I was sitting at the computer looking through my post about yesterday’s trip to the Keys when I realized I had left out one of the most important pictures…the one showing the progress of the Fort Lauderdale temple. The McCormicks were thrilled to learn that they would be here for the completion and dedication. Finding out that they definitely would be, their next question was if they would be able to participate in the activities that occur when a new temple is ready to be dedicated.

At about the same time as I realized my mistake in not posting the temple picture, I thought of a scripture I read this morning – D&C 131:16 “It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance.”

It seems to me that this revealed truth brings out the full importance of missionary work for the living and the dead which of course culminates in the temple ordinances. Only when the sons and daughters of God fully understand the restored gospel and all its blessings and receive all the saving ordinances do they have full knowledge and are no longer ‘ignorant.’  Nothing short of this can insure the full saving grace of the atonement comes into effect and prepares them to enter into God’s presence.

Today was an eventful P-day as we went with the Sommerfeldts as they introduced Elder and Sister McCormick to their new boarding on Marathon Key. This was the first time we have been to the Keys.

  

E/S McCormick are from Washington State and they drove approximately 3500 miles from their home, to the MTC, and now down to their home for the next 17 months on Marathon Key. Elder Sommerfeldt stopped to get gas at this huge and very busy station that had the cheapest gas prices for 100 plus miles $3.52 a gallon. While we were there I took a picture of this sign that actually is not true unless it means the last stop before you get to the Keys.

  

The road down through Key Largo is two lanes for most of the way with a baby blue divider for much of it. Along the way there are so many great views I just stopped taking pictures but the one with the small boat harbor is typical. We were very lucky and drove out from under the rain into perfect weather for our first visit to the keys.

  

 

After checking in with the realtor and getting some instructions, we decided to have some lunch at a seafood restaurant she suggested that was nearby. Sparky’s turned out to be right on the water. As we parked we saw this beautiful boat – probably 60 feet or so – but I was especially impressed that it had it’s own parking space. This is important because parking is a premium in the area.

The food and scenery was great -  this laughing gull landed on the post near our table and kept us company for most of our meal – he may have been waiting to help the server clear the tables. However the companionship and conversations was even better. We had an opportunity to learn a great deal about the McCormicks, their lives together, and why the Lord chose Fort Lauderdale as the perfect place to serve their 18 month mission.

They were truly called to the right mission and President Anderson was inspired to send them down to the keys. They have the perfect talents and spirit to help build up the kingdom in the lower keys. I expect to see the branches down there bloom as they work with the elders and the branches to invite people to come unto Christ. I have to admit that we were a little jealous of their opportunities as they are going to have much the same experiences we had in working with the small branches in Richards Bay while enjoying the beauty and tranquility of the keys.

To show how quickly they got to work. We left them at 2:45 and they had a teaching appointment with the elders and some investigators at 4:00. They were not letting any grass grow under their feet!

  

This is where E/S McCormick will be living. The view from their sun porch is a channel that is just steps away. They can watch the sun rise over the water with this Eastern looking view.

  

  

Every year the keys hold a ultra marathon event that features a 100 mile run from mile marker 100 on Key Largo to mile marker 0 – the Southern most point in the continental US. There are teams of 6 relay runners as well as individual runners (they run the whole 100 miles) who compete. There is also a 50 mile event that starts at MM 50 and goes to 0. The best 100 mile team time is a little less than 10 hours…that is 100 six minute miles. The picture shows 2 runners coming off the 7 mile bridge – they have run the whole 7 miles because there is no place to hand off on the bridge.

We had to do some tourist buying and our favorite place to that we stopped at was this beautiful yard art and nursery shop. The prices on the keys are of course terribly high but after looking at all these beautiful things we found a wonderful gremlin hidden away against a fence that had been there so long the price was washed off. The owner was happy to sell it to us for $10. It will sit outside our apartment door until we can take it home and find the perfect spot for it in our yard.

