Week 34 - Dwight

Making our Rounds!

Every six weeks the mission has transfers.  New missionaries come in, old missionaries go home and many missionaries get transferred to new locations.  It's fun, exciting and sad.  Sister Potter and I get to stay in the same district probably for our whole mission, but most missionaries will be in six to eight areas, or more, during their 18 or 24 months.  We love meeting and working with new missionaries, but we're always sad to see them go.  This week was transfer week and we lost all but one of the Elders either to home or new areas and we also lost half of the sisters in our district.  We said "farewell" to our missionary friends and hope our paths cross again sometime.

Our amazing district before transfers

This week started on Monday with a trip to New Bern to have lunch with our friend Jim Walker and part of his family.  New Bern is a beautiful town, close to the coast, where 2 rivers come together before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.  Lunch was great and seeing some of the scenery was spectacular!   After lunch and a tour, we went to see our friend Michelle.  Michelle lost both of her legs last year and is still working to get herself home from assisted living.  Had a great discussion on how we all can have more charity or the pure love of Jesus Christ.  We love Michelle!

Jim with us at New Bern Country Club

Tuesday we spent some time with Gregory talking about the use of symbols in the Temple.  We're excited to hopefully get to go with him back to the temple soon.  Afterwards we went to see JD and his caregiver Angie.  Had another good discussion on charity.  Afterwards we had to run to Greenville to pick up a mattress out of a missionary apartment up there.  Lorie Ann and her husband Kim came to help us get it loaded.  Good thing too, because it was heavy!  Was so good to see them again.

Wednesday was our usual district council meeting in Mt Olive in the morning - happy/sad.  Then we went to see Alex and had a great discussion with him on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a great discussion about life.  Then, we went to see Jean-Claude and Marie Guetty and discussion becoming a life long member of the Church.  He is going to Florida for the funeral of his nephew.  We moved his baptism date to March 10, and we're really excited!

Thursday I got the treat to go with my sister Linda to see my beautiful 1st cousin Carolyn Jean.  We talked about a lot of family history and just reminisced about good times.  Was a wonderful visit.  Then, Thursday night, our friends, landlord, neighbors, all rolled up into one, invited us to their house for a fish fry.  This is the 2nd time since we're been in NC that we're received this specific invitation.  They are so fun to be with and honestly the food was to die for - and I almost did because I ate so much.  We just feel so happy and blessed to have them as friends and that it's worked out for us to be living here in Albertson.  

Dwight, Carolyn Jean, Linda

Friday was a delightful day of service for me.  Susan has been fighting something and was a good day for her to get some needed rest.  I went to the home of Steve and Sheila and helped them make ground meat out of several deer they and their friends had harvested this past season.  They had dressed them and put them in the freezer.  I've never done anything like that before.  It was actually an amazing learning experience.  By the end of the day we think that we had ground nearly 400 lbs of meat working from about 9 am to nearly 5 pm.  It was a very satisfied tired when I went to bed Friday night!

Saturday we went to the stake center in Goldsboro to watch Aarayah and the Albertson/Mt Olive/Woodington girls play basketball.  Her whole family was there, including an uncle and aunt that we'd never met before.  They lost, but was fun to watch.  She has learned so much this season! Afternoon we headed to Warsaw to see the LaFortune family and taught Wendy about the restoration and had a great visit.  They were cooking something that smelled awfully good and had to check it out.  It was a heavenly oven baked pasta casserole.  They invited us to stay for dinner, but we had to go :(

Today was another busy Sunday, but we finally got to go to church in Woodington again after nearly a month going to Mt Olive.  Linda made us dinner at Kari's house (amazing as usual)  Kari made snicker brownies.  The 1st bit was wonderful, the 2nd bit was sinful I'm sure!!  Afterwards I went to Mt Olive and my old buddy, Chester Wiggins (Elder's Quorum President, Mt Olive) became my companion as we went to teach Jovenel and Jean about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then went to see the LaFortunes again to discuss some needs they have.

There are nearly 8 billion people living on this planet, each one of them a child of God.  During our lives we only get to know and share this earthly adventure with relatively few.  Our families, close friends, and people we work with or go to church with or neighbors in our community all become so very important to our existence. Since so much of the eternities depend on the things we're able to learn and who we're able to become in this life, those people have a magnified eternal importance!  It's those people that we have a chance to influence or to be influenced by.  It's those people that help us learn to love, serve, work and grow.  Thanks to Jesus Christ and God's plan for us, those family and extended family/friend relationships can last forever.  We're so thankful for our community of family, friends and neighbors.  Your support, love, prayers and friendship mean more to us than we know how to express.  We love you!

