TRADITION…one of the things that marks the end of a mission is that you start doing things for the last time. Today for the last time we took the assistants to our traditional 2nd Monday before transfers lunch. It is one of our ways of saying ‘Thank You’ to the missionaries that work so hard to keep the mission moving forward. It has been a pleasure to work with all the APs through the last year.

Elder Stewart joined the APs last Monday so this is the first time he has been in the office to use the computers to do his e-mail. There is room for five people in the back of our van so of course all three had to crowd into the back seat.

Then when we get to the restaurant they had to do one more group hug. On Monday Scrufy’s offers a whole rack of their tender baby-back ribs, fries, cole slaw and baked beans for just $10.00. Elder Shipley knew what to expect because he was here last transfer but for elders Gust and Stewart this was the first time.

The gangs all here. Later in the afternoon the office was invaded by the crew from the Plantation district. Elder Bare got the first of the 60 some milage reports for last month from sisters Stegelmeier and Merrill. This was closely followed by sister Dougal and Gordon’s report.

Sister Stegelmeier had something to talk to elder Shipley about something while sister Dougal carefully eats one of the small chocolate bars that sister Bare provides for the missionaries. Elder Pond – the district leader – talked to Mary about our granddaughter McKay who is getting ready to go on her mission to Washington, Seattle mission.

Sisters Stegelmeier and Merrill signed my picture of them with their comic sunglasses. I am going to take it home and have it framed. Sisters Dougal and Gordon looks on.

Speaking of candy – elder Rondo shared his box of candy that he received in a package from home. I asked sister Dougal about her gypsy skirt and she informed me that she had borrowed it from sister Stegelmeier. Elders share ties – sisters skirts!

 

I love your diligence with those who need you to find them, those praying for you to come. Following promptings that lead you there at the right day and time:

 â€œThe sweetest thing happened this week when my companion and I were harvesting. We met a wonderful lady that accepted a blessing and before the blessing she told us that that day was her 2 year sober and drug free mark. During the prayer I could feel the spirit so strong and I knew she could feel it as well but it wasn’t until after the prayer that I could see how much. She had been silently crying and the first thing she did was pull my companion and I into big hugs and say over and over again thank you, thank you. She said that she knows her mother (who passed away) sent us to her and she said yes to baptism.”

I love your diligence in bringing souls to Church and involving the members to serve:

 â€œSaturday evening came and as we were doing roundup calls, Natasha’s name came to our mind. So we called and she didn’t answer, we even went to her home but no one was there. Then Sunday morning came and she answered her phone! And she told us that she would love to come to church. YAY! So we got a ride for her and met her at the church.  On her way home she turned to our member and handed her a $10 bill and told her to put it in the plate when the plate comes around. Our member explained that we don’t pass a plate, we offer tithing, but Natasha being a nonmember isn’t expected to pay. So Natasha said ‘then let me give it to you for gas money’.  Our member declined and said our church is all about service and so she didn’t want her money. That’s when Natasha’s eyes filled with tears and said, ‘this is a real church’.  What an amazing experience for not only our investigator but also our member. As the member was relaying this story she had tears streaming down her face. I’m so excited to see Natasha enter into the waters of baptism and come that much more close to our Savior Jesus Christ.

I love when you are diligent in opening your mouths and contacting everyone:

 â€œI really gained a testimony of contacting!  We have been trying to contact more lately, and my companion is really not afraid to open his mouth.  So we were biking down the street and saw this lady, I almost stopped but kept going. Then my companion said that we needed to go back so we did.  We stopped her and prayed with her, and she was awesome!  The next day we did HTBT and she said she has been Christian for 18 years, but was never baptized  and she came to church 3 days after we found her.  She loved church, she has the glow of a member already! Now is preparing for baptism this Sunday, just because we stopped her on the street!  The Lord prepares people for us, puts them in our paths all the time.  The question is, do we have the courage to open our mouths and talk to them?  I’ve learned that courage to open our mouth is like integrity, it’s something that we build as we choose to talk to people rather than pass them by, it’s strengthened every time we do so, and when we don’t it diminishes.”

