On the same team!

     Today we attended the farewell party for one of the Chaplains that we have worked with on Ft. Eustis.  He is being transferred to Hawaii for his next duty station. (Tough assignment)  It is interesting to work with chaplains.  The more we deal with them, the better our relationship gets.  They are getting an understanding that "The LDS", as we are usually called, are just regular people like themselves.   This one had a scheduling problem recently and called us to see if we could help find a solution.  He had unknowingly scheduled a 4 week seminar during our time to have the building on Tuesdays.  His superior had told him that he would simply have to cancel, after he had advertised it for 6 weeks. Elder Elkins suggested that we could meet somewhere else for those 4 weeks, saying that "We are on the same team".  Chaplain E. was so grateful that he could hardly contain his happiness. So as we bid him farewell after the party today, he said, "We're on the same team!", and gave us both hugs.

     At the same party, we were sitting on the back patio most of the time because it was so crowded with guests in the house.  One of the Chaplain Assistants we have worked with quite a bit sat there and visited with us.  He shared stories of his disappointing adventures with religion.  He used to be Baptist, then non-denominational, now is wondering what to do.  He started asking us questions about our church, and in particular, "What would the requirements be for joining your church?"  It was an interesting conversation, and he was very open.  Kind of touchy though because of the situation we were in - at the party for the chaplain.  So I suggested that he begin by going to  Mormon.org and look at things there.  He whipped out his phone and made a bookmark for it, and said that he would.  We also invited him to come with us on the temple trip next week.  He asked if he would be told that he couldn't go in, and we explained that he would be going to the visitors center and there was plenty to see there.  It will be interesting to see if he decides to join us.  He is a soldier but not one of the trainees, so he could go without anyone's permission.

     It has been fun hearing the "language" of the South here.  It sounds so pleasant to our ears, since we lived out here over 30 years ago, and loved it then.  Out West we always say, "Have a nice day." Here it is, "Have a blessed day."  I got an email today from a local and at the end it said, "Have a peaceful week."  It made me smile.