DJ, Kim, & Kolter

One of the hardest things about being away from family is when new babies are born. Kolter was the first grandchild not seen within the first 24 hours of life on this earth. Damian & Kim knew that a visit to introduce him to us would definitely be appreciated so they brought him out for a visit. It was such a delight and Kolter, Grandma, and Grandpa had a great time getting to know each other. As with Alease, Mike and Nancy, we visited the Temple, Myrtle Beach, and members. One of the highlights was taking them to church so more could meet them, and having a baby in church is a real treat here. He made his presence known by letting out a couple of real loud burps. Parents turned a little red, but members loved it! The only thing that would have made it perfect would to have had Lexi, Parker, & Taegen as well, but understood the $ end of it. They seemed to enjoy staying with cousins, though. Historical places to visit are a little scarce within our branch as most of them are just a marker so they were limited on that part but we had a great time doing what we did. We are so glad they came!

The Temple was closed but made a
beautiful background and we always
like to share it with those who
come.

Grandpa enjoyed his moments with Kolter. Feeding
a baby is always a relaxing and precious time.

Kolter with Sister McCray. He enjoyed meeting the
members and they loved him!

This is one of my favorite trees especially as the petals
fall making a beautiful pink carpet with the stone bench
beneath. I pictured our granddaughters sitting there &
in Kim's blog she mentioned "she had to do" since the
others weren't available. However, I think this
with her & Kolter is perfect!

Having this picture taken with Grandma & Grandpa
was a stopper! There were those who stopped so they
wouldn't interrupt the picture taking, but it was
interesting to see those who had plenty of room between
the camera & the buildings to keep going, but stopped to
 watch instead! It was all because he was so cute!

Kolter was very happy to be here! We got lots of smiles!

Daddy & Kolter enjoying the peace the ocean can
give you.

Damian, Kim & Kolter marking their
visit - Too bad it got washed away!

Grandma & Kolter had many wonderful conversations.
He has such a wonderful spirit! Thanks, Kim for
catching this moment!

Mike & Nancy

Our branch goes to the North Carolina border. We can't
go over there but Mike & Nancy could.

My cousin Nancy, and her husband, Mike, spent spud harvest with us. The weather was perfect while they were here. They were able to participate in our District Development Meeting and also a Senior Missionary get together with President and Sister Holm at the mission home. It was interesting that they were seated in a different place than us for the dinner and it was if they belonged there. We also attended the temple, so it was a very uplifting time here. Visits and dinners with members of our branch and a trip to the beach, of course, was part of our itinery. They blended in very well and we think it was a great opportunity for them to get a taste of missionary life and we think they will be naturals being proselyting missionaries. The members loved them as they did Alease. Bro. Brayboy was very grateful to Mike as he played a detective and found the family who introduced him to the church, who he will be eternally grateful. Through his efforts, Bro.Crane called Bro. Brayboy and what a phone reunion after over 30 years! It was a wonderful time and we love sharing our mission with family. Just wish we could pick up the branch and take them home with us. Mike & Nancy are ready to come back with us to visit.

Nancy pickin' okra. We're going to try
growing it in Idaho. The blossoms
are large and gorgeous.

Nancy & Sister Lovell pickin' cotton. It was in full bloom.

Mike & Nancy on the pier at Myrtle Beach

Mike on Bro. Brayboy's Harley - one of the
guys favorite things to see.

Mike & Nancy with Sister Jackson. She is 93 (94 on Dec. 24)

Alease

Alease with Bro. Brayboy

Our day at the Temple

At the beach - Yes it was windy!
And she was the only one who got to get
in the water.

Enjoying her seafood casserole. I shared my shrimp & grits
with her. It was delicious!

Our guide in Charleston. This is how he guided
the mules most of the time.

On Sept. 1 my sister-in-law, Alease Guymon, came to visit us for a week. (For those who don't know her, she is the wife of my brother, DelRoy who passed away shortly after we left).  It was wonderful having her here.  It gave us our time to grieve together along with her being able to experience mission life, including the middle of night phone calls. She witnessed the poverty, the struggles, and the small miracles we are so involved in.  She was able to meet the "famous" Bro. Brayboy, the one we met at the time we would've been on the plane to attend DelRoy's funeral.  He was excited to meet her and continues to ask about her. Our monthly Temple Trip was while she was here. Along with meeting as many as we could during the time she was here, we took time to go to the beach. The first part of our p-day included a music lesson and being fed a wonderful meal. Since it was our p-day and the young Elders were with us, they got permission to go with us. We had a great time and got them home in time for them to go work for the rest of the evening. We she got to experience the wonderful fire ants, but later discovered she also "enjoyed" poison oak she must've run into at the Weatherford's while we were in the grapes taking pictures. She loved the southern cooking taking pictures of just about everything she ate (and the pork she didn't want to eat such as pig stomach, tails, feet, etc.) The day before we took her to the plane we spent in Charleston. There is a lot of history there as that was where the Civil War started.  A few places were free or little cost but most were very quite expensive.  One plantation charged $25 to get in, then another $14-$18 to take a buggy tour to two different areas.  If you wanted to take the walking self-tour it was still another $7.  We finally decided to have one splurge and take a wagon tour around the city.  It was still $20 each (no extra fees) but we quite enjoyed it. The driver was very talented as he guided the mules down narrow city streets along with the traffic and did most of it talking to us, only glancing at the mules now and then.  He supplied us with historical facts and trivia of the homes and buildings. We also visited the Slave Museum Mart.  This is where the slave auctions took place.  They had stories, pictures, etc. there.  There was a chart showing the average purchase price of a slave according to age at that time along with current value.  All I can say is that we wouldn't be worth much, in fact, they probably couldn't give us away at our current age. It was a great week! (We took so many pictures it was hard to pick which ones to blog.)

Her visit with Sister Stanford and Sister Scott who
regularly feed us great southern cooking as well as
Sister Weatherford.

Hurricane Irene

A beautiful view of before the storm. Actually it
didn't change much more than this.

Sister Weatherford enjoying the storm

Our experience with Hurricane Irene was uneventful as far as wind and rain but it was a wonderful experience in setting up and practicing emergency preparedness. We're grateful for that.  The worst of the rain hit earlier than expected. We had taken a member who was still healing from surgery to a meeting, and when we got home just as we got out of the car (her husband had gone to unlock the house) the clouds opened up so we sat back in the car. Her husband brought out a coat to cover her with then ran back to the car so I walked with her to the house. By the time we got there, I was soaked clear through. Elder Lovell said I looked like I had jumped into a swimming pool with my clothes on. I felt like it, too. The Sister Missionaries were evacuated to Sumter and the Elders were sent to Florence.  We stayed with the Weatherfords. It was a very pleasant evening sitting on the front porch with the trees slightly swaying. It wasn't supposed to hit us until about midnight so at 1:15 a.m. my fire ant bite woke me up so I checked the trees and they were pretty calm.  This morning there were a couple of wind gusts but not much more than most of our Idaho breezes.  Bro. Weatherford checked his rain gauge and it said we got about 2" of rain.  We'll start calling our part of the phone tree to make sure members faired as well as we did.  Thanks for your concern and prayers during this time.

August 14 - Wonderful day!

There are some days that one can mark on their calendar as almost a perfect day. Even though we were not able to be a part of physically, it will always be memorable. To start, it was Brett and Jalin's 13th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, their oldest son, Brandon, received the Aaronic Priesthood, their youngest son, Spencer, was confirmed. Then at the end of the day, Kolter Matthew Lovell (son of Damian and Kim) made his entrance into this mortal life. We are so glad Mom and baby did well. We're looking forward to meeting him in person. We don't have any pictures of the Bingham family events, but we were given permission to put Kolter's picture on our blog so we can do the "grandparent brag" for those of you who may not get it otherwise.

I think he will be loved by his sister and brothers!

Kolter Matthew Lovell - Isn't he a cutie?!!!

Update on Elder Lovell

Two weeks plus since his surgery and he is doing really well. When he had the staples out, Dr. Lee told us how sick he really was.  He read the report (in medical terms) then explained that it meant that his gallbladder was gangreous. He said if we had waited a few more days he would've been in real trouble. Sometimes we look at moments of trial such as his second attack, then realize that it really was a tender mercy as it got him in sooner than planned and was a blessing in the long run. Dr. Lee kept mentioning how sick he was and yet how well the surgery went. We are so grateful for the power of Priesthood blessings and prayers of family and friends. Thanks for your faith.