Missionaries, we have not only achieved our goal of 155 baptisms in March, but we have destroyed it with 168. How happy the Lord must be this Easter week to know that we worked so hard to bring these precious souls to Him. I am so proud of you, the Lord is so proud of you. We have another great week ahead of us as we Prepare for the Prophets and get ready to have an amazing revelatory experience at General Conference. Let us prepare ourselves and our investigators for this tremendously inspired teachings.

 

This was an Easter that we will not likely forget. It was of course centered around the sacrament and remembering the atonement and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After the block meetings, the APs baptized 2 of the 36 new members that entered through the strait gate this week. In the afternoon we were invited to share an Easter dinner with brother and sister Michel and some of the missionaries. When we arrived at the Michel’s I saw these two bikes locked up just as they are supposed to be. That is with the front tire taken off and locked up to something that can not be easily bent or broken. I knew that these bikes belong to some strictly obedient missionaries.

Sister Michel had prepared a Haitian dinner with all the trimmings. Elders Turek and Van Wagenen were there and the APs had been invited. Just before we were about to start dinner, the APs texted that they could not come because they had to arrange another baptism. After the meal sister Michel packed up a nice take home meal for the APs and we gave it to them later in the afternoon. They were very happy to have it so they did not have to eat left over pizza from Friday for Easter dinner.

 

We found out that brother Michel was an accomplished painter – I have to go back and take pictures of some of his paintings – cook, and all around handy man. Besides that he teaches special education children. The meal included chicken, fish, two kinds of rice, asparagus, fried tomatoes with mushrooms and hot sauce, potato salad and some of the best rolls I have ever eaten. I must confess that my diet was completely blown for today. I will repent tomorrow.

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I just noticed that elder Van Wagenen is passing a plate of those great rolls. I am not sure how many I ate but I am sure I got my share. The Michel’s came to the US from Haiti when young. They were married in New York and found the Church after arriving in Florida. They are looking forward to serving a senior couple’s mission when he retires.

I had to take a picture of sister Michel’s beautiful dress and of course her smile. When we were home I went out and took this peaceful picture of the lake, fountain and blue sky. We will miss this – especially in the winter – when we are back home. But there will be a much bigger lake, beautiful mountains and often blue sky to see.

 

 

I noticed the bare tree that had shed it leaves for what passes for winter here. Soon after we leave it will fill out again. Later I took the picture of the flowers and the sign. As I was editing the pictures Sunday night I realized how well these last two pictures of the day symbolized Easter. The tree appears dead but just waits for Spring to come and then it will come to life once again. The flowers are in full bloom and through faith we believe, we know that Spring will come for all mankind through the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It truly was an Easter to remember.

In the evening after Specialized Training the couples got together for a farewell party for us. There was lots of good food and the everyone played Five Crowns. I guess if there is one thing we will leave behind that will continue beyond our time in the mission is the game which most seniors now play.

Saturday we went to lunch at the 15th Street Fisheries. The food is very good and the scenery is outstanding. Since I grew up practically on the beach in Redondo and later we lived just a mile from it, salt water has been a good part of my life. It is also interesting that all of our missions have put us close to an ocean.

When we arrived there was a family feeding the large fish – someone said they were tarpons – that hang near the docks. One man put his hand with the food a little too close to the water and almost lost some fingers. After that he pretty much dropped it in and let the fish fight for it.

Not a cloud in the sky and lots of boats going and coming as well as tied up. I wondered how much that big one in the first picture cost…some one said it one of the Walmart family owned it. I guess they do not have any problem paying the fuel bill.

A number of tour boats went by including the Duck Tours,  the Pirate Tour and of course the River Queen. For those who can not afford a boat you can arrive at the restaurant on a paddle board. I think we could afford one of those.

We just had an amazing specialized training that centered on the First Vision and Prayer. Here are 55 pictures I took at the meeting on Friday of the Northern Zones – Stuart, Palm Beach, Coral Springs, and Fort Lauderdale. I will put captions on the pictures when I have a chance but for now you can look through them and see if you can find your missionary. Look behind the main subjects because there a lot of photos where you can see other missionaries. If I missed someone I am sorry – it was certainly not intentional.  Enjoy!

