We went to Nashville Tuesday for transfer day.  Four of the elders we have been working with, completed their missions and were going home.  This was our district missionaries for most of the time we have been here.  Elder Robinson standing next to Sister Peterson was our district elder until that day.  He is great young man and dedicated to the very end.  He was still telling our new district leader what to do after we came out of the Temple.  The Elders leaving the mission always go to the Temple with the senior couples before they leave.  Elder Hamblin was also a very good missionary and a fine young man.  His parents came to pick him up and attended the Temple with us.  She thanked Sister Peterson for being good to her son.

Elder Thompson was one of our Traveling elders that came by twice a week.  He was a great elder and we enjoyed him.  He has a great tenor voice and sang the most beautiful rendition of "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing" that I have every heard.

Elder Sorenson has been one of our traveling elders most of the time we have been here.  We have really enjoyed him.  He was just so happy to have completed a successful and honorable mission.  He is the one who told Sister Peterson that he wrote his mother and told her he had found an extra set of grandparents on his mission.

This is Elder Hill from Malad.  He was not going home but was being transferred to a special area and we wanted a picture because we might not get to see him again.  He was one of our traveling elders and had recently been serving as one of the AP's.  We also had a special connection with this fine young man.

While coming from home from Zone conference, we took a different route and came upon a historical site marking the birthplace of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy during the Civil War.  We had no idea it was there but found it very interesting.

The obelisk at the site was over 350 feet high.  It had an elevator inside that went up to the observation area where you looked out the holes near the top.  We did take the elevator ride but wondered about the wisdom in that when the guide told us there was no rebar in the walls of the obelisk.  We did have a beautiful view of the countryside but were plenty glad to get back down to solid ground.  Ironically both Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln, the leaders of the North and South in the Civil War, were born in this part of Kentucky less than 100 miles from each other.  Next week we plan to go to Lincoln's birthplace on our p-day.

Saturday we had a Senior Couples Conference at this old Northcutt Cove Church.  It is the oldest LDS building in Tennessee.  We learned of its history with some great presentations and a talk by the local stake president.  Elder Charles A. Callis came here several times when he was the Southern States Mission President.  Elder Pinegar can trace his roots to this area.  Apostle Ballard and other Church leaders have spoke here.  It is located in the Altamont area that has special significance in the history of the Church in the area.  Close by is one of the first full-size chapels built in Tennessee.  We met in that chapel for lunch and some training by President McKee.  It was a great day as we met with all but two of the couples in our mission, some we had never met before.  There are now 14 couples serving in our mission, which is very out of the ordinary.  A year ago there were only six couples serving.  We traveled four hours to get to the conference so it was a very long day that began about 5 in the morning and ended late.
Elder and Sister Peterson (weary but happy travelers)