On Saturday the couples had a wonderful p-day as we cruised on a riverboat on the inter-coastal waterways. We enjoyed seeing beautiful yachts and even more beautiful mansions all along the way. But we also saw some smaller homes and smaller boats.

  

Our trusty ship with all natural air-conditioning. E/S McCormick serve down in the Keys and their backdoor is just a few feet from the canal. Elder McCormick retired from the navy so they are use to being on ships. The Collins are a fun couple who served 2 years as full time service missionaries before getting called for another two years as set apart missionaries. They take very good care of the apartments.

  

The first two pictures are E/S Evans who not only are the Family History missionaries but also help with the mail, apartments, cars and anything else that needs doing. The far right picture shows E/S Beagley and Sister Sommerfeldt. Sister S is the mission nurse and is kept very busy. Elder B is the Car Czar while Sister B tries to keep the baptisms recorded properly. There are times when she needs a Urim and Thummim to translate what the missionaries send in.

  

We saw many multi-million dollar mansions along the waterway. Many of them are not in use all the year but are there when their owners want to drop in.

  

We got to go under 4 drawbridges going and the same 4 coming back. Most of them have artwork on the columns. I would like to have this piece of art in our yard…if I could find some place to put it.

  

We stopped at a tourist area where there were lots of birds and an alligator act. The man who put on the show knew exactly what he could and could not do. However there is little room for error as an alligator can close that big mouth so quickly you can not see it happen but can certainly hear it slam shut.

   

There were many beautiful sights along the way and some very interesting ones also. The Royal Poinciana are in full bloom – I liked this shot because of the beautiful bougainvillea in the background. The pirate cruise went by as did this smaller boat with a dog as first mate.

   

We saw lots of yachts of al sizes. The guide said that it could cost up to $70,000 just to fill the fuel tanks on a large yacht. But I guess if you can afford the cost of the yacht, you can afford the fuel to run it. The Bahama Express makes a run to the islands and back in one day. We are trying to figure out how to ask President Anderson to let the couples use a p-day to make the trip. I suggested we say we would look for apartments for the missionaries in case the Church decides to make them part of the mission again.