Blast from the Past

This is the picture of Pres and Sister Darrington we should have had when we got to the mission when I thought I lost my camera.  This is Conference weekend.  We are facing their house.  Most homes are facing some kind of little lake, like what you see in the back ground.

The other couples serving with us are: The Swains are behind me the James' behind Stan and our new Doctor and his wife the Humphrey's next to Stan and of course the Darringtons next to me.  The Humphrey's already  live in Florida and serve the whole mission, the missionaries health is his business, he is one busy man.  

This is the front of the mission home.

Back view of the Mission home.  All the porches are screened in and a lot of the homes have a screen built over their complete back yard and have pools as well.

This is the neighbors, but most of the homes have there screens over their pools or whole back yard.

  The front room of the mission home where we had of first interview with Pres and Sister Darrington the night we arrived in Orlando.

This is the General Authority room.  There is a nice bathroom to the left and a nice chair and table and closet to the right and a beautiful view of the lake in the back yard.  Very nice bed and accommodations.

  Our apartment, there are many more just like this one. (About 450 apartments).  Our entrance to the left the area with the double pillars-- we also park on the side of the building and go in the back way, less traffic and more parking.  All the little patios are enclosed with screens on the ground level.  

Our little patio, yesterday I added more flowers, I put the red ones to the left side and pink vine geranium in front and some color on the table.  It is so nice to sit here in the morning and look at our lake and watch the sun come up as I eat my breakfast.

The lake looking out our patio.  I asked some boys who were fishing in it, what they caught.  They said bass and catfish.  They also said there are alligators in it.  They have seen two little ones.  Glad there is a chain fence and hedge between us and it.  

The next few pictures are of the lake we walk around all the time. It is in the middle of our apartment complex, and there will be pictures of our pool area as well.

 

Mail boxes for our apartments.

Our resident duck.  He still needs a name.

These are our ducks friends -- the drake and the hen with her head  under the water.  

 

The front of the Mission Office

We have the Welfare unit and the Employment and Social Services all in the same complex.  Behind the building is where the fuel tanks are for fueling up  trucks and out front are 15 cars Stan is responsible to sell.  He also has a little shed where all the extra 'stuff' is stored.  If a missionary needs anything for their apartment this is one of the places he goes to - to find it. 

 Unlocking the building for a new day. (my reflection in the door).

 Front office where Sister James works. There is a nice couch to the left. 

Front door and waiting chairs to the right and behind.

I have two desks, one for the computer the other for filing and receiving referrals over the phone.

Stan's desk after Easter and Transfers.  We hold the mail for transfers so we can get the mail to the missionaries at their new locations.  It happened to fall on and around Easter Weekend.   He actually made it through all this mail, there is more on the floor.  This last week I took over the mail for him. He has more then he can handle with the vehicles and keeping track of where they are - the service needed on them and selling them plus all the errands he is asked to do.

A lot of the intersections look like this.  They are heavy reinforced frames that the traffic lights are attached to. The street lights are very solid as well.    So when the winds of a hurricane come through they will stay put.

 

The streets are really wide.  You can see the three lanes here and on the other side of the island they are the same.  At the intersections there is a break in the islands and cars do U Turns all the time because you can't cross over anywhere.  It is crazy, you really have to watch out.  

 

The Marriott Motel that is our land mark.  Since there are no mountains around we can see this and it is a reference point to where we are.  Down town Orlando has some tall buildings but most every thing is built close to the ground because of the hurricanes.

Yesterday Stan turned 65, April 10.  We went out to eat and he order alligator for an appetizer.  No I didn't take a picture of him eating alligator, I should have.   Last week he also saw Micky and Mini while delivering mattresses to the sisters.

We found a way to the temple that will take us around the toll roads.  My battery on my camera died but I did get a couple pictures before that, not good but doable.  

 

Life in Florida is interesting.  We did travel out and around some yesterday. Stan sees a lot more then I do so he took me to some of the areas I work with in the office but have no clue where they are.  It was nice to see more of Orland besides the road in and back from work.  We actually went up a little hill to the temple.  It is the only rise I have seen.  The trees were bare when we first got here, now they are all leafed out.  At first the Palm trees really stood out, now they blend in.  There are a lot of trees with blossoms right now and it is beautiful.  We love the work we are doing and recognize the Lord's hand in helping us.  We do not have any training in what we are doing yet we are able to do the work --  The Lord is in control and His work will be done and he makes us equal to the task.  We love the Lord and have a strong testimony of the  truthfulness of the gospel.  We see so many people being baptized and embracing the truth.  It is humbling to see them and hear their testimonies. 

Our First Week

This is a picture of the  AP's (assistant to the Pres) and Sandy and Melvin Darrington who went home Wednesday.  They trained us Friday Saturday Monday Tuesday and  part of Wednesday. Then threw us out of the tree and said FLY!!!!

The rest of the week  Stan and I survived barely.  Along with doing work at the office we are not qualified for we moved into the Darrington's apartment.  

Every day we set a table cloth on the President's desk and have our lunch.  The President uses his office in the Mission home more so this desk is basically empty most of the time.

The Darrington's are on the left of course you know the two at the end of the desk and Elder and Sister James (Robert and Marsha) are on the far right.  They do finances and reception.  Both jobs entail a lot more then title as do ours.  The Darrington's left some pretty big shoes to fit and Stan and I feel like we are drowning in them. 

