COTTLE MISSION NEWS: Week 65 (29 April

Monday morning, Pam and I opened the USO as both Dave Ostrum and Joyce Schellhorn (Director) had medical appointments this morning. Charlie Tramazzo was in but was cloistered away in his office. We had a community service volunteer show up and we put him to work cleaning windows, floors, etc. throughout the morning. Pam went into the kitchen and made a “Funeral Potatoes” dish to be sampled by the crew for next weeks No Dough dinner. By noon Dave had arrived and he had the volunteers move water and work out in the outside storage room. Can’t say anything substantial got done today but they were concerned about a luncheon tomorrow for a financial contributor. Pam and I left about 1:30 pm and drove to the St. John’s Center and shopped at Costco and Hobby Lobby and then had lunch before returning to our apartment. I made a number of calls to new phone numbers we garnered on members living on the Naval Station, but only got on answer. Most of the numbers were disconnected or didn’t work so the individuals had probably transferred. The one that answered was the right name but indicated he was not a member and wasn’t interested in any contact. Pam finished watching the Missionary Safety videos, so we completed that task.

Tuesday morning, we arrived at the USO by 10:00 am to help with the luncheon. Dave Ostrum was in charge and two community service volunteers had the foyer and south end set up for the luncheon. I worked with the two volunteers making kits for the USS Lassen which was going on deployment soon. We first made over 500. At 11:30 am guests began arriving—The Armed Forces Families Foundation (AFFF); a non-profit organization made up of volunteers with primary focus on areas of significant need which often fall outside the budget constraints of the military and its family support organizations. In particular, the AFFF donated money to USO to renovate the bathrooms, office flooring and install a new air conditioning system. The main representative was a senior executive from Taco Bell, and he brought the main course for the luncheon and we provided salad and drinks. Mike O’Brien and Charlie took this man and another young woman (whom we later learned was from Utah and LDS) around the facility and described our mission and what we had accomplished with their donations and what still needed to be done. We had about 20 single and married men and women come from various commands for the lunch and they ate and visited and provided a nice visual setting for the guests. At 12:45 pm Pam and I drove to the Naval Station and dropped off Girl Scout cookies to the Fire Station and the Ocean Breeze Conference and Catering Center. On the way out of the station we noticed a four-masted sailing ship in the basin and drove around to get a closer look. It was the Cisne Branco, a tall ship of the Brazilian Navy. We were able to drive right next to it and it was a beautiful vessel. From the Navsta we headed back to our apartment and spent a quiet afternoon. In the evening we returned to Atlantic Beach and purchased dinner for Stephanie Jarvis and delivered it to her home. We then drove on base and checked out 7 homes that I had called yesterday, where members used to live, but six of the seven had new families in residence and no one home at the seventh. We had some time to kill, so drove around the Mayport area, especially in the “old town” area by the ferry landing and saw some interesting old homes along the fence line to the Naval Station. At 7:45 pm we drove to the Lagae’s home where we held our Temple Preparation class with the Lagae’s and Perry’s. We had a wonderful class and taught lesson 4 and had some good discussions about Ordinances and Covenants. Both families were doing well and still had an urgent desire to go to the Temple.

Wednesday morning, we arrived at the USO by 10:30 am and Dave Ostrum had opened, and Beam’s had just made a small delivery with a promise of a larger one later. Two community service workers were helping. We had peppers, mangoes and meat and it was all out and Dave announced it on Facebook. Pam and Julie Davis went into the kitchen and worked on plans to bake a “test” pan of Lasagna for Joyce and Pam asked me to go to the Commissary and get a container of Ricotta Cheese. When I returned Beam’s was there again with a much larger delivery, especially of meat and bread products. By then patrons were arriving for food so we were putting out new meat while they were filling up boxes and carts with food. Joyce Schellhorn (Director) asked me to return to the Navy Exchange and get some scratch sheets for upcoming sales and a box of crayons for this summer’s school bags. At 11:30 am Joyce, Dave and Julie had a staff conference call with Mike O’Brien in Charlie Tramazzo’s office, and they were out of sight until after 1:00 pm. Pam continued in the kitchen and I took care of the office. When the test Lasagna was done everyone liked it, especially Joyce, so they knew how they would assemble and cook it next week. Joyce, Dave, Julie and Charlie went into another meeting at 2:00 pm in the Pathfinder room and Yao Li manned the office while I took 5 bags of meat to Pam Haley at the exchange for some of her employees. When I returned Pam took lunch to Stephanie Jarvis and said she was up and around, and that Lance was home. During the food distribution, Shay Tuttle came and got some food, as did Samantha Lagae and later Wes Alexander and it was nice to visit with all of them. By 3:00 pm the food was gone which was pretty amazing.

