Stripling Warriors

This is a picture that will be forever imprinted on my heart.  Soldiers blessing the sacrament.

What  more can I say?

"See you there"

With the end of our mission drawing near we can't help but reflect on many things that we are going to miss.  It may sound funny but I'm going to miss the "Black" people that are all around us here.  I love how the little girls do their hair and the beautiful color of their skin. I actually feel  quite pale when I am around them.  Today these children knocked on our door.  At first they said, "We are collecting money for cancer." When they saw that I wasn't going to go for that line they said that if I didn't have any money, a treat would be nice.  I almost had to laugh out loud.  They didn't want any of the homemade cookies I had just made when they spied the large "goodie jar" full of chocolate that we take to the soldiers.  I said they could pick something out of the jar if I could take their picture.  They thought that was a pretty good trade.

When I feel sorry for myself because of missing all of the wonderful friends we've made here, I'll remember the last words of our dear friend Ashley:

"See you there."

Challenging week

     Here are most of the senior missionaries in the Virginia Richmond Mission.  We get together once a quarter for a dinner and visiting.  It is a great time to share experiences and laugh together. In our mission there are 4 military couples. In the whole world there are 54 military couples. 
     We've had kind of a weird week.  First I had trouble making some phone calls, then figured out that our mission cell phone had quit working.  When we used a different phone to call a friend, he said that he had tried to call us.  It was our message on the answering machine but then he got a call back from another missionary in Harrisburg, Virginia, saying that they now have that phone number and that the Elkins had gone home!
     We called our number and got those sister missionaries who were now using our number.  They said that they had been getting calls for us, but asked the person who gave them the phone and he said we had gone home, so that's what they were telling people.  Since they were on the opposite side of the mission, they didn't know any better.  So we contacted the person in charge of phones and assured him that we were still here and needed to have that number back - not a new one! 
     The problem was that he had just taken over the responsibility of being in charge of phones and found a box of old phones, assuming that they could be used.  He gave out the phone we had last year and activated it, which automatically deactivated the one we have.  He was able to contact the company, reverse what he had done and we got our number back. 
     Since 2005 the Ft. Eustis missionaries have had this number so it would have been a chore to contact everyone. In less than 4 weeks we will hand this phone over to a new couple.

     We have been heavily involved in training our replacements.  I've been writing a "manual" of proceedures and information which will be helpful after we have gone home, for our replacements and hopefully others that follow.  Elder & Sister Miller will enter the MTC (Mission Training Center) next week and return here just 4 days before we are released.  Since they live in the area, we have been introducing them to key people and activities so the transition can take place quickly when they return.  They are catching on and seem anxious to get going.  They will be wonderful, and that will make it so much easier for us to turn it over and exit.

     One thing we have been dealing with lately is a reduced numbers of soldiers. In the past 5 months we have graduated out 41soldiers but welcomed in only 16.  That is the number of soldiers on the "list". The number of soldiers who actively attend meetings is considerably smaller.  It is partly because of the reduction in size of the military, decided by our government.  Some of the "hiring" of new recruits has been frozen.  It is a scary and discouraging trend.

COMBATIVES

It isn't going to be easy to beat me! 

I call this a "knot" of soldiers.

The winner.

     Some of our soldiers elect to take marshall arts training in addition to regular PT training.  Recently a tournament was held and one of our LDS soldiers took 2nd place in the whole base tournament.  For a little guy he is pretty tough.  In addition to the combative pictures I've put a picture of soldier Z (center) at his graduation.  You can see he looks pretty harmless when he isn't on the mat.

     We got stopped at the gate today at Fort Eustis.  We had missed getting our car inspected by the end of Feb.  They told us to wait at the gate for the military police to come and talk to us (and probably give us a ticket).  We waited 35 minutes, then convinced the guard to let us go because we were missing a graduation.  So we got there a little late and still got some pictures.  After the graduation we got the car inspected so we are legal again.  We aren't used to getting inspections because in our little town in Nevada, they aren't required.  We have gone through that gate probably 7 or 8 times since the sticker expired and they didn't notice till today.  Fortunately it wasn't on Sunday morning.  That would have been inconvenient.
     Last week I went to the doctor and had x-rays of my elbow.  It was swollen and looked like I had 1/2 of a golf ball under the skin.  It didn't hurt much but was ugly (thus no pictures).  They said it was bursitis, and that I must have injured it.  (You'd think I could remember an injury like that.) Antibiotics didn't make any difference, so they finally stuck a needle in it and took out quite a bit of liquid, then injected steroids.  It looks a lot better now and is almost back to normal. 
     Ok, so we got the phone, my elbow, and the car straightened out.  Hopefully it will be smooth sailing for the rest of the week.