OUR SCALLOP HARVEST

    On Saturday, June 7, several Senior Missionary couples headed for Homosassa, Florida to do some Scallop hunting.  It was a two hour drive for us across the state of Florida.  After arriving to our destination, we donned our swimming suits and sun screen, grabbed our gear and climbed into our boats.  With 6 couples, we needed two boats.  Ours was more of a pontoon and the other one was a motor boat.

Then we headed down the Chassahowitzka River for an hour before heading out into the Gulf of Mexico.

 The view as we road down the river was quite spectacular.  

 Vultures drying their wings after a good morning rain.

 After we arrived at our "spot" where we were to dive, we put on our snorkeling gear and jumped in.  

Sister Carbine is all ready...

You don't have to tell Elder Carbine to get in.

 The water was warm and quite clear.  It was anywhere from 5' deep to 7 feet deep.  All of us "old foggies" splashed and dove and swam and harvested all morning long.  Eugene was able to dive down to gather the scallops while some used a net on a pole.

Eugene's first dive only netted him 4 scallops.  
The longer he dove, the better he got.

At lunch time, the Captain's wife, who drove our boat, fixed us lunch... Scallops in a half shell.  BBQ'd with butter, garlic salt, lime juice and shredded cheese.  (And hot dogs for those who didn't care for scallops - like Cheryl, they made her gag!)

  After they are cleaned up and ready for cooking, they look like miniature marshmallows.  

 Sister Colson found a starfish.

There were all kinds of little critters swimming in the water.

 Captain Randy, his wife and grandson.  Owners of BWC Charters out of

Homosassa, Florida.  What a great time we had with them.

The Captains grandson was amazing   He was a real pro at harvesting the scallops - taught everyone how it was done!

Was it fun?  Absolutely!  Would he do it again?  You bet!!!

Elder and Sister Colson, Elder and Sister Carbine and Pres. and Sister Clark.

Not a bad catch at the end of the day for a bunch of beginners!  7 gallon bags full!

INTERESTING THINGS WE SAW...

Yes, we have a knack of running across things that are a bit unusual.  And our trip to Florida was no different. 

 The first thing we saw was on the Eagle River at the historic Eagle, Colorado.  Notice the location of the outhouse on top of the cliff...

The next thing to catch our eye as a little unusual was this pink elephant in Hannibal, Missouri on June 24.  It was next to a fireworks stand - I do believe it caught the attention of every kid in town.  I'm pretty sure they had a lot of sales! 

We stopped for lunch at a park in Vienna, Illinois.  After we ate, we walked around the park a little and discovered the creek that ran along side it.  The color was almost the color of tomato juice.

 Then, as we were leaving the area, we saw a horse and carriage coming down the street. We saw them stop across the street from a store so we cut across the parking lot and saw that they had hitched the horse up next to a NO PARKING sign.  Apparently horses don't count.

 Many of the trees in the more southern states are covered with flowers.  All colors, all sizes.  And beautiful.  Not sure why they have stakes supporting these trees??

 And lots, and lots, and lots of palm trees...  EVERYWHERE!  These were the first ones we came across on our L--O--N--G drive across the country.

In the Book of Mormon, quite often we read about the people going into the wilderness.  I never knew what a wilderness looked like.  Now, I do.  In my mind, this is what I picture.  And this is the terrain all the way from Missouri to Florida.  All along the side of the road it looks like this.  With the exception of where there are fields planted. There can be homes or even towns back behind the trees but you would never see them from the freeway or road.  

THE TRIP

We left Uintah on June 20, 2018 and headed for The Florida Orlando Mission where we will serve for 18 months working in the Employment / Self Reliance Dept.

As we traveled, we were very aware of the scenery and the beauty of this country.  From bold mountains to the artistic rolling hills and expansive plains.  Here are just a few pictures of what we saw as we traveled through Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and then into Florida.

We spent a little while at Adam-ondi-Ahman

Prior to the second coming of Christ, Adam will gather his posterity here and the prophets of each dispensation will report to Adam and Adam will report to Christ.

   

Read D&C 116

 

For quite a ways, there was either Rock walls or thick forest.

The rest of our trip pretty much looked like this.  It reminds me of the wilderness that was talked about in the Book of Mormon.

THE TRAINING...

And they're off!

On June 11, 2018, we left Uintah for the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, Ut.  A little nervous but excited. 

When we arrived, we were greeted warmly and shown where we would be staying for the next 5 days.


After unpacking, we headed for our first orientation.  The training was explained to us, we all introduced ourselves and then we were divided up into groups called Districts.  Eugene was made the District Leader of our group of four couples.


 
The other couples in our group were:
Elder & Sister Marquardt from Davis County, Utah  They were called to serve in Calif, Sacramento.
Elder & Sister Gurr from Salt Lake City, Utah.  They were called to serve in Utah SLC.
Elder & Sister Taylor from Chantilly,Virginia.  They were called to serve in DC South.

To our surprise, one of the trainers, Sister Yazzi, was Eugene's cousin Ellen Carbine Simper's granddaughter!  Small world.

Another surprise...  Elder Taylor sang with Eugene's brother Art Carbine in the Washington DC Mormon Choir when he lived in Sterling, Virginia. (Standing next to Eugene in the picture.)

We had wonderful trainers - all young return missionaries.  They were great.  Brother Colby and Sister Christensen were the two we had the most.  (Standing in the center, back row)  It was so easy to love them.

 Each couple worked and trained with another couple
 from a different district.  Our "other" couple was Elder
 and Sister Fallon from Roy, Utah.  Super couple.

Everything is so peaceful.

Our room was quite cozy...and the campus was an enjoyable place to stroll around.

Eugene by a Reflecting Pond

The tall buildings in the back are where the young missionaries have all of their training classes. 

  

                                                    Cheryl by the Called to Serve statue.

And of course, the food was wonderful.  I'm sure I gained
10 pounds in those 5 days!



After a spiritual feast, we headed back to our home to enjoy the weekend with our children and spend Father's Day with most of them.  Then we headed into Salt Lake City to be trained in the Self Reliance Program at the Church Office Building.

 He is the new Self Reliance co-coordinator in the Florida-Orlando Area.
Part of our Self Reliance group.  Including Brother Nash (front Right)