April 25, 2006

• Commentary:  I finished updating the last entry with all the writeup.  We’re in Savannah now and are enjoying ourselves immensely.  We’ll have a lot of new pictures to post tomorrow as we’re planning a bus tour, a visit to the world famous Savannah cemetary, and out to Tybee Island to check out the lighthouse.  Savannah is a beautiful city that I spent six months as a missionary in but never got around to doing any tourist stuff on our Pdays.  This will be fun. We’ll be here till Wednesday morning when we’ll head out for our longest day of driving of the trip….all the way to Williamsburg, VA (Same distance as Vegas to Logan (500 miles or so).

  
  

  Day 8 Sunday April 23rd

  
  

  We woke up early in Albany and hit the road.  We had a 1:00 lunch appointment in Opelika, Alabama with a lady whom I’d baptized some 10 years ago.  Her name is Edna Collins and she’s one of the sweetest kindest lady I’ve ever known…more on her later.

  
  

  As we were traveling through Georgia I had to laugh at what kind of stuff Pam was excited about taking pictures of.  She saw “the red clay of Georgia” and took 5 or 6 shots of it as we drove.  When I asked what was so cool about that she mentioned that in Gone With the Wind Scarlet always longed for the Red Clay of Georgia.  Here’s one of the best ones.

  
  

  The Ranger Jo’s picture is of a place in Columbus, GA that one of my best friends frequented when he was doing basic training there.  I’d visited it while on my mission a few months after he’d left.  Anyhow, nothing really special about it other than he and I share the fact that we’ve been there.

  
  

  

  
  

  “Way down yonder on the Chattahoochie…”…I don’t know the rest of the song but something about …”how much those muddy waters meant to me…”.  This is the the river that all the fuss is made over.  The water is muddy.

  
  

  

  
  

  When we finally got to Opelika it was 1:10 by our watch and I felt bad about being a bit late.  However when we got there nobody was home.  I couldn’t believe that she’d dog me and I immediately hearkened back to the 1000 or so times that people made appointments and didn’t keep them on the mission…but not my Edna!  Just as I was loading up the kids to go take a tour around Opelika Edna came up through the driveway with a smile from ear to ear.  We shared a big hug and went inside. It wasn’t until a few hours later that I realized that we had switched from the Eastern Time Zone to Central when we crossed over the Chattahoochie.  DOH! We were actually there at 12:10 and Edna was just getting home from church.  I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten that.

  
  

  A little background on Opelika and Edna is in order. Opelika was my first area and I was very green.  I was thankfully paired with a very wise and experience Elder who was very diligent and took his job as trainer very seriously.  He helped me say goodbye to a lot of stuff I was holding on to back at home and really helped me focus on my mission and really get going.  Anyhow, both he and I had felt “prompted” to knock on a house that was nearby the our church building but the three times we’d stopped by there was never anyone home.  One day when we were on splits with the Auburn elders my trainer and the elder from Auburn finally found Nellie and Earnest (Snappy) Reeder home.  They are pictured on the left and right of me in the picture.  They taught them a 1st and scheduled a time to come back.  I was a bit jealous that they’d actually found someone home and had indeed taught them a 1st but was excited as we thought it was definitly going to happen with them.

  
  

  During the second followup appointment we went back over the 1st discussion and read 3rd Nephi 11 with them.  It went well and as we were leaving we asked them if they had any friends that they could think of that might be interested in hearing the message.  They immedietly mentioned Edna and we asked them to invite her to the next discussion. 

  
  

  All this happened within the first few weeks I was out and it wasn’t until January that Edna ended up being baptized.  I was blessed to be able to stay in Opelika through the entire process as I went through two other companians during the time.  Because of that Edna and I became incredibly close and she chose me to actually baptize her. I was so honored.  There are a lot of fun stories to tell about her conversion and the time we spent together but they are too lengthy to expound on here.  She has since gone to the temple and has served faithfully in the ward in a variety of callings. 

