Getting Organized and Settled

Friday, October 18, 2013

It is Friday and we have been here since Tuesday afternoon. We spent Monday trying to get the trailer and ourselves ready to leave for Sierra Vista. We packed our vehicles, yes I said vehicles. We brought the 5^th wheel trailer to Lori and Dusty’s home to store while we serve so the truck was stored with the trailer. We then drove the Rainier down from the MTC. It is a good thing, as we loaded both vehicles to the brim in order to get the stuff we brought in the 5th Wheel to Sierra Vista for our mission. 

Tuesday, we met with President and Sister Killpack who are our mission leaders. They were very gracious and put us at ease immediately. They reviewed the mission rules and standards, most of which do not apply to us senior missionaries. They answered our questions, then took us to lunch. We had a nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant, then we parted ways and headed down I-10 toward Sierra Vista. It is about a 1.5 hour drive from the mission headquarters to our apartment where we met Elder and Sister Day, the missionaries we replaced. They are a wonderful couple who has been here for the last 18 months. They were obviously loved by all, including their neighbors and the missionaries. We spent about and hour and a half with the Days, including a tour of the base. We tried to soak up as much information as we could in the short time they were with us. We unloaded all our stuff into the apartment and sat down to relax for a few minutes Tuesday evening. During the next hour or so, as we were trying to eat our dinner, we had 8 missionaries stop by to welcome us to the area. They are all wonderful young folks. One of the elders in our district is from Orem and knows Jacob Wadsworth. We also have 4 sisters in our district, two live in our complex. We attended our first district meeting with the young missionaries on Wednesday. They are incredible and the church has them so organized, I was really impressed how the district leader led the discussion. Yesterday was spent mostly shopping and getting the apartment straightened and set up. There were many things to buy and get set up. I think we are in pretty good shape. The apartment is nice. It is a two bedroom, so if anyone wants to visit, we do have a place for one couple to sleep. Today was really interesting. We went to the chaplain’s office to introduce ourselves. I thought that it went extremely well. We met the head chaplain’s secretary with whom I made and instant connection. She worked at the Strategic Air Command (SAC) headquarters for many years, about the same time I was flying tankers in SAC. We chatted and reminisced for a few minutes and then talked about the opportunities here. She was very friendly and kind. She took us to meet LTC McFarland, who is the Chaplain assigned to the LDS soldiers. We had a long chat with him about many things, he was very friendly and cordial. He then took us in to see the Colonel who is the head chaplain in the Garrison. His name is Ken Godfrey. He too was friendly and cordial. All in all, I thought it went very well. RoLayne contacted Sister Kovac, who she will be working with to prepare the luncheon for the soldiers on Sundays. For now, we plan to continue to work with the “Turn Around” volunteer organization weekly and to participate in the Coffee House activities once a month. I am not sure exactly what the Coffee house is, but I do not think it has much to do with coffee. It is sponsored by the Chaplain’s office and I think that they like our participation in both of these activities. We finally stopped by the golf course today to check it out. It looks like a fun course, wide open, rough greens, but very cheap. $20 for 18 holes with a cart, hard to beat the  price. I hope to try it out soon. If all goes well, we will get internet later today so that I can post again on the blog as well as send out some email.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Well, we did get the internet connected so we are on line. Please feel free to email us anytime. Oh, yes, and I did make it to the golf course, see picture below. I played several holes, then realized that I had lost my prescription sunglasses so spent about an hour looking for them. I did not find them so gave up and came home. The course is not in very good shape right now but it was nice to hit the ball again. We are looking forward to meeting with the soldiers tomorrow and meeting some of the people of the ward. Except for the missionaries, we have not met any local members yet. I will post a few more pictures for you. They seem to be popular. Thank you for all your support. We really are looking forward to getting to work.

Mountain View Golf Course

Elders and Sisters Heninger and Day

Fun Farmers Market held Thursdays year round

Home Sweet Home, Bottom right apartment

Montego Bay Complex

Office, Lounge, workout room

Pool and Hot Tub