The next pictures are of our new apartment.  When we got here we had to clean.  There  have been a lot of couples in this apartment and they all leave stuff so each couple lives on top of what the last couple left.  So I baled out.  It has been a big job and Stan had been a HUGE help.  We purchased shelves and portable drawers to put in closets and the bathroom to maximize storage. I got rid of duplicates and expired items.  I took the space bags (air bags that suck the air out and squishes everything in the bag) and I shrunk extra blankets towels and rugs.  It is so much nicer now and smells fresh and clean.

This is out bedroom from the door--that is a big walk in closet behind that door and there are three dressers.

We have a chair as well in our bedroom which is really nice to read in  or just meditate.

Bathroom all clean and spiffy. 

Our dinning room and a dresser Darrington's moved in for storage. (All furniture is donated or purchased by the couples as they live here)

 Our kitchen is going to get a new coat of pain, it is really in need.  That is a pot of taco soup on the stove, it made us home sick to smell it cooking.

The living room and computer area.  Out the doors is a little patio.

Our patio.  All the ground apartments have screens on them so the geco's and bugs stay out.  Just the other side of the fence/hedge is a small lake.  There is another lake in the middle of our complex, I will take pictures of that another time.  To the left is another storage area.  There are empty pots just waiting for something to be planted.  I just need to find time, and first priority is do what we are called here to do.  

If we were to apply at a business for the jobs we are doing we would be turned away quicker then we could blink.  But who the Lord calls he qualifies, and we feel that He will give us the ability to do this work as overwhelming as it appears to be at this point.

Overwhlemed

We started this journey March 8 2010

With a grand Juniper Salute we headed for Provo.

Standing in front of the large world map at the Mission Training Center

We walked down this hall with many of our children as we wished them good-by.

There were a lot of different emotions as we walked down that long hall on our own journey.  

There were wonderful people to care for us, especially the young elders.  They carried trays, opened doors and saw to our comfort in every way.  The teachers, very young themselves, but they were return missionaries and wonderful in caring for us and they had so much patience as we struggled to learn and do what they asked us to do.  They were tough and wouldn't let us slack at all.

A good Juniper Salute from Mary and kids

March 12 was our last day at the MTC and we met Mary's family in Cedar Fort to say our last good-byes to Nick Ruth and Audrey.  It is a very peaceful place, one that we enjoy visiting when ever we are down that way.  

Farewell for 23 months kids!

Saturday March 13 we made it to Canon City Colorado.  Esther and family were at the church for an ice cream social so they came to the motel to visit.

The next morning we went to church with them and had dinner and played games and visited.  It was a wonderful experience.  

It did snow all day and laid down several inches of the white stuff as a farewell to us.

The next morning we stopped to say goodbye--That is when I remembered I didn't take pictures of the kids yesterday, bummer. But we did get Esther and Bingham and Phil

AND the chickens!

 The next few days were a blurrrrrrrr!  One state after another, one Motel after another.  It was all beautiful and inspiring to go through these states and see mountains, prairies, rolling hills, farm land, industrial, and lush growth with rivers ponds and lakes.  Sorry no Wizard in Kansas or tornadoes.

I lost my camera in here somewhere and thought I left it in a motel, calling back to them none of them had it and I thought, ya sure! The non trusting me of course.

But to my embarrassment I found it yesterday in my purse along with everything else under the sun.  Oh well, hopefully I can still get pictures of the Mission Home and President and wife today.

What a wonderful ward we are in.  There is every nationality imaginable, every accent dialect and color of skin.  They are friendly and extremely talented and diversified as well as strong in their testimonies.  They love Elder and Sister Darrington who are leaving Wednesday and there were tears and promises of writing etc.  While we were sitting in Sacrament meeting I wondered if we would ever get to know these people and fit in and at that point and time I received an over whelming feeling of love for them.  What a gift from my Heavenly Father.

The Darrington's invited us over for dinner after church so we could have a reprieve from our 'dig' and to see where we were going to live.  It is small but very spacious after living in this place.  They said they had eight sleep on their front room floor.  There are air beds and extra bedding, so feel welcome to visit.  The Mission President said our first obligation was to our kid and grandchildren.  So with that said you are welcome to visit.

Friday morning was our first day here and we found this long term Motel.  InTown Suits.  Well it is nicer then some the other seniors have lived in but it leaves a lot to be desired.  But we are happy and seem to be getting along fine without all our 'Stuff'.

View from the door.

Looking to the right from the front door.

The left of the door.

Dad puts things in perspective.

Good bye for tonight. 

Crunch Time

We have had a delightful day.  The ward members were wonderful, the meetings were full of the spirit and love.  Becky Larry and family came for Sacrament meeting.  Becky and Melissa put on a lovely spread of food after church at Melissa's so we could keep things in order here at home.  Then the adults came to our house and the kids stayed at Ben and Melissa's till we were done here and they all came over to say their sad 'See you soons'.  (no good bye's)

The time is here and we are down to the line as far as getting things done.  I have had our living room full of things we wanted to take.  We have been adding to this 'stuff' for couple of weeks.  Yesterday we actually got all of it boxes or suitcases and the house somewhat organized.  Well except for Stan's office.

 This actually looks good compared to a couple of weeks ago.  He has been making slow progress.  Every time he would pick up a piece of paper it would remind him of an important detail he had to take care of before we leave.  He has covered a lot of bases and accomplished a Goliath task of getting t's crossed and i's dotted.  

You can actually see desk!  The dust rags are ready to do their job.

Giving last minute advice to the kids.

Ben with his great find in one of Stan's boxes, and of course the famous Juniper Salute!

The kids left about 6:30 and as the evening progress there was great progress.

No more dusty corner!

 Voila!!!!!

It is time to go to bed and then in the morning we will put the rest of our things away, and be gone!