  
  

  Snappy and Nellie never ended up getting baptized.  We went through the whole “Do you believe the BOM is the word of god”..Yes…”So what does that say about Joseph Smith”…that he’s a prophet…”and what does that say about the church he founded?”…..that it’s the true church….discussion with them many of times. They both grew up and attend a small baptist church out in the country.  Earnest is a deacon and Nellie sings in the choir and also has a small gospel singing group.  In the end their ties there were too strong to severe…perhaps in the next life.  They are the greatest people and are right there next to Edna in my heart.  I spent as much time with them as we did Edna including my first mission Christmas dinner (of chitlens and cornbread no less!) and many of family functions. 

  
  

  Anyhow, back to present day….Edna had invited not only the Reeders and her two daughters and slew of kids (whom we’d also taught) but also several of the old ward members that she thought might remember me.  She was right on two counts as two of the families she’d invited I had actually helped move in the ward 10 years ago.  It was so fun to reminisce with everybody and I found myself pinching myself more than once.  It really was a dream come true for me to be back in Opelika with my family visiting these people that meant so much to me. Edna had cooked up her unforgettable fried chicken, some lasagna, some great southern green beans (cooked with ham and fat), and some delicious banana cream pie and strawberry jello.  I ate a lot at her home and it was great to experience her southern cooking again. 

  
  

  As the house slowly emptied we ended up being alone with Edna for a few hours talking about her conversion and some of the feelings she’d had at the time.  It was wondeful to hear her talk about how much the church has meant to her and changed her life.  We shared a lot of laughs, some tears, and gave each other several hugs as we said goodbye again.  As we were driving away Pam chastised me greatly for not keeping in better contact with her….going forward I certainly will.

  
  

  note: One of the funniest comments of the day came from Nellie Reeder when she took a look at me and said “Boy…you sure weren’t done growing were you!”.  We all laughed at that one.

  
  

  

  
  

  This picture here is of my apartment there in Opelika.  There wasn’t the negative feelings that I had about the Albany apartment…in fact rather the opposite.  I experience a lot of “growing up” and maturing while I lived her for six months.  Our apartment was the bottom left one.  We did have a large rat that lived under our kitchen sink.  We’d feed him tortilla shells every night. 

  
  

  

  
  

  Day 9 Monday April 24th

  
  

  We ended up staying in the Comfort Inn there in Opelika last night.  Pam didn’t feel the need to take pictures of it but it wasn’t a bad place.  Fairly new and right next to a Waffle House for a quick breakfast before hitting the road today. 

  
  

  As we were driving back through Georgia we saw this giant peach on a stick.  Unfortunately there’s no frame of reference in the picture but it’s about 30 feet around and 100 feet in the air. 

  
  

  Rather than take a straight shot over to Savannah I’d read where there was the official Georgia Antebellum Trail that was near were we would be.  Antebellum is the architecture that is typically associated with the great Southern Mansions and plantations back in the day.  Anyhow, we took a detour to jump on that trail and ended up in Milledgeville, GA.  The home here is one that Pam really liked…check out the mansion we happened upon further below.

  
  

  

  
  

  This great Southern Antebellum home is in Milledgeville and was built in 1839.  The grounds surrounding it now consists of beautiful gardens that we were able to take a driving tour through.  Unfortunately the tours of the house were at 10:00 in the morning and we showed up at 4:00 but they let us peer through the windows and take pictures.  Pam was in heaven.  We’re going to also be hitting some great homes here in Savannah and Charleston, SC on Wednesday.  No doubt more pictures to follow.

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  The day consisted mainly of the stops in Milledgeville and driving from Opelika, AL to Savannah.  The girls have been great in the car but Sophia has been a bit on edge.  If she’s hungry or bored at all she certainly lets us, and the car next to us, know.  Serra and I sing lots of songs together and play games as we go….lots of fun and quality family time.  We are truely having the time of our lives on this trip.  We’ll never forget it.

  
  

  We’re staying tonight in the Marriot Springill Suites in midtown Savannah.  Not a bad room at all and the price was right compared to more expensive options downtown.  Tomorrow is a full day of touring Savannah.  I’ll post agian probably on Wednesday night when we get in to Williamsburg.

  
  

  

  • 12:25 am
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