April

April was a busy, yet fun month for us. Here is a bit of an update!

Here is a picture of us outside Joe Cotten's a really good Barbeque place. I think it is a cute one of us!

We went to the botanical gardens one Saturday, and saw some really pretty flowers and some cool landscapes.

There was a lot of catus. I think it is actually quite attractive.

I forgot that we had saved a piece of wedding cake for us to eat on our first anniversary. We got it out and ate it one night--it was nasty! We didn't really do much to preserve the flavor, though, we just had it wrapped up in foil. It was fun, though!

Another weekend we went to the Gardiner's property in Bastrop. We took our tent (which we hadn't used since we went camping on the beach last summer--it was still sandy! haha) and we camped out. It actually got a little chilly during the night--we had to really snuggle up!


The next day we helped cut down some trees on the property. It was pretty crazy, we had to "help" the trees fall down because they wanted to go the wrong way. I got a little scared that someone would get hurt, but luckily everything worked out just fine!

Here's me with the chainsaw! Chopping up stuff was fun.
Me and flash on another tree that we cut down. She just wanted to climb up as far as she could! It was super cute.

Me loving the bluebonnets and wildflowers on the way back from Bastrop. I made James pull over, haha. I absolutely love wildflowers, I think they are beautiful. Too bad we don't see more of them down here.

Wild & Wonderful West Virginia

Okay, so I know it has already been over a month since we took this trip, but better late than never, right?

Over Spring Break James and I decided to take a trip to visit my mission-the West Virginia Charleston Mission--which includes most of West Virginia and part of Virginia. I came home from serving an 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in August 2007, so it had been a year and a half since I had been there. It had been nearly three years since I had seen some people at the beginning of my mission!

I really wanted to visit to show James all of the places that I lived, and all of the people that I knew and talk about. Serving a mission was such a special experience for me. I learned so much about the gospel of Jesus Christ, about life, and about people. I can honestly say that I saw miracles and became acutely aware of how much our Heavenly Father loves us and how much His hand truly guides us in our lives. So as this place is so special to me, I wanted to go back and visit...and share it with my husband.

We arrived Tuesday, March 17th in Charleston, West Virginia. Flying into the airport in Charleston is an interesting experience because one minute you are staring at hilltops, thinking you have a while before you will touch down, and then out of nowhere you have landed! This is because the airport was made by building on the hilltops and filling in some of the valleys. It's a pretty surreal experience. This is a picture to give you a better idea (I did not take this, I found it online):

Then we picked up our rental car and headed off to see the mission office, and then to head to Virginia. Unfortunately we got stuck with this PT cruiser--never drive in one of these if you don't have to! They are awkward and very uncomfortable.


Here were are on our way to see the mission office! The GPS in our car took us to the wrong location, but we were eventually able to find it! We were only a block away but since it had been so long since I was there it was really confusing. It was cool to see exactly where I spent the first and last days of my mission. Both were very surreal!

Then we headed down to Virginia to visit the last area I served in--Lynchburg, Virginia. This is where I spent the last six months of my mission, and probably keep in touch with people here a little better than in other places. So from Charleston to Lynchburg it was probably about 4 or 5 hours.

This is the state line. The scenery was beautiful along this drive and we really enjoyed just getting to take everything in. The next few pictures are part of the scenery we enjoyed.

We wanted to drive through Bedford, VA on our way to Lynchburg because the National D-Day memorial is there. So we put the info into our GPS and it took us along some of the most windy roads EVER! Even more intense than the usual curviness that you would expect. It was tedious driving (I was the lucky one driving at that point), and I felt a bit carsick, but once we got near the top of this mountain we got to see an awesome view!

Unfortunately when we got to the memorial, it was closed. But we still got to see a little bit of the outside and reflect on the purpose of the memorial.

If you ever watch movies about D-Day--these are the things that were on the beach to prevent tanks from driving on shore.

So that night we finally got in to Lynchburg and we went to the Ansted's house. They were kind enough to let us stay in their home for the two nights while we were there. We stayed up late talking and catching up. It was great to reminisce about all of the awesome times we had at their house and things that happened in the ward while we were there.

