COTTLE MISSION NEWS: Week 72 (17

Monday morning, we left for the USO at 10:30 am and Dave Ostrum had the facility open. He went over a few items that needed doing and Pam and I were busy cleaning and organizing. Joyce Schellhorn arrive shortly after 11:00 am and Dave left so we shifted gears and got busy doing some of Joyce’s projects. Primarily we set up for a squadron deployment briefing in the evening and set out some giveaways for the event. We left for the day at 2:00 pm and drove to the Lagae home on base and talked with Samantha about her appointment for an interview with President Heywood. We offered to help with her kids when she had her interview and later in the day found out it would be Tuesday evening at the Fort Caroline chapel. We returned to the Arlington Hills area and had some lunch and finally returned to our home and settled in for the afternoon and evening. We watched the new “Come Follow Me” video for the week and studied the final books of the Gospels.

Tuesday morning, we left for the USO at 9:15 am and Dave Ostrum had opened but only stay for about a half an hour. We manned the office and stayed busy doing a lot of cleaning and organizing tasks. Eventually Joyce Schellhorn (Director), Julie Davis and Megan Degance arrived so there were discussions about Monday’s No Dough dinner. Pam and I counted meat available for the dinner and also the number of lupia rolls in the freezer. Pam and I left shortly after noon and had some lunch and took a long way home via Ponte Vedra Beach area and went down Roscoe Road which bordered the Intercoastal canal. We had been on the canal with Jon Bryson and family a year ago but this time we saw the homes from the front yard side, and they were pretty spectacular. There were a couple of access points and we drove right to the canal bank and got a picture or two, but basically there was one multi-million-dollar property after another. Eventually we ended up back at our apartment and spent a quiet afternoon. Pam was busy cutting out dresses for Eleanor and Fiona Lagae to wear at the Temple. At 7:00 pm we drove to the Fort Caroline Chapel where Samantha Lagae had an appointment to meet with President Heywood. As we drove up, we were surprised that Jerald was with Samantha. His ship had returned unexpectedly today, so he came hoping to also visit with President Heywood. After the president’s arrival, he took Samantha and Jerald into the Fort Caroline Ward’s bishops office and they visited for over an hour and then individually interviewed Samantha for a recommend and Jerald to receive the Melchizedek priesthood. We were thrilled for both of them. We watched the children during that time and kept them busy inside and outside, mainly with walks. Samantha planned to attend the Temple when Jerald’s mother comes at the end of the month and for Jerald to be ordained an Elder on the 7th of July and to attend the Temple later in the month when his ship was in port. He asked me to ordain him and that was pretty special. What wonderful answers to spoken and unspoken prayers all day long. President Heywood was great with them and taught them well.

Wednesday was a special day and we left early for the Jacksonville West Stake Center in Orange Park to attend a Mission Conference. It was the second time in our 17 months that the entire mission gathered together and was pretty special. President & Sister Lee would complete their mission on the 27th of June, so it was a conference and a farewell for the Lees with all their missionaries. We spent a half an hour visiting with missionaries and it was wonderful to see their bright, shiny faces and feel their enthusiastic spirits. All the senior couples were present, and we met a new couple, the Barber’s, who were assigned to the Whitehouse Ward and were MLS missionaries. The Hagedorn’s came from Hilliard, The Young’s from Dunn Avenue, Alexanders from Crescent City, Whitakers from Gainesville, Mann’s who are taking over auto duties when the Whiteheads leave at the end of the month, and the office missionaries, Whiteheads and Elder Grieve. Oh yes, we were there also. About 9:45 am the chapel was filled with missionaries, and Sister Lee directed seating to take a mission picture. When done, President & Sister Lee welcomed everyone and introduced new missionaries who had recently arrived, including the Baber’s and then had the Senior Missionaries stand and introduce themselves. After an opening hymn and prayer, we first heard from President Haddock, counselor in the mission presidency, and he discussed working with members and ward leadership. President Lee spent quite a bit of time on the subject of “Remember, Remember.” He stressed many themes of previous conferences and emphasized their importance. Sister Lee followed, teaching about the importance of Obedience to the effective missionary and followed President Lees pattern of teaching. President Lee spoke again and discussed the subject “Treasure Up” and the importance of raising the vision of “who you are” and “seeing the end from the beginning.” Both President & Sister Lee summarized the great work they had done and the themes and tools they had used the past 3 years. After a closing prayer and blessing on the food we adjourned to the cultural hall and had a wonderful lunch and an hour to visit and take pictures. We finally met Sister Calli Moore, the daughter of Cherish Johnson from Monroe (Daughter of John and Jean Johnson) and we enjoyed getting to know her. She was serving in Gainesville. Following lunch, we returned to the chapel for a Devotional and Farewell for the Lee’s. We heard from President and Sister Haddock, Elder & Sister Whitehead, Elder & Sister Mann, several beautiful musical numbers by single missionaries, watched two videos, the first from all of the single missionaries who expressed individually their love for the Lee’s, and a second one a collage of pictures from numerous mission conferences and events and both were well done and evoked a lot of tears and memories. What a wonderful event. Before the closing thoughts, President and Sister Lee and the Haddocks stood below the rostrum and invited every missionary to come forward for a final hug and expression of love. The end came with final testimonies from the Lee’s which were powerful. Before leaving we visited for some time with senior couples, the Lee’s and with many missionaries, some we would probably not see again here in Jacksonville. A lot of pictures were taken and then we migrated out the back door of the building and left for our apartment. It had been a very “blessed” day as they say here in the south.

