This is the lovely Bedford Branch chapel located in the heart of Bedford. The interior of this little meeting house is very much like being in one of the meeting rooms of some of our Temples. It is beautiful!

This was taken on the day of our Branch Conference, January 25th.

This is our neighbor to the north of us on Hopes Way. You can see the new snow cover on the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.

Another view of the home we now reside in on Hopes Way in Bedford, Virginia. This picture was taken the morning following a snow fall during the night. Such a beautiful morning! Cold and clear as a bell!

This is looking the other way, south down the little lane we live on (Hopes Way). There are only two other homes on this road. From the front of our home we can't see either of our neighbors.

What a totally peaceful, beautiful place! Yet, we are only a mile from the Bedford Chapel and less than a mile from the grocery store, drug store, gas station, restaurants, etc.

We just keep pinching ourselves! Is it too good to be true?

We woke this morning, Tuesday, Feb 3, to a beautiful blanket of snow! This is our first snow that we have experienced in the Beford, Virginia area since our arrival in mid- January! It was such a beautiful sight that I had to go down the road with the camera and take pictures. This is truly a lovely spot.

We are still unpacking and settling in to this home. It has been so exciting for us to think that we are in this home and now we can focus on fulfilling our callings as missionaries. What a great place to serve in! We love Virginia!

We have completed the move of our belongings from our temporary quarters at the lake into the home we have rented in Bedford. The owners needed this past week to clean and install curtains, change out the old refrigerator for a new one, change and replace some door latches and locks, etc. They did a host of other things to make us more comfortable. They have been so kind.

We cleaned bathrooms, vacumned floors and washed bed linens, towels, etc., at the Miller cabin, so we could leave it like we found it. What a blessing it was to have this place to stay in while we hunted for a rental.

I took this picture from the front deck of the Miller cabin at Smith Lake as the evening sky to the northeast took on a glow from the western sunset.

The library is closing so I must post this short note and return to our new home on Hopes Way. We still haven't unpacked suitcases or boxes, but we are finally in and it is so, so good to know we can get settled and get down to the real purpose of our missionary assignment, to work with these members and reach out to those who are searching for the purpose of their existance.

January 26, 2009, Monday, A home at last!

After a full 10 days of looking for a place to live in or near Bedford we were approached yesterday at Branch Conference by High Councilman Elmer Hodge of Vinton. Brother Hodge said the home of his parents (now deceased) had just become available. He gave us the particulars on the home and we arranged to meet he and Sister Hodge at the Church Monday morning for a walk-through. What a perfect place! We both felt immediately that this was an answer to our prayers. It is partially furnished, spacious, clean and very functional with all the necessary living area on one level so that Linda does not have to be going up and down stairs. It is on a beautifully landscaped 5-acre lot. It has a full basement and garage. Brother Hodge's sister will collect the rents. She accepted our check for payment of our first month and we will be able to begin moving in this week as soon as they replace a broken refrigerator and get some curtains hung and some door locks changed.