Week 18 - Dwight

 

David & Jean Whaley at Albertson's Stew Fest

When I was a boy, growing up at Albertson, every February they had the annual Fox Hunt.  The main activity took place at the Ruritan Club building.  The building is a white block community building next to the post office.  I think there were a few people with dogs that actually hunted foxes, and occasionally, they actually got one.  I assume the Fox Hunt is still held every year, but I don't think it has a lot to do with hunting foxes.  I remember they always cooked fish stew in a large cast iron pot, over a fire.  When they were making the stew, they would crack raw eggs into the boiling stew and they would cook instantly!  Yesterday we attended the annual Stew Fest, which is also held in downtown Albertson.  Both events are fundraisers for local organizations.  We saw a bunch of people we know.  Above are David and Jean Whaley.  We reminisced about their trip to be sealed in the Washington DC temple.  We saw Jean's dad, Lewis Lee - sorry, no picture.  Below are my friend Junior Rouse's little sister Sandra and her husband.  

Linda Rouse (Ernie Rouse) of the famed "R Mart"

Kari & Richard Dupree (my niece)  Charlotte Dupree and Renee in the background

My sister Linda's best friend growing up - Nadine Byrd

It was a bit of a blast from the past seeing everyone, many that I haven't seen for 40 + years!

We had a pretty busy week.  Our friend Angie has set a date to be baptized on November 30!  We visited a friend from the time I was bishop in Mt Olive.  Alex is struggling because he lost his wife several weeks ago.  We had a good discussion on hope.  Claire is ready to get baptized this coming Sunday.  We're excited!  For Halloween, Susan dressed up as a good witch and I dressed up as a magician (vampire without fangs).  We participated in the truck or treat at the church and brought the Faison kids along.

Wednesday was a cool day (literally, it frosted that morning.)  I was able to give a blessing to Claire's grandpa who went in for surgery on Friday for some tendon repair to his arm.  Was able to also help him get the Family Tree app on his phone and load in his family.  He was excited to show his 90-year old dad!  That night we went to visit our long-time friends, Stanley and Frances Jones.  It was great to catch up with them.  We also loaded the Family Tree app on their phones and Stanley was amazed at how much family information is out there.

Here are a few pictures from a service project we participated in on Thursday with many of the other senior missionaries in Raleigh.  We made individual Christmas ornaments for all 250 missionaries in the mission.  We also made bags with treats for them.  It was a fun project and getting to know the other senior missionaries better was great.

Gas prices in NC are under $3.00!  Sorry Utah people.

One night this week on the way home, we saw this large harvest moon.  It was about 3/4 moon that was orange and just hanging there low on the horizon as it was rising.

It's kind of hard to see with all the lights and the moon is hard to capture with an iPhone, but you'll have to trust us - it was amazing.  It reminded us of how blessed we are to live on this earth that God created for us.  It orbits the sun at an angle to give us seasons.  It rotates every 24 hours to give us night and day.  It has a moon and stars to give us light at night.  It is wonderful to know that it was all created for us and our happiness and our progression.  We are so thankful for Heavenly Father's goodness as manifested by His plan for us, including the creation of this magnificent earth!  Love you all!