut it up into four 9-foot logs, and Br. Reed has a friend who's going to haul it away to a sawmill and have it cut up.

In Farmington, the city has a "once a year" pickup for trees, limbs, and brush that are cut up and stacked by the street in 4-ft lengths.  Here in the South, they do this year round because there's so many trees of all kinds, and everything grows so fast.

So many trees - so little time!!

Sister Johnson at the West Point Food Pantry

Here is Sister Johnson in some of her "working clothes".  Tuesday and Thursday nights - on an as-needed basis, which means about once a week - we help out at the West Point Food Pantry.  This organization is run by a wonderful couple:  Bill and Mary East.  It's an all-volunteer group, and Bill is the founder and driving force. 

Food is donated from several sources, including USDA and Wal-Mart.  WM donates items that are about to go "out of date".  This is a good deal for WM and the other grocery stores that contribute, because they get a tax deduction of full retail value for the items, and they are put to good use instead of discarded. 

The families who are the recipients (and there is a waiting list) get 3 bags.  Each bag contains about 9 - 12 items of selected types, like cereal and canned goods, frozen meat and vegetables, and staple items.  It varies from week to week, depending upon what is available, and what items are closest to expiration.  Items with short shelf life go first of course, then the rest are allocated by expiration date.  USDA, ever the bureaucracy, requires that all their items be distributed within 30 days, so that adds another level of complexity that the East's have mastered.

It's great to be a small part of this community service, and we have met some wonderful people through this effort.

Armadillo roadkill: count now up to 32

Dawn is keeping a log of selected roadkill:  The count is now up to 32 armadillo, 4 turtles, 3 possums.  Lesser species, like raccoons (yes, they have them here too) we don't even count.  Unfortunately, the poor little armadillos have gotten active in the last month as it has warmed up, and they are either not savvy to the dangers of crossing the road, or there's lots of them, because they are splatted everywhere.  The locals call them "possum on the half-shell".  We're hoping to see one alive, and get up to it - when they go into defensive mode, they curl up into a ball - about the size of a soccer ball - and their armor pretty much protects them.

We're hoping not to hit one on the road, not only because they're such odd little critters, but it must be like running over a little brick!!