Mission Memories -- Dade City (Zephyrhills) -- Sister Beck

My first area in the great Florida Tampa Mission was Dade City.  We actually lived in Zephyrhills but the name of the area and ward we served in was Dade City.  I only served there for one month.

My companion/trainer was Sister Beck. She had been out for 15 months and I was with her for her last three months in the field.

Sister Beck was from Sisters, Oregon.  One of her biggest pet peeves was when people would pronounce Oregon wrong.  People in Florida like to pronounce it ore-gone instead of ore-gun.

Sister Beck in front of the Dade City church.

me in front of the Dade City Church.

I think this was the view across from the church

tracting :-)

Sister Beck

Sister Beck inside our apartment at Zephyrhills

this is right outside our door.  Notice the mailboxes in the background.  This is where we checked our mail every day.  :-)

Starting when I was at the MTC, my dad wrote me a letter every single day!  So I usually had a letter waiting for me in the mailbox from Dad.:-) Thanks Dad!

this is the outside view of our apartment.  Note our beautiful mission car in the foreground.

this is an orange bird statue.  It seemed to be the symbol of Zephyrhills.  I actually bought an orange bird piggy bank.  :-) I'm sure I still have it somewhere.

Zephyrhills Post Office

watch out for alligators!  :-)

I seem to have a lot of pictures of dogs.  I guess Sister Beck and I got a kick out of the dogs that we came across.

door finding :-) It was a mission rule in the Florida Tampa Mission that we spend at least 15 hours per week tracting.  So, that is where we spent a lot of our time.

some of my fondest memories from my mission were during our time tracting.  And actually, it became one of my favorite things to do.

Sam dog as above.

my first baptism!  My very first day in the mission field, we taught Libby the fifth and sixth discussion. That was pretty scary for me!considering the fifth and sixth discussions are the last two discussions and we didn't teach them very often. and that was my first experience at teaching a real investigator in the field.  Talk about baptism by fire!  :-)

I think this was in front of our apartment with the beautiful Florida sunset in the background.

this was a DA (dinner appointment.  For those of you who are not familiar with missionary lingo :-)) at a member's house.  Interestingly enough, I don't even remember holding this animal, which I think is a guinea pig.  But that's obviously me, as indicated by the black name tag :-).  More than anything, check out the awesome mission pager.  In the Florida Tampa Mission at the time, that was our only means of contact.  We did not have phones in our apartment.  Every time that thing went off it usually meant going to the nearest pay phone to return the page.  We bought a lot of quarters every month :-).

Sister Beck with the guinea pig.

the girls who owned the guinea pig

this was one of our investigators.  I don't remember if she got baptized or not.  I'm thinking not.  I remember teaching her a second discussion, but I don't know if we ever finished teaching her or not. we may have gotten transferred out of the area before we could finish.  I don't remember.  Check out Sister Beck wearing my dress. it seems like I have several pictures with my companions wearing my dresses.  I don't remember ever borrowing theirs.  I guess they liked my sense of style :-)

I guess I was too busy looking for alligators to look at the camera :-)

lots of water in Florida :-)

I don't know what this is :-)

another dog we came across while tracting.

I don't really have any good pictures of egrets that I can find, but you can see two in this photo by the cow.  Sister Beck loved egrets!  She was always taking pictures of them.  They were very plentiful in Zephyrhills.

this is a less active family that fed us lunch every Monday afternoon.  I guess they liked the spirit that the missionaries brought to their home. I don't know what happened to them, but I hope they overcame their issues and returned to church.

I don't remember who this is :-(

not the most flattering picture I've ever taken :-)

ah, what a cute photo.  :-)

what was I thinking?  Another not so flattering self-portrait.

looks like Sister Beck getting ready to show "Our Heavenly Father's Plan" to some investigators.

another DA at a member's house.  I think the gentleman on the right is the reason we were transferred out of Zephyrhills.  He became a little bit too fond of Sister Beck.  :-(

one thing I remember about Zephyrhills is all of the orange groves. my most vivid memory of the orange groves is when they were expecting a freeze.  They would spray water all over the oranges on the trees and coat them with ice.  It seems counterintuitive to me, but this is supposedly how you prevent the oranges from freezing.it was quite a sight to see ice coating all the oranges.  I wish I had a picture of it.

another tracting picture

preparing to go tracting

I think this is the member that drove us to our new area, Brooksville!  That must be Sister Beck's luggage.

