COTTLE MISSION NEWS: Week 56 (25 February

Monday morning, we were at the USO by 9:00 am. Pam immediately went to the kitchen and began preparations for the No Dough dinner that evening. Throughout the morning we had many volunteers arrive to help in the kitchen and with salad preparations. Pam was in charge by default and don’t think she enjoyed that role, but they had a good morning and good smells came out of the kitchen. I helped with the physical set up of the main room, the dessert, salad, drinks and utensil stations. After the physical set up was completed, I concentrated on getting “care package” boxes ready to mail to the middle east. I filled a special order to Afghanistan for 3 individuals and then a large order for another site in the Middle East. I filled and taped up the boxes and completed address and customs stickers for the two orders. By noon they were ready to mail. Dave called the post office on the Naval Station and they could take us tomorrow at 10:00 am. The afternoon was spent with more dinner preparations. We brought out the desserts from the freezers, checked the bathrooms for paper products, took out endless bags of garbage and recyclables and waited for volunteers to arrive from the Baptist church in Jacksonville beach. They came in great numbers, over 15 and by 4:30 pm we were awash in volunteers. They checked in and were stationed around the center ready to commence dinner. Dave Ostrum said we were not needed and to go home, so we did. On the way we stopped and had a late lunch salad and then returned to our apartment, tired, but pleased with the day’s efforts.

Tuesday morning, we arrived at the USO at 10:00 am to mail “care boxes” to servicemen in the Middle East. We loaded the boxes (39) into our van and headed to the post office on the Naval Station where we met Brenda, the post mistress, and for the next two hours got all the boxes checked in and taken care of. It cost over $700.00 for the transaction and that was a shock to me. All the items we shipped were donated (toiletries, hygiene items, snacks, etc.) and we hoped the servicemen enjoyed getting them. Joyce collected donations during the year, and the center made a shipment about every six months—a little touch of home. Back at the USO Dave Ostrum was holding down the fort and Julie Davis was working with Charlie Tramazzo. I gave Dave the receipt, credit card and individual custom slips and we visited for a half an hour before Pam and I left at 12:30 pm. We took 3 pans of last night’s dinner and dropped two off at the Lagae’s and the Head’s and brought a third one home and Wes Alexander picked it up on his way home. Pam and I stopped for lunch and brought salads home and ate while waiting for Wes. Later we drove to JoAnn’s and Hobby Lobby looking for quilt backing material and settled on something at Hobby Lobby. Pam spent the rest of the afternoon working on the baby quilt.

Wednesday morning, we had a leisurely morning and finally left for the USO at 10:00 am to see if Joyce Schellhorn (Director) was in and discuss the upcoming two weeks. Dave Ostrum was there with Jim and Carmel (volunteers), but no Joyce. We visited for a few minutes and I helped Jim consolidated the candy that had been donated by Beams on Monday, Other than that, however, they weren’t doing anything, so we left and drove to the Medical Clinic on the Naval Station and checked to see if they had the new Shingles Shot Vaccine; they didn’t. While there we went upstairs and surprised Alexis Connelly. She came out of her office and visited with us for a few minutes and seemed to be okay, but she and Charles (boyfriend) were unofficially engaged and she wanted to spend every minute with him as he is being transferred in April to Washington state. We left the base and took the ferry across the St. John’s River and drove up A1A to Amelia Island and enjoyed the beauty of the water, beaches, trees, etc. We took a slightly different route and went up the center of the island past the airport and through the downtown section of Fernandina Beach and had lunch. We returned on the beach road back to the St. John’s River and across the Dames Point Bridge to Arlington Hills and our apartment. It was a nice drive, something we haven’t had time to do for a while. Pam worked on the baby quilt while I updated some files and called some families.

