Life in Goose Creek

Goose Creek is the closest town to the Naval Weapons Station.  It's a great place to live.

We only need two chairs at the dining table, so the other two work for our office chairs.  All furniture came from previous couple missionaries.





We have a wonderful shredder at home so we like this temporary fix from the couple missionary hand-me-downs! 



We walk 5 days a week first around the complex to pick up paper, etc. and then head out to the many trails.





Elder Gibson makes sure we lift weights 3 times a week!



Graduations

Power School Graduation 1002 - a great day for the Costello and Tatasciore families and Ethan Whaley. 

Power School Graduation 1003  was 2 Sep and we said a farewell to Chris Whitmer, Kim Stohel and Humberto Garcia.  They are now settled at Ballston Spa, NY and doing well.  Chris Farnsworth and family will remain in Charleston for prototype training.

Birthdays

Sailors Kim and Rob and missionaries Elder Adams and Elder Allred all had birthdays in August.  That is an important part of our Senior Couple assignment. 

JD, Elder Gibson, Bonnie, John and Rob(not in picture) and Abraham help Kim celebrate.

Rob is 24!

Elder Adams turns 20!

Elders Stoneman, Hayward and Peterson announced they were singing a special musical number in between trainings at the District Development Meeting.

They looked the part, but began to sing with vigor, "Happy Birthday to You...."

Elder Allred leaves his teenage years,

So, we are getting excited for the September birthdays at the Dixon and Heflin households.  Wish we could be there....  Uncle Dan will have a B-day on the 12th.  He and Uncle Don plan a Grand Canyon trip and Dad wishes he could be there too....

Travel To Mission

Thursday, 29 April 2010:  So it snowed all during our late morning and afternoon training.  We viewed all the white stuff from the 20th floor and made frequent checks of Weather.com on the trusty iphone:  To drive east or To not drive east.  That was the question.  A couple of people offered their local home for us to spend the night, but it looked like the worst of the storm was sitting on SLC and predicted to move south.  We went for it!  Crazy, but blessed, as the snow got lighter as we got farther away from SLC on I-80. 

Blessed indeed!  The weather in Wyoming (and later Nebraska) was beautiful, but still more like winter than the summer heat we'd left in Las Vegas. 

After 440 miles we were ready for a cozy room at Warren AFB (where the antelope were playing the next morning). 

Friday, 30 April 2010:  Still going east on I-80, we went through Nebraska.  We called ahead to the Winter Quarters Visitors Center for basic info, and they asked where we were and if we had considered going to the Kanesville Tabernacle just across the state line into Iowa - and by the way, if we "stepped on it" we might just be able to get there before they closed for the day.  So we stepped out and arrived 30 minutes before closing (and all that without even getting a speeding ticket - or even a warning!).  The senior couple gave us a condensed, private tour inside and out.  We highly recommend this stop.  Geff checked to see if he agreed with the new First Presidency's plans for getting everyone to SLC.  It looked good.  BTW, after Brigham arrived in "The Place", he returned to Iowa where he was sustained as the second President of the Church on 27 Dec 1847 in the Kanesville Tabernacle. 

So, backtracking west across the Missouri River over "The Mormon Bridge" into Nebraska, we made it to the Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters in North Omaha.  Here they closed later, and we had time for a good tour of the Center.  Our guide, Sister Meryhew, also got out her rolling tape measure and helped us find the plot of the young Samuel Flake (Grandmommie Gibson's line) in the nearby Winter Quarters Cemetary from where we could see the stained glass window of the Winter Quarters Temple glowing in the dusk.  The Marine Corps Reserve between Omaha and Lincoln hosted us for the night.

Saturday, 1 May 2010:  South on I-29 to the Kansas City, Missouri, area.  As we drove some back roads to find Adam-ondi-Ahman, we speculated on whether the local Joe-resident would even know of some future happenings in the area..., and at what point he couldn't help but notice.  The area is well maintained and very peaceful, but you have to use your imagination a lot....   