The next day, Wednesday, we went to go meet up with Jackie to hang out for the day. This is a fun part of driving on the back roads--you get to see cool stuff like these little tunnels.

So Jackie is a very special person to me. We started teaching Jackie after I had already been in Lynchburg for three or four months. She was a family friend of the Ansted's and wanted to learn about the gospel. She was always eager to learn and knew that she wanted something more in her life. So really, we did not really do too much except make sure that she received the lessons and then Jackie and the Ansteds did the rest. But I feel like she and I had a lot in common, so we had a special bond because of that, and it was really wonderful to see the happiness that the gospel has brought into her life and how she has changed. I hope that we remain life long friends.

We went to go see the Jerry Falwell museum at Liberty University...and then got to visit Jackie's mom. After that we got to go by and see Stevi!!!!

She is really awesome. We met her when Hannah Cole and I were going through the ward list and visiting people that we had never met. Sister Stitt was driving us around and Stevi happened to be home and let us in to talk with her. She was not going to church at that time, but wanted to find out if the Church and the Book of Mormon were really true. She was determined to find out for herself. Again, we really did not do very much except try to bring the Spirit and answer her questions. Stevi made a lot of changes and sacrafices as she followed the guidance of the Lord...and I am so proud of her!!! It has truly been an amazing blessing to know her and be able to see how much she has done and overcome.

We ate lunch at "Five Guys" in Lynchburg that day. Sooooooo good! After that Jackie drove us around and we visited some more people. We got to see the Stitts, the Corbetts, and then swing by the church and see the Budges. They are really cool.

Then later we got to see Bishop Hansen and his family. They are so neat. I know that a lot of the miracles that happened in Lynchburg were because of his leadership and compassion. I learned a lot from him and from this ward. We wanted to go see many more people, but unfortunately our trip was short so there simply wasn't enough time. But I love all of the people that I knew there and still miss them.

Later that night, we had dinner at the Ansteds, with Jackie over and Jeremy and his girlfriend Serena. Jeremy is also someone special that I was able to teach in Lynchburg. The last month that I was there is when we met and taught Jeremy. It was amazing to see the change of heart that he had, and how WILLING he was to listen to the spirit. He went from believing that no church on the earth was correct to entering the waters of baptism (a week or two after I was home) in a little over a month's time. Erin Quinton and I really drew close during that time because we were continually amazed at how directly the Lord inspired us to know what to say and do--and I simply cannot put into words how dear the memory of teaching these three individuals is to me. This is something that I will remember forever. I honestly feel like it wasn't until that last month until I really "got" was missionary work was all about. I have a strong testimony that the Lord guides each of us in our lives and I know that he places all of us in that place at that time so that we could bless each other's lives.

Thursday we hit the road. We were sad to leave Lynchburg, but were so happy to see everyone and excited to see the rest of where I served, in West Virginia. Instead of taking a super curvy road through the middle of West Virginia to get from Lynchburg to Morgantown, we took all highways, which took us north through Virginia and into Maryland, and then we drove west through Maryland and into West Virginia. It was a cool road trip! Here are some of the things we saw:

Pretty trees...I was sad that we missed so many of the BEAUTIFUL blooming flowers, trees, and other plants because they had not bloomed yet.

More curvy roads! The drive from Lynchburg towards Buena Vista & Natural Bridge is one of the craziest drives ever! There are lot of 90 degree turns, continuosly for several miles.

We stopped in the Natural Bridge gift shop. James wanted to try on some civil war outfits. :)

Leaving Virginia and entering Maryland---sooooo pretty! This is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on! Lots of cute little farms. Our overall drive from Lynchburg to Morgantown, WV was around six hours, but we didn't really mind at all!

I have now been to Maryland!

Cool rock structure we saw on our drive.

Maryland had some really pretty towns. I love the way the buildings and towns look in this part of the country. So historic looking, and the architecture is beautiful.

Back in West Virginia, now!

When we got to Morgantown, we decided to stay in a hotel for the night. I had always seen this hotel driving through downtown, so I thought we should just go for it. This is that Waterfront Place hotel. It was really nice, and they even had a heated pool and hot tub which we took full advantage of!

