Georgia Forever On Our Mind

"God Be With You 'til We Meet Again", was the closing song of our last District Council on Wednesday. It was hard for Gramma and I not to get a little teary eyed as we sang it. We know Elder Jensen selected it to sing, because it is the song we always close with at our music program at the Golden Crest.  It was a good meeting and we will miss "our" District. We were out of our apartment by Tuesday and stayed in a motel until Saturday.  We spent most of Tuesday afternoon cleaning the apartment, because we received word at our district meeting that the Araves would arrive the next day. 

The Araves got to Atlanta on Thursday and moved into their apartment. We took the Sisters to a meeting and stopped by to leave some things and introduce the Sisters.

Tuesday we had to take the Sisters to a service project helping the Bishop and a member of the Ward move some boxes. Sister Ivie worked for the Federal Reserve and they destroy money that is past it usefulness. This bag of shredded bills is 1 million dollars and they gave it to her for her retirement. 

Late on Friday the missionaries were told to stay in their apartments and wait for further instructions.  They were allowed to exercise so the sisters joined Sister Hammond in a 3 mile walk at International Park.  The last assignment we had was returning the Sisters to their apartment after dropping the truck off at the Elders. Our last picture with them. We also took one of them behind the fence since they were in a bit of a "spirit prison" being confined to their apartments.

What we had hoped to be our last performance at the Golden Crest was cancelled because of the Corona virus. We planned to go see Gerald and say goodbye, but no one was allowed in that rehab center either. Uta wasn't allowed to see him either so we went and visited and said our goodbyes to her at her house. I had to call Gerald on the telephone.  Missionaries were to be in their apartments, but we were in a hotel. Saturday morning, off we went saying goodbye to marvelous Georgia. We had no idea of what was to come. We stopped at Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain Battlefield.

We spent Sunday visiting Gramma's cousins in Tennessee and Arkansas.We kept forgetting to take pictures and only got one of Mary and her son and the house that they live in. We also visited Betty Sue in Memphis, and Shirley in Walnut Ridge. They are all sisters, and grand-daughters of Uncle Charlie, Grandpa Hall's uncle.  

We spent Saturday night in Jackson Tennessee, Sunday night in Little Rock, Monday night in Sweetwater Texas, and Tuesday night we stayed with Delores and Doug in El Paso.  We had a good visit.  It was starting to look like this Corona virus was being taken very seriously. Thanks for the great bed and meals, Doug and Delores. The next night we stayed in Kingman Arizona. Thursday we stayed with Melissa and planned on staying a couple of days and then spending Sunday seeing Ben, Kenny, LaRay and the rest of our family.  When we left for Georgia, Melissa prepared the most delicious "Georgian" meal with "Georgia On our Mind" background music and amazing Peach Cobbler.  We returned to Idaho and she whipped up the most delicious beef roast, Potatoes and gravy and biscuits.  Thank you Wright Family!  We received a call from President Hawker, our Stake President, and he had been trying to get hold of us. He had been instructed to tell us to come straight home and not to stop anywhere we didn't have too, and then isolate ourselves for 14 days. We were very disappointed not having the opportunity to see our other kids.  Off we went home. It was a pretty day to unload the car, and has rained continually since.   We were greeted with a clean house, groceries in the fridge, and two very creative welcome home signs; thanks to family in Idaho! This morning we were officially released by President Hawker by speaker phone. What a great spiritual experience we have had in Georgia and indeed Georgia will forever be on our mind and in our hearts!

The above picture is a selfie and what a gorgeous angle!  We couldn't have a human welcome, so we did the best we could.   We received a call from Sister Nelson, one of the sister missionaries in Georgia, this afternoon.  She deals with asthma, so her and 41 missionaries from the Georgia mission are returning home.  Most of the Senior missionaries in the Atlanta, Georgia mission are also returning.  Elder and Sister Arave have been in their apartment one week and they have already left for Utah.  When we left their apartment, they had just been to Costco and bought what they needed to settle in.  Our prayers our with our family, missionaries, our country, and hopefully this virus will quietly diminish sooner than later!  Love y'all, we hope that sharing this mission experience with you helps you understand how much we love the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. God bless all of you. Elder and Sister Hammond

Lots of Lasts

Well within the past few weeks we have had the last zone conference, last interviews, and last transfer meeting. This coming week it will be the last District Council, P-Day, and last drive through the gate of our gated apartment complex. Today was our last Sunday at the Jonesboro Ward so after church they gave a little thank you party for Bishop Bourdeau (who was just released) and Elder and Sister Hammond. We are really going to miss these folks, they are so kind and thoughtful.

