COTTLE MISSION NEWS: Week 6

The week started with a very busy day at the USO. We arrived at 10:00 am and I spent the morning in the office checking people in and handling phone calls while Pam worked in the kitchen with other volunteers preparing the salad for tonights "No Dough" dinner. A bi-weekly free dinner for active duty military and families. By 12:30 pm we were finished with the prep work so Pam and I left and did a little shopping and then returned to our home for a couple of hours. We returned to the USO for the dinner by 5:45 pm. Northrup-Grumman volunteers were there in great numbers and manned all the food lines. I worked in the office checking in patrons and a Petty Officer Mitchell helped me. For the next two hours we checked in about 300 patrons for dinner and the place was hopping. Cheryl, one of the employees had cooked the main dish-- Ziti pasta and French Bread. A salad bar and dessert filled out the dinner offerings. Lots and lots of families came and there were also two ladies handing out children's books and candy to the children. All in all, it was well organized. Dinner ended at 7:00 pm so Pam and I got a bite to eat and it was very good. Joyce, the manager, wanted to send a pan of pasta to the gate guards and asked Pam and I if we would deliver it and we did. They seemed happy to have it along with a case of drinks. We were tired and anxious for bed.

On Tuesday we attended our first Zone Conference. It was held at the Jacksonville East Stake Center and as we approached the chapel we were amazed that it was the same plan as the Monroe Stake Center. At 8:00 am Pam and I found seats in the chapel and were followed by Elders and Sisters from the Kingland (GA), Lake City, Jax East and Mandarin Zones--about 100 missionaries. Sister Meyers, from our district, played prelude music for a half an hour and then President & Sister Lee and Elder Lynn G. and Sister Robbins entered the chapel and moved to the front and looked over the missionaries. The first item on the program was having each missionary come forward and greet Elder & Sister Robbins and President & Sister Lee. That’s a format I’ve seen several general authorities do during the past few years. When done they took their seats on the podium and Elder Stuart (AP) conducted and announced the entire program and then we began. Following an opening hymn and prayer, the missionaries had formed a choir and sang the number “One by One,” written by Elder Bednar. It was very well done and was accompanied by a flute, 3 violins, piano and an elder sang a solo part.

The first speaker was Sister Lee and she talked about how to inspire investigators to keep their commitments. She discussed the 3 major commitments—Pray, read the Book of Mormon and attend church. Following Sister Lee we heard from President Lee and he emphasized the teaching of Elder Robbins yesterday in the mission MLC meeting regarding “Our greatest gift from Heavenly Father is the Holy Ghost.” He taught from the scriptures, especially 2^nd Nephi chapters 31, 32 and 33 concerning the power and influence of the Holy Ghost. He ended the segment by saying “when we feel guided by the Holy Ghost, we will have the passion to convey the message to our investigators.”

He concluded his talk by taking a few minutes and discussing the Mormon.org referral program. The mission is a test mission for this new program and has been receiving a flood of referrals that are generated by targeted ads produced by the church and aired via Google. There has been a collaboration between media missionaries in Salt Lake and the missionaries in the field.

Next, we heard from Sister Robbins and she told a little about their family and Elder Robbin's service in the church and then talked about the Attribute of Hope. She used the experiences of the Prophet Joseph and Emma and their life of endless hardships and how Hope helped them weather the storms of life. After an intermediate hymn the concluding 90 minutes was taken by Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Presidency of the Seventy. He complimented the mission and then asked pointed questions of the missionaries on what they liked about President and Sister Lee. He got wonderful answers which highlighted the love and devotion the missionaries had for their President and wife. He then reviewed each of the talks by Sister Lee, Sister Robbins and President Lee. He taught in the Savior’s Way and involved the missionaries extensively in the dialogue. Specifically, he concluded the section on Sister Lee’s talk by emphasizing the need to first connect and then you can teach and gave several examples. On President Lee’s talk he emphasized the relationship between the Light of Christ, the Holy Ghost and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The difference being the intensity of the light received. He quoted scriptures and gave examples of what he was teaching. He quoted Mosiah 18:10 “…he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you,” implying receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost is a larger portion or more intense portion of the Holy Ghost which was manifest upon a person by the Holy Ghost or the Light of Christ as they were investigating. He also taught “The Light of Christ gives vision, but the Holy Ghost brightens that vision.” He next did a cursory overview of a talk the missionaries studied in preparation for zone conference. It was Elder Robbin;s talk from a BYU Devotion, titled “Be 100 Percent Responsible” given in August of 2017. He spent about 10 minutes going through some of the principles of agency with regard to responsibility and used questions and answers from the missionaries to expand the topic.