Mary wanted to have a piece of fresh made Key Lime pie. She had tried one we bought at Publix and did not think it was all that good. So I asked a salesperson in one of the stores where the they served the best Key Lime pie on Key Largo and she sent us to Mother Mack’s Kitchen. The theme on the roof says everything. The pie was good but – at least for me – it will never replace lemon meringue, apple, or peach pie.

So ended our trip to the Keys…I was very glad that Elder Sommerfeldt was driving because we ran into rain for the last 75 miles or so.

It was another busy day at the office. For a few hours all of the couples were working in the office. Around 12:00 brother and sister Black who served here in 2008-2009. They trained Elder and Sister Collins and also served with Spencer Taylor who is now married to our granddaughter Taylor Taylor! They took all the couples out to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. The Collins and Blacks had a great time talking about their time together in the mission and catching up with what has been going on in their lives since then.

Soon after we got back to the office Elder and Sister McCormick from Washington state arrived to start their 18 month mission. They got to meet most of the couples and then we checked them in at the La Quinta Inn that is right next door. Later they were able to have dinner with President and Sister Anderson. Tomorrow they will head off to Marathon Key where the President has asked them to serve. By the time they get to their apartment they will have driven just about as far from their home they can get and stay in the 48 states.

We now have 140 young missionaries and 7 couples serving in the Fort Lauderdale mission. The work continues to roll forward and will until the Lord says it is finished.

It was a day of frustration and learning for me today. The first part of the morning at the office went smoothly but then I hit a wall that kept me occupied for about 4 hours. I actually reached a point where I just had to leave the office and come home for dinner. By the time I had eaten and spent some time thinking about the problem I was eager to get back to the office and give it another try.

Third time was not charm but I got some help from Utah and things started to fall in to place. I learned somewhat how the programs worked together and that allowed me to finally solve the problem but only after a lot of help. Along the way I remembered that I needed to trust the Lord more and that I still have a lot to learn about being the financial secretary.

By the time we came home I was feeling pretty good. And then Mary heard something dripping. It seemed to be coming from the air-conditioning unit so our first thought was it had frozen while we were away, But that did not make sense because we had it set at 80 degrees. So I contacted the office and they sent over a serviceman who found that it was nothing in our apartment. The water heater in the apartment above us had started leaking and since the tenants were gone for a few weeks.

He stopped the leak and then set up a fan and a dehumidifier to try and dry up the wet carpet and pad in our two hall ways. He promised tomorrow they would come and get everything cleanup and dried out.

  

One hall is being dehumidified and the other is being dehydrated…Mary is not letting any of this bother her while playing a game on her iPad. I continue to feed the turtles and today this large one decided to come and get his food instead of waiting for me to throw it to him. I gathered about 30 turtles of all sizes for the feeding. Not like feeding animals in South Africa but a lot safer.

Probably the busiest day of our mission for me – but looking back it was a great day because I was able to serve in many ways.

Transfer days are always interesting because about half or more of the missionaries gather together for a couple of hours. Companionships are changed with hugs between those who are parting and hugs again for those who are becoming a new companionship.  New missionaries are introduced to their trainers and trainers say goodbye to their sons or daughters before sending them off with a new companion.

   

Bikes and luggage have to be moved from one car to another. It is rather amazing how much some missionaries have accumulated and how others have less than they came with. Elder Grant who was born here in Fort Lauderdale has Elder Dayberry as a new companion – he is in good hands. Elder Plowman who was Elder Grant’s trainer now has Elder Marsh as his companion.

  

Sisters Andrus and Pack are a powerful pair of missionaries – a week seldom goes by without them having a baptism. Transfers is one of few times that this many sisters can gather together and talk about whatever sisters have to talk about. Sister Pack with her helmet – I told she only needed a shield and sword.

 

Elders Larsen and Free are new companions. I really do not know either very well but they looked like they should have their picture taken. Load it up time…within 30 minutes 90% of them are heading back to their areas to start going out to invite others to come unto Christ. Extra-ordinary missionaries of the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission.

