Monday morning, we began our week driving to the Beach
Community Kitchen located in the “Beach Church” on Jacksonville Beach and
picked up some hot dogs for the USO. Joyce Schellhorn (Director) had met with a
group of people last week who were in the business of helping those in need and
arranged for the gift. We were very impressed with the kitchen’s programs. They
fixed meals and delivered them to needy families in the beach areas. At the USO
we took care of the meat and then Pam helped Cheryl Vandiver in the kitchen and
I did projects for Joyce getting the facility set up for the “No Dough” dinner
that evening. By 3:00 pm volunteers began to arrive and an hour later Pam and I
left as they had plenty of help. We did a little shopping before arriving back
at our apartment. Sister Redford and Ferguson came by in the evening and picked
up a dressed Pam mended for Sister Redford.
Tuesday morning, I made some phone calls and then we drove
to North Jacksonville to try and visit military members in the Dunn Avenue Ward
area. We stopped at 5 homes that were out by the International Airport but only
found one family home. We left cards at the others and hoped they would give us
a call. I got one call back from an earlier phone call and this family had transferred
to Virginia and also went through a divorce. The husband called me and gave me
an update on his location and status. Back in our area we did a little shopping
for food as we were hosting 2 full-time missionaries for a night. I moved my
stuff out of the guest bathroom and we arranged the guest bedroom and made the
beds. At 9:15 pm we drove to President & Sister Lee’s home and quietly joined
the group of new missionaries as President Lee was welcoming them to the
Florida Jacksonville Mission. They (13) arrived
in Jacksonville at 7:00 pm and came to the mission home and had dinner and then
this meeting. Following President Lee, Sister Lee gave some instructions on
filling out forms and signing a table cloth and quilt. It was an interesting
project Sister Lee was undertaking. The missionaries also received phones and
activated them and sent a picture and notification to their mother’s that they
had arrived (very important). Finally, following an interview with President
Lee they were ready to leave. We were assigned 2 sisters, Sister Quinton from
Pocatello, Idaho and Sister Packer from Midway, Utah. They were very
interesting girls, and both on their way to the Philippines and Jacksonville
was a Visa wait location. We enjoyed visiting with them and got them situated
and everyone to bed (about midnight).
Wednesday morning began bright and early for Pam and fixed
some breakfast for the Sisters at 6:30 am. We ate, had prayers and then left
for the Mandarin Chapel, about a 20-minute drive. Elder Whitehead met us in the
parking lot and escorted the Sisters into the chapel where all the new
missionaries met with President Lee and their new companions to be, and he made
their assignments and away they went to their new areas. Back at our apartment
we did some laundry and cleaning and after lunch made some visits in the
Arlington Ward area to 4 homes that had once housed military families Out of 4
visits, we got info on 2 of them. One was transferred and one out of the Navy. In
the evening Stephanie and Lance Jarvis (military family from the Jacksonville
Beach Ward) stopped by to visit. A friend of theirs from Lance’s ship had died
of heart problems and they were visiting his wife. They stayed for about 2
hours and we enjoyed their visit and getting to know them better.
Thursday morning, we left for the USO at 8:30 am and opened
the facility and there was a goodly amount of bread and pastries to distribute.
We tabulated the value and then opened it up to patrons. Pam ran the office and
I went into the new storage room and boxed up 100 convenience packs and took
them to the Naval Station Bowling Alley. They were having a promotion and Joyce
Schellhorn (director) offered these gifts. Back at the USO I worked in the new storage
room and got a lot of arranging and sorting done. Pam and I edited an article
Charley Tramazzo was writing for a new “Pathfinder” program coming soon for
transitioning military members.
Friday morning found us at the USO again at 10:00 am. Dave
(new hire) had opened today and we visited for a while and then Pam went into
the kitchen and did some work for Cheryl Vandiver for Monday’s “no dough”
dinner. I hung pictures in the new Keiser University room by Charley’s office. Keiser
“U” was the primary sponsor for the “Pathfinder” program. Charley was pleased
with the pictures and then I spent the rest of the morning finishing a project
in the tool room. Pam was helping with food preparation for Monday’s dinner and
she supervised other volunteers. We left in the afternoon and took leftover
bread to the Navy Exchange for their employees. About 10:00 pm we got several texts from Jon
Bryson from the Jacksonville beach ward inviting us to go boating with them the
next day.
Saturday morning we arrived at the Palm Cove Marina on Beach
Blvd at 9:00 am and met the Bryson family, Jonathan, Charlene and their 7 year
old daughter Amelia. Their boat was in the water and it was a beautiful 22-foot
“Malibu” wakeboard inboard/outboard boat with a walkthrough front and seating
for about a dozen people. We boarded and took on gas and then headed out into
the intercoastal waterway. Every day we cross the waterway going to the Beach
or back to our apartment and express an interest to each other about sailing
along the various inlets. Today we got that chance. We headed south in the
waterway and passed under the Beach Blvd and Butler bridges and continued south
for an hour and a half. The views were beautiful. So many wonderful homes
constructed along the waterway with private boat docking facilities and lifts
to take their boats out of the water. Also, much protected areas which were
marshland and inlets. We passed many boats coming and going and some were just
cruising like us, but others were skiing, wake boarding and fishing. The
weather was nice, and the overcast skies made for a pleasant day. We just couldn’t
begin to imagine the amount of money that had been poured into a 40 mile
stretch of the waterway with multimillion-dollar homes and facilities. We
turned around about 5 miles north of St. Augustine and made the return trip
back to the Marina. We said our goodbyes and thanks to the Bryson’s for their
hospitality and the fun we had with them.
Sunday, we attended church at the Jacksonville Beach Ward. Tyler
Gneck and Alexis Connelly were there as promised and came in their own
vehicles, but the LaGae’s were not there. We enjoyed the block of meetings and
following sacrament meeting got to meet Elder Roy (released the previous
Monday) and his immediate family who were in Florida for a family reunion.
Also, Sister Knudsen and Eberhard were settled in at the Beach and doing fine.
We attended the gospel principles class and the Sisters guided the lesson. On
the way to our apartment, Pam and I drove to the Alexander’s home (Wes and
Tara) and they were just leaving for an afternoon activity with the kids. Wes
talked in the Arlington Ward this morning and Tara said he did a great job. He
leaves on deployment tomorrow or Tuesday, so we have promised to watch over his
family. That’s the reality of military life—constant separations!
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