Thursday morning, we left for the USO at 8:30 am and opened the facility. Bread and pastries had been delivered Wednesday evening and we got the doors open and lights on and Pam took cakes and cookies for No Dough dinners out to the freezer and I manned the office. Dave Ostrum arrived about 10:00 am and several other volunteers later in the morning to commence cutting meat for Monday’s dinner. Julie Davis arrived and supervised the effort along with Megan DeGance. As always there was constant chatter about whether we had enough meat or needed to buy more. Joyce called and asked if I would go to the Pan Am storage and bring book bags from the storage unit which I did. Later Charlie Tramazzo asked if I would find some picture frames for some pictures he wanted to hang, and I ended up at a Wal-Mart and found what he wanted. Back at the USO Pam and I left at 1:00 pm as there was plenty of help and drove to the Navy Exchange and Pam purchased a baby gift to go along with a baby quilt for Tara Alexander’s baby. From the exchange we returned to Arlington Hills area and had some lunch and then returned to our apartment for the rest of the day. Pam did some sewing and I made some calls.

Friday morning, we were up early and out the door by 6:30 am enroute to the Fort Caroline Sisters apartment to pick up Sister Morse and Sister Weyland who would ride with us to the Temple this morning. They were ready and we continued to the Mission Office where missionaries were congregating. President & Sister Lee arrived, and everyone went inside the office and verified everyone was present and had a prayer and were off. Sister King, from Hilliard area joined us. Four vehicles left from the mission office, President & Sister Lee, the mission van, the Whiteheads and our van. Our high hopes for a quick and uneventful trip to Orlando were quickly dashed as we got on I-95 and within 5 miles were in a parking lot of cars and trucks. Early this morning (about 2:30 am) a woman from St. Augustine had taken a wrong turn onto the freeway and ended up going north on the southbound lanes and hit a van head-on killing both drivers and closing the freeway completely. For at least an hour we inched our way to an exit where we were able to detour around the accident. Back on I-95 we moved along as fast as we could to try and arrive at the Temple by 11:00 am and just made it with minutes to spare. We rushed in and changed and joined the other missionaries in the chapel. We had 31 single missionaries, 29 going home next transfer and 20 others who come to support or provide transportation for the group. It was a wonderful, full session. Following the session, we had a short devotional in a large sealing room and then met at the entrance and took group and individual pictures and a lot of hugging and tears as many of those missionaries would not see the Lee’s or the Whitehead’s in the mission field again. The final stop was the obligatory stop at Café Rio, and it was wonderful as usual, and we were stuffed when we piled back into the van for the final 2 hours back to the mission home. We dropped off Sister King where she met her companion and took Sister Weyland and Morse back to Sister Morse’ apartment and then we continued to ours. A wonderful day!

Saturday was a pretty light day for us, and we caught up on some much-needed rest. We cleaned the apartment and did laundry and went out for lunch and took a drive along the riverside drives around the Fort Caroline chapel. Some really beautiful homes and property.

Sunday morning, we arrived at the Penman Chapel and had a few minutes to visit and look for our families. There were a number of visitors and new families today and the chapel was filled. Following the sacrament, we heard from 3 young women who spoke about their experiences at girl’s camp and the final speaker was Bishop Dill. Shay Tuttle was there with the Noblits and Stephanie Jarvis and Tyler Gneck. Pam said Clive was sick and the Lagae’s wouldn’t be coming. We had Relief Society and Elder’s quorum meetings today and the discussions were excellent. After the meeting I met with two new families, the Southard’s and the Null’s. Seth and Chelsey Southard lived just down the street from the USO, and Seth was a Warrant Officer at the LCSRON. He was not a member, but Chelsey was, and they welcomed a visit. Sister Null was by herself and was a member, originally from Bakersfield, California. She was married to a Navy Chief and had 6 or 7 children who were all non-members. She indicated she hadn’t been active but felt the need to come today. They had just arrived from San Diego and would welcome a visit and help unpacking. So, we had some new work to do and hopefully establish relationships for the Kelley’s.