Week 8 - Dwight

 In 1901, my grandfather, Needham Tyndall Potter, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints in Duplin County, North Carolina.  On Sundays, they would hold a Sunday School in his home.  I have a copy of the attendance roll for that Sunday School and Granddaddy was the 1st person listed and he attended every week.

When I was a boy, every year we had the Potter Family Reunion at an old Church building, maybe a quarter of a mile from where my grandfather lived.  I had always been told that his brother, Allen Potter had donated the land for the Church to be built and that Granddaddy had donated the lumber.  Several years ago, when I was serving as bishop in Mt. Olive, the missionaries asked me if I knew Needham Potter.  I told them that he died before I was born, but he was my grandfather.  The reason they asked was because a member of the Church from Salt Lake City was looking for a Church her grandfather had helped Needham Potter build in 1907.  I called her and she sent me a portion of her grandfather's missionary journal from 1907, which indicated that he and his companion went often to Needham's house to make shingles, or to do other work on the Church.  In May of that year, they held their first meeting there and took a picture of the group attending.  That missionary's name was Lewis James Rushton and is a not-too-distant relative of Susan's (small world!)  Apparently Elder Rushton had grown quite fond of my grandfather and his family, because after that 1st meeting in the new Church, he was transferred out of the area.  Before leaving, he visited Needham and said of that visit  (without corrections) "I was apointed to laber Cumberland Co and there was a sowerful sight at NT Potters all the family was crying and I was crying  President Berrit came in and said it is not a funeral but I tell you I would not of felt any worse no matter what could of happened It was just the same as leaving my home again" 

That Church building has been moved and is now being used as a barn, but it's still standing 116 years later!

The left side as shown above is the original building and the right side was added later.  I have a copy of the picture that was taken at that 1st meeting, but alas it's in Utah and not digitized.  Here's a picture that was taken just a little later.  Granddaddy is on top kind of in the middle of the door.

Sorry to talk about my deep deep roots in North Carolina and so much family stuff.  Being here, I just can't help it.  

Here in North Carolina, and all over the South Eastern USA, we have a grocery store that has a unique name.  Nowadays, it's pretty modern.  Along with the regular stuff, you can get some unique stuff there, like collards and chitlins and ham hocks and real lard, just to name a few.  Along with others in these parts, we lovingly call it "The Pig."

This week we had another wonderful discussion with a relatively new friend that we love very much, Lorie. She is determined to go to the temple and be sealed to her parents.  We also made friends with another great family that haven't been to Church in a while. They have amazing children that want to be baptized, so we're teaching them the lessons  They had a great time at Church today and enjoyed meeting new friends.  I had lunch with a dear old friend this week, visited another and we had dinner with loved relatives.  Have I mentioned that we LOVE being in this little slice of North Carolina??

Sometime soon I plan to start a regular post/blog or something entitled "We Talk of Christ."  That comes from the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi.  I want to explain our purpose as missionaries and then each week "Talk of Christ" by quoting a Christ-themed scripture or two from the Bible or the Book of Mormon and elaborate on lessons learned from that scripture.  Still trying to figure it out, but I figure that I/we could all use a little more Jesus in our lives.  We love Jesus Christ and know you do too.  Love you all!

Week 7

 We got all the way through the week without taking a picture of ourselves, so you get a selfie of me and a picture of Dwight taking his shoes off after a long Sunday (which I took from my chair while getting ready to write this message.)

We taught three lessons this week. The first one was a new member lesson. We took dinner to them and had a great discussion. The only problem was that their air conditioner was broken, and it was 86 degrees in their house. They have a HUGE dog that wanted to cuddle with me the whole time which should have made me really hot. However, I had a personal miracle that night. I usually start feeling sick when I get too hot--that night I hardly even noticed the heat until we got outside and realized it felt cooler out doors.

The second visit was with our friends JD and his daughter Lorie. They are amazing people. Lorie is a member but told us we could teach her the lessons--that it would be good for her. And we can use the practice.

The third person we taught was Judy, another new member. We went with the young missionaries and then stayed after they left. We helped Judy with some family history. It was amazing how much work has already been done on one of her lines. 