After a short break we spent the last hour with Elder Robbins asking the missionaries what they had learned about Repentance and what they had learned about Revelation. He went through each topic by asking inspired questions and letting the missionaries respond and then make comments. It was very effective and inspirational. I was very impressed with the quality and depth of the answers from the missionaries. Following his closing testimony, we had a closing hymn and prayer and then adjourned to the cultural hall for lunch.

We spent the next hour eating and visiting with many missionaries and it was fun to watch the interplay between the missionaries and their President. Sister Lee took pictures all over the place and they go into the mission blog I’m sure. After the goodbyes were said and hugs and handshakes were finished, we left and made our way home. It had been a great day. It was nice to visit with other couple missionaries and learn how they were doing and what they were doing and to find their days were not jammed packed with missionary experiences. We found their days were much like ours—a little here and a little there.

Wednesday we spent at the USO and the place was pretty quiet. We ran the office this morning as Joyce was putting together things to take to a presentation on base tomorrow. She was like a bull in a china shop, not sure what she was doing and where she was going. A friend who was also a volunteer came about 11:00 am to go with her to set up their displays but they didn’t get out of the office until 12:30 pm. Pam and I answered the phones and checked in quite a few people to have their taxes done or to use the computer. When Joyce returned she said they needed another volunteer to help with the annual USO golf tournament at NAS Jacksonville on Friday, so Pam and I said we would be happy to participate. In the evening we had Elder Lamb and Roy from our district come for dinner and it was nice to have them in our home. Pam fixed a nice meal and we ate and visited and learned a lot about the Elder’s homes, families, and talked quite about yesterday’s Zone Conference.

Thursday was an eventful day. As I put the key in the van to start the engine, All I got was a click. it was 39 degrees this morning and I think the battery finally died. After all the trouble shooting I could think of I called a company called "Road Angels" and a man came 30 minutes later and got us going. We left the car running as he filled out the paperwork and as he was leaving he suggested I shut off the van and try it again. Again a click. She he got me going again and said "don't shut off the van." We drove directly to a local Wal-Mart and had a new battery installed. I shouldn't complain as that was the original batter and had lasted 8 years. The plan for the day was to go to NAS Jacksonville and locate the golf course. We took the I-295 belt loop and went south across the St. John’s river and there was NAS Nax on the right. We took the appropriate exit and drove along familiar territory to the Yorktown Gate and entered the base. Boy was it different. New P-8’s were all along the flight line to the left with new hangars for the VP squadrons and VP-30. A new aircraft display on the right with about a dozen vintage aircraft available for perusal. We located the golf course clubhouse and then drove around the base to see all the new buildings. So much nicer than I remembered from the last time I was there in 1986. We stopped at the Heritage Park on the way off the base and walked around all the vintage aircraft, mostly from my period of service. It was hard to realize 31 years had passed since I was at NAS JAX and 50 years since I began my Navy service, so it was no wonder everything, including the aircraft had changed.

Friday morning we arrived at the Golf Course at 8:30 am and checked in with Jim Bury, the Manager of the USO at the Jacksonville Airport. He was in charge of this event. He briefed all the volunteers and at 9:45 am we were taken out to a par 3 hole where we would be stationed for the tournament. It was a 4-man team scramble and I estimated they had about 30 teams participating. Right at 10:00 am the tournament commenced and for the next 3 hours we watched teams come through our hole. Ours was unique in that they had two flags on opposite ends of the green. When the teams came to the green I showed them two cards to choose from. One was an Ace and the other a "2" card and that determined which pin they putted to. It was called an "Acey-Ducey" hole. Around our hole was a beautiful area with wetlands, trees and yes, Alligators. We were told there were alligators on the course, but they wouldn’t bother us. One was sunning himself by a pond and Pam went to another pond and saw a much larger one. It made you look really close when you walked around. At 3:00 pm the tournament ended and we returned to the clubhouse and loaded our van with folding chairs to return to the Mayport USO and then came home.

Saturday we spent doing housework and a little shopping for groceries for next week. We had an appearance of our first big "bug" in the house, so bought some spray and liberally sprayed the doorway, windows, and plumbing pipes under the sinks. This morning, Sunday, we went to the Arlington Ward nearby and had a great morning and got a few names and met several military families and made appointments to visit. So all in all the work is going well and we love it here in Florida and it's beginning to warm up a little.