Just a fun little sidenote - The hospital is made up of many buildings, two are connected by a long corridor. I kept getting my directions mixed up every time I went to the cafeteria and I would end up on the wrong elevator or going to the wrong building. One time Lisa was with me and she was trying to show me which direction I should go but I was sure she was wrong.  We saw a family with a cute toddler in his stroller and he was grinning and waving at us.  I went up to him and said, "Hi" and in the conversation I told him I was lost and asked him if he could tell me which way to go. He just grinned and pointed - the same way Lisa was telling me. The family got a big kick out of it and especially Lisa because he ws right! By little children we will be led.

Mormon Ad and 70+

Our Young Women made a 'Mormon Ad' for Youth Conference. It was a fun experience helping them set up their idea then doing a little editing for the final poster.  Always we are grateful for our talented children (Travis) to help us get through the technical stuff.

Note: After posting, Tianna, my personal editor, noticed that I spelled wisdom wrong. As it turned out, the person who was to recieve these posters did not get ours - so it never made it to Youth Conference. I guess that's good?



Brother Brayboy and Sister Jackson

Sister Beck realizing it was her pictures on the
screen and Sister Woodard trying to play innocent.

For Sister Woodard's  YW project, she wanted to highlight every member of the branch who were 70 years young plus.  We came up with 18. It was a challenge getting pictures of them when they were younger without them knowing about it.  It was also a greater challenge getting the pictures scanned (and some had to have cracks, relfections, etc. edited).  Then again, huge thanks to BJ for giving up some late night hours helping me put the slideshow together with music. It turned out great and they loved it!  Now, whose project was this?  We love helping the members with their activities - they have great ideas - just need a "little" extra help to pull them off.  Being needed is what we call "job security". 







. 

View from the top

 



View from the 10th floor of the McLeod Medical Center
from Elder Lovell's room

  

We've had a great view for the past week, not by choice, but if you have to be in the hospital, the 10th floor is the place to be. Elder Lovell has not felt top notch many days, but on Monday, July 4, he celebrated with a continual, big bang in his abdomen. We finally went to emergency in Dillon where they did a CT scan and found all kinds of yucky things - later to find out not such a big deal as the PA made it sound. He did, however, have a very large gallbladder. They stressed seeing his family doctor immediately! We saw him on Tuesday, the surgeon on Wednesday who scheduled his surgery for the next Tuesday. Thursday he had another major attack so we went to emergency in Florence where Dr. Lee works. They admitted him and surgery was performed on Friday.

Pres. & Sister Holm (our new Mission President)
sent an "Edible Arrangement". Notice Sir Koff-a-Lot (bear)
loaned to us by a friend. He's a great help after surgery.

We have seen many of the Lord's tender mercies in this bump in the road. Because of past surgeries and some test results, Dr. Lee said he would have to do the surgery the old fashioned way and not lathrascopic which means longer hospital stay and recovery time. However, he said he felt there was divine intervention as he didn't need to do the other procedure he thought he would have to do and everything looked good and healthy (except the large gallbladder - indicated it was about the size of a grapefruit) and that he was sure Elder Lovell had been working out because his abs were so firm. ; ) We told him that we were sure of the divine intervention as family and friends not only prayed for Elder Lovell but they also prayed for him. He smiled and very appreciatively said, "Thanks, that's good to know."  He is a wonderful doctor!  On our first visit as he left the room, he said he wish we were the last patient as he would love to stay and just visit with us.  Just after midnight, Tuesday night, he came into the room after working since early that morning, and after telling him he could go home, he stopped at the door, hesitated, then said, "I have really enjoyed having you for a patient."  He took the time to be personable and has made us feel we're not just a patient, but a friend. The hospital staff were very friendly, helpful, and a lot of fun. They were concerned for my comfort as well as his - making sure I had snacks, juice, and towels and soap for the shower. We came home Wednesday morning, and in spite of a few down times, he is really doing quite well.  We realize the recovery will take time, but we have already seen many blessings as the members have been a strength and a support for us.  



