Tribute to my parents

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Today is my father's birthday. He would be 91 today. As I reflect on the great legacy that he left me, I reflect on the kind of person  he was and the things he taught us as children. Some of the words from his obituary come to my mind. "Howard taught his posterity to work hard, fulfill obligations with dignity and honor, be true to their word and be self reliant and resourceful." It was an honor to be his son. I look forward to the day that we can be reunited. What a joy it will be to see him and thank him again for all he did and who he was.

This week we also remember my mother's birthday on September 6 and my step mom Jane's 80th birthday on September 3. My mother would be 89 next week. Both of these are great ladies and both have had a major impact on my life for good.

My mom and dad the day I was commissioned in 1972.

Dad and Jane, sometime in the 1980s, I think

This week started off great as we attended a half mission conference in Benson. We were honored to be taught by Elder Per Malm of the Seventy as well as our mission president and his wife. It was an uplifting and inspiring day. Elder Malm instructed us for about 3 hours and encouraged us to take the mission to new heights. He taught us how to do that. He taught us to plan, to rely on the Lord, to be worthy and to ask. He taught the missionaries to be their own mission president and to do as the president would do and to be obedient.

Tuesday we had a fruitful day at the Turn Around Point. The customers there really enjoy and appreciate the facility and the service provided. We had a new customer who had not been in before. She was so pleased and excited about the facility and service. It is nice to be appreciated.

The Gila Valley Temple

Wednesday, we did not have anything scheduled so we took the day and drove over to the Gila Valley Temple. It was such a joy to be back in the temple. It is a beautiful little temple and the workers there are so friendly. I have really missed the special feeling and spirit that reside there.

Thursday, I talked to one of our soldiers who has struggled from time to time but with whom we have developed a special friendship. He was pretty down as his entire company was in lock down because of the bad behavior of 4 soldiers.  Just the army way, punish all for the sins of a few. The next day he was to have his wisdom teeth out. He was actually looking forward to the extraction to get out of lock down. He had also failed a test the previous week. As I said, he was down. I tried to encourage him and let him know all these things are temporary and will pass. He graduates on September 10th so is really looking forward to that. We have had some good conversations about "life" things. He is the only member of the church in his family and has not been real active in the past but he is a good young man with a tender spirit.

Thursday evening RoLayne attended a Stake Relief Society service activity where they tied baby blankets to be donated to an organization on the Post. It's nice to help with the needs of others.

Today we get to attend a baptism for 3 sisters in our ward. It is wife of a member and two step daughters. It is very exciting to watch people accept the gospel and let it change their lives as they progress and grow in the gospel.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Kovacs were out of town today so Brother Gonzales conducted the meetings. The young missionaries, Elders Siglan and Schwantes were the speakers and did a good job. We had three new member soldiers in attendance from the Utah National Guard who are here for training. One of our regular soldiers also brought a non-member friend. All in all it was a good day.

Death of a Rodent

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Today I was reminded why we are here. Recently, our attendance at both church and institute class has dropped off. Today, two of our soldiers spoke in Sacrament meeting and another one taught the priesthood lesson. As I was listening to one of the young soldiers, who is preparing to serve a mission at the completion of his military training, I reflected back to our MTC experience and a young man that we met there. He had served in the army for 4 years and was now serving a mission. I reflected on the dedication, patriotism, and loyalty of these young men and women and how fortunate we are as a nation to have righteous men and women who are willing to give their all if called upon in the service of our nation. It is an honor to serve and minister to these folks and we are so blessed to have been called to do so.

We got notice Friday of two new soldiers who have just arrived from Fort Jackson. They are both new converts of less than a month. I called and talked with them both on Saturday. They were not able to attend today, but we hope to see them next week. We are excited to get to know and to work with them.

Two of our 2nd Lieutenant graduated this week and two more of the officers that we have been meeting with decided to attend the regular ward. We had a total of 5 soldiers in attendance at our meetings this week. It is disappointing, that we are missing several that we know about, but the army is not cooperating either. They make it really hard for these soldiers to worship. I think I am heading back to the Chaplain office and perhaps to meet with commanders to try to find a solution.

