COTTLE MISSION NEWS: Week 58 (11

Monday morning commenced in Orlando, where we caught a shuttle bus for Universal Studios at 10:40 am where we rented a wheel chair for Pam and began our adventure. We texted Erin and they were at Seuss Landing and after locating them, we took Miles and Wells with us and Erin, Weston and the girls went off for “higher” adventures. Erin gave us some lunch for the kids and we stayed in the Seuss Landing for the better part of an hour. The boys rode the “Cat In The Hat” ride and Pam went with them and they had a good time. Next, they rode the “Carousel” with Pam and I took them on the “High In the Sky, Seuss Trolley Train Ride.” From Seuss Landing we rode the “Hogwarts Express” back to “Diagon Alley.” Miles wanted to see something there and we wandered around the Alley and finally discovered he wanted to see the Dragon Roar and we arrived just in time for him to look up as the Dragon spit fire. Next, we walked around the lake and we all went on the “The Simpson’s Ride,” then “ET’s Adventure” and that was fun. The “Animal Actors on Location” was just starting so we went into the stadium and enjoyed the cats, dogs, birds, etc. Finally, I took the boys on the “Woody Woodpeckers Nuthouse Coaster” and they really enjoyed that. By this time, it was mid-afternoon and they were hot and tired, so found somewhere to relax for a while in the “Curios George Goes to Town” area which was also a water park and the boys had a ball going through the buildings and playing in water spraying all over the place—water cannons, big tubs of water dumping off roofs and everything imaginable. In a back building was a room with rubber ball cannons and we could hardly get Wells to leave that area when it was time. They were wet and we found a rest room and Pam wrung out their clothes and then dressed them again and we ran into Erin, Weston and the girls. They came looking for us and we followed them back to Diagon Alley where they bought several glasses of “Butter Beer” for the kids and us and we enjoyed the treat. We watched the Dragon belch fire again several times and Pam bought some Christmas ornaments for the kids. Pam and I planned to leave on the 6:55 pm shuttle and volunteered to take the boys with us back to our hotel. They wanted to go, so we made our way to the exit and caught a shuttle back to our hotel. We drove to a nearby Cici’s and had pizza for dinner and the boys really enjoyed it. Back at the hotel, the boys watched cartoons and Pam laid their clothes on the heater to dry them. Erin, Weston and the girls arrived at 10:00 pm and picked up the boys and we said our goodbyes to them as we were not returning to the park on Tuesday morning and it appeared, they were not either. They planned to swim in the hotel pool and leave for the airport at noon.

Tuesday morning, we slept in a little and then got ready for the day, checked out of the hotel and began the drive home. The traffic was uneventful, and we arrived at our apartment about noon. Everything was well in our apartment and spent the afternoon putting things away, doing some housecleaning and laundry. We learned Erin and Weston and children checked in at the airport in the early afternoon and left on time, arriving in Salt Lake that evening. So, we were pleased their trip was uneventful also. We greatly appreciated the sacrifice of time and finances they made to come and spend a few days with us. It was very special to be with our grandchildren. (the children were ok too!)

Wednesday morning, we reviewed several new videos the church published on the dedication of the Italy Rome Temple over the weekend. In particular were testimonies given by the members of the quorum of the twelve and a video that walked you through the Temple explaining the various parts and purposes of rooms. Elder Bednar and Rasband did a wonderful job highlighting the role of the Temple in our lives. We left for the USO at 9:30 am and the parking lot was full, and remembered it was a “Career Day” for the Pathfinder Program. We visited with Dave Ostrum and Carmel and Jim and returned some items to Joyce Schellhorn (Director) and bagged some ham from Monday’s No Dough dinner to take to some of our families. They didn’t need us, so we drove to the Naval Station and stopped at the Head’s, but Nikki was gone. Next to the Tuttle’s and gave Shay a bag of ham and talked about their recent trip to Arizona and learned that Chris had blessed their baby, so that was wonderful. Next, we drove to the Black’s and Olivia was outside walking their dog and she took some ham to her mother. Finally, we stopped at the Lagae’s and gave Sam a bag of meat and Pam visited with her for about 15 minutes. She was very excited about the upcoming Temple Preparation Seminar that we would hold with them, starting Thursday evening. After we filled up with gas we returned to our apartment via the Alexanders where we also gave Tara a bag of meat. She was not feeling well—cold! At 1:30 pm we drove to a dental appointment in the Mandarin area and for the next hour Doctor Patch worked me over. He filled 3 small cavities and wanted to check on another one at a later date. On the way back to our apartment, we stopped for lunch, but my mouth wouldn’t cooperate. Pam and I looked over the Temple Preparation Seminar manual and decided what we would do tomorrow evening.