A typical southern rain storm looking from a different view
than from the ground.



And the storm passes! Severe lightning storms were reported
in the evening and I hoped to get some pictures then but
They seem to come and go in a
 very short time - it just passed on.






Wedding, Baptism, Cake Auction

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Baptism picture - Elder & Sister Lovell, LaSonya, Jimmy





Jimmy & LaSonya with their cake



 


May 21 was one of those days that we will never forget, when all the challenges, encouragements, discouragements, prayers, late night talks, discussions, etc., are worth every moment spent.  After spending several hours a few days before trying to get a marriage license for Jimmy and Lasonya, she found out that they could get one in Florence for $30 less and they didn't need birth certificates, etc., so we went to Florence and beat the adversary again.  On Saturday we started with a wedding for them (which I thoroughly enjoyed putting together), then Lasonya was baptized, followed by the Young Women having a potluck dinner and cake auction.  It was a wonderful day! We found Lasonya a dress for this important day that was perfect for her, a sister in the branch made (and donated) a beautiful wedding cake, then we decided the potluck was their celebration dinner as well. Elder Lovell had the privilege of baptizing her and when she came out of the water, she looked like an angel. We're looking forward to the day when Jimmy decides to get baptized as well.  Her countenance as well as her voice is softer since her baptism.  In fact, she glows! This step was not easy for her, she had many obstacles to trip her up, but she endured and she endured well. Watching her and Jimmy grow has been a wonderful experience. We love them and enjoy being a part of their lives.



Pres. Harvey auctioning off a half coconut cake - It went for about $50  because Heather (in the blue) & Joyce (end of table) were always bidding against each other. Joyce always won. I made the bread on the table (1of 4) - they sold $21-$26. These two sisters made it so much fun!



Hats

Marion Branch Sisters in their spring hats

Florence Ward Relief Society quite often will invite the Marion Branch sisters to their activity.  To celebrate the anniversary of Relief Society, we were invited and one of the activities was to make a hat out of styrofoam plates and bowls they had painted.  We added a tie out of netting and then some flowers. It was fun to see the creativity of the sisters. We then went into the Relief Society room for a luncheon and program.  What a great time we had! These sisters each have such unique personalities and when we are together, we have a great time laughing and playing off each other's uniqueness.

Bro. Brayboy

Bro. Brayboy and President McConkie


We've been fellowshipping Bro.Brayboy and his family since the first of December.  We have become very close to this family.  Bro. Brayboy has a beautiful testimony and one of his favorite experiences is when he had the opportunity to meet Bruce R. McConkie.  He said when he started to talk, it was like a drum pounding into him. He said he didn't hear what he said, but he could feel the power that radiated from him. We told him that our mission president is Bruce R. McConkie's son. We made arrangements for them to meet at one of our zone conferences in Florence.  It is the first time he has been back inside a church for years. His comment was, "I finally broke the ice."  He has since been to our Stake Conference Saturday evening meeting.  He said that it felt good and right to be there.  We have yet to get him and his family to church on Sunday but we won't give up.  We've taught his wife and children two lessons, but their house is like grand central station so it's kind of hard. We had his two daughters (ages 13 & 11) over to make some cakes, read the Book of Mormon, and they made pull-apart pizza for dinner.  The Elders also came over for dinner, then taught them about having the spirit.  Just as they started to teach, a revival tent in the vacant lot across the street started up.  It's really hard to talk about the soft whisperings of the spirit when you can hear the "enthusiam" from the tent as if it were in our front yard.  The adversary is sure working hard to keep us from teaching them.

Elvis



Sister Weatherford and I putting name labels in their books

And here we meet Elvis

Sister Weatherford is a retired teacher and she loves going back to the school to help with special occasions.  When they had the RIF (Reading is fundamental) program, she asked if I'd like to go with her to help.  It was wa lot of fun.  The theme was Rock and Roll and the librarian found Elvis! She had a video of him playing while the children came in.   After they picked out a book which they got to keep, they came to us so we could put their name in the book, then they had a cupcake walk. This elementary was mostly black. They were so cute and I love their unique names.  I am so impressed at the manners the children here have.  They always answer with "Yes, Ma'am" or "Yes, Sir".  They were also very excited that three  of the children came directly from Africa.



