Monday, October 27, 2008

Terror on the Teche

The past week was good. Tuesday was insane! The day started out at the dentist, where the doctor declared my teeth good. Yeah!! Then, I ran to work, where I had 30 minutes to set up and prepare for my computer class. I was teaching the patrons how to set up and manage an email account; however, half of the computers didn't have internet connection! We muddle through…I had to work late, since I went in late, and I ran home in time to turn around and go to dinner with a friend. We ate at Sicily's Italian Buffet in Broussard and I loved it! Wednesday, I did some volunteer work (doing some one-on-one computer tutoring). It was nice; I've wanted to do something for a while.

I had a fun-filled Saturday. First, I went to Washington with the Davis'. We took a pretty little drive north to get there. Washington was settled in 1720 and they have an old brick school where antique dealers come and sell their things. It's aptly named The Old School Antique Mall. The antiques were neat, but I was more excited to see the building itself. We started in the gym and they still have the old wooden bleachers and the stage. We spent an hour wondering around there (it's huge!). They had old antique furniture, toys, books, etc. I actually found the movie "A Patch of Blue"-It looked brand new and it was only $2! I love that movie and I should have bought it, but I didn't. We finally went in the actual school and it is amazing! (I love the structure of old buildings). Its 2 stories tall, with one long hallway on each floor and a set of staircases at both ends of the building. Completed with dark wood floors and high ceilings, with little ventilation windows above each of the classroom doors, it felt like what a school should feel like...Does that make sense to anyone? I snuck one picture from the inside and then took a couple outside. New Iberia has an old school just like Washington's, only bigger, on Center Street. Our's has been converted into apartments.



Saturday night I volunteered to help with Terror on the Teche. The library put it on, along with Shadows on the Teche (the old antebellum house on Main St.). It was held outside and the guests took a graveled path, lit by candles, through the graveyard of the family that lived in the plantation (with the cement coffins, or what ever you call the graves above ground) past skeletons and spiders hanging from the moss covered oak trees, to get to their seats. I saw vampires and witches, fairies and princesses, clowns and singers, and 3 batmans emerge out of the cemetery. It was truly a site to see! We had a storyteller, named Sylvia Davis, come. She told stories that have been pasted down in her family. I had the easy job of crowd control (we had about 200 people come). And as soon as we got people situated, I got to go sit and listen to the stories. Sylvia was up on a little stage and we had a spotlight shinning on her from the ground. As she moved around, weaving her tales of terror, it was cool to watch her shadow dance up and down on the Shadows on the Teche, which was directly behind her…very fitting for the occasion. Finally, we handed out little bags of candy to the children as they left.

Last, been not least, I finally got a calling at church. Last week, they asked me to fill in at Nursery and I didn't have a clue what I was doing! I barely survived the 2 hours and then the Branch President asked to speak with me. I was fervently hoping I wasn't going to be called to Nursery (I didn't think I could handle that every week!). Well, I got lucky. Yesterday, I was sustained as the secretary in the Primary. This will be a totally new experience for me. I haven't been to Primary since I was 11 years old. I didn't even remember how the classes went! And I'm jumping right in because for the next 3 weeks we're practicing for the Primary Program. I didn't know half the songs they are singing, so I'm going to have to find a book and start memorizing. Basically, I'll be in charge of taking roll (which means I need to hurry and learn all the kids' names, we only have 16, so we don't have separate rolls for the teachers. We also don't have a junior and a senior primary, but combined), keeping everything organized and filling in when we don't have a teacher, ect. I'm excited; it’s definitely a new challenge!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Going to the Temple

Hey everyone!

Life is busy, but good. I've been teaching a computer class at the library every Tues. It's going well, but let's just say that I wasn't born to teach (I do much better with individual instruction)! This last week I also did Family Movie Night and showed "The Incredibles." That was fun. Then, Saturday, I finally got to go the the Baton Rouge Temple to do Baptisms for the Dead. It's a small temple and you have to provide your own ordinance workers, so I can't just go whenever I want (I got spoiled living in Logan!). The Branch put together a group and it was a great trip.



Have a great week!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Women's Conference with Sheri Dew

Hey everyone! I just had to drop a quick note and tell you about my great weekend...On Saturday, I got together with a bunch of sisters in our Branch and we went to Baton Rouge for the day. It was so much fun! We had lunch at a Mexican Restaurant and than went to the Mall of Louisiana and shopped (Elyse, I even found a Disney Store!). Then, we drove to the Stake Center, which is right next to the temple, to attend the annual Women's Conference. This year, Sheri Dew came and talked about "Finding Joy in the Journey." She's an amazing woman and I've always enjoyed hearing her speak.

By the way, fall in Louisiana is beautiful. It's almost as hot as it was when I first moved down here. The only difference is that there isn't as much humidity! Poor Utah, I heard you've already had snow!

I hope you all have a great week!
Lonnie

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Conference Weekend

I'm sorry that it’s been over two weeks since I've updated my blog…Life has just been so crazy! Let's see, since I last wrote on here I have survived giving a talk in Sacrament Meeting (it was on Life After Death and it actually went pretty well), I went on a couple of dates with a guy from Arizona (he was down here trimming and cutting downing trees after the hurricane), and I pulled a 12 hour shift at the library (I had a workshop to attend in the morning and Family Movie Night with Sarah that evening). Oh, and I watched the General Relief Society Meeting with the sisters in my Branch (I loved Pres. Uchtdorf talk!). I was home maybe one night the whole entire week!

This last week, I was home more often, but work was insane, and I would come home exhausted! Monday night the Cotton's invited me over for a Bar-B-Q and Family Home Evening. They live in Franklin, which I hadn't been to, and it’s a beautiful area. (Mama, Mike Cotton is the guy that spoke in Sacrament Meeting when you were here-he served a mission in Italy). The Cotton's are wonderful people and I really enjoyed spending time with them and their kids. Wednesday was Stephanie's Birthday and I had ordered some books for her over a month ago. However, she informed me last week that she doesn't like to celebrate her birthday, so I ended up giving her the books a week early and wishing her a Happy Un-Birthday!

What else? I finally got the oil changed in my car. I went Friday before work and was in and out in 10 minutes. Yesterday, they were doing "Clip for the Cure”" at SmartStyle. All haircuts were $10 and the money went to the Regis Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. It was for a good cause and it was cheap, so I finally got a hair cut (those of you who know me know I hate to get my hair cut!) It was also Election Day, so I went to vote. Finally, Stephanie and Jared have Satellite TV, which gets the BYU channel, so I went to their house to watch General Conference. It was amazing! I got chills when I heard that a temple in going to be built in Rome, Italy! I especially enjoyed the talks on simplifying our lives, being optimistic in difficult times, Pres. Uchtdorf's talk on HOPE, and Elder Bednar's continuation on meaningful prayers (every time I hear him speak, I feel like I’m back at BYU-Idaho! Good memories…). However, there was one talk on Saturday that truly spoke to my heart and moved me to tears (tears were streaming down my face, mind you…) Elder Holland talked about angels and I add my testimony to his that there are both immortal and mortal angels helping us here! I’ll just say that I have met many of His mortal angels while down here the last few months and I have felt the presence of His immortal angels surrounding me. God lives and loves us, my friends.

I love you all and I hope you enjoy the rest of Conference Weekend!
Lonnie