FINAL LEG OF TRIP

 We left on Wednesday morning 13th of December.  We said good bye to the grandkids and headed out.  Our car was completely packed.  

It was going to be a busy drive to get to Merrillville, Indiana.  It was just south of Chicago.  We passed through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and into Indiana.  We were able to have good driving conditions and they have great roadside stops.

By going this far we were able to stay the night and get up the next day and drive to the mission home in Potomac, Maryland.  We were briefly greeted by the Mission President and his wife, the Clarke's.  

We had a tour of the mission home and met the 3 couples, London's, Workman's and the Jenkin's.  We received keys to our apartment and proceeded to move in.  

Mission Office

Arriving at the Mission Office

We live on the 3rd floor of the Camden apartments.  We are right across from the big Ikea.  It's easy to find off of Baltimore. Our garage drives up to the 3rd floor which makes for easy access.  We got settled in and we went out to get food to exist for the next couple of days.  You would have thought we brought everything we needed with how loaded our car seemed to be.  We met the office people to get a chair for our desk.  We couldn't believe the road traffic that leads to the Visitor's Center and Temple.  The auditorium in the Visitor's Center (VC) was filled.  It holds 540 people.  We went home after seeing all the traffic that comes in from about 4 different roads.  It seems like every time we go home from our service at the Festival of Lights it takes us a different way.  It takes us about 20 minutes to get to the Temple and VC.  

Kitchen fully stocked

Living room with picture of Temple

You can see that we brought our little Christmas tree all the way from Arizona.  We got here the15th of December and spent Saturday the 16th getting organized.  We are beginning to empty the car and find spots for the "stuff" we brought.  We traveled about 20 hours to Minnesota from the Provo MTC.  After leaving Minnesota we traveled another 17 hours to finally reach Washington, D.C North Mission Office.  We were excited to finally get out of the car and settle down to "home" for the next 18 months.

To start our mission, right out of the gate, over the past 2 weeks, Sherrie and I have had at least 3 different experiences which have clearly showed…in our humble opinion…that the Lord loves, cares for and is mindful of us. Some may say it is just happenstance or we were just lucky, but we firmly believe it is God showing us He cares. 

Sherrie and I were worried crossing the U.S. in December that there might be snow and bad weather that neither of us feel comfortable driving in. As it turned out, we were blessed that, with 2 exceptions, the U.S. had relatively clear and mild weather conditions while we made the 7-day journey. We did hit a couple of rough patches, one from Heber, Utah to Rawlins, Wyoming over I-80 Friday afternoon December 6^th and again on Saturday evening, December 7^th,  as we were coming into the Minneapolis, Minnesota Metropolitan area. In both cases it was a bit snowy and the roads were really slick…we felt the car lose traction and slide several times, but did not lose control. The Lord watched over us and helped us navigate the slippery roads. For the remainder of the trip east, we had clear, dry roads…excellent driving conditions. When we stopped in Rawlins to gas and ask about the weather heading further north into Wyoming, I was particularly concerned because it was snowing harder than ever, we were leaving the freeway (I-80) for 2-lane roads to Gillette some 200 miles away and night was coming on fast. I thought about just stopping the night to see if the weather would clear the next morning, but decided we couldn’t and still make it to Kevin and Taylor’s for Ayden’s blessing Sunday morning…so we pressed on. Not 5 miles north of Rawlins the snow stopped and we had no more snow the entire way to Gillette. In addition, as we drove over I-80 through Wyoming, there were many places which had signs saying, “If the lights (attached to the signs) are flashing, I-80 is closed ahead. Return to the nearest town”. If that had happened, we would not have made it for Ayden’s blessing, but it didn’t and we made it. In addition to this being a tender mercy of the Lord to us, it also (to me) is a lesson for life. Sometimes life can become hard…even when we are trying to do what is right, but if we will preserve in doing what’s right…even when it looks impossible (as it did for us in Rawlins), I testify the Lord will watch over and help us through the rough patches…ultimately to a sunny and better place…as it happened for us in our trip to DC.

 Second…In a Target store…on Wednesday, December 20^th – Mom had gone to return something to Kohl’s while I shopped for needed grocery items in a Target store. The plan was for her to make the return and then come help me get the items we needed…which is what happened. When she came back to the store, she got a basket and began getting items.  I also had a basket with some items in it. When we met up, she sent me to look for some last thing…I went by foot without my basket…and she said she would meet me at the front. She thought it foolish for us to have 2 baskets, so before coming to check out she merged the items into one basket. We met up front and went through the check out process. As  we were finishing, she ask me to hand her, her purse from the basket. To which I said, “What purse?” There was no purse in the cart. Realizing that she must have somehow left her purse with her phone and all in the other cart in the back of the store, she hurried off to try and find it while I paid for our purchases. The empty basket with her purse fully intact was still sitting plainly in view when she got there some 5 – 10 minutes near the back of the store. How often do you think that would happen? Another huge blessing from God.

Finally, Thursday December 21^st – Sherrie and I had picked up some medicines at the nearby Walgreens which I paid with my Visa card and then traveled to the nearest Sam’s Club about 20 miles away…ostensibly to get a few items and pay last month’s bill. We completed our business there and then stopped by a grocery store on the way home…Food Lions…to check it out and purchase a few additional items. As I went to pay the bill when we were checking out, I realized my Visa card was not in my wallet. I search through my coat and suit coat pockets, the car…everywhere, but it was no where to be found. What I did find was my Sam’s Club bill which I forgot to pay. I knew I had used the Visa card to pay my Walgreen’s bill, so we returned there, but no luck. It wasn’t there. We called Sam’s Club, but they said no card had been found. I was pretty much beside myself at that point. I was mad that I hadn’t paid the Sam’s Club bill and now had to drive another 20-30 minutes back to pay the bill which I did.. After paying the bill, I again asked a manager there if my card had been turned in. He and an associate both said nothing had been turned in to them today, but the manager said he would go check the office just in case. About 5 minutes later she came back and handed me my Visa card…someone else must have turned it in.  I must have dropped it somewhere because that is not the card I use to pay Sam’s Club items. I have no idea what happened, but again we were richly blessed by God.