We had a great view from our room of the river below. Beautiful!

Later that night we went to see Ciara Henry, who was a young lady we taught. She was nine and wanted to get baptised, so we taught her the lessons. It's amazing to see how much she has grown in the past two years, and how her and her father have a special bond and have been able to share their spiritual experiences together. I am so mad at myself because I kept forgetting to take pictures with the people I visited! Oh well, at least we got to have a great time catching up.

I took James out to eat for breakfast at Bob Evan's in Morgantown Friday morning. mmmm. We used to go there on p-days sometimes for breakfast.

WVU football stadium in Morgantown, near Ruby hospital. I have a LOT of memories at the hospital. It seems like we went there nearly every week to visit someone in the ward who was sick or someone from a nearby ward who was hospitalized. And, I remember being in this hospital for several days when my companion, Aimee Christensen, had to get her appendix out! It happend all of a sudden, and luckily she was just fine, but I found out that sleeping in the hospital is not fun.

Next I drove James around and showed him my old apartment and the Red Cross next door, where we volunteered every week helping people give blood. I have a lot of memories there too, a lot of teaching opportunities and met some great people. Unfortunately I also saw several people pass out! One of those was another missionary...our zone leader...we convinced him to come give blood and he had a bad reaction! Oops!

View of West Virginia University campus/downtown.

Part of downtown Morgantown. We would go here to check our email in the library each week.

This is a really awesome bridge over cheat lake in Morgantown...on our way to see Dana! We had a great visit with her and her doggies. :)

A picture of the back roads in Morgantown. I can't believe how much I remembered my way around, even though I had not been there in two years! I was in this area for nine months, so I think that helped me to overcome my directionally challenged tendencies, at least in part.

Next we drove to Fairmont, which is only 20-30 minutes from Morgantown. It was on the way back to Charleston, where we were going to fly out of the next morning.

Million dollar bridge in Fairmont. This was my first area and where I spent the first three months as a brand new missionary. Thankfully the ward members were very kind and supportive, because this was a whole new experience for me. I was glad to get "broken in" here with a great trainer-Emily Terry (now Smith). So much of what I learned came from her, and she made me get used to knocking on a LOT of doors. It was scary at the time, but I became very grateful because it helped me to overcome the fear of talking to complete strangers about the gospel. I know that the Lord placed us together for specific reasons. :)

This is the front of our missionary apartment...our entrance was in the back. We had a lot of interesting experiences here and had some crazy neighbors. But it was fun and all a part of the experience.

To get to our apartment we parked here in the back and went up the stairs. We had a W/D in the basement.

We tried to go by Dairy Creme Corner (pepperoni rolls and huge ice cream cones) but it wasn't open yet! Me and Emily Terry (now Smith) would go here from time to time after having a rough day to get ice cream! Sometimes we would just look at each other and say, "Dairy Creme Corner!"

We got to see the Biddles! They are so cute. They showed us their book with pictures and wedding announcements of all the missionaries they have ever known. They are not members of our church, but they treated us as if they were. They felt almost like grandparents!

We went to Colasessano's to get some famous pepperoni rolls. They are a Fairmont & West Virginia tradition. Basically it is a roll with sticks of pepperoni, chili, green peppers, and cheese. YUM! This was James' first taste.

I don't think grease ever tasted so good.

We got lost on our way to the Lindsey's...our GPS got confused (as it seemed to do a lot on our trip), and took us down an EXTREMELY narrow and curvy road. I got a little nervous but it was also fun. We also got to catch up with the Prestons and the Duckworths. I was so glad to get to see a lot of the church members who taught me a lot!

Soo...I know this was a long post (which is probably why it took me so long to get around to it), but I had to do this trip justice by adding detailed descriptions. I always want to remember this because I don't know when I'll ever be able to go back again. But all in all, it was an amazing trip.

I have now caught the travel bug--it seems that nearly every day now I think about packing my bags and leaving to visit somewhere new and different. We will see where we end up next (who knows when, though--traveling is expensive!).