We were almost to our turn off to the Boynton Beach Chapel when we got a call that asked if we could rescue some elders who were at the Tri Rail Station. Since it was almost on our way we said sure and picked up elders Reeves, Dean, Brown and Rugg – but at Dunkin’ Donuts! When we got to the chapel I started taking pictures

 

Because of our side trip we made it just in time to take just a couple of pictures before the missionaries were invited to go in and sit quietly studying until the meeting started. We did get to say hello to our old friend elder Rellaford and see sister Stegelmeier talking to elder Hunt and Jones – notice her hands are moving. The group of sisters on the right side of the picture include sisters Ellett, Dougal, Merrill, Johnson and an almost hidden sister Gordon. Sisters, Gordon, Dougal and Johnson with Mary who is passing out some of the 3000 plus letters she has written over the last 14 months.

I managed a picture of one companionship before they all went in – elders Hunt and B. Jones are the zone leaders in the Coral Springs zone. Elder Collins and myself went to get the 50 pizzas piled up on the table.

This looks like the leftover from an earlier social gathering at the ward – unfortunately it had nothing to show what Easter is all about! Just about every inch of the cultural hall was used for tables and chairs.

Many hands make light work…the couples all pitched in to get everything ready for lunch – even I helped before I started taking pictures. E/S Ellis and E/S Singleton are becoming experts on helping out. Sisters Dougal and Gordon are the first in line – sisters first is of course the rule.

They were soon joined by sister Stegelmeier and Merrill – unfortunately only sister Merrill’s arms are visible. Soon the other sisters arrived include sisters Fletcher, Smith Chavous, Escorbores, Sablan and Tuai.

As the last of the sisters started through the line I realized that I could take pictures of the elders as they waited in line. Elders Haddock and Call from West Palm Central. Elders Rellaford and Winslow now serve in Boynton Beach North.

Elder Reeves is being trained by elder Dean as they serve in Riverside Park. Elder Brakey and our old friend elder Wilson are serving Boca Raton West. Notice both are wearing blue ties…

Elders Pattberg and Doman are way up in Vero Beach. It turned out being elder Doman’s birthday. Elders Aul and Shaffer are in Jupiter North. Elder Shaffer has the honor of being the last mission that was called to the Orlando Mission and came over when the Stuart Zone was added to the mission.

Elder Taylor was born in the Fort Lauderdale area but is now serving with elder Burgon in Fort Pierce. Elder Hall is one of our favorite missionaries and is now with elder Madson in Boca Raton East.

Sister Loucks will be happy to see this pictures of elder Loucks who is serving with elder Elliott. Elder K Brown – we just keep getting more Browns and they are all above average missionaries – is serving with elder Petersen in the rural Belle Glade area.

 

Elder Mackley is serving with elder Bloom who served as district leader in Fort Lauderdale not too long ago. Elder K Jones had his assignment changed just over a week ago from district leader in Fort Lauderdale district to be a zone leader with elder Koleber in the Palm Beach zone.

 

 

Elder McMullin serves with ever smiling elder Rasmussen. Elder Chamberlain has a good grip on his companion elder Brockbank. Both of these serve in the Coconut Creek district.

Elders Pond and Rondo are basically our across the street neighbors as they serve in the Plantation ward. I doubt if there any companionship that works any harder than these two. It seems elder Claude has some kind of slight accident that required the use of a crutch for a while. He is supported by his companion elder Marsh. I can remember when they both came into the mission.

Wood is with his friend but not companion elder Torres. One of the joys of conferences and specialized training is getting to see your former mission and MTC companions. Love and hugs are a constant at these meetings. Elders Doria and Levy are serving together in the West Palm South area.

Elder Pearce is elder Wood – elder Torres friend above – companion in Coral Springs. Elder Maddox is with his companion elder Fitts – wait that elder Nielsen disguised as elder Fitts.

It seems elder Woodard is being well trained by elder Free in how to make faces. I am sure he is doing just as good a job it training him how to be an above average missionary. Elders Duncan and Faniaka serve together way up in Okeechobee. I asked them if the car sank very far when they got in together.

