Another Exciting Adventure

We had been looking forward to a long weekend in Jacksonville highlighted by a trip into the Okefenokee Swamp with the other senior missionaries.  One of our children had purchased tickets for a few sightseeing activities in Jacksonville so the plan was to use them while there. We enjoyed the sight seeing activities but plans changed before Saturday's swamp trip.

Our first activity was to spend a little time on Jacksonville Beach.

We also visited Jacksonville's Museum of Science and History.

The third stop was at a preserve for "cats" that were no longer wanted by their owners.  Catty Shack was an excellent way to spend an evening.There were many big cats of all kinds and it was awesome to see them up close and friendly.

As we were travelling to Jacksonville, President Craig called us indicating that Internet Archive would provide us with additional training if we were willing to travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana.  We gave up the swamp trip and headed back to Gainesville Saturday morning.  By Saturday afternoon we were on our way to Fort Wayne, a trip of a little over 1,000 miles each way.

The Allen County Library in Fort Wayne has a significant commitment to genealogy work.  As part of that commitment, they house a substantial Internet Archive division, as well as a group of missionaries for Family Search.  We enjoyed five great days of training with the full-time IA staff, as well as an opportunity to meet the Family Search missionaries serving at the library.  A highlight was a tour of the library's Lincoln Collection housing a variety of items from President Lincoln's family as well as that era of history.

We also learned that Fort Wayne is in the Ohio Cincinnati mission where our former stake president, John Porter serves as the mission president.  We were able to make phone contact with him.  We enjoyed sharing each others missionary experiences.

When we travel, we take every opportunity to visit sites that are interesting to us.  After a quick stop for lunch with my mother in Ohio (you travel through Ohio to get to Indiana when coming from Gainesville), we made a couple of stops on our return trip home.

Fort Boonesborough State Park - Settled by Daniel Boone - Kentucky's 2nd Settlement - 1775
The State of Kentucky has made a very nice replica of Boonesborough that includes state employees teaching many of the skills that were practiced at that time.

Sister Wolff learning how to make fire with flint and steel.

Elder Wolff practiced throwing a hatchet into a log.  Sister Wolff caught the hatchet in mid-air for this picture.

Daniel Boone is part of Sister Wolff's family tree through "Susan Boone".  We were excited to see this monument including all members of the Boone family who lived in Boonesborough.

We made another stop at the national park recognizing the Battle of Chickamauga, which was a major battle in the Union efforts to gain control of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The last stop was at the national park in Andersonville where approximately 13,000 Union soldiers died in a Confederate prison camp over a period of 14 months toward the end of the Civil War.

We truly appreciate the training we received from the IA staff as well as the support we had from President Craig and the folks at Family Search.  We returned to Gainesville with increased skills necessary to further the work we're called to do.

Temple Trips - Always a Highlight

Our missionaries look forward to opportunities they have to attend the temple.  It is truly one of their highlights. "Young" missionaries go to the temple twice during their experience in the Florida Jacksonville mission. Senior missionaries provide transportation and thus are given several opportunities.  Last week, we were fortunate enough to make our third trip to the Orlando temple. There is something special about being in a packed endowment room where everyone is a full-time missionary. Several of these missionaries will be going home in the next few weeks.

We were fed spiritually by completing an endowment session followed by instruction from a member of the temple presidency, our mission president and his wife.  After being fed spiritually, it was time to take care of our physical needs!  Close to the temple is an area where several eating establishments are located.  This group opted for Mexican food.

A Few Highlights

Mission life provides a great deal of variety.  We spend approximately thirty hours a week "scribing" (taking pictures of ) books that Family Search has determined to be of significant genealogical value.  We accomplish this as part of a partnership between Family Search, Internet Archive, and the University of Florida.  We hope that the combined efforts will provide an opportunity for people to make connections with their ancestors.

We participate in activities with other missionaries. Those activities have included training sessions and zone conferences.  Recently, we were in a zone conference with senior missionaries.  The spirit was strong as they shared special missionary experiences while serving the Lord. We visit several missionaries periodically to make sure their apartments are safe and being well maintained. We've had the opportunity to go to the Orlando Temple with missionaries on two occasions thus far.  What a special treat to be in a temple session where everyone is serving a full-time mission.

The easiest way to be spiritually uplifted and excited about the future is to spend time with our young missionaries!

We're also members of an LDS ward and attend our regular weekly meetings, as well as special activities.  In our previous ward, we worked closely with the missionaries who were assigned to our area.  In our current ward, we've been visiting families with members of the ward's Elders Quorum each week.  We will also be joining the sister missionaries another night during the week.  They have even asked if we're willing to go tracking with them!  Elder Wolff spoke in sacrament last Sunday and Sister Wolff was part of a panel discussion.  There seems to be regular opportunities to serve our fellow brothers and sisters.

As senior missionaries, we've learned that it isn't all work.  We enjoy the time we have together and the opportunity to explore areas within our mission.  Here are a few of the things that we've enjoyed doing during our first four months in the mission field.

We have visited the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville.  We liked it so much that we purchased a year's membership.

We've visited the University's Art and Natural History Museums.  The Natural History Museum also houses a butterfly rain forest.