Atlanta Temple open house

The Atlanta Georgia Temple had been renovated and the open house was in April. We thought it would be a great opportunity to take some inactives and investigators to the open house so that they would be able to feel the spirit in a temple and encourage them to set a goal to attend for themselves. In order to go out of our mission boundaries, we have to get permission from our mission president.  He told us he could not give us permission to do so but he would call the authority over him.  A couple of days later he called us and told us that he also could not give us permission so he called one of the apostles.  He was told that it was a great idea and so we went. It was a 6 hour trip one way and we had to do it in one day. That's 12 hours traveling time!  It was a beautiful day and well worth the time.  We had 22 in our group - which included 6 active members working towards going for themselves, 7 less active, and 4 non-members (9 of the 22 were youth).  The experience has had a great impact on everyone and we're so glad we were able to go. Time will tell the end result but it will never  be forgotten.

Elder Lovell leading Bro. Moody who is

 legally  blind. He's really making progress

preparing to go to the temple for himself.

Group picture in front of the temple. (2 missing)

Southern Storms & April Temple Trip

Keith (Left) is deaf mute & did his first
baptisms for the dead. He loved it.
Sister Woodard (3rd from left) was happy
to start temple work again for her family.

We didn't realize how much danger we were in until we started receiving phone calls from home to make sure we were okay.  We had heard that there were chances of severe weather for Saturday afternoon so thought it was still okay to attend a session at the temple in the morning.  So, we loaded up our car early and went to Columbia.  After the baptism session, President Harvey said they were headed home because of the oncoming storm.  We asked the sisters who were with us if their faith was strong enough to stay and without hesitation, they wanted to stay. We felt very special because it rained alot while we were in the temple. When we got out it was sunshine. We stopped at Cici's Pizza (pizza buffet) because it would be quick. While we were eating the rain dumped down, but the sun came out again when we were finished. Then it changed -about 20 miles out, it was as if we caught up to the storm. The rain was heavy, lighting and thunder were close, but didn't last too long.  The rest of the trip was light showers until we got close to home and then it came down heavy again.  The rest of the day was mild.  We found out later that a tornado touched down just a couple miles from where some of our members live.  It's very interesting that most severe weather stays on the west side of Highway 95 and we live on the east side.  We were told this evening that there were more than 200 tornadoes in this storm, more than they have had in one storm.  More than 40 people were killed.  Most of the damage was in North Carolina. We feel so blessed!  Our branch is safe, we have not heard of any damage.

Thank you so much for concern for us, for your prayers and your love.  We love all of you.

Temple Trip #3 & 4



Sister Eva Young with her parents and 2 sisters.


Each time we go to the temple the members are taking family names.  This has made our Branch Temple trips very personal and very spiritual.  Sister Eva Young (in the wheelchair) caught the spirit when her sister, Lisa, went back to the temple. This day, she went for the first time. While there she was sealed to her parents, her Dad was sealed to his deceased parents, and his brother and sister were also sealed to his parents completing that family unit.  It was a beautiful day.






Sister Scott is the one in the middle



Our next temple trip was a lot of fun when Sister Scott (90 years young) decided to go with us. While waiting for the sealing session, we visited the baptismal as the Weatherford's grandchildren were there. Sister Scott went with us and while she was sitting there, she was invited to do some proxy confirmations. She was delighted! We had a sealing session full of family names while a couple of sisters did endowments. Others at the temple had just one couple or one child to have sealed and asked if they could join us.  It became so full that we only got half of our names done and President Harvey had a pile of names and only got one done. I have had the privilege of taking one of Elder Lovell's deceased cousin's through all of her ordinances.  Each time I have felt her presence so strong that emotions were very evident (I know, I cry easily anyway). This time I could feel her anxiety with each sister sealed and the sigh when her name wasn't presented. By the time it was her turn, my emotions were on the verge of sobs.  Elder Lovell was the same throughout the sealing of the whole family. The spirit of the temple is really spreading through the branch. More are getting their recommends and others are working towards them.  This will really be a blessing for the branch.