Near Tower Hill and then down to the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman.

We drove south to Liberty Jail in hopes of finding Sister Katie Robinson, Ed and Jane's daughter, who had just been transferred from the Independence Visitor Center to ???  They told us she was actually assigned to the Jail, but that she was on a tour of local church sites with other missionaries who had been in the mission less than 6 months.  That gave us time to go on down to the Independence Visitor Center for a few hours.    

Back at Liberty Jail, we met up with Sister Katie and her tour group.  Sisters missionaries make such sweet tour guides. We took the tour of the Jail with the Sisters.  Very impressive and humbling place.

Sister Robinson and her companion, Sister Bowman.

We spent Saturday night at the USMC Heart of America Inn in Kansas City.  Nice accommodations, but it was hard to sleep without knowing where we would be going the next day.  Heavy rains from St. Louis to Nashville had caused big flooding and the closure of a big junk of I-24 - our charted course! 

Sunday, 2 May 2010:  Tempting as it was to try to follow right on the heels of the storm as it made its way northeast, we decided to play it smart and drive directly south  from Kansas City through Arkansas and Louisiana.  This meant a few extra miles, but we had excellent weather.  We stayed the night in Meridian, Mississippi, at the Meridian Naval Air Station. 

Monday, 3 May 2010:  We drove on up to the northern part of Atlanta and spent the evening in Buford, Georgia with the Prichards, the couple we were to replace in South Carolina.  They had been released for about two weeks, but they insisted on putting us up for the night, driving us to SC and getting us oriented to the Charleston area.  Quite nice of them. 

Tuesday, 4 May 2010:  Followed the Prichards from Atlanta to Columbia, SC, to the home of President and Sister Stephen McConkie.  Had lunch with them and his two assistants, then met with the president for a 20-minute interview/orientation.  The young Elders are to GROW the Church.  We are to STRENGTHEN the Church, and watch over the young military guys.  OK.  We can do that.  Followed the Pritchards on down to Goose Creek (16 miles northwest of Charleston), where we stayed the night in a furnished 2BR/2BA unit they had reserved at our new (their old) apartment complex, Coventry Green.  We will be comfortable here. 

The MTC Experience

We entered the MTC on 19 April 2010 and experienced wonderful trainers for Preach My Gospel, terrific volunteers who allowed us to practice on them, special new friends, excellent CES training and great inspiring devotionals.  The Jacob Hamblin building was under construction, the food was amazing and we worked hard.  We were able to hear from Elder Kevin Pearson of the Seventy with his wife, Elder L. Tom Perry with his wife, the full MTC Presidency and their wives.  We Relief Society sisters were able to also hear from the daughter of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin.  Yes, she was the daughter who "started to go on the blind date with the father who came to pick up her sister for a babysitting job...."  Elder Pearson taught us the single most important principle to internalize for the mission:  You have been called to succeed and to not be average. (...as there are no average people in the Celestial Kingdom through the Atonement).  We learned that disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ pray consistently that they will be given the Holy Ghost (who will teach us all things that we should do).  The MTC presidency taught us that the Lord takes all we have to offer and He makes it better. 

The day we entered was a beautiful day.  Becky and Angie drove us to the Super 8 as they were full at the MTC housing because others' visas had been delayed and because the volcano in Iceland had caused flight cancellations.  The Argentina flag was the first to greet us and we felt right at home.  The blossoms were on the trees and then rain and even a slight snow came during our time.  It was all beautiful.

President Smith spoke again to us just before we left.  He said, "I send you from this place with our love and confidence armed with power."  He quoted 3 Nephi 5:13.  "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  I have been called of Him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."  He reminded us that "As you put on the nametag, you literally take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ - act accordingly with love, respect and dignity."

We left Provo with beautiful weather on 29 April 2010 to meet with the Military Relations Department on the 20th floor of the Church Office Building in Salt Lake.  During our training the storm began.