If you wear bright colored clothes, there is a chance  that butterflies will land on you.  Elder Wolff's orange shirt did the trick.  Sister Wolff had a butterfly land on her hair.

What is a natural history museum without a T-Rex!

Speaking of the University of Florida, at dusk you can watch thousands of bats fly from the famous "bat houses" near the campus.

Florida isn't Florida without a periodic trip the the beach!  We love walking along the beach enjoying each other's company as well as the people we encounter.

To our many friends that may be considering the possibility of going on a mission - YOU CAN DO THIS!

Life is better at the Retreat!

Last month, we were given an opportunity to move into an apartment of our choice.  We love our new home and would like to take this opportunity to share it with you.

We really enjoy our porch.  This is a view from the road leading into the complex.

This is as close to a garden as we'll have during the next two summers. Ron spends as much time as possible on the porch.

From the porch, we have a great view of the natural surroundings in our neighborhood. A deer came out of the trees last week and the birds are always singing.

Our living room is comfortable.  Notice, no big screen television for missionaries!

Our apartment is a model of the "open concept" in housing.  The kitchen and dining room are simply an extension of the living room.

The hallway to the exterior door also serves as Ron's work area.

One of the reasons for switching apartments was to move into a unit with two bedrooms and two baths.  This is the second bedroom and Sue's work area.

This is the master bedroom.  It is even bigger than our bedroom in Morgan!

The second bathroom reserved for Ron and/or our guests.

We love our new apartment and the community in which it is located.  Mission life in Florida is pretty darn good!

Gainesville travel - a challenge

One of the more interesting challenges in Gainesville is trying to make any sense out of the numbering system used for the roads. Here are a few examples from our neighborhood.

This happens to be the same street!

This sign is found at an a "T" intersection.

If by chance you decide to come visit us, don't put our street address into your GPS.  You will end up in a neighborhood of houses a couple of miles from our apartment!  You must use the name of our apartment complex.

Life Continues

A mission doesn't stop the normal chain of events in our family.  We've experienced both emotional lows and highs during the past several weeks.

On March 26, Ron's father passed away in Ohio.  He was buried on the day that would have marked his 95th birthday.  It was sad to see him go but we rejoice in the knowledge that we will see him again.  Our mission president did give us permission to be with friends and family for the celebration of dad's life.  It was great to be with so many of our children who made the trip to Ohio as well members of our extended family from all parts of the country.  It was especially nice to see old friends that we haven't had contact with for many years.

We postponed our mission in order to meet grandchild #19, Charlotte Bea Wolff born to Jamie and
Allison on December 20, 2014.  We entered the Missionary Training Center soon after visiting them in Virginia. We did miss the birth of grandchild #20.  Finn Jonas Triplett was born on April 16, 2015.  His proud parents are Melissa and Russ.  Finn was born in Denver.

Makai and Claire joined Melissa and Russ welcoming Finn to their family.

Getting to know north central Florida

Our days are busy with our responsibility to preserve records for Family Search. However, we have taken 2 Saturday's to explore and become a little more familiar with our home for the next 17 months.  One Saturday we visited Payne's Prairie Preserve south of  Gainesville. It is a 21,000 acres wildlife preserve/savanna that is home to 270 species of birds, alligators, wild bison, boar (wild pigs), armadillos, Florida Cracker wild horses (1st herded by the Seminole Indians) and countless other wildlife.  While we were visiting we were lucky enough to view a boar, an armadillo, many many exotic birds, and countless very LARGE alligators.  There are no cages, fences to keep people and wildlife separate, or paved trails.  It really was pretty surreal to be so close to those huge alligators, and by that I mean alligators that were 8-10+ feet long and probably 800-900 lbs., - but how does an alligator get weighed?! People tell us stories all the time about how common gators are around this area, and that we should anticipate seeing them-whenever and wherever. For us, this was as close as we ever want to be to an alligator and it was an incredible opportunity to see these fellows in all their glory.

Yesterday, Saturday, March 14th we drove to St. Augustine, the nations oldest city.  The city shows its history and age with the narrow cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages,and coquina bastions of the Spanish fort that guard the bay. St. Augustine was founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers. It is the site of the fabled Fountain of Youth and there are miles of beaches to enjoy along the Atlantic coast. There is more than can be enjoyed in a 1 day visit.  We opted for the fully narrated Old Town Trolley Tour, which highlighted 22 stops in this historic city, and was an on-and-off trolley, which allows you to explore in depth any of the interesting points. Unknown to us, St. Augustine was a hub of activity on this particular day, there was a big Celtic festival, a St. Patrick's Day parade, and a huge motorcycle rally in nearby Daytona, and hundreds of the cyclists had traveled to St. Augustine to enjoy the day. The streets were crowed with the usual share of Florida tourists, as well as all the extra visitors generated by those festivities.  There were many people walking around in their Celtic clothing, kilts and bagpipes galore, hundreds of people wearing green clothing to acknowledge the St. Patrick celebration and hundreds of mostly Harley-Davidson motorcycles-of all colors, shapes and sizes.  It was a city in full celebration mode!  

We enjoyed our visit and will return soon to explore even more of this historic and fascinating city.