Little miracles

Sister Stanford reading her notes on family names

Elder Lovell & Sister Stanford working on her family history

Sister Scott preparing another delicious meal for us!

There are times when little things happen that later you realize what a big blessing it was.  We've been working many weeks with Sister Stanford helping her do family history on the computer.  Just a little note, she has macular degeneration which limits her ability to read the computer screen. She has been taking classes on a computer program for the blind which enables her seeing abilities.  We have struggled with the PAF program and her e-mail as when we enlarge the screen to 400%, we lose the middle section of the screen.  We purchased a projector which Elder Lovell uses for his Family History Class and she loves it! We go to her home most Thursdays to help her and there are times when we wonder if we just go for the visit and the wonderful food Sister Scott (her mother) cooks for us. I was trying to figure out how to make the monitor brighter on my laptop when I ran across a place to enable a magnifier. I didn't try it out until we got there so it was an adventure trying to figure out how it worked. The discovery of how it worked was amazing and it was so much fun seeing her ability to add names into PAF and read her e-mail without much problem. I visited with her instructor and told him what we discovered, and he was excited to try it so he could teach it. Today  I asked Sister Stanford if she has used the magnifier since then and she said it is wonderful - it has given her a greater opportunity to use her computer!  It really is kind of fun to play with it.



We have another member, Bro. Moody, who has sight problems.  (He's the one who ate Thanksgiving dinner with us) Sister Stanford has been helping us get information and applications so we can assist him in getting the tools to enable him to see more and receive talking books, etc.  This will be especially nice when we can order the audio scriptures, church magazines, etc.

We love our mission!

Another blessing is enjoying the Lord's workmanship in
nature. They tell us we have seen nothing yet! South
Carolina is a beautiful place!

Being senior missionaries serving in a branch is a wonderful experience.  It is filled with hopes, discouragement, spiritual uplifting moments, late night calls, fun, adventure, discovering bugs we have never seen - experiencing their bites, miles and miles, patience, great food, interesting food, friendships, lengthening our stride, feeling old, feeling young, realizing you have limits, pushing those limits, appreciation for family and friends, receiving testimony of the Lord's work in small, simple ways, loving the people, loving the work, finding strengths you didn't know you have, recognizing weaknesses and with the Lord's help, making these weaknesses strong, learning from and working with the young Elders (here they call them the Little Boys), learning to cook all over again, learning a new language with many different dialects, realizing how blessed we are temporally and spiritually, teaching, learning, experiencing a new culture, respecting their culture, listening - they love to talk, watching people grow as they exercise their faith, serving, praying, studying. All this in just a few short months.  When you wonder if you're really doing any good, all it takes is an investigator who is very quiet, standing on the sidewalk as he bares witness of feeling the promptings of the spirit, listing the blessings they have had since they have been involved with the church, with tears in his eyes tell you he loves you, takes your hands and asks you to pray right there, then give you a hug when it's done; watching the look on a member's face when she is able to play her first song on the keyboard; having a sister in a wheelchair thank you for not forgetting her and getting her back to church; taking members to the temple after they've been away for a long time or going for the first time, watching them be sealed to their living parents and to their deceased parents; helping members discover their grandparents; feeling the spirit guide you as you teach.

We send our love to our family and all our friends. Thank you for your support and prayers! Wish you were here! : )

It snowed again!

Elder Lovell checking the snow depth.
 It was 5" deep at that time and still snowing.

We got another snow storm (January 10). Bro. Hill says he doesn't want any more missionaries from Idaho because we bring the snow with us. This has been the coldest and snowiest winter since 1979 we have been told. I'm just hoping that if we bring cold winters, it should make for colder summers as well.  We're not looking forward to 110 degree summer days. The whole state of South Carolina closed all of their state offices for about 3 days. School was out in some places for the whole week. (Latta got 7", Marion got 4")  The funniest closure we saw was on Tuesday. The roads were really pretty dry and we had to check the heat situation for an investigator.  We headed to Burger King  (in Marion) to get them something to eat about 2:30.  They had just closed because of the weather!? Our next effort was down the road a short distance to McDonald's.  You could hardly find a parking place and when you did, you had to wait for a break in the drive through lane to get out. We think some workers just wanted to go home early.