We're staying for the two night in Valdosta across the street from the local visitors' center. There's a small lake with bald cypress. There are two signs, Fishing allowed, and Do not feed the Alligators.
| Much to Sister Chadwick's chagrin, I stopped along a narrow Georgia road to get a closer look at more of the yellow jessamine. Much to my surprise was the fragrance—a pleasant sweetness with a hint of licorce. | |
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We're staying for the two night in Valdosta across the street from the local visitors' center. There's a small lake with bald cypress. There are two signs, Fishing allowed, and Do not feed the Alligators. |
It's been busy and I've been sick so nothing got posted but a lot has been going on. I'll start with today and work backward.
We're in Cordele, GA this evening in preparation to take beds and a dryer out of the apartment here to put in apartments in Douglas then go on Valdosta to empty an apartment that's been the home of the senior couple who did military relations there. We've lost or are losing four senior couples in the first four months of 2018 with no one replacing them. There just aren't enough senior couple coming on missions to fill all of the need.
| The drive down reinforced my comments of last week. In the past week, the Bradford pears have begin blooming and the streets in our apartment complex are like driving through a snow storm with all of the trees lining the streets. Along the highways the redbud and yellow jessamine are blooming and we passed a peach orchard just starting to turn pink. |
Yellow or Carolinia jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) |
The senior couple in the office, Elder and Sister Jensen, left this month for a two month hiatus in Utah before going on to Norway to continue what they've been doing in Georgia. Sisters Parkinson and Waggoner are replacing them until a new senior couple comes in April. I've been working to get an apartment that the young sisters could use and would be suitable for the senior couple as well. We found one and on Wednesday I arranged for the Forsyth elders to assist me moving furniture from Jensen's apartment to the new apartment. The details of why we are changing apartments revolves around the dissatisfaction of the Jenson's but the new apartment has some advantages. In any event, Wednesday went like this:
The aforementioned trash we collected on Tuesday. We drove the the Savannah area on Monday. A leisurely trip and spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at Fort McAllister in Richmond Hill, GA. This was the last obstacle facing Sherman as he marched across Georgia and its capture enabled him to present Savannah as a war prize to Lincoln for Christmas 1863.
The fort withstood repeated attempts by the Union to capture it but its earthen works held strong against naval bombardment. It was only when Sherman attack from the land did it fall. Here are some photos:
I don't care what the calendar says or some groundhog in Pennsylvania, spring has sprung in Georgia. Two weeks ago paper white narcissus bloomed along our route to the office. Early this week the first dandelions appears and the red maples are showing their spring red. Today one the way to church was a magnolia covered with flower just opening.
I gave a talk in church today. Here are my notes.
Today we took a sister missionary to Atlanta to fly home. Friday she would have attended three week training. It's not exceptional that missionaries go home early. The reasons are as varied as the missionary. Some for health reasons, some because they've been injured, some because they don't adjust to missionary life. Some go home and things work out that they return to their original mission or sometime to a different mission. Eighteen year old men and nineteen year old young women are still growing and there is no question that serving a mission is a demanding task. The hours are long, the expectations are many, and the responses can be disappointing but the results are mostly spectacular. They return home having matured and grown in ways that only a mission provides.
Yesterday we took Gabrielle Imlay to a Priest/Laurel activities in Macon. Four local stakes got together with afternoon classes, supper, and a dance. We picked him up in Forsyth when he returned from a high school ROTC drill competition north of Atlanta. He with his two sisters joined the church a couple of months ago. They live with their grandmother and it's some thirty miles to go to the Macon chapel and we are concerned that they weren't getting enough interaction with other youth. We went back to the chapel at 8:30 and drove him home.
I was struck with watching these young men and women of 16 and 17 that they would be 18 and 19 year old missionaries in a few months. They look just like the 18 and 19 year old missionaries in the Georgia Macon Mission. We are amazed at the missionaries. I have no concerns about the future of the church when I see their strength and dedication.
This afternoon we went to a concert presented by the Vineville Methodist Church. Ronald Campbell, a Macon native and a great bass baritone accompanied by Susan McDuffie, whom we heard last year, presented a program of African American spirituals. He sang several Harry T Burleigh spirituals. Many were familiar—Heav'n, Heav'n, for example. A real treat. Both Sister Chadwick and I were struck by how different his speaking voice is from his singing voice. Macon is really a great music town.
The last surviving sibling, Emma Chadwick Bochmann, in the father's family died recently at age 102. We saw her two years ago and she was doing well. As is often the case, a funeral is a time for families to get together. We weren't able to go but my brother sent pictures of cousins I hadn't seen in decades.
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Left to right: Carter Chadwick, son of Zennel, Sue Chadwick, daughter of Eugene, Gale Chadwick, son of Robert, and Lynn, son of Zennel. |
Left to Right: David Bochmann, son of Emma, Lynn Chadwick and Carter Chadwick, sons of Zennel, Gale Chadwick, son of Robert, and Paul Bochmann, son of Emma. |
Of the generation of my parents, only my mother's brothers, Lorence and Phillip survive. Both are 90+.
I received the following missive which seemed fine until the last line:
I apologize for the delay with my reply. We've actually received 3 separate checks from your church that totals the amount of $3,425. After doing the math, the unit is actually paid up through the April rent. After subtracting the $775 deposit, the $387.50 prorated January rent, the $775 February rent and adding in the $43.03 in power bills that we owe you, we still have $1,530.53 remaining from the checks sent to us. The remaining total averages about 2 months worth of rent. If you would like, we can post date the rent up to April with the remaining balance. If that is alright, that would mean we would not need to receive anymore money from your church until May 1, 2018 when that May rent is due. I will attach a letter with an idolized format of all the totals.
I got a text message from the Pooler Sisters,
"Hi Elder Chadwick, we were wondering if it is possible for missionaries to paint their apartments? We have wood paneling that makes it kinda dark, and we were wondering if we could paint it white. Is that allowed."
I replied,
"There isn't any budget for painting missionary apartments. That's problem 1. The bigger problem is painting over wood paneling. The surface must be prepared and it might require as many as three coats of paint. Problem 2. You would need permission from the landlord and permission from President Grayson to take time off from proselytizing to do all the work. Still want to do it?"
They said,
"Hmmm. Maybe we should give this a little more thought. We will get back to you."
I was reminded of the solo by Fagin in Oliver, "I'm reviewing the situation. I think I better think it out again."
I don't expect to hear from the Pooler Sisters regarding painting again.
