COTTLE MISSION NEWS: Week 68 (20

Monday morning, we left for the USO at 9:15 am and Joyce Schellhorn (Director) had opened. Dave Ostrum was also there along with Julie Davis and other volunteers and everyone busy getting ready for the No Dough dinner that evening. Pam worked in the kitchen and I helped get the main room ready. Set out the sneeze guards, washed down tables, set up the drink station and then went outside and blew off the front and back patios. I ran a couple of errands for the kitchen—bought more Ricotta Cheese and Lasagna noodles, plus made a deposit for Dave. By 1:00 pm the meal was basically prepared and in the warming ovens. We visited with Joyce about the upcoming week and left at 1:30 pm as they had plenty of help for the afternoon and evening. We had a late lunch and then returned to our apartment. We received a call from the Kelley’s and they let us know their status. After a month-long battle with Missionary Medical, they were reinstated to the 15 July MTC date and planned to be here in Jacksonville about the 30^th of July. Later we visited with Elder Whitehead and he went over plans for the Prophets visit to Orlando on the 9^th of June and our involvement with one of the busses leaving from the Jacksonville South Stake Center in the St. John’s area. We will join another couple in managing 50 missionaries. Later in the evening Pam received a call from Ann Marie.

Tuesday morning, we left for the USO at 9:00 am. Dave Ostrum had opened, and the Feeding Northeast Florida truck was parked by the double doors to the outside storage room. We joined Dave and watched as the driver unloaded 5 pallets of meat, vegetables and dry goods. Pam and I got the shopping baskets lined up and quickly sorted through all the meat and then filled 53 bags with beef, chicken and pork and loaded them into two freezers. Next was the dry goods. Other volunteers had arrived and helped move all the dry goods inside and placed on tables at the north end. We had 3 tables of baby food and were not confident they would move. Mother’s just didn’t seem to use prepared baby foods much anymore. Had another table of cereal and also brought out all the canned goods from the storage room and sorted out by type. Later in the morning Beam’s brought two containers of watermelons and we moved them inside. By noon we were finished with preparations for tomorrow and checked on the schedule with Dave and left for the day. We took 3 bags of food for Tara Alexander and drove to her home and delivered the bags and visited with her. She and Wes and family were going to Wes’ hometown on Friday for visit and we offered to care for their cats and gerbils and water some outside plants. On our way to our apartment we stopped for lunch and then home. Pam visited with Janet Cartwright and she described and sent pictures of hail and snowstorms in Monroe—Wow!

Wednesday morning, we arrived at the USO for the food distribution program at 9:30 pm and both Joyce Schellhorn (Director) and Dave Ostrum were there. Additionally, Carmel and Jim Reed (volunteers) were there for the last time prior to returning to their home in Massachusetts. Pam worked at the sign in desk with Carmel and later Margaret and I worked in the storage room outside. Patrons began getting food by 10:15 am and for a couple of hours we were very busy. I gave out meat, potatoes and diapers. By noon things had slowed down considerably and for our final hour we only saw about 4 women come in. We served 45 families today and perhaps more would come in the afternoon. Pam and I left at 1:00 pm and drove to the Jarvis home and visited with Stephanie’s mother and got to hold baby Peter. He was such a beautiful little guy with his chestnut red hair. Stephanie was asleep, but her mother said she was doing well and able to climb and descend the stairs. Also, the baby was doing well and on a pretty good schedule. We drove to the Arlington area and had lunch and then returned to our apartment. Pam sewed on a baby quilt during the late afternoon and I made a few calls and texts to families. Earlier Pam had texted Nikki Head and she responded they were okay, but still have sickness in the family. Caleb graduated from Kindergarten. Nikki was very proud of him.

Thursday morning, we opened the USO and bread and pastries were delivered and also excess food from yesterday was available, for all patrons. Actually, we had a pretty slow morning and had difficulty finding things to keep us busy. Julie Davis came at 10:30 am and she was supposed to be working with Charlie Tramazzo, but he didn’t come in today. Dave Ostrum came about 11:00 am and just hung out in the office talking about the changes in the office spaces that were underway. Joyce also showed up at noon, so we had a full house and Pam and I left at 1:00 pm. We took 4 plates of Lasagna with us and went to the Jarvis’ and dropped off a plate plus a watermelon and then continued to the base and dropped off plates at the Tuttle’s and Lagae’s and had one for the Head’s, but Nikki wasn’t home. From the base we drove to the Alexander’s and met with Wes and he ran through the items that needed checking while they were gone—Gerbils, Cats, and Watering of plants out front—pretty simple. They would be gone for 10 days. At 5:30 pm we were back in Atlantic Beach and took Sister Tidwell and Weyland to dinner and enjoyed an hour with them. They are great missionaries!

