Lost Keys

Tonight we had Elders H and C over for dinner. We picked them up across town, then took them home afterwards (to save their car miles). We only got a few blocks away when we got a call saying that they had lost their keys and couldn't get into the apartment. So we went back, picked them up, and took them back to our place to look for the keys, after they looked through the car, backpack and jacket pockets. We couldn't see them lying around in our apartment so Elder H began emptying the contents of the backpack on the floor to check every corner.


So as he was doing this I proceeded to tell him the story of how my daughter-in-law lost her wallet on a trip and had to get a new drivers license or ID so that she and the kids would be able to fly back home. Just before leaving, she found the wallet in a side pocket of the suitcase, that she forgot was there. When I said this, Elder H looked up at me with wide eyes, stuck his hand in the side pocket of the backpack and pulled out the keys. We both burst out laughing.

Distinguished and Honor Graduates

It is no great surprise to us that when our most faithful solders graduate, they often achieve the status of "Distinguished Graduate" (highest academic grade point in their class), or "Honor Graduate" (second highest gpa).  They are faithful in the gospel and faithful in their duties as soldiers. Both of the soldiers pictured are also husbands and fathers.  It is not easy to be away from their families. 

A Great Sunday

     This picture has nothing to do with today, but I wanted to put a picture of something on here :0).  It is me waiting for our turn to talk to the new soldiers, so we can identify the LDS ones.  I think I mentioned before that we did not wear our name tags on the base--now we do.  We talked with the chaplains about it and asked permission to do so.  Elder Elkins felt that we should ask, and we have a pretty good relationship with most of them.  The response was, "I don't know why not, that's who you are!"  So for now, that works.  Chaplains get transferred, just as all military people, so it could be different later on.

    

     This week-end is a holiday, so many soldiers get passes and go other places for a couple days.  So I had the dilemma again of how many to plan for lunch.  We can have anywhere from 1 to 10 soldiers, on any given Sunday, with a few support people.  Because of the holiday week-end, I was temped to make a smaller amount, but felt that would be foolish - 'cause you never know!  So I made a normal sized meal of 3 large pans of Shepherd Pie, homemade bread, chocolate chip cookies, and fresh fruits.  We have never eaten more than 2-3 loaves of bread at one meal, but I took 4 just in case.

     We had 12 soldiers, and a family that came to hear their dad (a local bishop) speak, plus a couple other visitors.  Whoa!  28 people in attendance.  I was starting to panic, but realized that some of the visitors wouldn't be staying for lunch.

     The soldiers loved the shepherd pie (hamburger with onions, mixed veggies, mushroom soup, mashed potatoes on top with a little melted cheese).  They took seconds till the last spoonful was scraped from the 3 pans.  Of the 4 loaves of bread, there was less than 1/2 loaf left, and all of the butter and jam were gone!  They kept eating the bread even when that stuff was gone.  They all seemed very satisfied.

     So you never know.  People ask me how I decide how much food to fix.  I tell them that I make an amount that feels right, then pray over it!  We have never run out, but sometimes we have leftovers to take home.

     We are getting excited about our next trip to DC in March.  We have a pretty good list of soldiers already, who want to go.  Last week we told one of our new faithful soldiers to invite his non-member battle buddies.  He said that he would tell them that they had to attend church in order to get their names on the list.  I said, "They don't have to", and he said, "That's OK, I'm going to tell them that anyway."  True to his word, he had 2 non-members with him today.  Good job Soldier "A". 

Sisters Conference

     We had a Sister Missionary conference today in Richmond. After some learning from the President, the President's wife taught us some yoga. As one senior sister put it: "The best thing aboug the yoga session was the giggling."
     We got 5 new soldiers today at In-Processing.  That is more than our usual 2 or 3, so we are excited.  It is always really fun to get to know these men.  One said that he has been inactive from the church for 8 years and is "deciding whether to get active or not".  We hope that we can help in that decision. Another one said, "My week just doesn't feel complete unless I go to church." (Cool!)
     Yesterday one of our newly activated soldiers walked in the door to church and in walked another soldier right behind him with the same name on his uniform.  That surprised us. The first one said, "This is a new soldier who just got here yesterday, and he is my cousin!"  What fun to have his cousin join him at the same base.  We also found out that this cousin has been inactive so we were happy to have him in attendance.
     It is so interesting to see how some soldiers join the army to get away from the church, then we meet those who have been inactive for a while and are finding the church again by joining the army.  What a privilege to help these men in their search for happiness.

