Our week began on Monday the 16th of April. We
spent most of the day at the USO. Prepping for the dinner that night in the
morning and returning in the afternoon to help with the dinner. We had a nice
lunch at Freddy’s and took an hour or so rest by the St. John’s river watching
the water and boats go by. That night JEA, a local power company was sponsoring
the dinner and they had a host of volunteers present to man the kitchen, salad,
dessert and drink tables. We had a nice group come to the dinner, but not as
many as they hoped for—only about 180. We texted the LaGae family and invited
them to come and Pam and I joined them for dinner and it was nice to see them
again, especially the kids. At the end of the event we took a box of food to
the gate guards at the Naval Station and they were thrilled with the food and
drink.
Tuesday was
our preparation day for this week and it was cold and rainy outside, so we were
happy to be inside our comfortable apartment. We were also thinking of the
Boston Marathon going on this morning up north. However, the weather up there
was horrible, but didn’t Sarah Callister Sellers do us proud. Pretty amazing
story. We cleaned the entire apartment and are still amazed at how much dust and
dirt we accumulate in the vacuum each week. We also did loads of laundry and
shopped for food items we need for upcoming meals we are taking to military
families this week.
Wednesday morning,
we spent on the telephone trying to contact new military families and singles
with not much luck. It’s amazing in this world of instant communication no one
answers phones. We had lunch at a salad restaurant called “Crispers” and had an
interesting encounter with a minister. He didn’t reveal his faith, but we
imagined it was Baptist. He told of missionaries visiting with him around the
Dunn Avenue Ward building and how impressed he was with their excitement about
the Savior and the message they presented. He complimented the church on their
missionary work and wished his church did the same. After lunch we met with
Alexis Connelly and Elders Lamb and Roy at the Jacksonville Beach chapel and
visited for a while and then the Elder’s and I gave Alexis a Priesthood
blessing. She had an MRI last week which proved to be normal, but she was still
having migraines several times a week. We blessed her to be healed and properly
diagnosed and treated and then Pam and I took her back to the Naval Station and
dropped her off at her apartment. Before leaving the base, we stopped at the
chapel to see if we could meet a single member, Blake Harris, but he wasn’t
working until the evening.
Thursday morning,
we arrived at the USO at 9:00 am to learn the opening routine and then I counted
bread with Jim and Pam went with Carmel to review other opening procedures. This
was their last week at the USO and next Thursday Pam and I will be there on our
own. We did a lot of odd jobs throughout the morning until Cheryl arrived with
food for next Monday’s dinner.
We helped
until about 2:30 pm and then left for the day. Spent an hour on the phone with
USAA changing insurance coverage for the van to make it legal so that is taken
care of.
Friday morning,
we arrived at the USO shortly at 10:00 am and Joyce (Director) and several ladies
were there, and work had started in the kitchen baking chicken and cooking
pasta for Monday’s dinner. While in the office Pam’s phone rang and it was
Karin Hadley and she informed us of Sherwood’s passing that morning at 7:30 am.
I went out and found Pam in the kitchen and whispered the news into her ear and
she came out into the TV lounge area and made calls to our children and also to
Ann Marie. It happened a lot quicker than they planned but we were sure it was
a huge blessing. I worked in the office and did a lot of little jobs. In the
afternoon Joyce wanted me to document the channels available on the various TV’s
in the center because she was not happy with the setup xfinity/Comcast had
provided—imagine that!
Saturday
morning began very early for us as we were going to the Temple in Orlando. We
invited a military wife to join us (Stephanie Jarvis) and she arrived at our
apartment at 7:00 am and following prayers we were off. The freeways were
fairly clear that early in the morning, but we traveled through light to heavy
rain for most of the way. We enjoyed the scenery through coastal Florida and
visiting with Stephanie. She was quite a girl and had an amazing medical story.
She was also from Rifle, Colorado so that was interesting. Her husband was attending
a military school in Norfolk, Virginia. We arrived in Orlando and thanks to GPS
arrived at the Temple and it was beautiful. We entered, changed and sat in the
chapel for the 10:30 am session and the ordinance room was full, and we enjoyed
the film and proceeding through a beautiful session. We spent a few minutes in
the Celestial Room but I didn’t remember much from when I was in that Temple in
February of 2002 with George Judd. What was really amazing was the changes in
the neighborhood around the Temple. My memory was open land and not much around
the Temple, but now trees were tall, and housing and business areas were
everywhere. We left for Jacksonville and stopped for food at a Wendy’s and the
drive home was a lot more crowded, but we arrived safely at our apartment at
4:00 pm. It had been a very good day and we so much needed the peace and spirit
of the Temple.
Sunday morning,
I got jarred awake to an early morning text from both Stephanie and also from
Alexis. Stephanie had a question about whether she had dropped her phone in our
van—she hadn’t, and Alexis, on the other hand, texted to tell us she was just
going to bed after spending the night doctoring her boy-friend who had a
stomach virus. So, we wouldn’t be seeing her today which, was a huge
disappointment. The good news, however, was that she was 4 days without a migraine
headache. We went to the Jacksonville Beach Ward this morning and President
Heywood was present and presided. During the business portion of the meeting,
he changed the Bishopric. Bishop Maughn and his counselors Brother Dill &
Hardy were released and a new bishopric of Bishop Scott Currie with counselors,
Brother’s Kory Simmons and Howie Christianson. Following the sacrament, we
heard from the old and new bishoprics, plus Bishop Maughn’s wife, and they all
gave wonderful testimonies. President Heywood concluded the meeting with his
own testimony. Pam and I met Shay Tuttle following the meeting and verified our
meeting with her and her husband on Tuesday evening. We then attended the Gospel
Principles class where we met Joe Novak, ward mission leader. We were
disappointed that the LaGae’s were not in church today. Not sure why! I got a
chance to meet Bishop Currie and he was on active duty in the Navy assigned to
VP-30 (VP Rag Squadron at NAS Jacksonville) and he flew the new P-8 aircraft
and had flown the P-3. We agreed to meet later when the dust settled from his
new calling. Here are some pictures of the Orlando Temple:
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