Thursday morning, we left for the USO at 8:30 am and opened the facility. Dave Ostrum was there getting items ready to take to Camp Blanding, an Army detachment south of Jacksonville. We had a small amount of bread and a lot of pastries which we set out and patrons began arriving by 9:30 am. The morning was quiet, and Pam worked in the office and I did a few odd jobs. We prepared for tomorrows Spouse Appreciation Day at the Navy Exchange which Pam and I would host. Dave left with a car full of food items for Camp Blanding families and by noon Joyce Schellhorn (Director) and Julie Davis were there along with other volunteers, so Pam and I left for the day. We bought some lunch for Stephanie Jarvis and before leaving the base stopped at the Besvold residence in Housing to check if Helen Besvold resided there. She did and was home and I introduced ourselves to her. She indicated she wasn’t a member, but then acknowledged she had been a member when she was married to her first husband, but since her divorce she and her current husband attended a non-denominational church in the area. She was very friendly and knew who we were but was not interested in the church. We left a card and offered support and help if she ever needed it and then left. That cleared up all the names we had been working on this past week. We continued to Stephanie’s home and Pam took the lunch to her and indicated she had overdone it yesterday and was back in bed today. We had some lunch and then did some shopping at nearby Wal-Mart before returning to our apartment. Elder Alexander called and needed some help securing an apartment in our facility, so I went to the leasing office and visited with Sydney Turner (Leasing Manager) and over a period of an hour filled out some forms and negotiated a lease for a new apartment for the Elders in June. Pam had a long visit with Erin and enjoyed getting up to date on our grandchildren.

Friday morning, we left for the USO at 10:00 am and picked up items we would give away at the Navy Exchange for today’s “Spouse Appreciation Day.” Dave Ostrum had opened and when we arrived Beam’s was just delivering a second load of items which were being sorted and laid out for patrons—meat, produce and bread products. He asked us to take some to the Exchange, so we took 4 boxes of lettuce and 2 boxes of peppers and a bag of meat for Pam Haley (Manager). At the exchange I delivered the produce and meat and Pam began unloading and setting up our table in the Exchange Foyer. We were front and center again and joined by ten other organizations from the naval station and local volunteer organizations. This was the first event we hosted for the USO a year ago and we enjoyed mingling with military members and families. We were pleased to meet with Bill Kennedy again, a former Navy pilot (S-3’s) and most recent assignment as CO of the USS Saratoga prior to its decommissioning. He knew we were missionaries and visited with us for a few minutes and thanked us for our service and wished us well knowing we would not return for the 2020 event. At 1:30 pm some of the vendors began leaving and we finally packed our things and departed at 2:00 pm and returned to the USO. Joyce Schellhorn (Director) visited with us about next week and then we left for home. While at the Navy Exchange I learned, via text messages and a phone call, that my brother Lynn was in a hospital in Murphy, North Carolina having suffered sepsis poisoning from a cat bite. It happened six weeks earlier and we were just learning of his recovery which was not going well. Later in the evening severe weather was experienced in the Jacksonville area and about 9:00 pm a Boeing 737-800 owned by Miami Air International, a charter airline company based in Miami, Florida. Crashed at NAS Jacksonville and slid off into the St. John’s river. The flight was a bi-weekly “Rotator” flight from Guantanamo, Cuba to Norfolk, VA via NAS Jacksonville providing transportation to military families and DOD employees to and from Guantanamo. There were 136 passengers and 7 crew members on board, and 21 adults were taken to Memorial hospital, but no one was critically injured. It was unclear what impact the weather had on the landing—more to come!

Saturday morning was a lazy morning for us. After sleeping in and doing some studying, we began housework and laundry. By noon we were dressed for the day and drove to Atlantic Beach and helped Stephanie Jarvis in her home. I vacuumed the carpet and Pam swept and mopped the tile floors in the kitchen and entryway. Stephanie was mobile but had to be very careful. Lance was home working on the baby’s crib. We left their home by 1:30 pm and had some lunch before driving to the Alexander’s home for a “baby reveal” they were hosting. A number of ward and military friends were assembled in their front yard and after some visiting they gathered around a Magnolia Tree in the front yard where a Pinata was hanging from a limb and the kids and mom and dad smacked at the Pinata until it broke revealing “blue” candy and toys—they were having a Boy! They were really surprised but happy. The Arlington Sisters were there, and we met Sister Densley (new) and made an appointment for dinner next Wednesday. Back at our apartment, we finished a few more loads of laundry and in the evening watched a wonderful program from the Women’s Conference at BYU featuring a panel discussion by the three Women Auxiliary Presidents—Sister Cordon, Bingham and Jones. Sheri Dew moderated the discussion, introducing the Presidents and presenting questions. They did a wonderful job discussing difficult questions and bore powerful testimonies of the gospel.

Sunday morning, we left for Jacksonville Beach at 9:30 am. Sacrament meeting was excellent with wonderful testimonies borne by many ward members. Chris & Shay Tuttle, Stephanie & Lance Jarvis, Devaney & Gary Noblit and Tyler Gneck were in attendance today. Sunday School was held, and Sister Ward led the discussion. Following the block, we attended a baptismal service for Collin Moore who was baptized by Tory Martin. Talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost were given by Elijah Rogers and Ryan Dill. About half the ward stayed and supported Collin. During the service the skies got dark, the wind whipped the trees and lightning and thunder boomed and rain came down in torrents. Lasted about 20 minutes but certainly got everyone’s attention. We spent a quiet afternoon and watched the YSA fireside this evening where Elder & Sister Carl B. Cook spoke on marriage.