Why do I have two pictures of our friends elders Grant and Harral? Because elder Harrall said he was not smiling in the first one…you get to choose which one you like best.

Since I did not get any pictures of the sisters before they went through the food line, I went around trying to get them all while they were eating. They were good sports and posed for me – at least most of them did. Sisters Ellett and Johnson are together in Palm Beach Central area. Sister Gordon is being trained by sister Dougal in Nova YSA.

Sister Daines is training sister Garcia in Lauderhill South. I am glad I got this picture of sister Choui – pronounced Chew – with her trainer sister Bagley as well as sisters Sablan, Beck and Jackson. I thought I had no pictures of that companionship.

I joined elders Levy and Doria for a short time as they ate the last of the pizza in the box. Elder McMullin seems to be doing the same with his companion elder Rasmussen.

Sister Sablan wanted a picture with us so we took one with her and her companion sister Beck. Elder Edwards had to sneak in for one and it seems sister Ellett also got in the picture.

Sister Sablan with elder Jones in the background. When the assistants finally had time to get some food all the tables were filled – or so they said – so they brought in their own private table at sat it up. It was just the right size for a pizza box with a little room left for their water bottles.

Same group different pose. Sister Anderson announced it was elder Doman’s birthday so he got a serenade by all the missionaries and took it as a good sport. I seem to have been moving when I took the fuzzy picture!

Elder Free snuck in as I took a picture of sisters Jackson and Andrus. Sisters Aloi and Schneider are serving together. Lots of elders in background.

Sisters Tuai and Price serve in the Hollywood Hills North area. Sister Beck seems to be trying to get a arm hold on her companion sister Sablan.  Notice sister Sablan has vegetables on her plate.

I am not sure if sister Merrill is smiling at the camera or her companion sister Stegelmeier. Elders Duncan, Faniaka and Gust pose with sister Price, Tuai, Beck and Sablan. I kept this one because I saw elder Rasmussen in the background.

Here is the same picture without elder Rasmussen.

That’s All Folks – hope you enjoyed the show!

 

We just had an amazing specialized training that centered on the First Vision and Prayer. Here are 64 pictures I took at the meeting on Thursday for the Southern Zones – Miami Beach, Hialeah, Miami, and Homestead. I will put captions on the pictures when I have a chance but for now you can look through them and see if you can find your missionary. Look behind the main subjects because there a lot of photos where you can see other missionaries. If I missed someone I am sorry – it was certainly not intentional.  Enjoy!

 

When we arrived at the Miami Lakes chapel, the first missionary we ran into was elder Bay who wants everyone to know he is OK. A little later I took this picture of him with his companion elder Tesch.

Elder Lange is being trained by elder Patino who is a district leader in the Miami Beach Zone. Elder O’Neill got in both pictures – in the second he is next to his companion elder Curtis with elder Pingree joining in. Elder O’Neill and Curtis are in El Portal South while elder Pingree is in Fontainebleau with elder Wardell.

We said our goodbyes to elder Plowman who served with us in Fort Lauderdale Zone at the start of our mission. When we got to the chapel we found the cultural hall set up for a Relief Society event. I had the elders carefully put them away as is and then set up lots of tables for our lunch. After lunch we carefully put the hall back the way it was.

 

Us with elder Plowman and then him with his fellow Hialeah zone leader elder Bowen. We first met elder Bowen when we delivered his Christmas package up in the far reaches of Lake Okeechobee where he was serving with elder Duncan.

 

 

Elders Lee and Kafton serve together in Miami Gardens. I was finally able to get a picture of the new AP trio. They have been so busy since elder Stewart joined elders Gust and Shipley on Monday that they have not been in the office while we were there. It is good to see they are already color coordinating their ties.

Have to have the thumbs up shot. They will work together until elder Shipley is released. Elder Diaz is given a big hug from his friend elder Toeava. They serve in different zones but that does not matter at all when it comes to brotherhood.

Elder Ovard with elder Hoole – again brothers not currently companions. Elder Dowdle and elder Williams are serving together as Zone Leaders in the Miami Beach zone. Elder Dowdle will be going home this transfer and we will miss him even though we will be leaving soon after.