After my first month in the mission field, Sister Beck and I were both transferred out of Zephyrhills to Brooksville to open a new area for sisters.  Every transfer, I had during my mission was opening a new area to Sisters.  Replacing the Elders and moving into their old apartment.  We usually found lots of media referrals strewn about the place.  Which made for some interesting conversations with people who were mad at us for not bringing them their copy of The Book of Mormon, or video, or whatever they ordered in a timely manner.  It's no wonder we replaced those slackers!  :-) Thanks Elders.

I think this project is going to take me way longer than I thought.  This is only the first month, and it's taken me two days to blog it. :-( 

So be patient, it might take a few weeks, but I'll eventually get my mission documented through pictures and stories on this blog :-) 

Leaving for My Mission!

We found a few pictures of my airport departure for my mission to Tampa, Florida.  I know we have more than this, but this is all we could find.  I don't have any pictures with Dad :-( .  And Juliet is trying to get out of the picture in the one she is in :-(.  Hopefully we can locate the others and I will add them later. This was back in the days when you could actually see people off at the terminal.

me, mom, Michael -- doesn't he look thrilled? :-)

Juliet -- trying to get out of the picture :-), Lisa, me, Michael also trying to get out of the picture :-)

I think this picture is hilarious -- it cracks me up.

someone should have told me to say cheese :-) -- me and Michael.  I can't believe how young Michael was when I left on my mission!

on the airplane headed for Tampa!

MTC Memories

Last week, Mom helped me scan all of my mission pictures into the computer.  It seems like every page had a picture missing so I must have taken out the best pictures and put them somewhere else.  But I have no idea where they are.  I noticed that most of my baptism pictures are missing :-(.  But there are still some really great pictures that bring back fond memories.

I've heard that serving a mission is like giving birth.  Looking back, you only remember the good experiences.  All of the hard times and trials seem to fade from your memory.  I believe there is some truth to that.

So I've decided to share my mission with you through photographs.  And since the timing couldn't be better, I'm going to start with the MTC pictures.  Since today, January 15, is the day I entered the MTC -- 22 years ago.  :-)

Sisters Stone and Parent mopping MTC bathroom

showing off my hard work.  :-)

Sisters Paulson and Stone cleaning MTC bedroom

My Two MTC Companions with one of our teachers.

my MTC companionship at the Provo Temple

Sisters Stone, Paulson, Parent

my MTC district at the Provo Temple grounds

a few members of my district in the MTC laundry room

Elders Olson,?,  Sanderson, Sisters Parent and Paulson

my district at the Provo Temple

Elders Miller?,  Easter, Bitton, Sanderson,?

Elder McKinney with five sisters!  How did he swing that deal?  :-)

I have no idea who these Elders are, or why I have their picture. 

the picture that every missionary has from the MTC, pointing to your mission on the world map.

writing letters on P-day in the MTC laundry room

me with one of my MTC teachers

Sisters Parent, Paulson,?,  Stone,?

my two companions in our MTC bedroom 

Sisters Parent and Paulson goofing off in our MTC bedroom.  I have a picture like this but I don't know where it is :-(

here's one of me goofing off.  :-)

studying at our desk in our bedroom

my MTC district!  With our teacher, Sister Pew?

some of the Elders in my district-- in between classes

Elder McKinney with Sisters Paulson, Parent, and Stone

I don't know why I don't have a picture of me in front of this sign.  Two sisters from a neighboring MTC district.

I don't know what I'm doing here, but it looks like I should be studying :-)

Sisters?,  Paulson, Parent, and Stone pointing to our missions on the world map. Sister Parent served in Macon Georgia and Sister Paulson served with me in the great FTM!  Unfortunately she didn't stay out in the field very long :-( I think she went home after a few weeks.  :-(

These are most of my MTC pictures.

The pictures from the airport leaving for Tampa seem to be missing. :-(.

The three weeks I spent in the MTC were very intense, yet extremely valuable and rewarding.

Serving a mission is an extraordinary learning experience that you cannot get anywhere else.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity I had to serve a full-time mission for the Lord.  It is a unique opportunity that not very many people get.

