Virginia Chesapeake Mission

As you probably know, we are now the Virginia Chesapeake Mission.  It is so EXCITING to be here with all the new missionaries and see the Lord's hand in hastening His work!  

                   We are now 2 1/2 hours drive away from our mission headquarters.  And along the way these are some of the sights we saw.

This was our last Zone Meeting in Kinston before transfers came 1 week later.  Greenville District

Havelock District?                                                                                      Kinston District

Taken after our Zone Meeting in New Bern

This time, transfers took Elder Balaich (on r) and next time will take Elder Elkin.  Our sisters moved to Virginia also.  Sister Hoyt, Elder Myers, Sister Vazquez and Sister Landon (from Wilson)

 We were happy to find Sister Smith (r) and Sister Eide at the Meeting.  Our new Sisters are Sister Roberts in her last area and SisterQuiroz in her first - fresh from the MTC

 We have been able to go to the Raleigh Temple several times. Once with the Couple Missionaries from our Raleigh Mission, with Jordan who will be leaving in August for her mission to Las Vegas, NV, and with Cheryl and James who will be married this next week in the Washington DC Temple.  Our youth are so strong.  They have such wonderful testimonies.

On our last preparation day, we took the Sisters to River Park North for the famous hike with a picnic at Town Commons on the Bridge - somethings don't change.  But these are places we love and trying to find turtles, deer and birds is fun for us.  These pictures are for grandchildren with sharp eyes.  Can you find the birds hidden in the pictures?

         There are many miracles around us!  Our testimonies have really grown and each day there is another wonderful truth we learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we share it with others.  We love the people in our Branch, the wards, the missionaries we have known, and are serving with now.  We know that as you share your testimony with those around you, it too will grow stronger and you like us, will learn just how blessed we are to be a member of Christ's church once again restored to the earth.

     We love each of you.  We thank you for your prayers and support of us on this mission.  We will always treasure the time we have spent here and the things we have learned.   Take care!

June's Fun

Hello again,
Just wanted to share some pictures from last month.  It was a month of "Goodbyes" to many dear friends we have served with in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission.

           Elder B. Jensen, was our District Leader and we were sad when he went to Goldsborough, but happy that he came to the new mission with us.

We enjoyed Elder Dewey while he served here  Now, we have Elder S. Jensen as our new District Leader

This little turtle tried to bite us while we (us and the Sisters) were trying to save him from getting  run over by cars near the highway.

 These wonderful Sisters -Vasquez and Hoyt are the ones which we are currently having a GREAT TIME!  This picture says it all.  You can see how FUN it really is!! 

 We took this picture at our Zone Conference in June.  We were so happy to have 12 sisters!
back row:  Sisters Jacobson, Tillman, Griffin, Bouldin, Pace, Hoyt, Eide. front row:  Sisters: Eades, Jones  Nielson, Vazquez, Smith and Myers.  They are so great!

 

In the month of June, our Kinston Stake puts on the Promised Land Pageant at the Ormond Amphitheatre in Bath, NC and they do a wonderful job!!  The couple missionaries came again this year to enjoy it. This is a picture of the boat ride from the Eustarium Center in Washington, NC that we took while enjoying the Pamlico and Tar Rivers in the morning.  

Elder and Sister Johnson,  Elder and Sister Davenport.  Below Sister Burdick, Elder and Sister Heidenreich.

                                         








   Elder and Sister Myers and Sister Fitzgerald below.  Lucky us, it wasn't raining at this time of the day.  We saw lots of turtles along the way.

 Our group picture was taken in Bath,NC at Bonner's Point along the Pamlico River.  Bath is the oldest city in NC.  We enjoyed the Visitors Center with it's historical video and learned about Black Beard the Pirate. We visited the St. Thomas Church built in 1734 and the Pirates Treasure store before the Pageant began.    We have had some unforgetable times with these great missionaries and some others that have finished their mission and gone home.

 Below is the Zone Meeting in Harker's Island.  It was a farewell meeting for the Elders and Sisters serving in  the Kinston Zone to say goodbye to President and Sister Bernhisel.  We are so thankful for the time we have had with them in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission!  We love them!