Week 33

On Monday we emptied our boxes at our new home and tried to get things organized. We had a space that was crying for a house plant, so we ran "to town" (that's what we do now when we have to go to any big stores) and bought a new addition to our home. We won't be able to take it home with us to Utah, so I hope someone is up for adopting it... that is if we can keep it alive. :)

Dwight in his new habitat

Tuesday we had one visit right after another all afternoon. The highlight was seeing Claire. We also met a new friend that we'll have to tell you about in person one day. Let's just say he was a very interesting character. We didn't have time to go home for dinner so we HAD to go to Pizza Plus owned and operated by a family from the Albertson Ward. We both had the best Philly Cheesesteak we've ever had (and I've had one at the supposed best places in Philadelphia)!

On the night of February 13th, Dwight said, "I didn't get the Valentine stuff and it's too late to go to Walmart!" I told him not to worry about it. He said, "But it's tradition. I do it every year!" You may be asking what is tradition? What does he do every year? For as long as I can remember, on Valentine's Day morning I find on the kitchen table 3 red roses, a balloon, a handmade card, and sugar cookies with frosting from Walmart. Any of our girls that are home get a carnation, a balloon, a handmade card, and sugar cookies. On Valentine's Day, I came out to the kitchen and saw this:

He had traipsed through the woods and found a pine cone and a magnolia branch (and made sure they were spider-free). Then he walked to R-Mart and got treats. And, of course, he made a card! This made me smile all day long... actually it's made me smile all week!

Then when we got home from our meetings that afternoon, we found this sitting on our outside steps:

Our landlady and friend, Sandra, left them for us and said, "Happy Valentine's Day and welcome to Albertson!" I haven't rented many places, but I don't think landlords usually give you treats and flowers!

That night we went to the viewing of our brother-in-law's (Donald) brother, Woodrow. Then Thursday we went to the funeral and graveside. Linda and Donald came from California to be here. They are staying for about three weeks. Woodrow is Maeci's (a sweet young girl we have been teaching) grandpa. It was good to get to know all of the family better and see friends we haven't talked to in years. Losing loved ones makes me so grateful to know about the Plan of Salvation and that we can see our families again.

On Friday we went to Raleigh for Clara's concert. She sings with the Raleigh Youth Choir. They did a fabulous job. We also celebrated Jacob's birthday.

Clara in the middle in the purple

Saturday morning was the Albertson Fox Hunt. It's been held in Albertson for 80ish years. It's a fundraiser for the Volunteer Fire Department, the Ruitan Club, and the Library. They cooked several pigs and tons of chickens and made a huge pot of fish stew. Linda and Donald went with us... I wish I had taken a picture.

Sandra dishing fish stew

Saturday night Dwight and I spoke in Stake Conference. I stressed about it all week because we were so busy, but that kind of thing always seems to work out as long as you keep praying and put all you can into it, then Heavenly help takes the lead.

After conference. Do we look relieved?

We, I should say Dwight, taught a few French missionary discussions this week. I just nodded a lot and occasionally said something that got translated. We have one brother that has a baptism date, another that says he knows the Book of Mormon is true, and another who is just starting the lessons. And just now we got another Haitian referral. It feels like something big is happening in the Haitian community here.

On the way home from conference today, we noticed wild daffodils had popped up along the side of the road in several places and some trees were blossoming. That kind of thing doesn't happen in Utah in the middle of February.

In my talk on Saturday, I used a talk given by Elder Holland (one of the Twelve Apostles) from April 2018. I love this quote, "...may we labor side by side with the Lord of the vineyard, giving the God and Father of us all a helping hand with His staggering task of answering prayers, providing comfort, drying tears, and strengthening feeble knees. If we will do that, we will be more like the true disciples of Christ we are meant to be." When we care for each other we are working side by side with Jesus Christ to help our Heavenly Father care for His children.

We love you all!

Sister and Elder Potter

Week 32 - Dwight

 

Albertson, North Carolina really is the center of the universe!!  In the picture above, taken in Provo Utah while we were in training at the Missionary Training Center (MTC), you may have thought that we were pointing to just North Carolina randomly, or to Raleigh since it's the NC RALEIGH Mission, but in reality, my finger is sitting right on the most amazing of places - ALBERTSON!

We got moved this week into our new home in downtown Albertson, finally!  Elder and Sister Everett from the mission brought a truck and trailer on Thursday afternoon and our young friends from Kinston (missionaries) came and we loaded up and headed to Albertson.  Now, we just have to get everything organized.