It seems that wherever we go we see sister Lake who is with her companion sister Brown. Sister Lake is another missionary who has served an above average mission and will be departing on April 11th. Our table set up is not as pretty as the RS one but it is functional.

 

Elder McCormick and I went to get 40 pizzas at Little Caesars. There was a young man of about 8 or 9 there and when we said we had come to pick up 40 pizzas all he could say was Wow! So sister Hansen was third in line for lunch with sisters Brown, Hymas and others close behind.

 

Sisters Johnson, Dunford, Syme and Farley sat at a round table while four companionships and sister McCormick sat at the long table.

Lets see if I get this right…on the left is sisters Meiling, Hansen, Herrera, and Vance. At the end is sister Ware. Coming back towards the front from sister Ware are sisters Lira, Judkins, Holyan, and McCormick. What a great group of above average sister missionaries. The three elders are Gutierrez, Bowen and Plowman. Notice elder Plowman was not about to stop eating to have his picture taken…first things first is his moto.

 

Elders Lee, Kafton, Marcusen and Gutierrez at one table – btw elder Marcusen is an excellent piano player.

Elders Whitney and Diaz look a little lonely but they were early in line and were soon joined by others. These 6 elders really did not appreciate being photographed with their mouths full.

 

The Andersons with sisters Johnson and Dunford. That is my untouched pizza in the foreground. Elder Ellis took my job scooping ice cream. I am glad he did because I was still busy taking pictures. Besides he needs the training for future conferences and training meetings.

Sister Dunford is being a loving companion as she gets dessert for her companion. At least that is what she told me. I did not check to see if she actually gave one to sister Johnson. Elder Richardson was given a big hug by elder Kafton

Elder Hoole hopped tables and is seen here with sisters Ware and Quiocho and the APs elder Shipley and Gust. Sister Quiocho loves to pose for my pictures.

Elder Hoole joined in the fun with sister Quiocho. Notice that elder Gust is not only busy eating but also that he has clean his plate while others are still just getting started.

Some of our larger and more handsome elders – Kata, Rockwood and Dowdle. The senior missionaries also got in line for dessert. Sister McCormick waits patiently while elder Ellis serves her. I noticed that I managed to also capture sister Anderson and the ever present elder Hoole in the background.

Sister Herrera smile prettily in her rich red skirt. Elder Wardell and Pingree got their share of the pizza…there was enough for seconds and even thirds.

So we are four weeks into the transfer and it was time for President Anderson and the APs to have a meeting with all the new missionaries and their trainers. After the meeting many of the companionships came into the office to pickup supplies or drop off baptismal reports or perhaps just grab some snacks before heading back to their area.

  

Before the TT crowd came through, elders Edwards and Smoot came in on their way to some interviews. Elder Edwards spoke with the Bares about getting all the baptismal records in as soon as possible while elder Smoot opened his Easter package from home. My favorite item in the box was this pink Porky Pooper! With a big smile on his face he said his mother liked sending thing like that! Good for sister Smoot! They happened to come in just as we were removing the pictures from the going home board. Elder Edwards will be leaving on May 11 so his picture came off.

  

Elder Smoot saw his picture moved to the far end of Death Row – he still has a number of transfers – while ours moved the other end! Dun – Dun, Dun, Dun. Among the first companionships in from TT was sister Chiou and her trainer sister Bagley. Sister Chiou was one of those sisters who came in between transfers because she already had language skills.

  

They introduced themselves to elder Singleton. It is always good to know the person responsible for making sure you get MSF funds each month. Sister Farley and her trainer sister Syme were in as was sister Garcia who talked to sister Singleton.

  

Elder Urmston and his trainer elder Johnson takes a look at the board. Sister Lira is training sister Melling. Sister Quiocho is training  sister Ware and was happy to strike a pose for me and had a big smile.

  

I mentioned that I could not see her eyes with the dark glasses on so I took another with them off. Sister. Elder Whitney and his trainer elder Diaz had their picture taken in the supply room. Elder Williamson showed off his great looking purple tie while his trainer, elder Harris’ tie was a little more subdued. In the background is the newest district leader, elder Thorne, and elder Smoot.

