SUNDAY IN NATCHEZ MS

April 19 Sunday

At breakfast at the motel we met a group of cyclists from Michigan who are riding about 400 miles of the Natchez Trace. They're old folks like us and belong to a bike club called "The Slow Spokes". With three vans as their support they are taking turns driving and riding.

We called the number in the phone book for the Natchez Ward but got the FAX instead. Rusty called his daughter Susie in Wisconsin (she's in the same time zone) and asked her to check for a number on the church website. She came up with an alternate number that turned out to be the bishop's number. We called that number and got a ride to church with the Bishop's wife, Linda McClure,. On the third Sunday after the block they have a "Linger Longer", a clever name for a pot luck dinner and a chance to socialize. It was perfect for us to be able to visit and make some new friends. It just so happens there was also a convert baptism held after the potluck. , A middle aged black man named Alvin Kelly.
There seems to be very few black members in this ward but the Gospel Doctrine teacher is a very sharp black woman who has only been a member for five years. Rusty and I kind of held our breath and were perhaps hasty in judgement when she answered her cell phone a couple of times in the middle of the lesson. It turns out she is a physician and was on call that Sunday. Oops on us!
When Linda was taking us back to the motel after church she said "If you survive being a member of the church in Natchez you can survive anywhere." The ward is very small and she says that the attrition rate is high and some of the members can get pretty caught up in "going beyond the mark."
We had a wonderful day of rest, worship and making new friends. This is a good part of our ride!