Today I attended Sunday School taught by President Jimmy Carter!! Amazing!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

My sister and I decided to make the drive up to Plains, Georgia.

On Saturday we visited his boyhood home on the farm, where the store they owned is open for public viewing with articles inside (not for sale), and the home is completely open, and SO interesting! There's the bathroom with no shower spigot, just a bucket above that would be tipped to spill water to shower with. The rooms were tiny but the living room friendly. You will be able to see the room President Carter slept in. Every 2 a.m. the train would pass a few feet away from their home and wake them all up, then at 4 a.m. the bell would be sounded and everyone (and I do mean everyone, from hired hands to our President) had to get up, have breakfast and go work in the awful heat or the freezing cold, on the peanut farm. You can see the combines and other farm machinery they used. You can see everything! (And that very morning we visited, he, himself, had been there on the site showing the place to justices, but we arrived too late and didn't see him).

You can also visit the Plains High School, where he and his wife, Rosalynn attended and fell in love. Beautiful and old high school now turned into a museum in its entirety. So fascinating! The old desks, the same old books, old paper, old desks, you name it. Even old photos and the principal's office is still there.

We also saw Billy Carter's gas station. The Plains downtown consists of 4 or 5 stores, 1 a souvenir, one a coffee shop, a teensy, tiny hotel, etc.

Today we went to Sunday School. Naturally, the secret service was all over the tiny church (called, Maranatha - a baptist church that broke away from the austered, racist Southern Baptist Convention). They searched and many instructions were given but the secret service and the church members were so accommodating!

He walked in during a prayer so we didn't see him walk in. He looks wonderful for his age (84), and he was his usual friendly self, brilliant, as always, with a memory that is amazing, sharp as a tack, sincere, serious and funny. He first asked certain people among the visitors where they're from. Then he began to give the Sunday School teaching and I've got to tell you, it was INTERESTING and he explains things in such an easy to understand manner and summarizes things so well. (And I'm usually not into such things, believe me).

At the end of the Sunday School and the sermon, the President and Rosalynn went to the front of the church, held hands with one another, and allowed some photos for the visitors that have visited from SO far away. People come from other countries and everywhere in the U.S. to visit him. They're utterly accommodating, even with their heavy schedule. The President is involved with numerous projects around the world besides Habitat for Humanity, so he and his wife are constantly travelling. They're leaving tomorrow again.

We stayed in Americus, Georgia, which is very close to Plains. Both towns are completely dedicated to President Carter. Americus has a beautiful and ancient downtown which has been kept as it was many decades ago. There's a hotel called the Windsor Hotel which looks castle-like. It is from the 1800s. Soooooo beautiful! Wish I had stayed there. The 3rd and 4th floor look down on the lobby and the polished wood floors lean down into the center, giving you the feeling that you're going to slide down and fall into the lobby.

Many stores with antiques but they were closed today, maybe because it was Sunday? Maybe because tomorrow school starts in Georgia? I dunno. Gorgeous place, Americus.

Also, lots of restaurants with home cooking around that area, tho only one in Plains that everyone packs every Sunday, so you have to stand in line.

Anyway, if you are Christian, or if you're not, and you really like President Carter, take a trip there and visit him. You will walk away with a really good feeling. Call the church first to find out the President's schedule for teaching Sunday School.

I give the trip a whole bunch of thumbs up!

:hi: :hi: :hi:

[wryter2000]

1. How wonderful

The whole trip sounds great, but attending Sunday school with the Carters. :wow: