This is the first baptism we experienced at the Bedford Branch since our arrival here in January.

We had the enjoyment of sitting in on the lessons taught to Logan Spring Wright, 8 yrs, shown here just prior to the baptismal service Sunday, March 29, with her mother Jackie, and her step-father, Paige Tomlinson, and her grandpa.

Her baptism brought a great many people together. It was a wonderful service! The Kingston's came clear rom Idaho to be part of the baptism. They had been instrumental in the conversion of Logan's mother Jackie, who joined two years ago. It was a very special day for these families who are related to Logan and came out to show their support. The chapel was full!

The missionaries serving at the present time, March 30, 2009, in the Roanoke District, which includes the boys of Bedford, Elder Spendlove (far left, hands in pockets) from Cache Valley, Utah and the big fellow with the dark glasses, Elder Boling of San Diego, California.

Our District Leader is Elder Shill, second from the far right, first row. He is the grandson of Wynn & LeRene Call, who we served with at the Skyline Seminary in Salt Lake City so very many years ago (1966-68).

This picture was taken Monday, March 30, at the end of our District Meeting in Vinton, VA.

This is looking south as I drove through the same, new neigborhood in the small community of Goode, Virginia. Several of our Bedford Branch members have their homes in Goode.

This is a newer neighborhood in Goode, Virginia which is directly east of Bedford on both sides of the US 221. The particular group of homes is north of the 221, and just few miles east of where we live. The Blue Ridge Mountains can be seen in the background on this rainy, overcast day. I had gone in with the car to the Forest, Virginia, just 12 miles away to get our car in to the Nissan dealership for routine service and oil change. When I saw these nice homes I had to pull in and take a picture as Linda had not been with me, due to illness.

For those of you that have never actually seen a real "caboose," here is a caboose. Years ago, every frieght train had a caboose as the last rail car on the train. This rail car was furnished with beds and with other necessary equipment to house brakemen and other train employees who were important, in those days of no computers and limited communications, to the safety and proper operation of the railroad. The caboose was always painted red and is was distinguished by having these "bay window"-like side extensions on each side of the caboose so that the brakeman could have a better view of the rail cars and the locomotive(s). They often had a similar viewing port atop the caboose. This particular caboose does not have that feature.

This old caboose is parked on a side rail, near the tracks, in downtown Bedford, Virginia; a relic of a bygone era in railroad history. They don't need a brakeman or other employees riding at the rear of the train any more. Computers and other electronic sensoring devices and controls have taken care of those once important functions. Anyway, here is a look at the past on the great American railroad.

(note: the smoke stack that seems to be growing out of the top of the caboose is actually part of the old industrial building on the other side of the railroad tracks in the background).

This is a portion of the lawn and flower garden on the south side of the Bedford Library.

Spring is in the air! Today is the first day of Spring, officially. This is the first day that the Sun appears above the horizon at the North Pole. Brrrr!

This is the first day that the Sun fails to appear above the horizon at the South Pole. Double Brrrr!

So, you can expect more Springtime pictures on the blog as flowers bloom and trees continue to bud and then begin to leaf out! we had three days of quiet, soft and continueous rain. But, today the Sun is shining, the sky is mostly clear of clouds and the air is fresh! We are doing our taxes. We ought to be driving through this delightful countryside, but now it is time and past time to get them ready.

This is our most oft visited public building in Bedford, the Bedford Central Library, located on Bridge Street, just down the hill, 1/2 block from the wonderful old building that used to house the high school but is now the Bedford Middle School. This is a fine library, with branch librarys scattered across Bedford County. This is where we come to hook in with the wireless service so we can go Online and email our children and friends and maintain our Blog postings while we are here in Bedford serving our mission. This is a lovely town and a most accommodating public library. It has a "Quiet Room" upstairs where they house their special collection of books on Virginia, geneological records and all their collection on World Ward II, which is quite extensive, given the size of the community. But, then again, this is the site of the Nation's D-Day National Memorial, so it is understandable they would be interested in all the printed material relating to the War. This Quiet room is furnished with nice sitting chairs and four big tables and chairs for study. This is where we go to use our laptop and read and send our emails.