Monday morning, we were quite lazy
as it was a holiday today and the USO was closed. Pam was feeling much better
after two days on the anti-biotics and the pain in her abdomen was about gone.
Her only concern was feeling tired. We planned to do some traveling south of
the St. John’s River by NAS and check out some families. Pam also had a list of
items she needed to do, so we left about 10:30 am and drove south crossing the
river and proceeded to Fleming Island, south of the Naval Air Station. We used
GPS to locate a list of families and first stopped at the Yuen home, but they
were gone. Next, we drove to the Hoynacki residence and met Adam & Sidney
and their 3 daughters. They welcomed us into their home, and we had a nice
visit for about 20 minutes and learned they were from Carlsbad, California and
Tallahassee and met at BYU. Adam was a doctor, stationed at the hospital at NAS
and in his first year of residency. They would be at the hospital until 2021. Really
a nice, active family. They told us about another family in their ward we
didn’t know about; Tim & Catherine Sebreros. Tim a Navy Dentist and worked
at NAS. Also, very active but transferring to Japan in June of this year. We
next went the Skelton home, but they were also gone for the day. We moved to
the Oakleaf Ward and tried to visit the Vanderwal family but got stopped at a
security gate. I was able to talk to Kellie, but they were not home at that
time. Our final visit was to the home of Skyler & Mary Ann Barger in the
Orange Park Ward. They were in the middle of painting as they were getting
their home ready to sell. They were transferring to Kingsville, Texas as Skyler
had been accepted into a pipeline transfer program and returning to flight
school to fly jets. He currently was a P-8 pilot attached to VP-44. Really a
nice active family. It was past 2:00 pm when we crossed back over the river and
made a stop at a Hobby Lobby where Pam found some fabric for a baby quilt. We
also stopped at Costco and did some shopping for the USO and then had a late lunch/early
dinner which was good. Finally, we arrived at our apartment, tired but pleased
with the results of the day. Pam spent a couple of hours working on quilt
layout plans and I updated our contact lists from our visits today. As we
discussed the day, it became apparent that we could not do much with the
families in the Jacksonville West Stake as it was just too far to travel to be
very effective. The notion of calling another couple for NAS Jacksonville
seemed the appropriate thing to do and we hoped Salt Lake would pursue that
plan.
Tuesday morning, we noticed a lot
of articles in the news on missionaries being able to video chat or make calls
to their families yesterday on their P-Day and that was nice to see. Pam was up
at 7:00 am this morning and we both did some studying and then got ready for
the day. At 8:30 am I dropped Pam off at the Alexander’s to baby sit for Tara
while she and Wes went to a doctor’s appointment at NAS Jax. I went to the USO
and helped with the food delivery from Feeding Northeast Florida. Joyce
Schellhorn (Director) and Dave Ostrum were at the USO and the delivery truck
was just starting to unload pallets of food on the back patio. Another
volunteer arrived and we sorted the meat. After a few minutes, it was apparent
the meat selection was very poor and much of what was in the bin was tossed
out. We spent the rest of the morning finishing sorting, filling bags and
preparing for distribution tomorrow. Next, we attacked a bin with sundry items
and placed them on tables in the lounge area. Finally, we placed a pallet of
lettuce in the outside refrigerator and moved a pallet of potatoes into the
lounge area. After taking a break another Delivery truck backed up to the patio
entrance. It was a friend of Joyce’s that came to pick up furniture in the
north end of the main room—tables and chairs from a renovation at a local
American Legion building. For the next 2 hours we loaded tables and chairs into
the back of the truck, and we accompanied them to a storage facility nearby and
unloaded the furniture. Back at the USO we did the same thing with 6-foot round
tables but didn’t need to go to the storage facility as the driver wasn’t
unloading until tomorrow. I received a call from Pam, and she was finished at
the Alexander’s and Tara had returned her to our apartment. I visited with Dave
about the rest of the week and then left for home.
Wednesday morning, we left the
apartment at 7:45 am for Zone Conference at the Blanding chapel in Orange Park.
