Monday morning, we had a pair of sisters at our home doing
their laundry. When we did inspections last week, we noted that Sister Knudsen
& Gillins had a tiny washer that would not spin out their clothes, so we
invited them to come and do laundry at our place if needed. They brought
blankets and sheets and wrote emails while they waited. Pam and I cleaned the
house and, in the afternoon, did a little shopping. In the evening we drove to
Jacksonville Beach and attended a discussion with an investigator we had met at
the USO during one of the prep days for a “No Dough” dinner. It was interesting
that in the week following the dinner the Elder’s tracted into her home and she
talked about us and they did some service for her and eventually set up this
appointment. She seemed very pleased to see us again, and we spent an enjoyable
hour getting to know her. She was quite religious but without any official
affiliation. Eventually Elder Roy turned the discussion towards the Restoration
and together with Elder Lamb they told the story of the First Vision and visit
of the Angel Moroni and challenged Jessica to read the Book of Mormon. Pam and
I had an opportunity to chime in once in a while, but they did a wonderful job
and Jessica seemed intrigued by everything. She accepted an invitation to
attend church the coming Sunday and to read in the Book of Mormon.
Tuesday, we arrived at the USO late in the morning and we
ran the office as Joyce Schellhorn (director) had to attend a briefing for a
new command that recently arrived at the Naval Station.
We had about 2 hours on our own and took a number of calls
and had a dozen patrons come for various services. When Joyce returned at 2:00
pm we discussed some calls and our schedule for the rest of the week and then
we left for home. It was raining off and on most of the day and the forecast was
for much the same for the rest of the week. We broke down and bought a couple
of umbrella’s and would surely use them. In the afternoon we stopped off at the
home of Tara Alexander from the Arlington ward and gave her some Girl Scout
Cookies. She is so frustrated at the pace workers were making doing some
renovation work on their house.
Wednesday morning, we attended the District Meeting at 10:00
am and enjoyed being with the Elder’s & Sister’s and again were so
impressed with their ability to discuss the gospel and their roles as missionaries.
We had to leave early and continued on to the USO and Joyce was there, and she
had her husband’s new puppy. a 13-week-old black Labrador. We spent the morning
cleaning toys and the children’s room, so it could be used that evening. Contractors
had been doing work in the room for the last month or so and everything was
covered with dust. At noon a Girl Scout
representative came and a few minutes later a truck arrived with 3 pallets of
cookies. Another truck from NAS Jax USO also arrived and some of the cookies
went to Jax and some to the Mayport USO. After we were done, and the trucks
left, Cheryl Vandiver (assistant director) dropped in. She had just returned from
a 3-week cruise to Europe and England and an extended stay in Scotland. After visiting
for a few minutes Pam and I drove on the base and took some girl scout cookies
to Samantha LaGae and her girls. We were pleased to see that Jerald was home
and we were sure that made Sam happy. It was a beautiful afternoon and before
returning to our apartment we took a drive north over the Dame’s Point bridge
and then along the north side of the St. John’s river by the Atlantic Ocean
beach towns. The drive was very enjoyable seeing all the coastal homes and
communities. When opposite the Naval Station we stopped at a Ferry Station and
got in line and waited 15 minutes and then whisked our way across the river
back to the Naval Station. For a couple of hours in the evening it rained very,
very hard and the water came down in buckets along with thunder and lightning.
It wasn’t scary, but certainly got our attention. We wondered where all the
water went for in Utah our streets would be flowing with water. We understood
why all the water retention ponds existed across the city. A map showed
literally thousands of them and we thought they were for Alligators!?
Thursday was a Memorial Day of sorts. Our USO director,
Joyce Schellhorn’s husband was a Navy Helicopter pilot and deployed on the USS
Stark (FFG 31) during the Iran-Iraq War. On the 17th of May 1987, an
Iraqi jet aircraft approached and fired 2 missiles at the frigate and 37 Navy
personnel were killed and 21 injured. The Stark was made sea-worthy in Bahrain
and continued back to the states where it was repaired. There were many issues
concerning the ships readiness for battle in the Persian Gulf which led to
court martials and forced retirements. We left for the USO at 8:30 am and
opened up the facility after counting the bread and pastries. We had 4 people
come and get bread or other things before we closed the facility because of the
memorial service at 10:00 am. We had planned to attend, but our member friend, Alexis
Connelly, was going home to Arizona for a week’s leave and needed a ride to the
airport. We arranged to pick her up at 10:00 am and had to make a circuitous
route on the Naval Station to avoid the memorial service. We finally made it to
Alexis’ barracks and she was waiting for us and was in good spirits. She could
hardly wait to get home and be with her family. Approaching the airport, we
stopped at a shopping center and had lunch and then continued to the airport.
Following the drop off we returned to the USO and worked there for another hour
until Joyce returned from the service. She was very subdued, and it took a
while for her even to talk much which wasn’t Joyce. As we left we took a tent
and two cases of water for a special Military Night at the Zoo that we would be
attending Friday evening.
Friday was Travis’ birthday and we hoped he and Jennifer
were having a wonderful time in Mexico. At 10:00 am Stephanie Jarvis, a member
from the Jacksonville Beach ward arrived, and she and Pam continued working on
a stuffed animal project. They were making a Fox, but it had so many little
pieces. They finished at 1:00 pm. At 4:15 pm we departed for the Zoo and needed
the extra time because of a huge detour. The USO was sponsoring a Military
Night at the Zoo and we had been selling wrist bands for the past two months.
The Zoo closed at 5:00 pm and reopened at 6:00 pm for military families only. We
eventually found the entrance and parked our van, unloaded and set up the tent and
waited. We were pleasantly surprised at the large number of families that came—I
would guess anywhere from 500-1000 parents and children. Along with other
volunteers, Pam and I helped patrons put on their wrist bands and welcomed families
as they arrived. About 7:00 pm the arrivals slowed to a trickle, so Pam and I
went inside and took a train ride around and through the Zoo and enjoyed seeing
the enclosures and animals. We also walked to a few areas before deciding to go
home. Back towards the entrance we ran into Stephanie and Lance Jarvis and Shay
and Chris Tuttle. We knew they were coming but hadn’t seen them. They were both
from the Jacksonville Beach Ward. We were happy to visit with them for a few
minutes. We also saw a man and two children and one of the children recognized
our missionary badges and said, “I’m a Mormon too.” They were from the Timucuan
Ward on the west side and he worked at NAS Jax. It had been a successful
activity and the weather was excellent despite a torrential rainstorm earlier.
Well we probably shouldn’t mention this, but Saturday
morning we watched the Royal Wedding from England. Quite a gala event. We also
cleaned our apartment through the morning and did several loads of laundry.
Later in the afternoon we did some shopping, made phone calls and prepared for
the Sabbath.
Sunday morning we had planned to attend the Jacksonville
Beach ward as Jessica was planning to be there. At 8:55 am we got a text from
the elders saying she wasn’t coming so we changed plans and quickly left for
the Fort Caroline chapel and attended the Arlington Ward sacrament meeting at
9:00 am. We enjoyed being there and had a nice visit with Tara Alexander and
her children and also with the Bishop concerning the Alexander’s. Both sets of
missionaries were with investigators so that was good. Following the sacrament
meeting and visiting we settled down in the chapel again and attended the Fort
Caroline Ward sacrament meeting and block of meetings. We enjoyed being there
and meeting the saints. We also met a young lady who is in the military and
stationed at the Naval Station. She is a single mother (we think) and living
with her mother near the Fort Caroline Sisters apartments. We got her
information and hope to visit with her soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment