An Excellent End to the Excellent Adventure

Monday, May 2, 2016

Last Monday started out as a typical day in the office with regular tasks and a meeting with President and Sister Baker.   It seemed strange to attend the meeting and know that we would not be in the mission for the upcoming zone conferences and meetings that were on the schedule.   In fact, I had to blink hard a few times to keep the tears at bay!   Following the meeting we had a birthday/good-bye lunch at the Court House Cafe in Chesapeake.   It was a delightful time spent with wonderful people we have grown to love!

Before the meeting with the President, we took advantage of one last time to take some pictures with other missionaries.

 Us with Sister Slatter and Sister Goldade - other office missionaries

The full office staff up until April 4 - Us, Sister Slatter, Sister Goldade, and Elder Wright.   Wonderful people to spend every day with :)

Us and our lifesavers, Elder and Sister DeBow.   They agreed to take on our office duties while still performing their other duties until another couple arrives.   It was great to work with the and get to know them better.   Sister DeBow and I had a few good laughs at how driven and compulsive out husbands are.....maybe they are twins :-)

Last opportunity for a picture with with the local elders that we saw regularly and really grew to love.

Left to right - Elder Price, Elder Naylor, Elder McClearly, Elder Brown, us.

Sure love these young men and the special enthusiasm and spirit they carry with them.

Lunch time celebration

The office staff and  President and Sister Baker at the far end of the table.  Note Elder Ashton's empty dessert container.

This is what it looked like before he and Elder DeBow enjoyed the chocolatey goodness ;-)

The Elders invited us to attend a lesson with them on Monday evening and we were glad to have one last opportunity to work with them and feel the spirit as they taught.    

When we left the house and I was climbing into the truck I noticed what looked like light green curly leaves on the tree beside the truck door.   Upon closer inspection I found this beautiful and unique bloom....then looked around and saw there were a number of these on the tree.

Tuesday we were up early cleaning and packing.   It took much longer than I expected to finish that all up and leave the apartment ready for the landlord to inspect.     

As I was packing, I noticed that I had worn out my most comfortable pair of shoes while on the mission.

Third time is a charm - Elder Ashton packed the pick-up 3 times, re-arranging each time until we were finally able to get everything in and even close the cover to the bed so we could keep everything dry.

Saying good-bye to our little apartment on the bottom left of the picture.

Leaving the parking lot for the last time.   Since the apartment was all clean, we decided it would be better to spend the night in a hotel than to try to sleep on the floor, etc.  So we stayed at a local hotel and left at 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

 Wednesday

Driving through North Carolina on Wednesday.   I was captivated with this large area of bluebells just to the side of the road.

Headed toward the Smoky Mountains.......getting closer to seeing some long-time friends.

Driving down into the holler where Phil and Jennifer's place sits just off the road.

The wishing well and a big area of pretty yellow buttercups.

Notice all the beautiful trees surrounding their house - sure is a picturesque ad peaceful place!

So great to see these two and enjoy a delicious lunch that Jennifer had prepared - 20 years is a long time but I don't think they have changed much - still the same happy and loving people we knew in St. Johns.

We left Waynesville and Phil and Jennifer and traveled to the next town over to connect up with I-40 again.   As we came down the street I was enchanted with the church on the little hill peaking out from between the trees.

Back on I-40 I noticed many of these trees with the lilac colored blooms - looked almost like lilacs but the blooms did not droop at all and the trees seemed to like stony ground.

We passed this area where there had been a rock slide and they were working to put up a wire fence barrier.  

Almost at the summit of the Smokey Mountains......they were so pretty.

Made it to Nashville after a long day of driving.....and didn't even have enough energy to think about going to the Grand Old Opry ;-)

Thursday

Not far out of Nashville we passed this decaying building.   We say lots of this type of thing while we were in Virginia and North Carolina, but decaying buildings covered in vines look completely different than this one sitting in the middle of a field with very few trees around.

As we drove further we ran into a severe storm.   We knew there had been some tornado warnings in the area the day before and as we drove along the sky got darker and darker with low hanging clouds, pouring rains and bright bolts of lightening.  The rain was coming down in torrents and the clouds looked like they might start to form funnels......when we hydroplaned I got pretty nervous and said a quick prayer that the weather would clear.   In less than 5 minutes we were driving along with lots of blue sky and only a few clouds.   Tender mercies are wonderful!

We made it to Oklahoma City on Thursday night and we could see that there had been some rain but after 10 hours of driving all we wanted was a quick shower and a bed to sleep in. 