Every morning of my mission, I felt privileged to be able to put the black name tag on, and know that I was representing my Savior, and His church.

If you are privileged enough to receive the opportunity to serve a full-time mission, I would highly recommend it!

That's my two cents!

22 Years Ago Today!

22 years ago today, I had my missionary farewell.  It's interesting that January 12 falls on a Sunday this year, as it did in 1992.
Back then, unlike today, the missionary's family pretty much took over the sacrament meeting program.  So I had several family members speak and we organized a special musical number, and then of course I spoke last.
I don't remember who spoke or what the musical number was, do any of you remember?
And of course as was custom, we had a get-together at the house after the services.  So here are a few pictures from my missionary farewell get-together.

Grandpa, Me, Grandma

Grandma, Nathan Naluai, Me, Grandpa, Mom

Uncle Bruce, Me, Aunt Leora

Aunt Evelyn, Me, Uncle Ken

self-explanatory :-)

Grandpa, Calvin Naluai, Danny (I think) Naluai, Grandma

These are all of the pictures I could find from my farewell.  Why I have pictures of Grandpa's sisters and friends in attendance, but not any pictures with my family I have no idea.  :-(

Look for a post on Wednesday, January 15 -- which is the day I entered the MTC 22 years ago.  I'm going to post pictures from the MTC. Ah the memories!

Conversion and Sabbath

I really like this quote by Elder Peterson which basically tells us that we can gauge our own level of conversion by how well we observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.

"We can readily see that observance of the Sabbath is an indication of the depth of our conversion.

Our observance or nonobservance of the Sabbath is an unerring measure of our attitude toward the Lord personally and toward his suffering in Gethsemane, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. It is a sign of whether we are Christians in very deed, or whether our conversion is so shallow that commemoration of his atoning sacrifice means little or nothing to us."-- Mark E. Peterson, formerly of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, April 1975 General Conference

President Hinckley Quote

I heard this quote in Sunday school and liked it so much that I decided to look it up.  So I thought I would post it on my blog also.  This is from President Hinckley:

“This church does not belong to its President. Its head is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name each of us has taken upon ourselves. We are all in this great endeavor together. We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory. . . . Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere. No calling in this church is small or of little consequence.” -- Gordon B. Hinckley
( “This Is the Work of the Master,” Ensign, May 1995, 71.)

It's a great reminder that no matter what our calling is, we should do our best to fulfill it.  And it also reminds us that our callings are a sacred responsibility that are given to us from the Lord.

Mom's Shepherd's Pie Recipe

Mom's Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed/diced tomatoes

2 (8 ounce) small cans (or one 15 ounce can) tomato sauce

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup vinegar

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon smoke flavoring

½ teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Other ingredients:

2 cans green beans, drained

6 cups prepared Instant mashed potatoes

1 pound cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1.    Brown ground beef in frying pan with chopped onion. And spices, tomatoes, tomato sauce, brown sugar and vinegar.  Simmer.

2.    While sauce is simmering shred, 1 pound of cheddar cheese.  Make instant mashed potatoes.

Assemble in casserole dish:

Meat sauce mixture on bottom, top with two cans of green beans, mashed potatoes, and shredded cheddar cheese.  Bake in 300° oven for 30 minutes.

Homemade Peppermint Patties

Peppermint Patty Recipe

Peppermint extract and vanilla bean paste flavor the refreshing center of this dark chocolate covered candy.

Yield: 30 patties
Active time: 30 minutes
Inactive time: 30-60 minutes

Ingredients:
6 cups confectioners’ sugar
6 Tablespoons butter

7 Tablespoons light corn syrup [1T shy of ½ cup]
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste [can probably substitute vanilla extract]
3 cups semi- sweet morsels

Preparation:
1. Combine confectioners’ sugar, butter, corn syrup, peppermint extract and vanilla bean paste in a large mixing bowl.

2. Beat until ingredients form a ball that pulls away from sides of bowl.

3. Scoop tablespoon sized portions of sugar mixture and hand press into flat patties. Place patties onto wax paper lined baking sheet.

4. Melt chocolate morsels in the microwave or in double boiler.

5. Remove bowl from microwave or double boiler and, using a fork, quickly dip patties into melted chocolate until coated.

6. After dipping, place each coated patty back in its place on the wax paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30- 60 minutes, until desired firmness.