Where Has Time Gone?

We've been in Jacksonville, NC for almost six months now, seven in total for our mission. We love it here and the work is so rewarding. The schedule is hectic some days (daze) and relaxed on others. Sunday continues to be our favorite and our busiest. Here's the gist of it;

We are up at 6am, out the door by 7:30 for Ward Counsel (3rd Ward). Z attends a half hour of the 9:00 Sacrament meeting then leaves to pick up Marines from all of the areas of Camp Lejeune (Camp Geiger, Camp Johnson), I leave the meeting fifteen minutes later to attend another Ward Counsel (2nd Ward). Z gets back by the start of the next Sacrament (11:00) and we stay for the remainder of that ward's block of time. Afterwards, we reverse the route and take the Marine's home, unless we provide a "Break the Fast" on Fast Sunday. Total driving time for Z is almost three hours. Total gas used is half a tank. Having them all with us for Sacrament...PRICELESS! Later that evening we conduct Sacrament at the Camp Geiger chapel for those who are just coming in from 29 days of Marine Combat Training (MCT). They're totally exhausted but they come because they want to partake of the Sacrament. It's also a day we provide Priesthood blessings for those who need it. Our attendance ranges from none to seven. It IS our favorite event of our mission.

Mondays we hang out with the other missionaries for games of basketball or freedom ball (we watch, they play, we all laugh), later in the evening we have Family Home Evening with our YSA Marines. Usually they decide what they want to do and we facilitate.

On most Tuesdays we attend the MCT graduation of the Marines we met on Sunday and get all of their information so we can let their next training/duty station know they're coming. We've been really successful at doing this and it really helps the Marines know someone will be waiting for them. Tuesday nights we conduct Book of Mormon study. We love it and we've increased our own love of that book.

Wednesday is district meeting and we meet with the other Elders and Sisters to learn how to be effective missionaries. We spend the day planning on what we will do later in the week.

Thursday is our own Prep Day because we are old people and we need a full day to recuperate, however, sometimes we are called away to help someone out or make a visit.

Friday is usually pretty calm and we find ways to fill it. Sometimes we have a baptism.

Saturdays are the biggest day for baptisms and we've had opportunities to participate. Last Sunday Z got to confirm a young mom and it was quite a spiritual experience. It is ALWAYS a spiritual experience when Z gives a blessing. Sunday starts the week all over again.

We have Zone meetings in Wilmington or Kinston. We take missionaries to Raleigh and drop them off to go to other areas and we pick up the ones coming to Jacksonville. We love every minute of everyday and wish we could do this forever. We will, at least, do it again a few months after we get home.

I've noticed that when we are busy, the pain in my hip doesn't go away BUT I'm not really aware of it. I use the Jazzy (generously provided by my mother in law) when I know I'm going long distances. Otherwise I just use the cane when I'm out and about. It has improved greatly as I've been more diligent about exercise. Z was able to put my bike on stand that we bought so it's now functioning as a stationary bike. We both use it.

We know that the problems have been many at home and hope that people can realize how blessed they really are while we've been serving this mission. The sacrifices have been many for all of us. What son doesn't want to be at his mother's side when she is ailing? What grandma or grandpa can honestly say they don't miss their grandchildren? What grandparent doesn't want to hold an injured child or give a parent a break from a sick child so they can get a little rest but as we continue to serve we know we're exactly where we are meant to be. We know that our time spent here is precious and what little we spend with each of these young Marines is golden.

We only got to spend ten minutes with Lucas Pyeatt (see my FB posts) but it might have been the most important ten minutes we ever spent with anyone. He was killed two weeks after he left here to serve in Afghanistan but before he left he told Elder Zollinger that he would get active again when he got home. How prophetic were those words. He is most assuredly active now that he is HOME.

So, is what we do important? We believe that it is!

We love our family, each and every one and hope they can see how important the Gospel is in our lives. We pray for each of you and have you on our minds always. This Gospel is true and we love the part we play in it and hope to see our grandsons out here soon.

So, in a nutshell, that's what is going on in Jacksonville, NC!

Love to all,

Elder and Sister Zollinger

Biggest Loser

OK, I admit it! I love the Biggest Loser. I love it because while motivating me to get off of my behind, it usually ends up being a study in the psychology of man. Here's the latest example of how we (parents) become enablers to our children. On the latest episode two people were going to be sent packing; one who fell below the red line (smallest percentage of weight lost) was going home, instantly. The other would be voted off.

Most of these couples are moms/daughters, fathers/sons, father/daughters; you get the picture. Anyway, two moms and one dad decided to throw themselves under the bus to save their kids. To do that they had to GAIN weight so their kids wouldn't fall below the red line. Now I want you too think about this on a broader scope.

As parents we often throw ourselves under the bus for our kids. We stay up all night to help with a project that's due the next day, that they could have done earlier. We run things to school because they forgot them. We run a day and night taxi. You know what I'm talking about...

So here's my point. What if life was about letting our kids fail once in awhile to learn from their mistakes? What if the parents on this show let the kids take the responsibility for losing their own weight? Why didn't the parents begin to see themselves important enough to do for themselves.

In the end it doesn't matter how much you think you need to sacrifice for our kids. At some point they need to take control of their own destiny.

This was just a thought...

Too Many!

In our entire married life, I've never known this many deployed people...EVER! The wards that we serve have many active duty personnel and the comings and goings are never ending. Just recently, we lost a good number of key leadership people. We have many, MANY families who have only mom sitting in church with the family. Last Friday, we attended the farewell for our beloved Ward Mission Leader, Brother Cale. Brother Gallegos and Brother Littlefield are now in Japan and Bahrain. Sister Corey and Sister Birk left a couple of weeks ago. Next Monday, we will say farewell to three more; Brother Stone, Brother Friel (whose wife is expecting their first child in June) and Brother Horrock. And those are just the ones leaving soon. In the next few months we will lose Brother Webb, Brother Kehr and Brother Rogers...that we know of! We have another from the YSA Ward in Wilmington; Brother Phippen. Who knows how many more are leaving that we've been unable to locate or meet yet.

On a brighter note; we had the opportunity to be witnesses for one of our YSA Marines as he and his wife were married on Monday.They are a great couple...and he deploys soon!

Our mission is going well, but we never feel like we're doing enough. So, after some careful consideration, we've added a Sacrament meeting to our Sunday schedule. We'll now go to Courthouse Bay after our Sunday meetings with the Jacksonville wards. We don't mind the miles we've traveled to make pickups there but we think... NO! We FEEL that we will better serve those kids if we take the meeting to them. As students, they have little time to travel back and forth to the traditional meetings. Some of them don't even try because they have to jump through so many hoops to leave the area. We just feel that if even one or two more members can partake of the Sacrament, their chances of staying strong in the Gospel are made greater.

The time is going too fast and we've already been out for almost seven months. We've witnessed many miracles and know that many more are waiting to unfold. We continue to have challenges with our YSA programs and attendance but we know we're on the right track. We've seen lives begin to change as our YSA members take hold of the principle of repentance and take full advantage of the Atonement. It's exciting stuff!

I'll post pictures later in the day.

Much love,

VZ

P.S. I realized there's an error in the comment about not knowing so many deployed military people...I completely forgot our own 144th Evac Hospital in Desert Storm; 400 plus!