Friday
It was a long flat stretch across I-40 through the rest of Oklahoma, the panhandle of Texas and across northern New Mexico to Albequerque.  I started to feel like we were in familiar territory when I looked out the window and noticed the blue sky, puffy white clouds, and the brown flat mesas of the landscape.   Elder Ashton and I both commented that it seemed strange to be able to see so far....no green trees with leaves to obstruct the view...just gray green brush and brown hills ;-)

This landscape outside of Albequerque, New Mexico is typical for the high mesas in norther New Mexico and Arizona and I could feel the excitement building as we got closer to home and family!

Saturday

We stayed in Albequerque on Friday night and when we left on Saturday morning we noticed several hot air balloons.   There were only a few so I know it wasn't the week-end for the hot air balloon festival but think they may have been practicing.   

Due to our direction of travel, I was only able to capture one of the 10 or so balloons we saw.

Leaving Albequerque - more flat mesas and a long stretch of freeway as far as the eye can see.   We observed that there were LOTS of 18 wheelers traveling on I-40.

Sunday

We stayed with family in St. Johns, Arizona on Saturday night and I was able to snap a few pictures of family members while we were there.

Levi Ashton - our soon to be missionary grandson.   He will leave July 6 to begin serving a mission in Birmingham, Alabama.  He sure is a handsome and nice young man, if I do say so myself ;-)

Levi with his Mom,Michelle, Dad, Quinn, and sisters Mimi and Brycelyn.   I think the parents and sisters will miss Levi a ton while he's gone but everyone is excited for this next adventure in his life.  Sure did enjoy the hugs I got from all of them while we were there!

The other St. Johns family (Marcie, Ryan, Lauren, and Sydney) that spoiled me with hugs and smiles - loved spending time with them!

Left St. Johns after attending Sacrament Meeting so we could make it back to Gilbert to meet with our Stake President at 4:45.  

Typical dessert landscape as we got closer to Gilbert.

Seems like it is almost a forest of Saguaro and brush - all a gray/green color.   I asked Elder Ashton if  the drab color was hurting his eyes after all the beautiful green and colored blooms we enjoyed in Virginia and his response was the he was glad he could see a great distance - it seems easier to find our way ;-)

We arrived home at 4:30, ran in our spotlessly cleaned house for just a moment and went on to the Stake Center to meet with the Stake President.   He asked us to tell him a little about our mission and I felt pretty emotional as I thought about all the things I had learned and all the great experiences I had while we were on our adventure!   I'll cherish the memories forever.    When he released us from our mission and asked us to take the missionary badges off, I got even more emotional.   It was a good thing we were going straight to our son's home for a family dinner!

I LOVED the welcoming signs and the balloons.....being away from our family has made me love them even more and I didn't think that was possible!

A son, two granddaughters, a grandson in-law and a great grandson.   That precious baby smiled at me as soon as I talked to him in a silly voice :)

Left to right - Colby, Addie, Anthony, Grayson, and Kelli

We added a daughter and daughter-in-law to this picture.

Left to right - Felicia, Miranda (cooking away), Colby, and Addie.

As this adventure comes to an end I feel like this time of service benefitted me more than any of those I served.   What a great opportunity to go and what a wonderful feeling to be back home with my more than awesome family!

This adventure could not have been any more excellent!

A Winding Up Goodbye Week

Sunday, April 24, 2016

I must admit I've shed a few tears this week as our departure is nearly upon us.   There have been a number of "lasts" during the week and each time I realized it was the last time we would do something or see someone, I fought the tears.   I'm trying to be philosophical about it and remember that "all good things must come to an end."   It's a really good thing I have so much excitement about seeing family and friends when we get home or I would be a crying mess :)

Monday - I helped Sister DeBow learn how to get the departing missionaries all checked in for their flights and pay their baggage fees.   We had 7 departing missionaries and we had one tiny glitch with one and a bigger glitch with a second one......but all is good, we got it all figured out.   That evening we went to the Mission Home and had dinner with President and Sister Baker and the 7 departing missionaries.

Here we are all looking very satisfied after a delicious dinner and some nice conversation :)

Tuesday morning our local Sister missionaries who we have been able to work closely with came into the office.   Sister Zsembery knew that she was being transferred and would be leaving on Wednesday so we had to get a picture with her and one with her AND Sister Bohn who is staying here.

Also, on Tuesday morning the departing missionaries flew out of Norfolk Airport and the newbies arrived on Tuesday afternoon.   We left the office about 3 p.m. to go to Norfolk and greet them, make sure they all had dinner to eat and called parents to let them know their missionary arrived safely.  This was our last arrival dinner where we would get to meet the new missionaries and I realized I am going to miss this opportunity - at least until we get our first batch of new missionaries in the Arizona, Gilbert mission.     This greeting/arrival dinner is held in a church building (the first Stake building in this area) in Norfolk.   As a new Senior Couple walked in they commented that they could smell petroleum or coal.   Our mission president explained that the wood for the beams was soaked in creosote as the building was built (I think he said it was in the early 50s).   I was amazed that she detected the scent this many years later.  