Albertson has everything, and we are right in the center of it all and within walking distance!  You have the Albertson Walmart (3-minute walk), Albertson Municipal Library (2-minute walk), R-Mart (Convenience store, hardware store and grill - 3 minute walk),  Albertson Volunteer Fire Department (2.5-minute walk), United States Postal Service (1-minute walk), Community Building (.96 minute walk), Albertson Missionary Baptist Church (4-minute walk) and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (20-minute walk).  Lastly, Potter Homestead where I grew up (19.75-minute walk).  Ain't it great!  My dad, grandparents, great-grandparents and great great-grandparents lived and are buried 2.5 miles away.  I really am home y'all!

Albertson Walmart

Albertson Community Building

My dad worked here 25+ years

Albertson VFD

Albertson Missionary Baptist Church

World-Class Municipal Water

Our New Home

Albertson Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Bishop Young - Albertson Ward LDS

We ran into Bishop Young while we did our 3 1/2 minute tour of Albertson.  Such a great guy!

We were a bit limited this week because Susan was on and off and on again sick.  Also, we spent most of the week getting ready to move.  On Monday we did get to spend some time with Gregory talking about the blessings of the temple.  On Tuesday night Bishop Young and I went to see Mark to see if he can help the ward get a couple of pigs for a fundraiser for the youth.  Had a great visit.  While we were there, Mark's sister Tammy came in and it was so good to see her!  It's been probably 35+ years.  Was so good to visit.  On Wednesday we had a Zone Conference with 4 different Zones in the Mission and President and Sister Stevens (mission leaders).  Was a great spiritual meeting.

Goldsboro Zone less Sister Potter (sick)

Thursday we moved.  While we were moving in, an old friend, Kemp, I haven't seen in 45+ years, stopped by and said hello.  Wow! Then on Friday I got the chance to go help Denise move a bunch of furniture into her new home in New Bern, along with her son and daughter-in-law.  Spent the rest of the day Friday and Saturday trying to get our new home organized.  Still a bit to do, but it's coming.

Today we went to Mt Olive again.  Our Haitian friends were there, including Evens, Vaguens, Marie-Guetty, Jean-Claude and a new friend Wendy.  Also 3 children came.  We discussed the lesson "The Gospel of Jesus Christ," including the divine mission of Jesus, faith in Christ, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  Manon, who is originally from French speaking Canada, helped with the lesson.  We really need someone that speaks Creole, but French will do until we find someone that can help.  I always feel the Holy Ghost when we teach these wonderful folks.

It feels really amazing to actually be living here at Albertson and to really be home!  Thanks to the Willie and Jean Rouse family for providing this opportunity to live in their childhood home!  This has been the case since we came on our mission, but even more so now, memories continue to flood my heart and mind.  No matter where I live, this place will always have a special place in my heart.  So glad to be here at this moment!  I think also of our heavenly home.  We left Heavenly Father's presence to come to earth and experience all that life has for us to learn.  I'm sure the feelings I'm having now will be even stronger when we return to that home!  That opportunity comes only because of Jesus Christ.  We love him and we love you all!

Week 31

 

This week Dwight had to do several things alone as I was sick for several days. He was able to do some unusual types of service while I stayed at home to rest. We did get to do some visiting and lessons together; and we had a delicious dinner at the Ward's house early in the week. We also went to a pizza place in Mt. Olive (home of Mt. Olive Pickles), and look what was on top of the buffet! :)

Giant Pickle at Pizza Village in Mt. Olive

Here's an example of one of the unusual service activities Dwight did while I was at home "feeling puny" (quote from my dad). One of our friends just had surgery and is having a hard time getting around. He needed mini blinds, so Dwight went shopping for him. Shopping is more in my comfort zone than his, so it was a true act of service... going to different stores and comparing prices, etc. 

All week, every time Dwight left to go do something, I would say, "Take a picture of anything you see that should go in the blog." I have to apologize for the lack of pictures and laugh at the ones he did take:

mini blind shopping :)

Tractor Caution Hwy 70
between Kinston and Goldsboro

I regularly comment about this tractor caution sign. It's on a major highway where I've never seen a tractor. However, there are tractors all over on the back roads with no warning signs. On the way home from District Council meeting, I guess Dwight was missing me, so he slowed down and took a picture. :) He's so thoughtful!

We were able to spend some time with the Faison kids this week. I told them to make a silly face. Everyone say cheese! 

This is going to be our new mailbox in Albertson. There is a story here. You all know we're BYU fans. What are we doing with an ECU mailbox cover? One of Dwight's friends asked him if he had any relatives that went to ECU. Dwight told him he had two sisters in law that graduated from there. His friend said his niece graduated from there. Then he said he had an ECU mailbox cover for Dwight to celebrate our families. So Sheila and Tami this box is for you! 

