(First, I need to point out that the reason my pictures below have an awful yellow tint to them is because I had my camera on an outdoor setting. I wasn't aware of what setting my camera was on before we took the pictures dang it! Oh well, there is nothing I can do about it now).
For Hannah's first Halloween we had her dress up as a banana. After all, she is our "Hannah Banana!"
Nathan and I were originally going to go as other fruits (grapes and raspberries), but we decided it would be to hard to hold a baby with balloons stuck all over our body. So I took the advice of my former co-worker and Nathan and I dressed up as monkeys. Thanks Darci for the advice.
This last photo is actually not mine. My friend Channa took it with her AWESOME camera. My dream is to own a great DSLR one day and take some photo classes so I can take great shots like this one.
Many of you are aware of what Pastor Robert Jeffress said this last week about Mormonism being a cult. I watched the video of Chris Matthews playing hardball with Pastor Jeffress on his political out-lashing of presidential candidate Mitt Romney (written transcript click here).
In watching this video I experienced several emotions--frustration, offense, but most of all, hurt.
I was hurt that a devout religious person would be so degrading of another individuals beliefs. What kind of human being, a religious being, preys on the beliefs of others. That is not a Christlike thing to do.
I was offended on Pastor Jeffress' comments about Mormonism being a cult, and that we are not Christians. He also said that "Mormonism came 1,800 years after Jesus Christ, and...Mormonism has its own leader, Joseph Smith. It has its own set of doctrines. It has its own religious book, The Book of Mormon, in addition to the Bible." I thought to myself "That is utter nonsense! Before you say such things you should study the Book of Mormon and come to know for yourself that it is true."
Upon watching this video I immediately felt like I needed to take a public stand but didn't know how. Then I had a prompting to write a blog post, but declined as it was late at night and thought no one will read it. After all, it's not that big of a deal right?
Wrong! It is a big deal to me because I am a Mormon. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Pastor Jeffress said some untruthful things about Mormons and I can clarify those truths. This morning, I was reading the October Ensign and read the article The Book of Mormon: A Witness to the Bible and I felt a surge go through me confirming the prompting I had a few nights ago to stand up for the truth. So here it goes.
Truth #1: We are not a cult! And to further clarify on Pastor Jeffress' "theological cult" comment--we are not a theological cult either.
Truth #2: Mormons are indeed Christians! We believe in Jesus Christ--therefore we are Christians. In fact, we believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. We believe that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins--for EVERY person.
Truth #3: Pastor Jeffress said that Mormonism came 1,800 years after Jesus Christ. That is false. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers evangelists, and so forth.
Truth #4: We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. I have read both books and I can testify of their truthfulness. I KNOW that these books are true and I will not deny it! I echo what Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a living apostle, has said about the Book of Mormon: "I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgement bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true, that it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the latter days. No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. If you would like to find out for yourself I suggest you read the Book of Mormon with a sincere heart. Read it, and pray about it and you will come to know what I know.
The fall season in Iowa is so beautiful. Hannah and I have been taking walks almost every day to enjoy the colors, and the good weather that we have been having. This is one of my favorite seasons in Iowa. There are only two things that I don't like about the fall season:
#1--The bugs! I H.A.T.E bugs!
#2--What season comes after fall! I H.A.T.E. winters here in Iowa.
In the meantime I'm going to enjoy all the gorgeous colors and falling leaves.
Nathan and I briefly spent some time with my Mom, Emily and Katherine in the morning to confirm travel plans. They wanted to head up to Westminster, South Carolina to visit another cemetery. Nathan and I were interested in going with them at first, but we became less interested when we found out that going to Westminster would add about 4-5 more hours of driving time to our already 4 hour drive up to Charlotte. So, we decided to go and do a couple more things in Charleston before we left.
Our first stop was Fort Moultrie. This fort has been around since the Revolutionary War! I wish I could say that it was as neat as Fort Sumter, but it was a little disappointing. I kind of felt bad for it because Fort Sumter gets so much attention and Fort Moultrie, which has been around longer historically, doesn't get any such attention. And it's just a short distance away from Fort Sumter. Nevertheless, I am glad that we went and visited such a historic place in our nations history.
After Fort Moultrie we drove over to the U.S.S. Yorktown. This was AWESOME! This aircraft carrier has been through World War II, the Vietnam War, and has also served as a recovery ship for Apollo 8. This ship has so much history and it was neat to explore it.
Here is Nathan showing how big the carrier and fighter jets are.
I wouldn't want to be behind this jet when its engines get started. YIKES!
Here I am mimicking the man in the photo whose job was to direct the landing of the jets on the carrier. It can't be too hard of a job right?
Nathan in the Captain's chair. Now this job would scare me. How on earth are you supposed to steer and drive this monster?
This carrier was so cool! If you are ever in the area of Charleston I recommend you go.
After the U.S.S. Yorktown Nathan and I grabbed some lunch at Subway and started on our drive back to Charlotte, NC. It was a beautiful drive. I love the freeways in the south because they look like this:
This small portion will probably only interest those that are related to the Deaton line. But you are welcome to read if you wish. If not...just skip down to the dotted lines.
As Nathan and I were doing those touristy things in Charleston, my Mom and two sisters drove to Westminster for the Duke Family Cemetery (the cemetery used to be named Rock Springs Cemetery). If you are interested in some more information on the cemetery click here (my Mom gave me this link and it is about the cemetery's history). When I met up with my Mom in Charlotte I downloaded her pictures to our computer and thought I would post a few of them.
Here is Jackson Deaton's headstone. You can see that it is broken in pieces and has to be held together.
Here are Sarah Jean Larson (my mom's cousin--Aunt Hazel's oldest daughter), Katherine, and my Mom holding Jackson's headstone.
Emily believes that this mossy headstone is Elijah Deaton. And just at the base of this grave there is a foot stone with the initials E.D. My Mom believes this foot stone is Elijah Deaton. It also could be Elizabeth Deaton, but she is not sure.
My Mom thinks that we are related to Joseph Liles, Jr. It is not a direct line. It's more of like a cousin of a cousin type thing (at least that's what I understood from Mom). I love the confederate flag at the base of the headstone though.
Nathan and I arrived in Charlotte, checked into our hotel, ate some dinner, and relaxed. My Mom and sisters arrived around 8:00 pm at the hotel to pick me up and we head down the street to Aunt Irene's house. We had a nice little chat with her and her son. I don't know why I didn't take any pictures, but here is a picture of Katherine, my Mom, Aunt Irene, and Emily that was taken at the beginning of their trip (September 18, 2011).
Later we went back to the hotel and I hung out in my Mom's and sister's room for a while. We got the giggles and laughed about many silly things. I think we were all so tired that pretty much anything was entertaining. Eventually, we said some goodbyes and I left to go back to my hotel room because Nathan and I had an early flight the next morning (or so we thought. It's a long story that isn't worth blogging about).
Well that wraps up our trip to South Carolina. I'm so sad that it's over with, but I am happy to see my baby again. We missed her so much and are happy to be reunited with Hannah.