The session was for the Gainesville, Jax South, Jax
West and Ocala Zones. We normally attended Zone Conferences for the northern
zones but had commitments yesterday. We arrived in good time and
missionaries were gathering at the back entrance and it was interesting seeing
so many we didn’t know in the southern zones. However, we did meet many of our
friends who had served in the Jax East Zone over the past year and that was
nice. We also saw all the senior couples in the mission with the exception of
the Hagedorn’s who were way up north in Georgia. At 8:45 am everyone assembled
in the chapel and we paused for a few minutes of quiet time and then President
& Sister Lee stood and welcomed everyone to Zone Conference. President
introduced the new missionaries since the last conference and then we began
with Elder Hiatt, assistant to the President, conducting. Following an opening
hymn and prayer, Sister Redford (we knew her from the Arlington Ward) sang a
beautiful solo number titled “Gethsemane” and then we heard a short message
from President Haddock of the mission presidency. He spoke to the theme of
“Rise to your Call.” We then heard from Sister Lee who discussed “Asking
Inspired Questions.” President Lee followed on the same theme and expanded into
the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion. Following a short break, Elder’s
Hiatt and Boehme trained from Preach My Gospel on Keeping Commitments and did a
fine job. Finally, President Lee summed up everything and we heard a final
testimony by Sister Redford, who was attending her last Zone Conference, and
then we sang “God Be With You till We Meet Again” to Sister Redford. Lunch
followed in the cultural hall and we got a chance to visit with all of the
senior missionaries and many of the single missionaries who we had worked with
in the Jax East Zone previously. It was a wonderful conference with a great
spirit. The afternoon was dedicated to subjects for the single missionaries, so
we said our goodbyes and left for home with a short stop to do a little
shopping before arriving at our apartment
Thursday morning, we opened the USO
at 9:00 am. Bread and Pastries were on the pool table and after opening doors
and turning on lights, we processed the items and by 9:30 am they were
available for patrons. About that time a woman came from Papa Murphy’s Pizza
and visited with Charlie Tramazzo for a few minutes and then went to the
kitchen and proceeded to make pizzas for sampling by visitors. Pam was with her
for most of the morning and she was an interesting lady and grew up in Sanford,
Maine. Joyce Schellhorn (Director) had left a list of items she wanted done and
when Dave Ostrum arrived about 10:00 am I attacked the list. Hung a new decorator clock in the computer
room, went into the attic and brought a bin of wooden toys and several Princess
Dolls for Megan. A business nearby brought a large supply of Hydroponic Lettuce
and Dave and I stored the bags in the outside refrigerator. We planned to use
it for Mondays’ No Dough Dinner. Pam and I left for the Naval Station at 1:00 pm
and took some bread, pastries and 10# of potatoes to Samantha Lagae. It was
nice to see her and Fiona and Clive. Marisol Perry, from the ward, was visiting
and that’s been a nice friendship. We hosted the Arlington Elders for dinner
this evening and at 5:00 pm Elders Smedley and Swan arrived. We had a nice
visit and learned Elder Swan was from Layton, Utah. Dinner was excellent and
following messages and a closing prayer they left for their night meetings and
Pam and I cleaned up the kitchen and called it a night.
Friday morning, we opened the USO
again as Dave Ostrum had a doctor’s appointment.
It was very quiet, and I spent the morning consolidating
food, moving tables and some general cleaning. Pam worked in the kitchen
working on a sample dinner menu for Monday. Dave arrived about 10:00 am and he
visited with Pam and Julie Davis about the food. I hung 3 pictures in the back
offices and when that was done, I cleaned up the offices and moved the lounge
chairs with the help of another volunteer to the lounge area and set them up.
Pam left the USO and drove to the Lagae home at 11:30 am to baby sit for
Samantha while she and Jerald went to a school IEP meeting for Eleanor. Pam
returned and we left at 2:30 pm and returned to the Naval Station and delivered
more potatoes and romaine lettuce to Jennie Black and Tony Head. We also
stopped at the home of Soporio McCall, a young woman Sisters Kurtz and Cutler
were teaching in Palatka. They called us last week and asked if we could do
some fellowshipping but she was not home. At our apartment Pam began getting
ready for dinner with the Arlington Sisters. I called Soporio to see if she
would answer her phone, and she did. She confirmed everything about her
interest in the church and I called the Sisters and told them she was on her
way to Palatka after her boy-friend got off work. Sister Dreiling and McComb
arrived at 6:00 pm and we had a wonderful hour with them. Sister McComb was
from Colorado Springs, but since her arrival in the mission field her family
moved to Provo and might be in Erin and Weston’s stake. We had a nice visit and
the food was good. After they left, we cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen
and adjourned to our room for the night.
Saturday morning, we slept in and
had a leisurely morning. Wes Alexander came by at 9:20 am and picked up
potatoes and lettuce we brought home for them and it was nice to see him. I
vacuumed the house and Pam began laundry and cleaned the bathrooms and dusted.
We had everything done and were dressed for the day by noon. We went to the St.
John’s Center to look at some shoes and then had lunch before returning to our
apartment. Pam spent the afternoon working on a baby quilt blocks and I called
all the unknown numbers for military members in our book, but mainly just left
messages. We thought most of those names have transferred out of the area or
left the military and moved.
Sunday morning, we arrived at the
chapel at 9:45 am and sacrament meeting was excellent, with a full chapel.
Tyler Gneck sat with us and the Lagaes and Blacks were there along with the
Jarvis’ and Devaney Noblit. Wish we could get the Heads back to church. Today
was Relief Society and Elder’s quorum meetings during the 2nd hour
and the meetings were excellent with good topics discussed. We had an interesting
visitor, Timothy Ballard, the author of the Lincoln and Washington Hypothesis
books. He was an ex-FBI agent and headed up Operation Underground Railroad a non-profit which assists
governments around the world in the rescue of human trafficking and sex
trafficking victims, with a special focus on children. Obviously, he was
a member of the church and it was good to visit with him. We arrived home in
the early afternoon and Pam warmed up leftovers and we enjoyed the meal and
spent a quiet afternoon and evening. Johanna called from Denver and reported on
her trip to Utah and the funeral of Richard Watson. Pam also visited with Erin,
a fitting conclusion of our week.
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