This is the apartment we are moving out of this week (at least mostly). One arrow is pointing to our front door, the other to our truck (you know the one that travels 4000 miles a month).

Today Dwight went to Mt. Olive Ward by himself. He translated for the Haitian members and investigators. Many members of the class during second hour bore their testimony. Dwight said the Spirit was strong. Since I wasn't there, he had two Haitian brothers (who are returning members) go with him to two different appointments to teach French-speaking investigators. The brothers shared their testimonies and everyone felt the Spirit.

This evening we had a zoom meeting for prospective senior missionaries in the entire mission. About 150 seniors attended. Hopefully, many of them will want to serve and have the kind of wonderful experiences we are having.

I know our Heavenly Father loves us. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to succeed. I love this quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." We are never alone. We have our friends. We have our families. Most importantly we have our loving Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ.

We love you all!

Sister and Elder Potter

Week 30 - Dwight

We talked to our dear sister-in-law Sheila a few days ago and she confirmed something that I was wondering.  "Dwight, your southern accent is getting really thick again!" - or something to that effect.  Language, speech, words, etc., it's one of the major ways we communicate and interact with each other.  It's hard enough to get it right when everyone speaks the same native language (I suppose I'd call mine Southeastern United States English  - backwoods vs city talk), but when a southern boy that hasn't really spoken French for 45 years is trying to communicate deep religious theology to Haitians that are native Creole speakers, but speak French as a 2nd language pretty well, then you're just asking for trouble!  We had 8 Haitians at church today, including 5 adults and 3 children.  Let's just say that my translation of sacrament meeting was lacking a little something - except for the sacrament prayers, because I could read those!  Good thing these are very understanding Haitians.  And, they are quickly becoming friends!  Three of the adults are members of the Church and are trying to become more active.   We're teaching the other two along with several others.  We met with Marie Guetty (member) and her husband Jean-Claude (non-member) on Thursday this week and set a date in February for him  to be baptized.  He seems excited!  Since the members haven't been to church in a long time and the others are learning, we are, for the time being, teaching missionary discussion during the 2nd hour.  Today we finished Our Loving Heavenly Father's Plan of Salvation.

Early in the week it seemed like every appointment we had was canceled for one reason or another. We did get a chance to have a video chat with Kyle and Anna on Monday night:)  The kids are bigger every time we see them :(  

We were able to go to the church Tuesday with Aarayah Faison, along with her brother and cousin, and put Coach Dwight to work again teaching some basketball skills. Wednesday was a pretty busy day with our usual Wednesday morning District Council Meeting, now being held in Mt Olive.  Later in the afternoon we headed to Raleigh (Apex) because all the senior missionaries had been invited to dinner at President and Sister Stevens' home (mission leaders).  We had a great meal and enjoyed visiting with all the other senior folks.  Afterwards we went to see Jacob and Anna and the grandkids before heading back home to Kinston.

Nana teaches Clara to crochet

Thursday started with my going with the young elders in Kinston to visit a man that was a media referral.  We knocked on the door, but no one, we thought, was home.  As I drove to the back to turn around, we found him.  This man, Victor, had a fascinating story.  He was in prison for 30 years and was now out for a few and trying to change his life.  He had significant troubles, including financial difficulties.  In order to make certain that he knew we were not the ones to talk to about financial aide, we told him that the aide we offer is spiritual aide and quoted Peter in Acts 3:6 "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee."  Peter then healed the man he was talking to.  Victor still wanted to talk to us and it went well - we'll see where it goes.

Then, we headed to Snow Hill (right by Hookerton) to see our friend JD in the rehab center.  We stayed just a minute because he was having of all things, rehab treatments.  Scooted off to Mt Olive to see Alex.  The Relief Society president, Susan Hudson, met us there and we taught him some of the Plan of Salvation to help him prepare for the temple.  Afterwards we went to talk to Jean-Claude and Marie Guetty.

Friday we headed to Greenville to see our friend Bernard that had foot surgery.  He seemed to be doing well.  While we were there, one of his nurses came in and I could tell from her accent that she was not a native born American.  Her name was Mary, and she's from Kenya and has only been here for a couple of months.  She has a 12-year-old daughter with her and her husband and two other children are back in Kenya.  We talked to her about our desire to visit Kenya someday and just had a very lovely visit.  She gave us her phone number and we hope to visit her soon to share a message about Jesus Christ and get to know her better.  That night we visited the Huggins in the Woodington area and had a great discussion about the Kingdons of Glory and Thinking Celestial.

