More Apple Butter, Stake Conference, and, best of all, BAPTISMS

Elder and Sister Orton,  October 2014 

In Romney with our friends Julie & Jim on their baptism day - 12 Oct 2014

This has been a BUSY week and we are worn out, but happy.  Just got back from Romney (about 40 miles from Petersburg).  We watched our Winchester Stake Conference broadcast with the little Romney Branch, then had the privilege of participating in the baptismal service of Jim and Julie.  They are the couple Wayne wrote about last week, they are awesome, and we are so happy for them.  We took three of the Petersburg Elders up there with us. Wayne and I both spoke at the baptism, and Elder Farr and Elder Mordecai did the baptizing.  Our mission president came all the way from Baltimore and he did the confirming.  It was very nice.

Elder Farr, Julie, President Richards, Jim, Elder Mordecai

Yes, I have my eyes closed in both pictures, but it's not about me...

Our week started out with a busy preparation day.  I worked very hard at scrubbing the kitchen floor but it doesn't look much better, also cleaned the bathroom and did laundry. We took a little drive to a town called Keyser,  I think it's a little out of our area, but they have a nice Wal-mart, a department store called Peebles, and a Denny's.  We had an excellent steak dinner at Denny's and also made friends with a cute waitress who is a less active member of our church and was very happy to see us.  Monday evening we did a lot of planning and calendaring,  set good goals, and committed to calling and setting up more appointments than usual.  So Tuesday after a morning of District Meeting, we set off on a long visiting route.  We saw our friend Jane (new infection in her foot, very discouraging),  Woneda (bad living conditions and health problems), Joy and Forest - way back in the woods, but so fun to see, and then way out to Connie's - she is doing so well, watched some of Conference and is enjoying the BYU channel on TV since we found it for her on our last visit!  I know it doesn't sound like much, but it took us 7 hours and put 120 miles on the car!

Wednesday morning we helped core and slice apples at the nursing home for their annual apple butter fund raiser. They had a good crew to help, then they steamed the apples, ran them through a strainer, and had them ready for Thursday morning when they cooked them in four big kettles, then bottled the apple butter to sell.  We only helped core for 3 hours Wednesday morning and helped stir the kettles for 3 hours on Thursday morning.  It was fun.  Wednesday afternoon we made more visits, then I worked on genealogy with Becki in the evening. Thursday we went from stirring apple butter at the nursing home in the morning to the Red Cross Blood drive at noon.  After giving blood we rested for an hour, then had our RS president meet us at Kathy S.'s home where we taught a pamphlet lesson and made three more visits.

Friday morning we met with our Ward Mission Leader and the other missionaries here in Petersburg.  Then we drove quite a ways to visit Wayne's friend Al, who has had so many health problems.  His home is really in bad condition, but his ex-wife has come to help out and things seem to be going better.  We tried to make a few more visits but found no one home for those.  We had dinner at Sonja's home in Moorefield with Elder Bronson and Elder Moore.  Sonja is great and lots of fun.  She was just baptized in the spring and is really solid in the Gospel. After dinner and a Mormon Message there, I went to a baby shower.  Saturday we drove to Winchester, Virginia, (about 70 miles) picking up Paul L. in Baker on the way.  The men had priesthood leadership meeting,  I sat in the car and indexed on our laptop, worked on my talk for the baptism, studied for a Relief Society lesson for next week, and just enjoyed the peace and quiet.  At 7 pm we all went to the Adult Meeting for Stake Conference.  It was great.  But we got home pretty late.  Again. Busy week, but very productive, I think.  And a wonderful baptism service today.  We keep stopping in our travels to take pictures because it is so beautiful around here just now.  But we (and our van) need a rest tomorrow. I think Wayne has a few football games recorded to catch up on too.  We will pause to catch our breath, then look forward to another great week.  

"The greatest blessings of general conference come to us after the conference is over. Remember the pattern recorded frequently in scripture: we gather to hear the words of the Lord, and we return to our homes to live them."