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