Thursday morning, we opened the USO and there was bread and pastries waiting for us. We got them tabulated and out on the pool table and by 9:30 am patrons began arriving. Dave Ostrum came about 10:30 am and we discussed a food delivery later in the morning and another delivery on Friday. He left for an MRI at a downtown hospital about 11:30 am. Julie Davis and Sue Lowthian (volunteers) arrived mid-morning and they and Pam produced a couple of sample dishes for the next No Dough dinner and let Charlie, and Joyce Schellhorn (Director) taste them when she arrived at 12:30 pm. We received 9 bags of Hydroponic Lettuce produced by the Atlantic Beach Urban Farms and the produce was wonderful. We put out several bags for today, and the rest placed in the storage room refrigerators. Joyce, Pam and I went over our schedule for the next month, especially concerned about the period when Erin and Weston would be visiting. At 1:00 pm we left and drove to our Dentists Office near the Mandarin chapel and had my teeth cleaned. On our way home we had lunch in the St. John Center and then continued to our apartment. Pam spent the next hour working on a baby quilt. I tried to call a bishop in North Carolina about a referral we received via email from a military relations couple in California but didn’t make contact.

Friday morning, we arrived at the USO at 9:00 am to help with a food delivery from Beams. The truck was there, but Dave Ostrum wasn’t, so we opened the facility and took delivery of the food. It was mostly meat—chicken, beef and pork and one box of squash. Dave arrived and we got the coolers out and Pam and I sorted the meat. Sue Lowthian arrived, and she and Pam went into the storage room and filled up 3 carts with food to put out on the tables and Dave took pictures and posted to Facebook and within 30 minutes we began getting patrons coming for the food and meat. Pam went into the kitchen and did some baking for Joyce Schellhorn (Director) and Sue and I went into the storage room and filled an order of book bag goodies for a Police Group the USO sponsors periodically. We left at 1:30 pm and drove to the mission office in the Deerwood Center and picked up two twin air mattresses from Elder Whitehead. We had a nice visit with him and Sister Whitehead and discussed the end of our mission with them. They leave on the 1^st of July and President & Sister Lee leave about the same time, whenever the new President arrives. We also got information about the next Temple trip and an Ozone Conference to the Temple, so looked forward to that. On the way home along Southside Blvd it began to rain as we passed Butler Blvd and came down in torrents with wind and thunder and lightning. Wondered if we were going to see a tornado? We stopped for lunch and then continued to our apartment. Pam spent the next couple of hours sewing and I called the bishop in North Carolina about the young transferring marine and was able to visit with the him. He had received the email and was attempting to contact him.

Saturday morning as I checked emails, we received a post from Military Relations headquarters informing us that missionaries could not babysit due to legal issues. We were amazed and bewildered about this, but Pam and I discussed what we are going to do because we assisted Samantha Lagae and Tara Alexander quite often when they had school or medical appointments. Pam spend the morning quilting and I vacuumed the house, spending time in the kitchen, pulling out the stove and frig and cleaning underneath and behind, so the kitchen was quite clean. Also, while vacuuming I kept the laundry going. At noon Pam and I left our apartment and had some lunch and put gas in the van and then drove to the Naval Station and spent 45 minutes with Samantha Lagae, discussing the email we received that morning. From Mayport we drove to a Wal-Mart and did some shopping and then returned to our apartment. Pam bound the quilt and I finished up the rest of the laundry.

Sunday morning, we left for church at 9:30 am and enjoyed a wonderful fast and testimony meeting and great Sunday school class on the Beatitudes. The Lagae, Jarvis and Black families were with us today as was Tyler Gneck. We talked with Brother Simon’s (bishopric counselor over Sunday School) after the block and got permission to teach a Temple Preparation class to the Lagae’s, Perry’s and Tyler Gneck on the base, so we were excited about that. We followed the Jarvis’ to their home and Stephanie lent us quilts and sheets for our upcoming visit of Erin and Weston and their family. The air mattresses we borrowed from the mission office seem to be working well, so that was a relief. At 2:30 pm we drove to the Alexander’s home and had a nice visit with them and explained the new policy about babysitting. They were understanding and would find someone else to help them out when its needed. They were the most resourceful of our families and had many friends in the Arlington ward. Finally, we made it back to our apartment and Pam fixed a pizza and it tasted very good. We watched some ksl.tv and kbyu.tv programming and spent a quiet evening. It’s been a good week.