We also went to lunch with an old friend of Dwight's--from elementary and middle school. It was fun listening to them reminisce and catch up. When his friend asked what the word "Mormon" meant, Dwight was very happy to teach him about the origin of the word and The Book of Mormon.

Today we went to Albertson Ward. Dwight had invited someone to come to church (and he did), so we wanted to be there to meet him. We saw so many old friends. This must be how heaven is going to be... one big reunion and hearts filled with joy to see people we love. There is a mentally challenged young man (who is now probably getting close to 50) that I taught in Primary. I saw him and said, "Hi Matthew." He looked at me like he recognized me and gave me a hug. A little later I asked if he knew who I was. He said, "Primary." I asked if he knew what I was now. He looked at my tag and said, "Missionary." I told him I loved him and he gave me a big hug... Heaven!

I did take a few pictures this week. These will give you a feel for what we see as we drive around our area. The first two are old tobacco barns.

These next pictures are of old abandoned houses. When we pass these houses, I wonder who lived there... how many different families--or was it only one family. What were their struggles? What made them happy? These houses have stories to tell. Dwight has been in at least two of these houses when people lived in them.

Dwight visited the people that lived here.

Dwight's 2nd cousin lived here.

Dwight said this house was abandoned
when he was a boy and looked exactly
like it does now.

This is some of the land Dwight's
great-great granddaddy settled.

I'm grateful for the experiences we are having. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing it with the people in North Carolina. I am grateful that when I get a little nervous I know that I have angels there to help me. D&C 84:88 "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." 

We love you all!

Sister and Elder Potter

Week 6 Dwight's Perspective

 Another great week in hot and humid North Carolina!  Did I mention that it's humid here? And hot!?

This week we went to Raleigh to the funeral of  Geraldine (Gerry) B. Edwards ("Grandmommy" of our daughter-in-law, Anna Edwards Potter.)  What a remarkable lady!  All the family tributes were so heart-felt.  It was a touching service.

Was so good to see all 4 of the Raleigh grandkids - but of course, we didn't get any pictures - blah!

Wednesday every week is our day to meet with the young missionaries in our area.  These guys are always so fun and inspiring to be around.  

After our meetings with those guys, we went back to Deep Run to visit with Melissa and discuss the "Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."  Melissa "Missie" is so nice.  We had a great, and very spiritual time visiting with her

We got a call on Thursday that the "Missionaries" were on the schedule to help clean our church building that night.  So, we put on our p-day clothes and headed to the church.  That building has been added onto several times over the years and I always get lost there.  That night, we kind of figured it out.

I went with the young missionaries from Albertson to visit a friend from my youth, Gregory Harper.  It's been at least 40 years I'd say.  He recently lost his mother and his wife.  It was so good to reconnect, but so sad.

Since I was close to my home "town", I decided to pay a visit to the Albertson Post Office of the United States Postal Service, (emphasis added.)  When I was a boy, my daddy was the post master and worked there until he died.  I used to get off the school bus at the P.O. and I'd sweep the floors, mop the floors, take out the trash and shhhh, post mark the outgoing mail!  

Is the Albertson Post Office really that small?

I also ran by the local R-Mart (convenience store, gas station, grill and hardware store).  It used to be Holland's Grocery (small gas station and kind of grocery store?)  Bursell and Etta Mae Holland raised their family in the back of that store.  As I was paying for my bottle of water and bag of pork rinds, I asked the clerk if she knew that the place used to be Holland's Grocery and she had no clue, but promised to check out the history!

Lastly, on this short trip, I stopped by the small Potter Family Cemetery.  It sits back off the road near Albertson on property that my great great granddaddy settled on in the late 1700's.  He and his wife, my great granddaddy, and his wife, my granddaddy and my parents are all buried there.  I always feel a sweet spirit when I visit.

4 generations, front center my parents, Melvin & Clyde right my brother Parley, left my niece Heather Pedersen and next row back to the left whitish marker, my granddaddy Needham

My great-great grand parents are buried here.  Back then they used only wood markers.  Most are missing.  Is this the right one?