Friday, we drove up to Tucson and visited with Jo, the Chaplain secretary who is recovering from cancer surgery in a rehab hospital. She looked really good and seems to be recovering. She has a long way to go as her incision has not been closed and has to heal from the inside out. I expect it will be months before she is able to return to normal activity. I think she is also going to face further treatment. We are trying to help keep things going at the TAP where we work on Tuesdays. I am not sure about the rest of the projects that she works with. While we were in Tucson, we stopped and visited with Lori's family and took the cover off of the trailer. We popped the slides and loaded up some of our stuff that we will not be bringing home this fall. We will stay a Lori's for a couple of days on our way home. The big excitement there was that we found a dead mouse in the trailer next to the mouse bait. We searched the rest of the trailer with no other traces. Not sure how the little rodent got in, but he did not get out. We put more mouse bait all around so hopefully no more visitors.

We have a half mission conference tomorrow in Benson. We will meet with President Passey and Elder Malm of the Seventy. We are excited and looking forward to that.

I know that you will all be disappointed as the photos are the most popular part of the blog, but I  did not take any relevant  photos this week. Perhaps I can find a few that you have not seen that are of interest. I hope everyone has a great week, only three more weeks to go. I think we are actually beginning to be ready to go home.

Turn Around Point or (TAP) where we work on Tuesdays. Sister Heninger in the back

TAP, We sort donations and rotate clothing between winter and summer

We usually have about 10 customers in a 3 hour shift. Lots of books, videos, and other stuff. Kids love to play with the toys

Driving Miss Daisy....or Miss Maria

Sunday, August 17, 2014

I am slow getting this blog out this week as today was a day of continuous meetings from 9:00AM until 8:00PM this evening. Reminds of Sundays as a bishop. It was a good day. A sister in the ward talked to me yesterday and asked if I would teach her 12 year old Sunday School class. They were a really good group and I enjoyed getting to know them and spending a few minutes with them.

Sister on left was baptized. Daughter and son-in-law on right

Yesterday there was a baptism in the ward. An older sister, (about our age), was baptized. It was really nice. She is a great lady. Several in the ward were not aware that she was not a  member. She comes to church with her daughter and her son-in-law.

Ward Birthday Party

Bishop on the right going through the food line

A Sister we taught and helped reactivate. She is preparing to go to the temple

Following the baptism, we celebrated the 2nd birthday of the Huachuca Ward. They had a nice pulled pork dinner. Attendance was good. I was amazed at the number of kids. The ward has lots of young military couples with several kids each. It was fun.

We did our last apartment inspections this week. The apartments were all in pretty good shape. This week is transfers and they are transferring more than half of the missionaries. The sisters in our apartment complex are being whitewashed, meaning that both are transferring out. We are not sure if they will replace them with Elders or Sisters. Sisters, we hope.

Monday, RoLayne had an interesting experience. We have this little hispanic neighbor that we have made friends with. She is about 70 something and is a widow. She is a very nice lady but a bit eccentric. She is the one that we took to church with us about a month or so ago and she really did not like it. If RoLayne does not talk with her every day, she thinks that RoLayne is mad at her. She always thinks I am mad at her. She asked RoLayne to drive her to the doctor's office. It ended up being an all day event as the doctor was in Douglas and was way behind on his appointments. They went and visited Maria's sister and got lunch at a taco place while waiting to see the doctor. She really appreciated RoLayne taking her. She is very lonely and really likes RoLayne, but then, who doesn't?

We get monsoon rainstorms almost every night. It is really beautiful as there is generally lots of lightning associated with the showers. They generally start in the evenings about 7pm and last  until about 10 or 11pm. It is often quite a show for a couple of hours. The days are generally very nice though sometimes a little muggy. The high temperature the past few weeks has been in the 80s. It has been very comfortable.

We did have one soldier graduate this week

Soldier and his proud family who drove from Spokane, WA to see their son graduate

As we continue to try to stay busy, the reality that our mission is going to end is starting to set in. We are in our final month. For those in Vancouver, we should be home about the end of September. I expect that we will leave Sierra Vista around the 15th or 16th with some stops along the way to visit.

Zone Training

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Yesterday, we had lunch with President and Sister Passey. We had a nice conversation and appreciated the opportunity to spend some informal time with them. We are really blessed to have a wonderful leader like him.

Last night was our monthly Coffee House activity. We served chicken from Fry's grocery store to almost 300 soldiers. We did get the opportunity to meet about 5 LDS soldiers that we have not seen at church. We were able to introduce ourselves and tell them we miss them. Only one claimed not to be a member. He was a young man who's mother called us and asked us to find him. This is the first time I have been able to talk with him. At least I know where he is now and how long he will be here.