Thursday morning, we arrived at the USO at 9:00 am to open the facility. Bread and pastries had been delivered and we set them out for patrons. Seemed every time we return to the USO after a break there has been significant changes in where things were located, and that day was no exception. Voting tables had been delivered for next Tuesday’s local election. Yao Li and Julie Davis arrived to help Charlie Tramazzo and at 10:00 am Dave Ostrum arrived. We had a very slow morning with only a half dozen patrons come for bread and most of them retirees. Back in our apartment, I lay down as I had not been feeling well and promptly went to sleep for most of the afternoon. At 7:00 pm Pam and I changed and left for the Naval Station where we conducted the first session of a Temple Preparation Seminar for the Lagae’s and Perry’s. Tyler Gneck had a late trainer and couldn’t come, but it turned out very nicely and both the Perry’s and Lagae’s were excited about attending the Temple and receiving their endowments and being sealed as families. We introduced the lessons and showed two videos, one of Elder Bednar and Rasband inside the Rome Italy Temple and the other one on the Endowment. Both new videos and very nicely done. We made some assignments for next week and left about 9:15 pm.

Friday morning, we were out the door early for apartment inspections starting at 8:00 am.

We began here in the Avia St. John with Elder Smedley & Swan’s apartment, followed by Sister Dreiling & McCombs apartment also nearby. Next, we drove to Sister Topham & Kings apartment followed by Elder’s Hansen & Wojnar. The final inspection was at Elder’s Crandall & Jensen in Jacksonville Beach. We found a few discrepancies, but basically the missionaries were doing a good job keeping their places clean. If there was main common complaint it was water pressure. Before going to the USO we stopped at the Embassy Barber Shop, next to the Whataburger on Penman Road and I got a haircut. Finally, about 10:30 am we arrived at the USO and visited with Joyce Schellhorn (Director) going over next week’s schedule with her and items coming up in the next month or two. Dave Ostrum arrived at about 11:00 am and Joyce left for a trip to visit her family in Tampa shortly after noon. Pam and I worked in the office for the entire time we were there and left at 1:00 pm. “Spring Break” made for a pretty light week for the USO but next week it would ramp back up. Back at our apartment we documented the apartment inspections and rested before returning to Jacksonville Beach at 4:30 pm. We inspected Sister Paulsen & Tidwell’s apartment and then took them to dinner. We had a nice hour with them, enjoyed the meal and visiting with those two great sisters. After dropping them off at their apartment we returned to Arlington Hills and settled in for the night.

Saturday morning, we were up early again and out the door by 7:40 am to finish apartment inspections. We drove to the Dunn Avenue area and arrived at the apartment of Sister Kennedy and Baird at 8:00 am and enjoyed visiting them and seeing cleanliness of their apartment. Next the final inspection was at the apartment of Elders Shirtliff and Carter, the Zone Leaders. Their apartment was also clean just filled with a lot of “stuff” that needed to be discarded. From the Dunn Avenue area, we returned to our apartment and Pam did some dusting and continued laundry and I updated the inspections forms and emailed them to Elder Alexander. At noon we drove to Wal-Mart for some shopping and walking and then had some lunch. At our apartment, I spent the afternoon calling families and sent out text messages and emails to verify some names. In the evening we studied the weeks lesson in “Come Follow Me” and then joined the mission transfer call from President Lee at 9:00 pm. The Dunn Avenue District remained intact, but in the Fort Caroline District Sister Topham was transferred out and Sister King would be training a new missionary. Elders Hansen and Wojnar were both being transferred out and Elder Yentes moved in and would train a new missionary, and our beloved Sister Paulsen was transferred out and Sister Weyland would replace her at the Beach with Sister Tidwell. Finally, Elder Crandall was being transferred out and Elder Hafen would replace him with Elder Jensen. So, we lost some great missionaries and gained some good ones. President also combined the Ocala and Gainesville Zones into one Zone in a preliminary move to the July 1^st changes when the mission absorbs the Panama City, Tallahassee and Tifton, Georgia Stakes.

Sunday morning, we left for Jacksonville Beach at 9:30 am and attended church in the

Beach Ward. We were happy to see Chris & Shay Tuttle with their cute baby, and Jenny & Oliva Black. The Jarvis’ were also there along with Devaney Noblit and Tyler Gneck. Slim pickings today, however, as many of the ward faithful were out for Spring Break. Sacrament meeting was excellent, and Bob Rennie taught the Sunday school lesson and led a good discussion. Following the meetings, we visited for a few minutes before returning to our apartment. Pam fixed some dinner and we spent a quiet afternoon watching some byutv programming. I also updated photos and narrative for the weekly blog. At 6:45 pm we drove to the Fort Caroline chapel and attended a missionary fireside titled “Fishers of Men” and it was well done. All the Jacksonville East Zone missionaries participated and reviewed member-missionary correlation and how to apply missionary work in our everyday lives. President Lee attended as did the Whiteheads.