Today was history - a new beginnning for us as we are in one of the newly created missions!  It is so exciting to serve at the time when the Lord is hastening his work.  We traveled to Virginia today to meet our new President and his wife, and were so happy to look around and see the missionaries we knew that had transferred with us.  The Gospel is true!  Jesus Christ leads His Church and you can see his hand in the way the missionary work is moving forward.  We feel so blessed to be able to serve the Lord.  Thank you so much at home for helping to make this possible, by watching our house, taking care of each other and supporting us through your prayers.  We love you all. You're in our prayers always.  Take care

Hey, Y'all,

          Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday.  We sure did!   It was sooo GOOD to see everyone!  President Bernhisel gave permission last week for the missionaries to skype their families on Mother's Day and we loved every minute of it.  Most everyone seems to be growing taller except us but we're making up for it in other ways - thanks to some delicious Southern Cooking that we've enjoyed.  Brother Walker had us and the Sisters over for dinner after church in Kinston.

          Last week was great!!!  We took a trip to the Raleigh Temple.  We love going to the Temple and are so blessed to have one in our Mission.  It brings us closer to our Savior and gives us the peace and strength we need to carry on.   Thanks everyone for remembering my birthday.  I love you all so much and feel very grateful to have you in my life!

Sister Burdick in the left picture,  Elder Heindrick, Sister Burdick, Sister Fitzgerald and Sister Davenport.  

Sister Fitzgerald below, she replaced Sister Arkell in the office.  We really loved her and are happy to get to know Sister Fitzgerald.

             This special trip with the Couple Missionaries took us to Duke University to walk around and enjoy the Sara P. Duke Gardens.

Walking on campus with Elder Myers are Elder and Sister Heindrick who replaced Elder and Sister Yerkes as CES missionaries at the Duke University Institute.

          In the library, we got to see one of the first printed copies of the Book of Mormon.  It was a special treat for us to be able to look through it's pages and read from it.  Elder Heindrick was a librarian and it was very interesting to hear him share his knowledge about the miracles that occured in order for us to enjoy the Book of Mormon today.  Also pictured are Sister Fitzgerald, Elder Myers and Sister Burdick.

The Book of Mormon is nearly 200 years old.  It has stood the test of time.  This book is true.  Please keep reading from it's pages and praying for your own testimony.  Heavenly Father will answer your prayers as He has for us.  We enjoy reading from it daily and the warm feeling we get as we read. We love you!  Take care!

Hello again!
Just want to show you how much fun we have doing Missionary Work.

We handed out Invitations to attend the Church Pageant on June 21, and 22 in Bath at the Pirates Fest.  These are only two of the lively folks we found on Town Commons.  We also took our annual ride on the Trolley to learn the history of Greenville.


Sisters are Hoyt and Vasquez

This is our District minus 1.  We lose Elder Henderson on right looking off to the distance.  The rest of us get to stay here in Greenville.  Back row: l-r Elder Balaich, Elder S. Jensen, Elder B. Jensen (our District Leader), Elder Dewey, Elder Elkins and Elder Henderson. We will miss him.   Front row:  Sister Hoyt, Sister Vasquez, Sister and Elder Myers   

Last Thursday, we went to a Missionary Couple's  Retreat and Conference at Atlantic Beach.  After a wonderful  training with President, Marc Bernhisel and his wife, we enjoyed a delicious fish dinner together in Beaufort.  The next morning, our group was to drive to Harkers Island and ferry over to Cape Lookout but there was a Severe Weather Warning for our area. It rained hard through the night accompanied with lots of  wind.  We were told that there would be no ferry ride if the weather was rainy.   As we proceeded to the Island, the sun came out.  We were able to load in the ferry, cross to the Outer Banks and spend time at Cape Lookout, listening to the Park Ranger teach us about the lighthouse, walk along the beach looking for seashells and enjoy our selves in the warm sun - a miracle!

   

Later, after a wonderful meal and talk on the history at Harkers Island Chapel, we shared our testimonies about the rich blessings that come from serving our Heavenly Father.  Our family has been watched over and we have been blessed with safety and protection as we have traveled around in North Carolina.                  We are so grateful!

Fort Macon

We then went to visit the Fort Macon State Park.  This fort was built from 1826 through 1834.   It saw fighting during the Civil war when the Confederates took it over and the Union fought to take it back.  It also played a part in defending our shores during WWII.  We found it very interesting and well done.

 Walking along the ocean looking for seashells before driving back to Greenville.

    Stake Conference was held on Sunday in New Bern, NC.  We were blessed to hear Elder Robert Hymas of the Seventy.  It was a very Spiritual Conference.
Out enjoying the windy weather afterwards before traveling home.

Have we convinced you to come and serve a mission yet?  We hope all is well at home.  You are always in our prayers and we love you very much!  Take care!