And when speaking of the kind and thoughtful tone we have to mention Brother Hellesoe. This was our last dinner with the missionaries and him.

Gramma and the Sisters have been working on a song for Sacrament meeting this past week. Gramma on the piano, Sister Schwarz on the violin, and Sister Nelson a vocal. It was very beautiful today. They practiced during the week and even had a try at the Golden Crest when we all sang there.

Speaking of the Golden Crest the Elders and Sisters did such a good job we took them to the Steak and Shake, Gramma's treat.

Sometimes you have to make adjustments to be able to perform the music you want. Gramma is getting pretty good at reading notes on a cell phone.

We had District Council this week in Griffin it was a good meeting and of course we had some of Gramma's delicious cookies. We will miss being around these enthusiastic missionaries.

The picture I showed you in the last blog where we would be living did not materialize. The manager cancelled all his contracts, so we will be living in this extended stay hotel until we leave.

We have got to start packing some stuff to move to our temporary home. We need to be moved by the middle of the week so we can have the apartment cleaned for the new couple by Friday. They will be bringing new bedroom furniture and a new couch on Thursday. The worst thing is we can't leave things in the car because there are quite a few car burglaries in the neighborhood. Next weeks blog might be a little late. I have to turn off the internet here and the hotel's is not secure. I will catch it up as soon as we can. We are so glad we have had this opportunity to serve here in Georgia and work with the many young Elders and Sisters. We have been watched over in this busy traffic and our health has been fine. We know the Lord has blessed us. We love you and we will be seeing you soon. The Gospel is true and we are so thankful of all our many blessing which includes all of you. Be good, be kind, and thanks for your many prayers for us. We love Y'all. Grandpa and Gramma Hammond.

Leap Year Week

We cannot believe it, but it is March. Our weeks continue to be very busy with a variety of activities and some days we are not sure what day it is. I had to take the Elders several times to meetings and the Wednesday night Bible study went well, but several of the less active were not able to make it this week. I spent the Bible study time meeting with the Bishop. He is a good man and is trying to prepare for the Arave's (the couple that replaces us). He has already asked them to speak in Church the first Sunday they are here. I think they will grow to love this ward as we have. It was President's interview at the Stockbridge chapel this week. President and Sister Clayton said that we would would have our interview Saturday night. He had invited us and Elder and Sister Potts to dinner in Atlanta.The Pott's go home the week before we do. Here are some of the Stockbridge photos.

Here is our district just before our meeting started. You can see Gramma at the piano. Behind the blackboard are the two Sisters in our Ward.  They are practicing a number that they will perform in Sacrament meeting next Sunday.

After the meeting we took the Elders and Sisters out to dinner at their favorite all you can eat Wings.
It was a little classier than the Sam's Club  meal I bought them last week. Elder Webb on the far left with the glasses ate 22 wings. Elder Rich and Jensen only made it to 20. It was a lot of fun and I hope they all went away full.

We were a little concerned about singing at the Golden Crest this week. It looked like me, Gramma, and the Sisters were going to be the only ones there. Luckily the Spanish Elders and Sister's service project got canceled and they made it. They love singing, especially some of the old Gospel songs. Gramma has been really good about getting the missionaries out of their comfort zone and getting them to sing solo's, play the violin, and enjoy singing for all the patients.

This week we will be here in our apartment all week, but in two weeks we will have to move some things so we can clean the apartment for the Arave's that arrive on the 13th. We will be living in the bottom right apartment in this picture until we leave. It is a B&B and not sure what to expect.  It is in a little scarier location than here at Bridgewater, but it is only for a few days.

Each Sunday the past couple of months I have taken Gramma to church early so she can give Jonah a piano lesson. He is part of an immigrant family that are members of the Ward. He is a really nice young man.

Saturday night we went into Atlanta for dinner with President Clayton and the Pott's as I mentioned earlier. When President Clayton made the reservations he was unaware that the Olympic finals for the Marathon was going on. that afternoon. Traffic was a zoo and it took 2 hours to go 18 miles. When we got close we pulled into the first safe looking parking lot we saw and walked the rest of the way. Luckily we had allowed lots of time to get there. Just as we got there the Pott's arrived but President Clayton was stuck in traffic and was another 45 minutes getting there. We had a lovely dinner at "Ruth Chris Steak House" and a great visit with everyone. It only took 45 minutes to get home. Sunday they called us up in Fast meeting to bear our testimonies. We are going to miss this Jonesboro Ward. In the evening we took the Sisters to a dinner appointment. We had been invited to go too, so we had a good meal and visit with the Snells. They are both from the Rexburg area and know what Idaho is like. We are enjoying our mission and know that the Lord has given us a great experience in serving here. We love each and everyone of you and pray for you all each day. May God bless you, do what is right, and know that we love you very much. Grandpa and Gramma Hammond

