Monday morning started early, and
we published our weekly Blog and monthly report to send to Salt Lake. At 9:15
am we left for the USO and Dave Ostrum was in the office and not much was going
on. I framed the 4 Blue Angels photos for Charlie Tramazzo and he was very
pleased with them. Pam did some cleaning in the kitchen and then spent most of
our morning in the office. I checked out the two storage rooms and they were
both organized, so by 11:30 am we decided to leave as there was nothing more to
do. It was going to be a short week as the facility would be closed from the 4th
through the weekend. We returned to Arlington Hills and had some lunch and then
returned to our apartment. Pam did some sewing, and I went to a doctor’s
appointment at 1:00 pm and met with Doctor Hoffman’s associate and he reviewed
my history and checked my blood pressure and heart and then updated my pills
and had some blood drawn to check my cholesterol. Back at our apartment, Pam
and I left at 2:30 pm and drove to Marisol and Christian Perry’s apartment off
of San Pablo Road and taught them the 6th and final lesson of the
Temple Preparation course. They were very responsive and anxious to get to the
Temple. Christian needed an interview with President Button for the priesthood
and Marisol needed interviews with the Bishop and President Button for a
recommend.
Tuesday morning, we left for the
USO at 8:30 am as we opened this morning. It was a quiet morning with only
Julie Davis and Charlie Tramazzo coming in to work. We kept three volunteers
busy cleaning and I hung pictures in the Library room and four pictures for
Charlie in the Pathfinder room and his office. Finally, Joyce Schellhorn
(Director) arrived at noon and we reviewed the happenings of the morning and
then we left for the day. We had lunch and drove to the Wal-Mart bought a
birthday present for Eleanor. I dropped Pam off at our apartment and drove to an
oil-change facility and had the van serviced. I called Yavie Null (new member
in our ward) to see how she was doing, and she was in Texas on her way to
California to visit an ill family member. She was not sure whether she was
going to stay in Jacksonville. I also called the other new couple, the
Southard’s, but had to leave a message. I returned to our apartment and Pam was
busy sewing Eleanor and Fiona’s dresses.
Wednesday morning, we left the
apartment at 8:15 and drove to Atlantic Beach and picked up Sister Weyland and
Hall and proceeded to the Hendricks Stake Center for Zone Conference. Most of
the Jacksonville East Zone was there when we arrived, and we greeted everyone
and found seats up front. At 9:45 am the Assistants arrived and began setting
up equipment and then President and Sister Wood arrived and greeted each
missionary. It was nice to finally meet them. The meeting commenced at 10:00 am
with Elder Boehme conducting and following an opening hymn and prayer he turned
the time over to the Wood’s. After some opening comments of welcome and
introduction, they passed out cards to each missionary to write a note to the
Lee’s and also a leather-bound copy of the Book of Mormon for the missionaries
to sign for the Lee’s. Next they showed a video their children had made to
introduce the Wood’s. Each of their children, in-laws and grandchildren had
something to say about them and answered questions about different aspects of
their lives. It was fun and interesting. Sister Wood gave a presentation on
Inspired Questions from Preach My Gospel and did a nice job. She was followed
by President Wood and he discussed Invitations and also 4 areas of concern
about mission rules that differed between our mission and the Tallahassee and
Macon missions—Ties, Music, Water and Sand. He read from the new Missionary
Handbook and discussed the Principle and Doctrine that applied to each item and
established the mission standard. He concluded talking about levels of
Obedience and read from Abraham 3:27 and summarized 3 standards Celestial “Here
am I, Send me”; Terrestrial “Pick and Choose”; and Telestial “I will do what I
want, don’t tell me what to do.” Pam and
I were both very impressed with the Wood’s. Following a closing song and prayer
we had lunch in the cultural hall with food from Moe’s. A district picture was
taken and then we returned to our home. The Sisters got the Fort Caroline
Sister’s Car for a week, so they drove themselves home. Pam had a visit with
Erin this afternoon.
Thursday morning was the Fourth of
July—Independence Day and a federal holiday. We didn’t plan anything special
today and had a relaxing morning. Pam began some laundry and sewed throughout
the morning and finished Fiona’s dress. I cleaned out the storage closet
outside and brought in our plastic crates and swept the patio. Also began
sorting through things and taking pictures off the walls and preparing to pack.