Great grandmother Elizabeth Tyndall Potter

My Great granddaddy Daniel Potter, Jr. "To know him was to trust him" 

We decided to stop by the Sandpiper Seafood restaurant for dinner one night this week.  My mouth is watering thinking about it.  Fresh North Carolina seafood and still just as good as it used to be!

Ahhh, fish, shrimp and scallops.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with the Fredricks, old friends from Goldsboro.  The daughter, Mallory (now Dumond, husband Chretien) was Alyssa's best friend in middle school and I coached several of their ball teams.  Parents Dave and Jerlene were great friends.  Just had a lovely afternoon.

Today coming home from church, we ran into and met one of our next-door neighbors, Tracy.  She and her sister (Anita, we met her before) live there.  Such a lovely person!  As we serve this mission, we keep seeing old friends and meeting new ones.  We can't help but think how we are all God's children and because of that we have a connection and it's been so fun to find or rekindle those connections.  That's what is bringing us the most joy.  We love Heavenly Father and we hope that what we are doing is pleasing Him.  We're having a blast!

ps. It's our anniversary y'all.  41 years and counting!

Week 5

This has been a busy week, and after every visit or activity Dwight or I would say, "Ah, we should have taken a picture!" Hopefully, we'll get better at pulling out our phones and snapping a few photos.

On Monday we visited an elderly man in our ward who can't get around very well anymore. His daughter (from Greenville) was there with him. We had a great visit with both of them. You know, people are amazing. Their stories are amazing. I find I want to be best friends with every person I meet. JD and Lori are two of those people. (names may or may not have been changed) During our conversation Dwight challenged Lori to read the Book of Mormon (she hasn't been to church in a while), and she said she would. She told us she really needed our visit and as we were leaving she hugged me tight and said, "I love you." The Spirit was very strong while we were visiting with them.

On Wednesday, we went back to visit JD and his helper, Missy who lives up the road from him. She had agreed to hear the lessons. We taught her a lesson and had a great conversation. She told us we can come back next week and give her another lesson. She really enjoyed talking about Jesus!

A picture of these amazing people should be right here. :)

Before I tell you about the rest of our week, let me show you a few picture I did take while we were driving around.

Tobacco field and trees

Corn field and trees

Plowed field and trees

Soy bean field and trees

Little country church and trees

There are A LOT of trees here! :)

I've had so many hugs since we've been here! We went to a baptism for Judy in Albertson last Saturday (on Friday we got to help with her first new member discussion) and hugged so many old friends, on Thursday we went to a funeral in Mt. Olive and there was another hug fest. Yesterday and today was Stake Conference and the hugging continued. Here is a picture I did remember to take. This is one of my Young Women/Seminary girls from 1993-1995. She's now Stake Young President. It was such a wonderful reunion.

Tracy and me

Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt came to our Stake Conference this weekend. We were giving a new member discussion to Austin and his wife, Savana and mentioned Elder Corbitt. Austin said Elder Corbitt's talk from the last conference had a big influence on him joining the Church. Later that night Dwight texted Frankie (the Stake President) and told him that. Not long later, we had an invitation to bring Austin and Savana to meet with Elder Corbitt on Saturday morning at 11. It was awesome. Elder Corbitt was very attentive to the sweet young couple. We took A & S to lunch after the meeting where everyone of us said, "Ah, why didn't we take a picture." After lunch we went back to the church and just happen to catch them between meetings and were able to get this picture. 

Susan, Dwight, Austin, Savana, 
Elder Corbitt, President Jones

On Wednesday we had Zone Council and on Thursday we had Zone Conference.

Zone Council

This Elder is serving in Albertson. 
He is President Romeril's 
(from Cedar City) nephew!

Everyone went and got lunch and
 brought it back. Look where most 
of the Elders went... Bojangles!

Zone Conference--
Mission Leaders to the left of us

It was a fun and busy week. I'm sure I left some things out. I hope we're busy next week, but I'm also hoping for a minute to put my feet up. ;)

Elder Corbitt talked about "looking forward with an eye of faith and see the promises of the Lord fulfilled." It says in Alma 5:15, "... do you look forward with an eye of faith..." Think about what would happen or change in your life if your faith increased.

We love our Savior, Jesus Christ! We love each of you!
Have a great week,
Sister and Elder Potter