The lady from the Chaplain's office that we work closely with had a relapse of the cancer she had been treated for. Six months ago the doctors removed a 40 pound tumor from her abdominal area. She had surgery yesterday and they found two tumors, one was about 12-14 pounds and was intertwined with her intestines. During the surgery, they apparently punctured her intestine. She is in very serious condition and has a long recovery road ahead. We are praying for her and hope for a full recovery.

Wednesday, we met with the other missionaries in our zone for training. One of the zone leaders and our district leader are both very young missionaries. They have been out less than a year. I am so impressed with the quality of training that they provided and the testimonies they bear. We had the opportunity to go to lunch with the Merrills after the training. they are the senior missionary couple serving in Douglas. They are wonderful folks.

Zone Training

Zone leaders conducting training with some missionaries role playing a ward council

The Douglas Missionary Couple

239 Years of Service

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to attend a celebration for the Chaplains as they celebrated 239 years of military chaplains service to the country. They had a  nice luncheon and short program. We missed the program because we were in Douglas and Bisbee inspecting missionary vehicles, but we made it in time for the lunch and to mingle and talk with some of the chaplains and other workers in the  chaplain office.

Chaplain (LTC) Maglio is the Acting Senior Chaplain at the Garrison and a really good man

Chaplain in center recently left Ft Huachuca. We work closely with the Assistant Chaplain on the left

Monday, our daughter Lori brought the kids down to spend the day. We enjoyed nachos and cheese for lunch, then went bowling. Lori beat me the first game but could not maintain the pressure the second game and collapsed. We will not talk about grandma's score as several of her grandchildren topped her. After bowling, we came back to the apartment, the kids played ping pong and we had pizza for dinner. It was fun spending the day with family.

This week was vehicle inspection week, so we have traveled the area inspecting missionary cars to make sure that they are keeping up on cleaning and maintenance. Our group is doing a very good job overall taking care of these valuable resources.

The past couple of weeks our group leader and his wife have been away on vacation. The assistant group leader lost his father a couple of weeks ago so RoLayne and I have been trying to fill the gaps. We do not have any presiding authority, we are here as support, so a member of the bishopric comes out and conducts sacrament meeting when these brethren are away. We are happy that they are back in town now to resume their responsibilities. We did really enjoy taking care of the Kovak's garden while they were gone. We enjoyed, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, beans, beets, and some apple pears. It was really yummy. RoLayne's garden continues to do well and it looks like we will soon get some more tomatoes from it.

RoLayne's Garden

The monsoons continue as it has been raining almost every night. Fortunately, so far no more floods, but things are really greening up here and the temperatures are much more reasonable.

We have been working hard to improve attendance at church with mixed results. Our attendance remains about the same each week with 8-10 soldiers attending. They are not always the same soldiers however. We did have one soldier graduate this past week and we will miss him as he was a regular attender.

Three Lieutenants who have been attending, two returned missionaries and the young lady who is investigating

A couple of the Lieutenants who are here attending the basic officer course have been bringing one of their classmates to church the past three weeks. The missionaries have started teaching her this past week so we are hoping for some success there.

This is a Vancouver, WA soldier who graduated this month

For those who have wondered what kind of place we live in, this apartment has been our home for the past year. (Bottom right apartment)

Pioneer Day Celebration

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Today we attended the stake Pioneer Day Celebration. They had a number of fun activities and a large number of folks attended. We got the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the members of the stake we did not previously know. The weather was wonderful and the children excited.

Children's tug of war at the Stake Pioneer Day Celebration

FT missionaries competing in but not winning the three legged race

Stick pull is always a favorite for all

Sister Heninger counseling the missionaries on something

This week we received a call from the couple who will be replacing us. We know that he is retired army and they are from Mapleton, Utah. They will be finished at the MTC September 12 and we expect to see them early the next week. We had an interview with President Passey this week as well and talked about the transition. We will plan to spend a day or two orienting the Millers when they get here. Our plan is to be out of our apartment the day before they arrive so that they can just move in. We will probably stay at Lori's in our trailer and commute for a day or two. It is only a 70 minute drive.
It is hard to believe that our mission is coming to a conclusion so quickly. It seems we just really got settled and into a routine. We do look forward to seeing family and friends again. The family members already have lots of requests for reunions, travel, and visiting that we will need to do.