This pretty woodworking is in the Cultural Hall.

Part of our last group of arriving missionaries :)

Three of the four arriving missionaries (I think the 4th was getting more food) and the two Assistants to the President on the left.   I think they all look pretty happy.    Elder Wright (one of our co-workers in the office) is gathering the trash.   He has taken that on as one of his responsibilities and does a great job-----never letting the trash cans get too full

The four new Sister Missionaries - cute young ladies who seemed excited for the new adventure.

As we were driving to the church building, I noticed several places where the water was literally covered with lily pads.   We tried to get a picture on the way back but there was no place to pull off and get out of traffic so I had to shoot from the moving vehicle.....some of the pads seemed to be about 10" in diameter.

A smaller bunch of pads on the opposite side of the road.

As we left Norfolk and headed back to the apartment after we had completed our tasks, my breath caught a little as I noticed this sign and remembered my feelings when we arrived in the area 1 1/2 years ago and I saw a sign that indicated we were going through a tunnel that ran under the water.   Now I'm used to that adventure and even felt a little nostalgic because I don't think I'll be driving through any tunnels that run under water in Arizona ;-D

Our final transfer day with the young missionaries was on Wednesday.   I loved this picture of President and Sister Baker with some new missionaries and those who will be training them.   I can almost feel the love and concern that the President and Sister Baker have for these missionaries.   I grow to love the young missionaries so much that I feel like they are like my own grandchildren, but I have watched President and Sister Baker have instant love for each missionary that comes in as they continue to love those who are already here serving.   President Baker is a very bright man - his occupation is Electrical Engineer and while he has some mannerisms or thought processes that are pretty normal for engineers, he is one of the kindest and loving men I have ever met!   We will miss serving under him and Sister Baker.

Sister Bohn ("our" Portsmouth missionary) with her new companion, Sister Iverson.   I have seen tons of growth in Sister Bohn over the last 5 months while she has served in Portsmouth.   It will be hard to leave her behind.

Us and Elder Wardell after transfer meeting.   He was new to the mission when we came and will be going home soon.

Us and Elder Giles and Elder Parkinson.   Elder Giles had a real baby face when he came (looked like he was about 14) but he is one of the original Dismal Swamp Rat Pack (Elder Ashton and the young missionary bike riders) who we came to love alot.    Elder Parkinson (the tall one) has been here almost as long as we have......and he can play the piano (by ear, self taught) like WOW!

Us and Elder Sommer.   He always has the big grin on his face when he comes into the office and greets me.

The Azaleas are still in bloom and it has just been in the last week that the white ones have really burst forth......they are so snowy white and so abundant I just had to take a few picture of the beauty of these blooms.

Thursday and Friday were relatively quiet days in the office with us doing some final catch up and making sure that we have removed all of our personal belongings from our desk drawers

Saturday afternoon we took a few items to Goodwill and then I asked Elder Ashton if he would drive me down to the shipyard and into Old Town to find some old churches and the ship building site.   We were partly successful :) - never did see the actual ship building site.

I believe this one was called the Third Baptist Church.   A few blocks away we came around the corner and saw Fourth Baptists Church which was a totally modern building.   I think I prefer the looks of the historic church :)

St. Paul's Catholic Church - in 1897 the parish  which was founded in 1804 decided they wanted to build a new church - the result was the beautiful Gothic structure

This church, Central Methodist Church, was abandoned a few years ago, but I love the checkerboard pattern on the steeple and at the apex of the roof.

Portsmouth harbor - all kinds of boats and ships from yachts to tall mast sailing ships to much smaller motor powered boats (even a large naval or commercial ship in the background)

I wanted to see the dry dock that was the first one built and is located in Portsmouth as part of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.   The drydock was put into service in 1834 and still operates today.   We couldn't get in to see it, but did see this original wall around it.   

This is what the entrance to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard looked like yesterday with the flags flying and the white puffy clouds skittering across the blue sky.   Made my heart beat a little faster with a patriotic feeling.

The building where we have spent six days a week for the last 18 months.......it feels like a second home :)  As I hugged members we've known during that time and told them good-bye this morning, I felt so lucky and blessed to have been here and worked with the amazing people here.

I couldn't pass up this white flower on a bush in front of the church......it is not the most beautiful of the flowers I've seen back here but I am sure it is one of the most interesting.  How many interesting characteristics do you see........Ahhhhhhh - the beauty of the earth!

In just 2.5 days we will get in the truck and drive out of Portsmouth/Virginia Chesapeake Mission, heading back to Arizona.   I am forever changed because of this experience!