Well, here I am serving a Military Relations Mission with my wonderful husband Elder Morris.  We have been assigned to serve in the South Carolina Columbia Mission at Fort Jackson.  We are truly blessed to have this opportunity.  We arrived here late Wednesday, May 24, 2017.  Since our arrival we have been setting up our apartment and getting to know the people and the area.

Today we attended church at the Fort Jackson Branch.  It was inspiring to see all the young men and women there at the chapel while they are attending basic training.  We meet for 2 hours; 45 minutes for Sacrament Meeting and 45 minutes for lessons.  The troops are divided into different groups and lessons are provided by the missionaries or by the soldiers themselves.  We are blessed and humbled to be able to serve with these young recruits each week.  We even had a baptism this morning.  The branch has a portable baptismal font.  We have a lot to learn about our responsibilities with these recruits and our branch.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day and we have been invited to dinner at Tim and Karen Risher's home. Elder Morris met him when he was stationed in Spain during the 70's.  Elder Morris joined the church there.  They are in our stake here in Columbia.

Tuesday afternoon we meet with our mission president, President Turner and his wife in the mission home.  We look forward to meeting them and receiving some guidance and direction from them regarding our responsibilities here in Columbia.  We have met many wonderful people here already and look forward to meeting many more in the next 22 months.  It is hard to believe we have been on our mission for almost a month now.

We enjoyed our stay in the MTC and learned how to use Preach My Gospel to share the Gospel.
The young ladies that taught us there were great.  We met nine other couples that were serving Military Relations Missions and trained there with us.  It was a blessing to be at the MTC; the Spirit of the Lord is so strong and fills your heart and soul as you study and prepare to go out into the mission field.

We left for South Carolina on Friday, May 19th.  We got as far as Evanston, Wyoming, and could go no further as the interstate was closed due to a late winter storm.  We were able to get through the next day and headed on to Winter Quarters and Hawn's Mill.  From there we were off to Nauvoo.  We were able to stay there for two nights.  We stayed with Elder and Sister McLeod, a couple that we have known for a very long time.  We were also able to see them in the MTC for a few days.  Elder Morris knew Elder McLeod in Spain as well.  We were blessed with the opportunity to go through the Nauvoo temple early the next morning and then received some personal tours of some of the buildings there from Elder McLeod.  The next morning we were off again headed for South Carolina. We spent the next night, our 36th wedding anniversary, in Metropolis, Illinois, where we were able to see a 15 foot bronze statue of  America's superhero, Superman.  WOW!, were we ever impressed! Then off again the next morning to our final destination Columbia, South Carolina!

It is 12:43 a.m. now!  My body has yet to adjust to the time change.  Since I couldn't sleep here I am... I think it is time to be off to bed.  Hopefully the sandman will sprinkle some of his magical sand onto my eyes while I sleep and bring me good dreams.  Good night y'all!