Reminders

We used our P-day to do a little sight-seeing at the Mariners Museum.  These are from the front of some old ships.  The museum is so large that it will take us several visits to see all of it.

     We get comfortable here and forget that what we are experiencing is still foreign to those with whom we communicate.  Now and then we are yanked out of our comfort zone with reminders of how different this is from "home".  One reminder we had this week was when the chaplain assistant was leaving the building and called out, "Y'all be blessed!"  It suddenly made me giggle.  I don't think I would hear such a thing in the West.  There is no such thing as "Have a nice day" here.
     Another reminder is the increased security at Fort Eustis Army Post.  Usually there are gate guards, but now there are also armed soldiers, armed tanks at the entrances, and a portable manned watch tower.  (I'd love to have a picture, but they frown on cameras on the Army post, especially right now.)We don't have any trouble getting in because of our military ID cards, but there have been others associated with our little branch who haven't been so fortunate.  The full-time Elders who work with us tried to get on base the other day to teach a family and were denied access.  We wanted them to be at our Family Home Evening meeting last night, so we found out that we could "sponsor" them onto the base.  We had to drive ahead of their car through the gate, then sign a paper saying that we would be responsible for them.  They had to get out of their car so that the guards could do a thorough search - even large mirrors held under the car looking for explosives or whatever. They will have to go through this process each time they want to get on base until the current level of security is changed back to a lower level.
     Soldier "H" finally got his stake interview for the Melchizedek Priesthood.  It still has to be approved by the High Council, but looks like it should happen soon.  That is good since he has only 2 weeks left here.  Hopefully he will be able to get his temple recommend before he leaves.  His wife has made a date for them at the Columbia Temple in South Carolina.  Sure wish we could attend that one.  We have gotten to know his cute wife too.  Bishop said that he wanted Soldier H to have all of the temple prep lessons.  We asked if it would be OK for us to teach them - and crunch them into the short time he has left here.  We got permission, and have accomplished 4 of the 6 lessons so far. 
     We have a new investigator "H" who had a good discussion a couple weeks ago with the Elders but has been a no-show at the meetings this week.  Hmmm.
     Soldier "M" has made tremendous progress towards his goal to hold the Priesthood.  Since his family has been "inactive" since  right after he was baptized, he has little knowledge of the church teachings. He has memories of his grandfather giving people blessings in his home.  We wonder if he could have been a Patriarch.  He read the Gospel Principles manual in two weeks and is well into the Book of Mormon.  We showed him a 20 minute video on the Restoration the other day.  He proceeded to mention the things in the Joseph Smith story that were missing in this short version!  Good job!!!  He is quiet and reserved but is learning like crazy and seems to have a growing understanding and testimony.      
     We attended the graduation of a previous investigator, soldier "W".  He seemed so interested at first, but after one formal discussion, quit attending.  We had a hard time believing that he would just quit because he didn't seem like the type to do that.  We knew that he was heavily involved in leadership in his company, and so was very busy.  He was pleased that we attended his graduation to take pictures and support him.  We were not surprised to see that he was the "distinguished graduate" in his class and were told by his instructor that he had almost perfect test scores. 
    Since he is National Guard he is going back to his home state of Massachusetts.  He asked us who to contact to "continue his spiritual journey".  We gave him the information and rejoiced!  Today we got an email from him thanking us for the graduation pictures.  He also said that he and his wife are going to Salt Lake to do some parasailing but plan to visit the temple and other sites while there.  Horray!

                             

Every month we volunteer at the "Deployed family dinner" for families of deployed soldiers.  Elder Elkins is always in charge of distributing (guarding) desert, and I distribute the drinks to the families.

The two in uniform are chaplains and the others are volunteers at the dinner.

Families have a lot to deal with, while their soldiers are deployed. After dinner the kids get to do some crafts while parents have a meeting to give them some much needed support.

This little girl was so cute with her fancy hair and bright dress. She said it was OK to take her picture.

Playing dominos at Family Home Evening.  The soldier on the end is one of our regulars and the other is a battle buddy (non-member) that agreed to attend with him.  Hopefully he will also be at church on Sunday.  The Elders would love to teach him, if he is interested.

Y'all Be Blessed!