Saturday morning was big basketball game day at the stake center in Goldsboro.  The whole Faison clan was there as Albertson/Mt Olive/Woodington combined girls team took on Smithfield.  Aarayah, in her first ever basketball game, scored 4 points and pull down 5 rebounds!  We were so proud of her!

We're a little torn on Sundays because we want to be with the people we love in Woodington, but there's a need right now for us to be in Mt Olive every week so I can translate and teach our Haitian friends.  We hated that we missed seeing the Faisons and the Wards with Claire, along with everyone else in Woodington.  But, we really enjoyed being with and seeing everyone in Mt Olive.  We had to postpone teaching Maeci until this afternoon.  We had a great discussion with this beautiful family on Becoming Lifelong Members of the Church.  Ten people were present at the discussion and over half of us had tear-filled eyes because the Spirit was so strong.

Trying to translate sacrament meeting into French is a difficult and tiring task for me.  I hope those listening get something out of the meeting.  One thing that I'm coming to understand better and better is that love transcends all languages.  Susan can't speak a lick of French, but she shows and feels love for and from these new friends.  Also, the Holy Ghost breaks language difficulty and barriers and is able to speak to the heart when words alone fail.  We're so grateful for the knowledge we have, that the Holy Ghost bears witness to us, that God lives, we are His children and Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son!  We love Him and we love you.

Just because today's sunset was so beautiful!

Week 29

 

Week 29 finds us spending a lot of time in our truck (pictured above) like always. We drive an average of 4,000 miles a month. This week we have been to Albertson, Mt. Olive, Goldsboro, and Deep Run multiple times. We've also been to Raleigh, Snow Hill, New Bern, Trenton, Hookerton, and of course, Kinston (and through lots of little towns and crossroads on the way).

Ping Pong after lesson with Claire

We had two friends in the hospital this week, so we were regulars there. We've been going on member visits and met a wonderful new friend on Tuesday. Sister Stroud recently lost her husband. She had lots of stories to share with us. She and her husband served two missions together. I look forward to visiting her again. We taught at least 3 lessons in English this week... the rest were in French. Dwight is doing a great job. My testimony has to be translated, but I can feel the Spirit as we discuss the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Wednesday was District Council. Then later we took the Albertson Hermanas to the temple, so they could be with Martin (a new member) for his first visit to the temple. It was an amazing evening. As you can see, Martin had lots of people travel to Raleigh to support him. 

We got to Raleigh early, so we took the Hermanas to meet Jake, Anna, and their kids and Elayna. It was so much fun, and I cannot believe I didn't take any pictures. Just imagine two sister missionaries with 4 adorable kids... it was crazy with cuteness. 

Alyssa wasn't at Jake's house because she was picking up this kitten as a surprise for Elayna. Here she is the next day reading "Penguin" the cat a story. I can't wait for Elayna to introduce us to her new pet.

At Lovick's Cafe in Kinston

At Morris Barbeque in Hookerton

Dwight, Susan, Elder Clifford, Elder Bates, Jim

We asked the young missionaries in Kinston (one of whom used to be our District leader, Elder Clifford, in Goldsboro) if they could help Dwight give a blessing to one of our friends in the hospital. They were out of town at a meeting. They gave us a name of someone in the area... Jim Walker. Dwight has known him forever, and I have known their family for half of forever. Since then Jim has taken us to lunch twice. Once with the young missionaries from Kinston.

We finally got to meet Lorie Ann's husband, Kim. We look forward to hanging out with them some more. They live in Greenville, but Lorie Ann's dad is in the Woodington Ward. 

Saturday we took the Faison kids to the gym at the church to help Aariyah learn some basics in basketball. She just turned 12 so she gets to play on the young women's team. On Saturday she went from knowing nothing to making almost every shot she took with pretty good form. She probably got sick of hearing Dwight say, "Shot with one hand, do it again." They did lots of drills and promised to practice in their yard.

We always hear that "practice makes perfect." That sentiment applies to so many things. It even applies to something like listening to the Spirit. The more I've listened to the Spirit in my life, the easier it has been to recognize the Spirit. Also the more I've listen, the more the Spirit speaks to me. I may never be "perfect" in listening, but practicing listening to the Spirit helps me to become more like the person my Heavenly Father wants me to become. Aariyah listened to Coach Dwight and got better at basketball. I can think of no better life coach than the Holy Ghost. As we follow promptings we will be doing God's will.  

"And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will." Words of Mormon 1:7

We love you all!

Sister and Elder Potter