After Transfer Meeting  Mary and I stayed to help with lunch for those who stayed for training – the new missionaries and their companions along with anyone who they came with – 24 elders and sisters who went away with full stomachs.

The rest of the day was filled with solving problems that seemed to keep popping up. Luckily I was able to take care of all of them – or at least was able to put a finger in the dike until permanent fixes could be made. What makes it all possible and worthwhile is seeing the missionaries and feeling their great spirits. They are so thankful for whatever you do for them. Spending our golden years with these golden young men and women – what could be better.

Today we had our Last Lunch to celebrate the end of this cycle and to give thanks to those wonder missionaries who we have had the privilege of serving with these last 6 weeks. One of those who will be leaving Fort Lauderdale Zone is Elder Beard who was at the first District Meeting we went to some 5 months ago.

  

Elders Beard and Rasmussen have been together for just one transfer but you can see they are sad to be parting as Elder Beard is transferring tomorrow. Elders Beard and Plowman just kept eating and had to have one last French fry before they left.

  

Mary found a comfortable place on the couch. She is with sisters Hong and Geest with Elder Plowman sneaking in a clown shot. I just realized that I did not get a picture of Sisters Geest and Hong together in as a companionship. Luckily I have a couple of pictures of them together as sister Hong is going to be transferred. Elder Beard wanted to take our sofa with him to his new area. He said the elders really never got a chance to just sit down and relax and loved to sit down and enjoy!

   

Elders Wilson and Taylor have been companions the last 6 weeks and these are their official companion pictures. Neither are being transferred so they will be around a while. Elder Grant is going to be leaving us this transfer – we will miss him.

   

Cindy and Mike sent Mary a beautiful corsage for Mother’s Day. We took the Assistants to Flanegans for lunch and Elder Giorgino ate a burger that must have been 6 inches thick.

A Florida Fort Lauderdale mission story shared by President Anderson in a recent letter to the missionaries…

“We were about to quit on the floor that we were harvesting on because everyone we had talked to on that floor denied us.  But we then decided to knock out the remaining doors (there was like 4) we knocked a couple still with no luck and then we knock on the last door.  This nice lady opens the door and says ‘Do you believe in Christ’ we said yes and she asked ‘only Christ? We said yes again and she said ‘good’ and let us right in.  We were walking in and she was telling her husband that she felt a spirit super strong when we walked in.  We blessed them and… We invited them to baptism. They accepted right off the bat, then we invited to church and unfortunately they couldn’t because of a beach party they already committed to. So we left absolutely pumped because we found this sweet family. We took the elevator down and got to the bottom when out running from the stairs was the grandma and her granddaughter and she told us that the granddaughter said she didn’t want to go to the party anymore because she felt something so great she wanted to go to church.. We were both like.. WHAT?!  It was awesome to see! So they came to church and loved it and are preparing for baptism!”

Our friends the Bells wrote on their blog about a missionary who was serving in their mission who was close to one of their sons in California. That got me thinking about missionaries who are serving here in the Fort Lauderdale Mission who have a few degrees of separation from us…

Last Saturday we met a sister from Utah who was a student at the middle school in Utah where our daughter is the librarian. She remembers Cindy very well because she spent a lot of her time in the library doing school work. When we talked to Cindy about meeting sister Packard she did not remember her…it was 4 years ago and a lot of students have gone through the library since then.

Elder Fitts is the son of Cindy’s Stake President and knows our grandson Tyler very well.

Elder Shipley goes to the same ward as the above mentioned Bells and knows them very well.

Elder Grant was a member of the Camden ward where our serial missionary friends the Taylors served their last mission. We served with the Taylors in Indonesia and they are now serving in Botswana as part of the Johannesburg  South Africa mission.

I will try to get pictures of each of these missionaries at Zone Conferences over the next couple weeks and plug them in here. Somewhere down below is a picture of Elder Grant because he serves here in the district we go to each week for district meeting. Come to think of it Elder Fitts is now one of the zone leaders for that district.