Week 10 - Dwight

 

Having grown up in eastern North Carolina, I sometimes forget that there is a significant amount of Revolutionary Was as well as Civil War history here.  Many battles and skirmishes took place not too far from my neck of the woods.  A few days ago we drove past this historical marker and drove back to see what it was.  This is a battle that I didn't even know about that was only 16-18 miles from my childhood home. (For my grandkids' benefit, no, I was not yet born when this happened!)  The Battle of Wyse Fork (Civil War) took place in 1865 near Kinston.  If I'm reading correctly, there were about 25,000 troops involved in this battle.  There are several other Civil and Revolutionary War Battle sites here that I have visited, but this is the 1st time I've visited this one.

What a packed and fun week we've had.  Early in the week we visited an old friend and cousin (his great great grandfather is my grandfather), Johnny Huggins.  We decided that we haven't seen each other in about 30 years.  He told me that my dad, Melvin Potter, (He called him Uncle Melvin) had been like a second father to him when he was young.  I didn't know that.  He showed us this photo sheet of all the leaders of the Albertson Branch/Ward of the Church from 1907 - 2007 that was put together by Eleanor Harper when they had a 100-year celebration.

The 1st leader of the Albertson Branch was my dad's 1st cousin, Daniel Potter. Daddy was the 5th branch president (second row, left side).  My brother Parley was the 13th leader overall, serving as bishop from 91-95

We visited with several other old friends this week and it was so good to catch up.  On Tuesday, we ran to Greenville (30ish miles away) to visit a sister from our ward that had a stroke and is in rehab.  On the way back to Kinston, we had to stop at a BBQ restaurant that Gregory Harper told us about.  I'm always looking for another good North Carolina BBQ place (pulled/chopped pork with vinegar based sauce.) This one is called Skylight Inn BBQ in Ayden and it was well worth the time.  They have some of the best BBQ I've ever eaten.  I don't think I could beat it making it myself!  They cook the pig over wood and add some chopped crispy skin to the meat.  Amazing!  We'll definitely go back again.

We had several wonderful lessons with the Faison family, including right after church today.  Two of them are getting baptized this Saturday.  They have sincere questions we're trying to answer, like, "How do you know the Book of Mormon is true?"  They are very sincere and humble and we love them and are so happy we know them.

Another highlight this week was going to the temple with our good friend Judy (baptized about a month ago) and the Campuzanos family, along with the Albertson missionaries.  We went to do baptisms. Judy was able to stand in proxy for her mother and both grandmothers.  She was able to witness the elders stand in proxy for her father and both grandfathers.  What a beautiful evening in the temple.  I'm so grateful for the doctrine of eternal families!

Later in the week we went to see our good friends J.D. Robinson and his daughter Lorie.  We had a wonderful discussion about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  What added to the visit was that J.D.'s new caretaker Angie was there and participated in the discussion.  We'll be going back next week to further our discussion.

Lastly, on Saturday, we participated in a fundraiser put on by the CSS Neuse Gunboat Association.  The CSS Neuse was a Navel vessel on the Neuse River during the Civil War.  The remnants of the original boat are housed in the museum.  There is a complete, to scale, replica that is on display where we had the fund raiser.  We cooked about 4,000 chicken wings and sold about 900 lunch plates.  For someone that likes to grill, this was a great learning experience for me.

While the Civil and Revolutionary Wars are part of our history, I'm glad they are just that - history!  I'm grateful for our Founder Fathers and other brave souls that helped to create this country and defend it over the years. I worry some for our future, but trust that God will help and preserve us as long as we seek to follow His Son Jesus Christ.  We love Him and are so glad we get to represent Him full-time as missionaries.  Love you all.