Week 64 - Dwight

 

Terry/Jolayne, Dwight/Susan, Kevin/Tami, Reed's wife Kay and Parley's wife Sheila, Gary/Wanda, Donald/Linda (missing, Craig's wife Reva)

This week we spent quite a bit of time with my family.  We are eight children, with my oldest two brothers (Craig and Reed) and the brother just older than me (Parley) all deceased, the remaining five of us got together at my brother Kevin's and his wife Tami's house in Duck NC, near the beach.  Wanda (Gary) is the oldest living sibling and Linda (Donald) is next in age to her.  Terry (Jolayne) is next to Linda in age.  Kevin (Tami) is the youngest and is just younger than I am - so I'm the 7th of the 8.

I caught a "Spot" and a couple of other fish while at the beach.  My friend JR was jealous!

Just before the storm!

Early this week we had a tropical depression hit that brought a lot of rain.  Not sure how much we got, but some areas of coastal NC got 30 inches!  

We had an amazing time together with my family, hanging out with nothing in particular planned.  They came in from Arizona, California, Utah, Texas and Virginia.  We talked and reminisced about family memories and good times, played a little pickleball and corn hole and probably ate too much.  It was just a good time to be together and feel the love we have for each other.

Despite our time with family, the missionary work did go forward!  Early in the week we learned of a Haitian couple that moved into the ward.  They are an answer to many prayers!  They are young (mid 30's) and have one little daughter.  Each of them served a mission in Haiti years ago and have strong testimonies of the restored gospel.  He speaks English, as well as French and Creole, and they have a car!  We're gonna help them find jobs and more appropriate housing.  They were at church today and everyone seems to love them - we are so excited!

Haitians and missionaries at Multicultural Celebration

We've been preparing all week for our stake multicultural celebration that was held in Goldsboro last night.  Many of our Haitian members and friends attended.  There were a lot of people and the food, from many cultures around the world, was delicious - !  One Haitian family brought a lot of  food!  

I've had many thoughts as we spent a little time with our family, a couple stick out.  1.Family is precious, and time with family is precious.  2. While we were energized by the visit, we were also anxious to get back to our full-time missionary labors, because we have a calling and we know right now, this is where we need to be.  Jesus Christ is our Savior.  We love Him and we're so glad that because of Him, families are forever!  Love you all!