  

Elder Woodard and his trainer elder Free had big smiles for the camera. A group of sisters gathered in the supply room while elders Patino taught his trainee elder Lange how to eat as many snacks as he could while he had the chance.  Then as quickly as they came they left to head back to their areas so they could get their 8 blessings by the time they head back to their homes tonight.

As those who are reading this blog regularly know, we will be leaving the Fort Lauderdale mission in about a month. We will be both sad and happy to leave for home – we will certainly miss the wonderful missionaries – both young and old – and members we have come to love. We will take some time to see family, go to some great up coming events, have Christmas and then hopefully will be out on another mission some time early in 2014.

Elder and Sister Singleton are our replacements and I have mentioned to them a number of times that there were a lot of family and friends of Fort Lauderdale missionaries who read this blog regularly.  I suggested that the readers would love it if the Singletons would open their own blog and continue our tradition.

Right now they are really busy trying to learn what to do in the office and as finance secretary to really think of taking this on but they did say that they might think about it.

I purpose that any of you who would like them to start and keep up a blog once they have become comfortable in their callings write a comment to this post asking them to do this and why. In a week or so I will show them all your comments – if there are any – and maybe that will help them decide to at least give it a try. I know once they start they will want to continue – especially if once they start you will give them your thanks.

 Monday started the second week of elder and sister Singleton’s training. It was also p-day so elder Gust was in the office to do his e-mailing. Sister Bare claims the Work Station printer as her’s because she uses it more than anyone else to do chapel cards. The Collins were in before going out to look for more housing for all the new areas that will be opening after the April transfers. If I remember correctly sister Collins is telling elder Singleton about the wild life they saw on their trip down to the keys this weekend. Sister Singleton is busy studying.

  

  

Today I went to district training while the rest stayed in the office to work. Sister Bean had sister Garcia as an exchange companion. Elder Turek is elder Van Wagenen’s new Creole companion as elder Jones is now zone leader with elder Koleber up in Palm Beach zone. Sisters Smith and Chavous join in the opening song…it is a good thing that we have 5 sisters with good voices in this district because the elders – including myself – are not very good. Loud but not good.

  

Elders Edwards and Smoot listen while sisters Lake, Smith and Chavous give accountability for their area. Sister Lake was back visiting on an exchange with the other two sisters. Elders Van Wagenen Edwards and Smoot held down one end of the table.

 

Last week we had elder Burt’s birthday. This week it was elder Thorne’s turn. So not only did he hold his first DTM but he also got a great looking hat and a custom decorated cake made by sister Bean. We had better luck keeping the candle burning on the cake this week so elder Thorne got to blow them out. Elder Smoot looks for food while sister Bean shows off the mustache straws and birthday boy takes the cake…

  

Elder Brimley got close to his companion to make sure he got his share of the cake. Sisters Garcia, Chavous. Smith and Lake along with elder Van Wagnen look at the pizza that was there to be shared. All the elders gather in a piece or two of pizza.

I almost got elder Smoot taking a big bite while elders Andelin and Brimley chew their’s. I should mention that elder Thorne gave an excellent lesson on Faith before we closed the meeting and started the party. It is a wonderful experience to share these meetings and the spirit that is there with the missionaries. I hope all of those who read this will join in praying for the district to meet their goal of having 15 baptisms this week. They have faith that they can do this but your prayers will be welcomed.

 We got some of good news and pictures – yesterday and it all related to missionary work.

  

 

Our granddaughter McKay Pier went through the temple to take out her endowments as she has been called to serve in the Washington, Seattle Mission – Spanish speaking. She went with our son Bob and his wife Lisa. Also there was her mother Teresa Collins, and her sister Taylor. The other news was that our grandson, Elder Shane Webb, who is serving in the Spain Malaga mission, is going to be training elder Flores in Jaen. The mission is getting so many new missionaries that elder Webb is a trainer after being in the mission for only one week. I am hoping that elder Flores speaks fluent Spanish because elder Webb is still getting use to European Spanish.