Tom Petty Got It Right When He Sang, "The Waiting is the Hardest Part"

Sam has been in the mission field since Tuesday. He borrowed a senior missionary's phone to call and let us know he had missed his flight from Salt Lake to Atlanta but had caught another one and had made it to Georgia. After that brief call, it has been "radio silence".

Of course, that is the way it usually is. Back in the day, it was a week or so before parents got word that their missionary had made it to whatever city they'd been assigned. I'm pretty sure I didn't get a letter off to my parents until I was at least a few days in. Airmail from France took at least a week to arrive.

airmail envelope by christmasstockimages.com

Now we are used to instant messaging. We text and expect an instant response. Sam will get to call home each week, but man that doesn't seem to be coming up fast enough. We're not even sure what day of the week that will be.

The good news is that we did get an email from his mission president and companion with a photo of him smiling and seemingly happy to be there. That was fun to see.

Sam with President and Sister Need

We did a little sleuthing and discovered that Sam was likely assigned to Douglasville, Georgia. Sam confirmed it with a simple Facebook update that indicated he had moved to Douglasville. So we know the city where he is serving, but we don't know his companion or what they are allowed to do under Covid restrictions.

Douglas County Courthouse - Wikipedia

Douglasville is 22 miles West of Atlanta

To fill the void, we've been Googling Douglasville to check out the demographics and find any interesting videos on YouTube.

YouTube Vids about Douglasville, Georgia

We've also started following a handful of Facebook pages hosted by some of the stakes and wards in the area. We've discovered the missionaries go live on Facebook on a regular basis. How things have changed.

Missionaries Live on Facebook

Sister Missionaries Live on Facebook

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Stranger Things on P-day in Lithia, Georgia

Monday is P-day in the Georgia Atlanta Mission. On Monday, December 21st, it was t-shirt weather and a day to do a little adventuring around Douglasville. Sam, his companion Elder Pike, and the other set of missionaries in the apartment, Elder Hinck and Elder Searle, took in two popular tourist sites close by in Lithia, Georgia. Tiffany's Kitchen in Lithia, Georgia is used in episodes of Stranger Things Tiffany's turns into Benny's Burgers for the Netflix show Stranger Things Inside Tiffany's Kitchen/Benny's Burgers The menu at Tiffany's Kitchen is apparently not fantastic. The restaurant is better as a set for Stranger Things than it is for good food. P-day adventure at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia, Georgia. Apparently, this is a rock. Sweetwater Creek State Park is known for its popular hiking trails. Sam takes a selfie at Sweetwater Creek. For more info about Sweetwater Creek State Park CLICK HERE The remnants of The New Manchester Manufacturing Co...

Sunday Night Before Christmas, And All Through the House . . .

It's December 20th, a mere five days before Christmas. What do you do on Sunday before Christmas? While Kami and I settled in for an unintended nap, Ashlynn, Max, and Emma delivered our neighbor gifts. This year Kami created a cute nativity in a frame to share with our neighbors. Emma is always the best at helping deliver the gifts. This year Ashlynn and Max jumped in to help. Thank goodness, because Kami and I intended to help, but we sat down and closed our eyes . . . and fell asleep. 2020 Neighbor Gift The nap didn't last too long. We tried out the Elf board game we got for Christmas last year while snacking on some neighbor gifts (from this year)! Kami promised to show Ashlynn and Emma how to make caramels. Ashlynn helped out this time and clearly, they had a lot of fun. Stirring the Caramel Pot! While Emma and Max took advantage of the wet show. They shoveled off the back patio and built a snowman complete with his Covid mask and toupee. Emma and Max Building the ...

The Phone Rang at 6:30 a.m. . . And We Were More Than Okay With That!

The alarm was set to go off at 7 a.m., but it never got the chance. A Facebook call woke us out of a sound sleep at about 6:30. Sam was on the other end. It was 8:30 in Georgia and Sam was up and dressed in his white shirt, tie, and name tag. It was Sam's first call home after leaving for Georgia a week earlier. We'd been anxiously waiting for him to call on his preparation day, but we weren't sure what day that was. We found out! Max and Emma are usually deep-sleepers and getting them up is a challenge. Not on this Monday. As soon as they heard Sam's voice they were in our room ready to chat. It was great to see Sam. He had lots of stories to tell about his first week in the field. Everything from mounds of meat for dinner at a member's house to knocking on a door of what turned out to be some sort of drug house. Georgia is like most of the country. Winter has brought more restrictions because of the uptick in Covid outbreaks. Sam's first Sunday was the fi...

Sam's Mission Memoirs

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