A Visit to Helen

It has been another very busy week in Georgia. The weather has been rainy, sunny,  and even quite mild at times. On Thursday it was only 28° and it was the thickest frost we had on the windshield in Stockbridge. Ever since we met Gerald and Ute, they have wanted to show us a little town near Gerald‘s house (it is up north).  It is called Helen. Because of their health issues it was plain to see that we were not going to be able to go to Helen with them. Gerald is still in the rehab center and will be there at least one more week. Even if they were to send him home in a week he would not be able to travel. Since we missed P-day two weeks ago and had a short limited one last week we decided to travel to Helen by ourselves. It was a unique German village in the mountains with lots of places to shop and German restaurants. It is a pretty little town that features German food and all kinds of German crafts. It is also a tourist trap. The weather turned out beautiful and grandma enjoyed shopping in the little shops and we had a very interesting German dinner.  Gramma got to shop for several hours which made her day and we also had an authentic German dinner. The meal was a little heavy for me. Here are some of the pictures that we took there:

Of all the stores I thought this was the most interesting. I didn't have the courage to buy any of it. It didn't sound very appetizing.

On Tuesday the weather was terrible and I had to take the car to have the brakes checked. They were fine, which surprised me with all the stop and go driving we do. It rained hard that day and most of the day on Wednesday. We had to ferry the Sisters to several places for appointments because they didn’t have a vehicle and it’s hard to bike in the rain. We made several visits to see Gerald at the rehab center and on Wednesday night we had our Bible class, which is really "Come Follow Me" study. We had a sister who is a member of the church but hasn't been to church since she was 10 years old, when her grandfather would take her. She had her four kids with her so while she listened to the lesson and met with grandma and the other Sisters there, I watched over the kids. They were really nice kids and she enjoyed the lesson very much and will be back next Wednesday. Below are the kids.

On Thursday we had zone conference in Conyers. We had some very good Instructions by the AP’s, President and Sister Clayton, and others that were there. Here is a picture of some of the missionaries. It is our last Zone conference so we both had to share our testimony with the missionaries.

The senior couple below in the center are Elder and Sister Potts. They return home a week before we do and it will be sad to see them go. They have the same assignment we’ve had in working with one of the wards, but in discussions with them it sounds like our ward is much more supportive than the one they’ve been working in.

Friday was a very busy morning. I got a call to meet the Bishop at the hospital to give a man a blessing who is going in for triple by-pass surgery. When we got to the Golden Crest nursing home none of the missionaries were there. The Sister’s called and said that they had a flat tire and were not going to make it.  I went and picked them up and took them to the nursing home so they could sing with grandma so I didn’t have to sing solos. I then drove back to their car while they were singing and changed the tire and got back to the nursing home in time to sing the last song with them. It was a busy morning. 

That afternoon while grandma was practicing her solo for sacrament meeting on Sunday,  I set up tables and chairs for a dinner after a Memorial service that was to be held Saturday morning. Grandma played the organ for the memorial service which started at 10 o’clock. It was for a 50-year-old man whose step-mother is a member of the Jonesboro ward. Everything went well and there was about 40 family members and ward members there.

Saturday evening we waited for over an hour for a table at a restaurant that Brother Hellesoe chose to take the missionaries out to eat. We were not going to go, but the Sisters didn’t have a ride unless we were able to take them. Our waitress whose name was Lily was happy to wait on us. She is receiving the missionary lessons from the Sisters in Conyers and was so sweet and kind making sure we were taken well care of.

In communicating with Bishop Jensen it was determined that we would report our mission on April 19th.  Mark your calendar‘s. We were not sure we could be home by March 22, ( his first suggestion.) The next Sunday is Fast Sunday and the Sunday after that is General conference. The next Sunday is the weekend of Kim and Reuben's wedding so that’s why we’re going to be speaking on the 19th.  Sunday afternoon I went with the Elder’s to three appointments and then Gramma and I met the Sisters at the rehab center to visit Gerald. He was doing much better. Friday Gramma talked to the nursing staff about getting his nausea medication to him at the right time and he said they had done a much better job. His son also visited him on Saturday and encouraged him to eat no matter what and both these things seemed to have had a positive impact on his health. As you can see we are never bored too much and can always find something positive to do. It was good to get some e-mails and Instagram from you. You can even text. The young Elders and Sisters have been really keeping us on our toes with text's. We love all of you and appreciate you support. We pray each day for your health and safety, both physically and spiritually. Do what is right and may God bless y"all. Love, Grandpa and Gramma Hammond.

