According to Sister Neal, this is the Pink Dogwood blossom. The more prevelant white dogwood is Virginia's State tree. This was taken as we exited the Washington DC Temple on Saturday afternoon and were preparing to return to Bedford. It was a beautiful day!

This is brother and sister Neal, members of the Bedford Branch who accompanied a group of our young people and a number of adults from the Branch and from the Roanoke Virginia Stake to perform baptisms at the Washington DC Temple this past Saturday, April 10. The day began before 6 a.m, with everyone gathering at the parking lot at the Bedford chapel and then sharing rides together up to the Temple. It is about a 4-hr trip.

It was a very special day and a great privilege to be in the House of the Lord, participating in saving ordinances on behalf of our ancesters and other deceased persons who did not have the opportunity of receiving these essential ordinances, like baptism, while in this life.

It was really a lot of fun getting better acquainted with brother and sister Neal. We had a very good time visiting as we drove together .

Already, it is time to get back on the riding lawn mower and cut the grass on this expansive porperty where we live, here on Hopes Way in Bedford, Virginia.

The white blossoms in the forground adorn an apple tree in the backyard of the Hodge home where we reside. Cedar trees line the property on both the north and south borders of the yard.

Beyond the trees and the open land is the faint outline of the Blue Ridge Mountains that give such a beautiful setting to the community of Bedford and the surrounding rural area.

These lovely flower beds are part of a public garden that ajoins the Bedford Virginia Public Library. We come and go from this location on almost a daily basis, so it is interesting to see the changes that occur with the seasons of the year!