First week in Dublin, GA

We arrived on Thursday evening July 19th.  The young Elders, Elder Brownlow from California, and Elder Smith from Virginia, met us with our apartment key.  They live just across the walkway from us.
Our apartment is the one just above Doug's shoulder.  You can see the lamp in the window.

The above shows our apartment as we arrived.  This is the only comfortable chair, although we do have church folding chairs for our table.  I think that is a hint not to spend too much time sitting around.
 The Senior missionaries we are replacing were from Mantua, UT.  They had left enough food, cleaning supplies etc. so we didn't have to go to the store immediately.  It was very thoughtful of them.
 They even left clean sheets on the bed.

The Elders took us to the ward pioneer celebration Friday, where we met about 40 of the ward members.  We ate ice cream, visited, played baseball and had kid's races and games.  It was weird to be at the park in a skirt, and difficult to keep everyone straight, partly because everyone seems to be related.  Many of those in attendance had just been activated in the last few months.

Doug wants me to explain that he isn't wearing a tie because he just finished helping one of the widows in our ward edge her flower bed in the 100 degree afternoon sun in his missionary clothes.

This is the Dublin Chapel.  It is small and quaint in that the Relief Society has made curtains for their room, and each organization sets up shelves , or whatever they need to hold books, pencils etc.  Everyone just leaves it there as no one else uses the building in between meetings.  There were about 80 people there our first week.  They were excited to have ten Primary children to sing in Sacrament Meeting.  The people are friendly and welcoming, and very concerned about the good people that do not come at all or not very often.  That will be our main assignment over the next while.  Our Mission President wants to move us on as soon as this ward's reactivation program seems stable and the new members have been well taught and have all their ordinances.  Our ward covers Dublin and East Dublin plus all the towns round about that make up Lauren County like Dexter, Cadwell, Rentz, Lovett, Brewerton, Dudley, Montrose.  It is quite a distance to cover, and addresses can be difficult to find.  We are using google map directions and are mostly successful now that our internet and printer are up.  We have had some interesting back road experiences however.

Yesterday we were glad it wasn't raining, as we found ourselves on a red soil mud road - no gravel at all.  It was all worth it when we found the lovely little family that are preparing for baptism.  They live on a nine acre piece of land off in the Georgia woods.

We had our first Southern fried chicken with a newly activated family on Saturday night, and enjoyed their stories and southern bantering.

We have to go an hour to our Stake Center in Macon, GA, and we attended our first Zone Meeting there on Wednesday.  I thought of all my return missionary sons in law.  I could see them conducting such meetings in their own missions.  We were much impressed at the leadership and spirituality of these young Elders.  I'm not sure we have to go to those meetings, but the Elders needed a ride.  (It is hard to have enough miles left at the end of the month when we have such long distances to cover in our own area.)  The Zone leaders said we were "welcome" but I think they did not know what to do with us really.  We are the only Senior Missionaries in our zone.  There are two sister missionaries and the rest are young Elders.

On our Way

We loved our week in the mission home, but are anxious to get to our first assignment.  So as you see, we are on our way!   

We travelled south to spend Sunday with MJ and Brian in Santa Fe, NM, before going east on Route 40 all the way to Georgia.  We will cross Texas tomorrow and sleep in Oklaholma on Monday night. Then we will be in Arkansas Tuesday, Tennessee Wednesday,  and Georgia in our own apartment Thursday night.

Mission talk Sunday and the MTC

Our home teachers gave Doug a special blessing, and many in our ward joined in our fast that Doug might be strong enough to keep our Mission Home entry date of July 9th.  The x-rays showed the lung was clearing, so the Doctor thought we would be OK to travel if he continued the medication and used oxygen in Georgia at first sign of difficulty breathing.  We are so grateful, as we did not want to delay the mission.