Stake Conference

     Today was an interesting challenge.  Stake Conference is held in town but we got clearance for the soldiers to attend.  We can't transport them in our car, so we arranged for an Army van to take them.  There is a faithful member of the stake who has an Army drivers license, so he can check out the van and get them there within the Army rules. 
     We had 10 soldiers who signed up to go.  We also sent notes and texted those that we thought would be interested.  Elder Elkins waited in the parking designated as the pick-up area, and I waited in the parking lot of the chapel annex where we usually meet, just in case someone showed up there.  Five soldiers showed up for the ride.  We didn't really expect all l0 to show, so we were happy. 
     We had waited a few extra minutes and decided to go.  As the van was driving away, and we started out in our car, I said that I didn't feel good about going yet.  I was wondering why soldier "H" wasn't there.  So we turned around and drove back 1/2 block, and there was soldier "H" running to the area.  So we said, "Wait a minute while we catch the van".  We were able to stop the van before it got away, so they went back to get that soldier.  I felt MUCH better! 
     We drove on to the stake center and when the soldiers arrived, there was also another soldier with them, who hadn't signed up.  It turned out that soldier "H" told them that another soldier had signed out from his unit and they needed to find him.  They drove over to the chapel annex (where I had waited earlier), and they found him there.
     I'm SO grateful for the prompting that we needed to turn around and not leave yet. 
     So with 2 other soldiers who came with their wives, we had 9 in attendance.  It was a great spiritual meeting.  Since we had reserved seats up front, the soldiers had great seats and were able to hear everything.  One of the soldiers in attendance is an investigator.  I was so happy he could attend and feel the Spirit there.
     Afterwards we fed the soldiers, bishop and his family, the van driver and his family, Elder Pieper of the Seventy (the visiting authority), and the Stake President.     It has been a great day.  I was very stressed about the food, not knowing if we would have 10 people or 50 to feed.  One other sister helped with the food this time, and that was a great help.  It all worked out perfectly.  We fed 30.  Since the Elders were fasting, they visited but didn't eat. (very strong)

     On a more sober note, it was announced that a soldier from the stake (not one that we knew) was killed in Afghanistan this week.  We always hate to hear that, especially while sitting there with a row of our beloved soldiers.
     Then afterwards as we visited with one of ours, he cried as he told us about how his wife is talking of divorce.  This is something that happens a lot when these men leave home to learn a skill and work for the security of the very family that they have to leave for a while.  We cried with him. Elder Elkins and a couple of the soldiers gave him a blessing.  We don't know how that will turn out, but it makes our hearts heavy and sad.

Soldier Email

We attended the graduation of a faithful soldier last week.  He didn't know us well because he is one of the lucky soldiers that was able to attend an in-town ward with his wife instead of being confined to the base and attending our on-post services.  His heritage is Korean, although he must be an American citizen since he is in the US Army.  You can see that his English skills are not yet complete.  Here is the fun email we received after we gave him copies of his graduation pictures.

The Coolest Day Ever!

     Since we are not proselyzingting missionaries, I didn't know if we would have the privilege of teaching and/or baptizing anyone.  Today we were able to participate in the first discussion taught to one of our soldiers.  He is the one who attended church with his "battle buddy" during Basic Training on another base.  He came forward when we asked if there were any members or interested people.  He came to the chapel annex today and met with us and the full-time Elders.  It was very positive and he will be meeting with us on Tuesdays for more lessons, as well as attending on Sundays. 
     I am so excited.  That was cool.  He is a great guy and wants to know more.......