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". 







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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!