Spring is in the Air

The weather here in Georgia can be a little schizophrenic. Monday night the low was 68, Thursday it was 38, and Saturday it was 31. It is usually nice, and one very rarely  knows if a jacket is needed, whereas at home you always have a jacket, hat and gloves in February. Monday (P-Day) as noted it started out warm, so later in the day we went for a walk in Lake Spivey Park. It is a very nice recreational area with nature trails, tennis courts, a swimming, water tubing area (closed for winter), and a number of beach volleyball courts. It is where they had the beach volleyball competition in the 1996 Olympics.

The trails are beautiful and Gramma wants to walk there again the first chance we get. That is the hard part. We have been very busy this week and with some days very rainy it would have been hard to walk there anyway. "Spring is in the Air", the trees are starting to bloom here in the middle of February.

Tuesday we had District Council at the Stockbridge church building. There was some good training and Gramma treated all the missionaries in the District to a Valentine present.

Gramma wasn't forgotten either.

Wednesday was transfers and we lost our missionary from New York and gained Elder Webb from Alpine, Utah. We also received a new Spanish Sister, Sister Smith. We love the excitement of transfer day and unfortunately that was our last one. We will be headed home the week before the next one.

Sister Smith is the one on the far right and we broke in her and Elder Webb with singing at the Golden Crest nursing home. We sang on Thursday morning because we were going with the Sisters to the Temple with a member of the Ward on Friday.

Thursday night was a special Conyers Stake Missionary meeting, so we and the Elders headed into the busy rush hour traffic towards Conyers. They serve pizza and treats before the meeting so those that attend don't have to miss dinner. It is well attended by the Elders and Sisters. The meeting was very good, Brother Ray Taylor from our ward told of his conversion to the Church and a member of the Stake Presidency showed us a original Book of Mormon (one of the first 5000 printed) and talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon.

Friday was a Temple day and we did some family sealings and then went through a session with "Trish" a sister in our ward. After the Temple the freeways were jammed. We decided to go back to the Busy Bee Cafe where we still had half our gift card that we received from Samantha's parents. It was Valentines day, so we were just going to get takeaway. Google maps led us all over the city of Atlanta (to avoid a traffic jam) and when we arrived there the line again went out the front door and it was a hour and a half to get a take out order. So we fought traffic back to Jonesboro and had a Valentines dinner at the "Lazy Crab". We have eaten at the "Juicy Crab", and the "Red Lobster" here and still haven't found one we really like. Gramma was just glad that her bib and plastic gloves protected her nice clothes she had worn to the Temple.

Saturday morning we picked up the Sisters at 8:45 and headed to a ward service project. The Bishop had ask all the missionaries to be there. The Kerr family were moving to Texas and the movers were coming on Tuesday to load a truck and all their stuff needed to be in boxes. They are an older couple with lots of health issues. They started packing with the help of the Ward a couple of months ago, but their 30 year old daughter that lived with them unexpectedly died. They are still in a bit of shock with the death and haven't done a lot except sit and try to deal with this tragic death. Time was short and they were not able to agree on what to keep or what to leave. Since they couldn't make a decision, we were to pack it all. Gramma and I boxed and wrapped a lot of pictures, vase, scrap-booking materials, and anything else we found that needed packed. I hope I don't see another tape packing gun again. At noon we were done. We took the Sisters home and went to our apartment and showered. The dust was terrible and until they opened a couple of windows we were not sure we could stay in the room.

Sunday was the usual busy day. We had to take the Sisters to church and both the Sisters and Elders home afterwards. Well the Elders home, the Sisters to a dinner appointment. We hope to get some Ward contacts this week and we also have a Zone Conference. It will be special because it will be our last Zone Conference before we get home. Saturday Gramma is going to play the organ for a funeral of a Grandson of a Ward member. Most of the people that will attend are members of other faiths. We went to see Gerald, but he was asleep. His roommate said he had been asleep most of the day so we didn't bother him.We later got hold of Uta and Gramma visited with her on the phone. He goes to the doctor tomorrow and we hope he gets some good news. We stay busy and are trying to help our new Bishop. He has five members of the Ward in the hospital with serious illnesses. As we get to the end of next week we should have a better idea of exactly when we will be headed home. We are too busy to worry about it yet and we are hoping when it comes the weather will be good. We have formed some great friendships here in Jonesboro and will miss these good people. We miss all of you and ask the Lord each day to bless you. Do what is right, be kind, and know that we love you. Grandpa and Gramma Hammond.