Friday morning, we had no commitments at the USO due to Memorial Day weekend shutdown, so we spent a quiet morning getting ready for Elder Whitehead to deliver a new mattress for our bedroom for the Kelley’s. Elder Whitehead and two Elder’s (Tualamalii & Sanders) arrived at 11:00 am with the new mattress and placed it on the current frame and box springs. They also brought two bunk-bed frames and two more twin mattress for a future assembly in the second bedroom. They were expecting a huge number of missionaries in July (over 40) and needed us to accommodate them before assigned to companionship's. So that would be something the Kelley’s would have to manage, two bunk-beds, instead of two beds in that room. After they left, we went for lunch and then took a drive over the St. John’s river to the north and then took the old Main Street (Highway 17) back south to downtown Jacksonville. We passed through commercial and in some parts depressing sections of Jacksonville. After passing through the downtown section we took the Main Street bridge back across the St. John’s river where the Fuller Warren, Acosta and Main street bridges all merged and then dispersed as either I-95, Atlantic Blvd or Highway 1. We stayed on Highway 1, which was called Philips Highway. In 1986, when I was at NAS Jacksonville prior to Iceland, Philips highway was the primary route to St Augustine and parts south. We continued south and located the Jacksonville South Stake Center which was located in a very rural and monied area with many horse farms. After driving around the Stake Center, we retraced our steps back to our apartment via familiar roads. On the 9^th of June, when we go on a bus trip to Orlando to hear the Prophet speak, we will assemble at that Stake Center to meet our bus and missionaries we will shepherd.

Saturday morning, we left our apartment at 9:00 am and drove to the World Golf Hall of Fame to see a movie produced by an organization called “Operation Underground Railroad” (O.U.R.), founded by Tim Ballard which assisted governments around the world in the rescue of human trafficking and sex trafficking victims, with a special focus on children. We first became aware of Tim Ballard from two books— “The Washington Hypothesis” and the “Lincoln Hypothesis,” both wonderful books relating to the church. In March of this year, he attended church in the Jacksonville Beach Ward, and we met him and learned of his passion for the O.U.R. The movie was held in the Imax Theater and was titled “Operation Toussaint.” When we arrived, Annika Bingham, a member of the Jacksonville Beach Ward and local O.U.R. representative, welcomed us and gave us directions for some free popcorn and a drink and then we proceeded into the theater, joining about another 30 people, mostly members of the church. “Operation Toussaint” followed the efforts of Tim Ballard’s O.U.R team and highlighted a specific January 2018 operation in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It was very dramatic and got your attention to this world-wide problem. The goal of the morning was to become an “Abolitionist,” by contributing to the O.U.R. and we seriously considered doing that. When finished, we said goodbye to friends and drove back to Arlington and skipped lunch because we were stuffed with popcorn. We did a little housework and laundry in the afternoon and I had a nap and Pam did some research on the computer. Later I texted Alexis Connelly, to see how she was doing, but no response.

Sunday morning, we left for church at 9:30 am. Sacrament meeting was very interesting. President Heywood was on the stand and after the opening hymn and prayer, Bishop Currie turned the time to him and he proceeded to release the bishopric and sustain a new bishopric of Bishop Ryan Dill, 1^st Counselor, Joe Novak and 2^nd Counselor, Kory Simmons. This change was necessitated because Bishop Currie was retiring from the Navy in July and his family were moving to South Carolina where he has a job with American Airlines. He has flown P-8’s for the last 3 years as an instructor pilot at VP-30 and has lots of experience in a plane similar to a 737-800 model. The old bishopric was invited to bear their testimonies and then we heard a beautiful solo by Jeff Shirts— “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.” Finally, we heard from the new bishopric and President Heywood concluded the meeting. In the second hour Pam went to relief society and I went to elder’s quorum. The Tuttle’s were there today along with the Jarvis’ and their new baby, also the Noblit’s and Tyler Gneck. From the beach we drove back to Arlington to the Alexander’s home and I went inside and took care of the Gerbils and Cats and Pam watered the outside plants. Finally, we returned to our apartment and settled in for the day. We watched several episodes from Emily Freeman’s series on “Come Follow Me” for families and it was very good and thought provoking.