COTTLE MISSION NEWS: Week 21

Pam and I began our week at the USO on Monday and spent about 5 hours helping get ready for the “No Dough” dinner that night. Pam helped in the kitchen and worked with several other volunteers. I did a couple of small projects for the Director connected with the renovation projects that are ongoing throughout the facility. In the middle of the afternoon a large group of volunteers arrived for the dinner, so Pam and I left and had some lunch and came back to our apartment for the rest of the day. I went through our entire military family list and called every household we have not had contact with yet. Only got one answer and one text back with information on a family that is being transferred. It just amazes me with all the technology available at our fingertips, no one answers phones anymore!

On Tuesday morning we drove to the home of Stephanie & Lance Jarvis (military members) and dropped off Pam with Stephanie and she began a sewing class with her. I went to the USO to finish a couple of projects I was doing. The Director asked me to shred some old financial records and I spent an hour finishing that job. We talked about the rest of the week and how busy the following week would be for us. At that time, we thought there might be a possibility of Erin coming east with her girls. We had lunch and then returned to our apartment and prepared for a dinner with a pair of sisters in the Jacksonville East Zone that evening. We also made arrangements to care of Tara Alexander’s children while she attended a special event. Later we learned that her husband, Wesley, would be home so that commitment wasn’t needed. But we loved to help where we could. At 5:00 pm Sisters Redford & Ferguson arrived for dinner and we enjoyed an hour with them. When they left we took leftover food to the Alexanders and visited with Wes for a few minutes. He showed us the progress they had made on their home and they were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Wednesday morning, I noted with some sadness the passing of Mark McConkie, son of Elder Bruce R. McConkie. I have very fond memories of my association with him while I served at the Mission Home in Melbourne in 1963. Later that morning we took some fruit to the LaGae family on the Naval Station and then drove to the USO. The Director and Events Coordinator were going to a meeting and we managed the facility for several hours. After finishing a list of items to do, I worked in the tool room and began to organize and clean up the room. Pam ran the front office until 3:00 pm when Cheryl Vandiver, an assistant director arrived, and we turned over to her. We left an hour later and had a late lunch and then returned to our apartment.

Thursday, we opened the USO and were happy to see the main table loaded with bread and pastries. That hasn’t happened for almost 3 weeks. We tabulated the prices and then at 10:00 am opened the facility to patrons coming for the free bread and pastries. We had a busy morning.

While Pam was covering the office, I went into the tool room and continued working on the various shelves and bins eliminating items and sorting tools and materials into a dozen categories. While I was doing that Joyce Schellhorn (Director) arrived and I began working with a Community Service volunteer and did some renovation work in the kitchen. We tore out a storage cabinet and moved appliances and changed the arrangement of various items. I was not sure what advantage it provided, but both Joyce and Cheryl Vandiver wanted it that way. We left the center at 1:30 pm and drove to the base and dropped off a birthday present for Eleanor LaGae, whose birthday is on Saturday. Samantha LaGae was sick and asked Pam if we could get them some milk and bread, so we drove to the convenience store by the gas station and made the purchases. Finally, we returned home in a driving rain storm until we passed over the Intercoastal Canal and it slowed down considerably. We had a late lunch and then returned home.

Friday morning, we decided to text all the military families that we had called earlier in the week, hoping for more responses. Later in the morning we drove to Kings Bay Submarine Base in Southern Georgia to get a feel for the area and how much time it would take to work with families up there. We headed north on I-95 until we crossed into Georgia where we took a state road to the Submarine Base. The countryside was beautiful with roads lined by tall trees and lots of water as we approached the coastline. At the sub base the security was more intense than the Naval Station but we got on and drove around trying to get the lay of the land. It was a well-established base with beautiful red brick buildings and manicured lawns. I had hoped to get a view of a submarine, but a second layer of security didn’t permit that. Our front-line ballistic and attack submarines sail from this base. We eventually exited the base and found our way back to the freeway and headed home. We stopped for lunch and a little shopping by the International Airport and then home to do some laundry.

Saturday was a quiet day for us and we did more laundry and cleaning throughout the morning. We recently purchased more bug traps and laid them all out and sprayed again as we have begun to have more little critters show up in the apartment. At noon we had lunch at a new Mexican restaurant we found called Pancheros and it was good. Not Café Rio or Costa Vida, but good enough. We went to Ikea and did a little shopping then returned to our apartment. We received a couple of responses from yesterday’s texts, but not nearly what we hoped for. The next step, we guess, is to show up on their doorsteps. Felt bad for Cynthia today as Argentina lost to France in the World Cup. We made some calls about tomorrow’s church meetings and Pam visited with her sister and members of the family and enjoyed the phone calls, especially hearing the voices of our grandchildren.

Sunday was the start of another month and the Sabbath Day. We were on the Naval Station at 9:30 am and picked up Tyler Gneck, a young member from Arizona who returned from special training in Maine, so we enjoyed talking with him about his trip. We enjoyed church with Tyler and also Samantha Lagae and her children. Jerald was still at sea and hopefully will return home next week. We heard a lot of wonderful testimonies and there was a good spirit in sacrament meeting as also in Gospel Principles class and Elder’s Quorum and Relief Society meetings. Following the block of meetings, we took Tyler back to the Naval Station and then came back to our apartment. We expected rain today, but only heard thunder but not much rain. In the evening we joined a group phone call with President Lee and other Senior Couples in the mission. President Lee invited each couple to describe what they were doing, and it was interesting how different the assignments are. Well that’s our week. Love my Companion!