We had a great day Sunday with our family.  Everyone made sacrifices to make it all work out.  Sarah and Jamie interrupted their move to be there, and then drove through the night to get back to work in California.  Thanks to all of you, for seeing to the details.  Robert and Rebekah sang a version of "How Lovely was the Morning." Janay had written a violin part that made the song so beautiful, and really invited a feeling of awe and reverence.  One thing I will always remember is my first time speaking with no notes.  We had come to the church early to set up for my primary lesson and cram just a little for the talks.  When it was time to go to the chapel.  I picked up the pad I thought had my notes.  When I glanced down at it after the meeting had started, I realized that I had brought my Primary lesson notes instead of the talk

Some special friends that came were:  Spencer and Arlene Ward, Doug's childhood friend and his wife,
Tamara's inlaws, the Mumfords came up from South Jordan,  our Seminary teaching friends - Ed and Lorraine Orr, and of course our family Jean and Con Alder and Mary Jane and David Lamoreaux.

Robert is living in our home and taking care of it for us.  Thanks for getting us out the door Rob and for all the packing, cleaning, electronic instruction you somehow were able to fit in.

The MTC
It is difficult to explain the special experience of being at the Missionary Training Center.  There were 3,000 young elders and sisters there besides the 100 plus senior couples.  The young elders met us and took our luggage up to our rooms and then escorted us to our paper processing and welcoming devotional.  They held doors for us and seemed to go out of their way to be of service.  The young sisters were so cute and perky in their bright colors.  It was delightful to watch them and feel their spirit.

Our room at the MTC.  

We loved our time there.  It was hard work.  We studied "Preach My Gospel".  We shared experiences, and ideas.  We prepared lessons and practiced teaching less actives and investigators.  We met some amazing new friends who will be serving throughout the world.  The only pictures we took however were of the other couples in our mission district.  From left they are: the Cochrans going to Okinawa;
the Shellenbergs headed for the Swiss/German mission; the Banks going to Tennessee;  the Howards going to French Canada; and of course Elder and Sister Castleton preparing to serve in the Georgia, Atlanta mission.

The Cochrans 

The Howards

    

And too soon it was time to go.  We hope we can take the enthusiasm and spirit of the MTC with us and resurrect it at needed intervals.  This is the last step of our checkout.

Roadblocks to Leaving

Just after assuring the MTC that we could manage all steps, (I guess for room assignments), Doug suddenly came down with another bout of pneumonia.  His temp was 103 with audible chest raspiness.  He narrowly avoided a hospital stay, but had to get x-rays, take mega doses of meds and reorder the oxygen we thought we were through with.  He has improved some but enough?  The Doctor will check his lungs on Thursday to see if they are infection- free enough to proceed with plans.  Meanwhile we are still packing to leave on schedule.

President Satterfield, the former mission president contacted us literally as his family was leaving the mission home, to welcome us and tell us a little about our first assignment.  We are being assigned to a small ward in Dublin, near Macon, on the far edge of our mission.  We will have three sets of elders in our mission district, assigned to Cochrane, Perry, and Dublin.  Our Stake Center is in Macon about one hour away.

Our mission president will be President John Harding, (wife Deborah Sue), but he is being delayed due to some major surgery, so we will have a interim president assigned -  an emeritas general authority, Elder Snow of the Seventy.  We are to check in through the mission home to make ourselves known and then drive directly to our assignment.

We are excited and a little scared (Kathryn)- now if only health will cooperate!

Getting Ready

Suddenly now that the mission dream has become real, there are dozens of things that we wish we had already done.  And the weeds have grown back!  We thought we had the yard ready at one point, but now we are trying to do all we can, so we don't leave Rob with so much that it seems overwhelming. We have been busy weeding, mowing, finding out about  the New Family Search Program (as directed), taking our daily walk, finding a new mission suit for Doug, trying to pack away unneeded things.  Of course our family is the most important, so we are trying to spend some time together.  We are realizing that two weeks from now, we will be leaving our beautiful Cache Valley on our way to the MTC!  We will miss the peacefulness of our quiet neighborhood, but are looking forward to this new adventure.

Did we mention that we have some new electronics - our idea to keep in touch with you all better. We understand that Senior couples are allowed such luxury - we haven't really been instructed about that however.  Doug has been working on the MAC laptop and informs me that he is really liking it.