The work here is ongoing. We continue to receive a trickle of new soldiers and we really do not have any more graduations for a couple of months. The challenge right now is getting some the soldiers out to our activities. We scheduled a temple trip to the Mesa temple for today and had some soldiers excited to go. Last week we realized that the temple is closed for maintenance until August 4. We would consider visiting the Gilbert or Gila Valley Temple, except they do not have clothing rental or a visitor center. There are often non-LDS soldiers who go with us. They are able to linger in the visitor center while we are in the temple. We will try again. I am just glad that we found out before driving the 3 hours to the temple.

Last week, RoLayne and I drove to the the only sizable body of water within a 100 miles or more from Sierra Vista. Patagonia Resevoir is about 50- 60 miles from Sierra Vista. It has some RV parking, campgrounds, and a beach of sorts.

The beach at Patagonia "Lake"

Not much water by Washington standards, but the most we have seen in a year

With the rain last week, the desert is beginning to blossom

Beautiful desert flowers around the perimeter of our apartment

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Today is our oldest son's birthday. I cannot believe that he is so........ old. That makes RoLayne and I so very..................OLD. That is ok, he is a great son with a wonderful family and we love him. Happy Birthday son.

Today in church a brother told an interesting story. His grandfather and 2 great uncles went off to World War II. One of the uncles was the pianist in the small branch. Since he was gone, his sister had to play for the branch. She only knew one hymn, Sweet Hour of Prayer. She played it every week. When the soldier came home, he found that the parrot that lived next door to the small building where the branch met started to sing Sweet Hour of Prayer every time the piano started to play. I thought that was a cute story. It apparently was a Spanish speaking branch because the parrot would sing in Spanish.

We hope that this posting finds all of you well and prosperous. We are still enjoying our mission and would not trade the experiences or time we have spent here.

One at a Time

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Recently, I was reflecting on how easy it is to get discouraged when things are not as fruitful or exciting as we would like. We sometimes begin to wonder if we are making a difference or touching anyone's life. I was preparing for my institute lesson this week and was disappointed that no one had attended the past two weeks. I was wondering to myself, how long should we continue to invite, encourage, send texts to remind, prepare lessons, and go set up and wait for soldiers to come and attend? As I started to prepare the same lesson that I had planned to present the previous two weeks, an impression came to me that I should prepare on a different topic. I felt that I should prepare to discuss the topic, "The  worth of a soul." As I researched, I found a wonderful talk by Elder Robert Gay, and put together a lesson on this topic. As I studied, I began to realize that perhaps the reason I was studying this topic was for my benefit as much as for the soldiers who might receive it.

As we proceeded to our institute class and began to wait, about 5 minutes after the time we were to start, I received a text from a soldier who asked, what time does institute end? I responded to him and a few moments later, I saw him and two other soldiers headed our way. I met him at the door and explained to him that he was the only soldier there and that he could come in and we could sit and talk together or he could head back home, his choice. He said, I will come in and talk. He is a soldier who has been attending fairly regularly since he has been here, but he told me when he first arrived that he had not been active for a long time. As we sat and talked, I asked him about himself and his background. I found that he was baptized as a teen because of a wonderful neighbor, that he is the only member in his family, and that he has been less active for the past two years. As we talked, I asked him about his conversion story, he began to tear up and it was apparent he felt the spirit and that his conversion was important to him. It was apparent that he was very tender still in his gospel knowledge. I asked if he would like to have the missionaries meet with him regularly and refresh what he knows and help him come to a better knowledge of the gospel. He jumped at the opportunity.

As we concluded the evening with a prayer, it became more clear to me how important each of our  Heavenly Father's children are and how much he cares for them. I understood why I  had prepared to talk about the worth of a soul. We are here to assist the children of our Heavenly Father, one by one to receive a testimony of the gospel and make covenants.

We attended the baptism today of a lady who is a wife and a mother. Her husband and in-laws are members and it was wonderful to see her enter the waters of baptism and covenant with her Heavenly Father.

Those of us who have the gospel in our lives are so blessed. If you do not understand what I have been talking about here, I invite you to seek out the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and ask them, do you have a message for me? I promise you that they do have a message that will change your life. Every soul is important to God. (D&C 18:10, 15-16).

This week we also got to meet the new Douglas missionary couple at our Zone meeting on Wednesday. They are a delightful couple, and will be a great asset to the mission and for the Douglas ward. They are from Colorado.

The Douglas missionaries with the new senior missionary couple