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.