A Sample of Flora and Fauna

We have wanted to include a sampling of some of the flora and fauna we've enjoyed as we've traveled

about in our mission in central and northern Florida.

Azaleas and  roses blooming and a garden full of flowers greeting us Christmas week.

Lemon and Orange trees loaded with fruit during the month of December.

We have no idea what this particular specimen is, but it was a huge blossom hanging from a very long stem from a very tall tree!

It seems that nearly half of the trees in this part of Florida has Spanish Moss hanging from them, which no doubt gives the whole area a spooky eerie atmosphere-especially on days when there is also fog.

There is an abundance of life in our wonderful mission. Here are some of the ones we have encountered that crawl, swim, and fly.

These little guys are everywhere!  We just call them lizards, but technically they are anoles and are the fastest moving critters around. They only grow to maybe 3-4 inches long (the baby ones are so tiny and cute). It took a couple weeks of living here before Sister Wolff wasn't jumping, hollering and shuddering every time she saw one. (especially when they managed to sneak into the apartment!!)

This adorable little frog turned up one day on our patio sitting on one of our planters. It was only about 1 1/2 inches long and spent an entire day with us before disappearing the following morning.

These fellows are enough to make you pause for a second look!  They are about 6-8 inchs long and if you look really close you'll see a baby piggybacking on the bottom half of the adult.

Yep-that's a spider!  The biggest ugliest one we've ever seen.  And we've seen more than one of them!

Turtles, and alligators about anyplace there's fresh water.

Not surprising, there are unlimited amounts of birds everywhere! We really aren't familiar with the names of most of them, but they are beautiful and different and enjoyable to watch.

These 2 need no description, Aren't they lovely?

And then there is the beach and ocean, which we love to visit and there is no limit to the beauty we find every time we go.

What a wonderful world we live in.

A Wonderful Christmas Season

The Christmas season is a wonderful time of year wherever we are, but being in the mission field during the holidays has provided us with some very special experiences.  We would like to share a few of those with you.

Lights are always a part of the Christmas experience.

Gainesville's "duck pond"

Businesses in St. Augustine

Only those who work with books all day would think of creating this type of Christmas tree!

Christmas also provides an opportunity for special spiritual experiences.

The Gainesville Stake of the LDS Church put on the musical "The Savior of the World".  We had the opportunity to watch the musical several times during our experience as Guest Service Missionaries on Temple Square.  The presentation by the Gainesville Stake was excellent,.just as good as we experienced in Salt Lake City.  Those who attended one of the four performances had a special Christmas experience.

The Christmas season provided many opportunities to be with other missionaries.

One of those opportunities was the mission Christmas party and devotional.  The talent displayed by our young missionaries was very impressive.

Missionaries serving in the Gainesville zone.

Missionaries serving in one of the Jacksonville zones.

Try playing a Christmas carol on a bottle of water!

On Christmas eve, we enjoyed dinner and some time to share traditions and song with one set of Elders serving in our ward.

Christmas morning we helped serve the Gainesville missionaries breakfast followed by a "gift" exchange and a devotional at the institute building on the campus of the University of Florida.

This nut cracker was a "hot item" during the white elephant gift exchange.

Friends, both old and new are a special part of the Christmas spirit.

Elder and Sister Mullins are now serving in the Florida Jacksonville Mission.  Elder Mullins and Elder Wolff were colleagues in the Utah School Superintendents Association.

Three missionaries from Morgan County, Utah serving together in Gainesville, Florida.

 Elder and Sister Martin, new friends that are a big part of our mission experience.

Dinner with Tom and Glenda, Elder Wolff's brother and sister-in-law who live in Florida.

For those of you in the cold and snow, take a look at this weather forecast for the week 

of Christmas.

We hope your Christmas was as good as ours.

Opportunities Continue in November

The Work Goes On

On November 1, we celebrated the half way point in our mission.  It is hard to believe that as we move on to the month of December that we've been in the mission field for ten months.

The process of digitizing books for those doing genealogy work continues at a much greater pace as our competency increases and our center becomes more established.  As we begin the month of December, our total output includes 335,933 captured images and a total of 743 items on line with Internet Archives and Family Search. The books that have been put on line can be seen at  https://archive.org/details/uffamilysearch?sort=-publicdate. 

The books shown are the most recent that we've digitized and are awaiting approval from Internet Archive's quality control program before being returned to the library.  The baskets contain books yet to be worked on.  There are "always" more books!

Holidays!

One of the unique aspects of our mission comes from the fact that we're in a partnership that includes the University of Florida.  We work in one of their facilities and thus follow their calendar including time off for holidays.  Besides two days for Thanksgiving, we were also off on Veterans Day and for the University of Florida's homecoming.  That's right, the entire campus closed down for homecoming!  

We take advantages of holidays and Saturdays by visiting the sites within our mission's boundary.  On Veterans Day, we traveled to Cedar Key located on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

A great lunch of seafood in a local restaurant and a couple of hours in the community's museum made the day a success.

Thanksgiving - Time for Friends and Family

President and Sister Craig decided to spend their last Thanksgiving in the mission field with the senior missionaries.  Everyone was invited to the mission home for a Thanksgiving feast and fellowship.  

Currently, there are nine senior couples in the Florida Jacksonville mission with another couple coming in a few weeks. We enjoy the time we have to spend with President and Sister Craig.

Orlando Temple

It is always a good month when you have a chance to be in the temple with a room full of missionaries!  We had that opportunity again in November.

Friends and Family

One of the rewards of serving a mission is the chance to develop new friendships.  We've been blessed by the opportunity to meet many great people in our ward, at our work, and in our association with fellow missionaries (both young and seasoned).  Although we'll probably never see most of them again when we return home, they have touched our lives and we hope we've had an influence on them.

In celebration of their successful mission, we recently spent an evening with a couple who will be returning to Utah in the near future.

One of advantages that senior missionaries have over our younger counterparts is that there are no restrictions on our contacts with home and family.  Technology allows us to communicate with family members wherever they might be on a regular basis.  There are also opportunities for visits.

Elder Wolff's brother lives less than an hour from Gainesville and we've been able to spend some time with him and his wife.  A great friend from Utah who was instrumental in our conversion while serving as a young missionary happened to be in Florida on a business trip with his wife and spent one Saturday afternoon with us.  Our oldest son and most of his family just spent a weekend with us.  What a special visit!

Preparing to go "gator" hunting

This one decided to check us out - up close and personnel!

Gators aren't the only thing that we found.

The Sabbath Day is always special but it is even more

so when you can share it with family.

The day also included a birthday celebration.

Don't be afraid to leave your family in order to serve a mission.  They are only a few strokes on a computer or a couple of numbers on your cell phone away.  In fact, they could be knocking on your door before you return home!

November 2, 2015  - We've reached the half way mark already!