On The Road Again.....

Sunday, January 12, 2014

I should probably add a picture of our car in this post, as we have driven almost 1,000  miles this week. 

We started off Tuesday, driving to Central, Arizona. Where is Central, Arizona you ask? And why would we want to go there? As it turns out, Central is where the Gila Valley Temple is located. We had a 8:00AM session on Tuesday morning with our zone. That meant we left home at 5:30AM as it is a two hour drive. It is a beautiful temple and the folks there were very friendly. We enjoyed a very full session.

The Gila Valley Temple, located in Central, Arizona

Young Elders of the Sierra Vista Zone

Sisters of the Sierra Vista Zone

Senior Missionaries of Sierra Vista Zone

Elders serving in our Ward with us

After the session at the temple, we all gathered at a local pizza parlor with another zone for lunch. I bet that was the busiest lunch crowd they have had in a while. There we about 24 hungry missionaries at a pizza buffet. 

Hungry Missionaries at the Pizza Parlor

Because of the temple trip, we missed our weekly service at the Turn Around Point. Wednesday, we were up again early for a drive to Benson, about 45 minutes away for Zone Training with President and Sister Killpack. It was a wonderful day of training. One of the things that they discussed was how to avoid and get rid of bed bugs. Apparently, there has been an infestation in the mission.

Thursday, I got a call from the mission president. He told me that a pair of sister missionaries in our area had bed bugs and were really upset. He was on the road and asked if I could lend assistance to them. They are staying in a member’s home and they are going to have to fumigate it. Fortunately, the members are not living there presently. The sisters are staying with another pair of sister missionaries. We visited with them and tried to calm them. I gave a blessing to one of the sisters. I think they are doing better. Apparently, one of the sisters brought the bed bugs from her last apartment, so she was especially upset.

Friday was a preparation day for Sunday so, RoLayne spent most of the day cooking and preparing the Sunday meal for the soldiers. Friday night was the Chaplain’s Coffee House activity. It was a worthwhile venture as we did meet another new soldier that we had not previously met. I got his name and number and invited him to church. Friday night we also got news that Elder Holland’s assignment had been changed and that he would not be in Arizona to speak with the missionaries.

Chaplain in center, Assistant Chaplains on either side, at Coffee House

Another Chaplain, left at the food table

Saturday we were up early and drove to Tempe for the conference. It was really interesting to see three missions meeting together. When I was young and on my first mission, we never even had our entire mission meet together, as the mission spread over four different countries. The keynote speaker was Elder Jim Wright, an area authority seventy. Elder Wright's wife spoke and said this meeting was like buying tickets to the Beatles and when you show up, you get the Dixie Chicks. She said, I hope you like country western. Elder Wright said it was the first time he had ever been compared to a country western group. He did a really nice job, especially because he only had several hours notice to fill in for Elder Holland. The three mission presidents and their wives also spoke and were all very inspiring. As soon as the conference was over, we jumped in our car and headed back to Tucson, where we stopped to feed our Costco habit. We had to get a shot, two for RoLayne, to finish up our mission preparation shots. It took us about an hour and a half to get that done. As we waited, we watched the effects of “Obamacare” first hand as the pharmacy folks were having to deal with a lot of upset patients whose plans have apparently changed with the new year. Not a pretty sight. After getting our shots and doing some shopping, we were off to Lori’s for a moment then home. A long day, but very spiritual with the three missions.

Today was a pretty normal Sunday, however, it was the last Sunday for several of our soldiers who graduate this Thursday and move on. We will really miss them!