Shortly after noon we took a drive and got on I-295 and drove north around the
belt loop to I-10 on the west side and continued west to Lake City where I-10
intersected with I-75. It was a nice drive, and everything was so green from
the recent storms. In Lake City we had some lunch and then returned to
Jacksonville. The drive back was uneventful except when we crossed the
Matthew’s Bridge in the downtown area it began to rain and for 10 miles it just
poured down with thunder and lightning everywhere. By the time we arrived at
the Southside Connector it was done, and we arrived back at our apartment in
practically dry conditions. Pam continued to sewing and I updated our
scrapbook.
Friday morning, the Jarvis’ arrived
at our apartment at 5:30 am and I accompanied them to the airport where they
had a flight booked to Salt Lake for a 2-week vacation. I brought their car
back to our apartment to keep until they returned. The USO was closed today, so
we didn’t have an assignment there. We spent the morning and most of the
mid-day going through our apartment and cleaning, organizing for packing out
and identifying items to keep, leave in the apartment or throw away. It was
amazing how much stuff you accumulate in 18 months. Pam also finished Eleanor’s
dress. We got a call from Sister Hart from the mission office indicating our
travel money was available and we made arrangements to pick up the check and also
to meet them. At 5:00 pm we drove to a Chic-fil-a on Atlantic by Regency Square
and met the Wes & Tara Alexander and their children for dinner. We had a
wonderful hour and a half with them eating, watching their kids play in the
playground and visiting. They were doing well, and Tara was anxious to have her
baby—due date in early September! I gave Wes one of the challenge coins we
bought earlier this year “Put on the Armor of God” and he was very pleased. Pam
baked a cake for them and upon leaving we gave it to them.
Saturday morning, Pam stripped our
bed and laundered the sheets. She also made another cake for dinner tomorrow
with the Lagae’s and did some cleaning in the kitchen and organizing and
sorting items to keep and those to stay in the apartment. I spent time making
calls to elder’s quorum and relief society presidents in the Jacksonville East
Stake to verify military family’s status and got some good results. We expected
departures and arrivals during the summer and hoped to have an accurate list
for the Kelley’s. We drove out for lunch and did a little shopping at Wal-Mart
before returning to our apartment. We had a huge thunderstorm roll through this
afternoon, and it just poured down for over an hour.
Sunday morning, I was up early and
heard some noises coming from the apartment (301) across the breezeway from us
and eventually the police were called, and he was apprehended. We later learned
it was the son of the lady who rented the apartment and he had been drunk and
caused damage to their patio, but never did get in. Pam and I left for
Jacksonville Beach at 9:30 am and visited with members as they arrived for
church. The Blacks, Lagaes, Noblits and Shay Tuttle were with us today. The
Lagaes arrived just as Brother Perkins (high councilor) stood and announced
Jerald’s name. Jerald remained standing in the aisle by our row as his name was
presented to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and be ordained an Elder and it
was just wonderful. Samantha was so pleased and beamed with admiration for her
husband. Testimony meeting was excellent with many testimonies borne by ward
members. Following sacrament meeting we had a Sunday school class and it covered
the first 5 chapters of Acts. After the block, we migrated to a classroom by
the Bishop’s office and Brother Perkins presided and I was invited to ordain
Jerald an Elder. He had asked me several weeks ago if I would perform the
ordinance and I was thrilled for the opportunity. Brother Perkins joined me,
and we laid our hands on Jerald’s head and conferred the priesthood and
ordained him an Elder. Jerald’s mother was with us and we wondered what she
thought of all this that was going on with her son and his family, but she
seemed pleased. The next thing Jerald needed was a recommend interview and he
made an appointment with the Bishop. Pam and I returned to Arlington Hills and the
mother and daughter of apartment 301 had written a letter of apology to each of
the tenants in the building and placed it under the mat by the door. We spent a
quiet afternoon and watched two “Freeman” videos on the Come Follow Me lesson,
last weeks and this upcoming week and they were both wonderful. At 5:30 pm we
drove to the Naval Station and had dinner at the Lagae’s. Jerald and his mother
fixed dinner and we ate and visited and enjoyed the children. We stayed until
8:30 pm and then said our goodbyes and returned to our apartment—a wonderful
full day!
What a great week! I can't believe your mission is coming to an end. It's been wonderful to follow along every week. Love you💕
ReplyDeleteIt has been wonderful reading about your work and the families you love so much.
ReplyDeleteSuch good news about Jerald, I’m thrilled for them ❤️❤️ Can’t wait to see you!
ReplyDelete