George arrived home at 1:15 pm on Friday August 29^th. A series of events orchestrated by the Lord got him here much earlier in the day than his original schedule or he would not have been home until after dinner time. His trip from the base to Atlanta enables him to make an earlier plane and his bags were transferred to that flight too so they would arrive when he did. In Houston he got right over to the College Station shuttle and C and BA picked him up at Sam’s Club and he was home with plenty of time in the afternoon for a nice visit and then dinner with the family. We do thank our Father for making these extra hours possible!

    George has been assigned to the 160^th Airborne Special Ops part of the 101^st Airborne Division. He was asked some time ago if he would like to be recommended for the 160^th Special Ops which is considered an elite element of the 101st and has very high standards of performance and character. Over a period of time he had several interviews and was accepted. His orders came through for Fort Campbell in Kentucky for 5 weeks of training and then on to his assigned 160^th unit stationed at Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah, Ga. The Airfield is a part of Savannah’s Fort Stewart Garrison. He retains the same MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) in the maintenance and repair of helicopter pneudralic systems but will also have very fine opportunities to study, expand and advance in his Army Aviation assignments. We are very thankful that the Lord has opened this opportunity to George and that the Lord’s qualities in him are seen and acknowledged in this way. Meanwhile, we are very glad for his time here!

C and George loading up the luggage at Sam’s Club

Mother gets a hello hug, or is it the other way around?!

A very happy sister greets George at Sam’s Club

Joanna is a very happy grandmother!

And Hikari is happy too!

Another Troop Heard From

    Fred had 24 hour Staff Duty on Wednesday, 8-27, giving him time to write an email with some very pertinent observations:

    “There is a sergeant here who asked how old I was. I told him 32 and he couldn’t believe it. He mentioned several times that that is old. He said, “I’m 27 and my back hurts. I tell myself every day that I’m old.” (That could be why he is, but I didn’t say that.) But I did tell him that I am not old. He says I am but I shook my head. Whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall NEVER die. I LIVE that. I see more and more that that is a reality. People much younger than I are having painful troubles whereas I have none and more energy and endurance than a lot of people and always enough to do the job, whatever it may be. Several people have said in amazement that it’s like I have an inexhaustible supply. Indeed I do. The Lord never runs out of energy. True I get tired, but upon resting I am ready to go again. People want like 9-10 hours of sleep and rarely get it so are sluggish, particularly towards Friday. I wouldn’t know what to do with ten hours of sleep. I just can’t sleep that long. Am I speaking of myself? No, I glorify God who made this body and the Lord who dwells within this vessel and has made and makes this vessel what it is. No one has the endurance, the mental strength to keep on going no matter what, that this vessel has in the Lord.”

    We do praise and thank our Father for this manifestation of His strength and power in each one of you.

Fred went on to say:

    ”I am also seeing what the sergeants do and how they really are the backbone of the Army. The men under a sergeant will be the product of that sergeant. If he’s lazy, if he doesn’t push them to excel, they won’t. Every new person needs some direction even if they are motivated. They still don’t have experience. I get my training from the Lord both with and aside from the sergeants, so I never lack for appropriate direction. But I am saying I see how sergeants really are the backbone. Officers are administrative; they do the planning and paperwork. They issue orders but rely totally on the sergeants to make it happen. Sergeants, the good ones will become involved in the soldiers’ personal lives, because these things affect how they perform their job. I have heard of times where a sergeant made a private take a car back that he had just purchased, because he had been swindled into paying a ridiculous interest amount. Some people are just too young to know how to spend money wisely. In other things, sergeants become like surrogate big brothers or dads to some of these really young privates. Their involvement is that great.”

    Fred’s unit’s training for deployment hasn’t really started yet but it soon will. He says:

    ”Right now there are things to do, details and such, mowing grass etc. but things will really start going somewhere as in infantry direction when everyone gets back from their up to two week leave That begins pretty much around now. There will be PT every day so that is good. They do some in the morning and more at 1500 (3 pm) to get people acclimatized to the heat.”

    Joshu has been on his pre-graduation FTX week this past week, but had time to write a long letter before he went so we have lots of encouraging news from him too. But before we report on that, we are sure you would all be so happy to know, even during this busy time for Joshu, when BA and C took their evening walk out to the mailbox last Monday, there was an envelope from him waiting there to complete the wonderful celebration we had. The Lord’s perfect timing!

    In his letter this week he described an important lesson learned from the Lord during their days of “House Clearing” training. Similar training we imagine to that of which Andrew took all the pictures at his base for the “clearing” training there. Joshu described it in such detail that we could just picture how they do it, and remember all those movies where they kick a door in and then enter, backs to the wall, moving their heads and guns first one way and then another. (Have we seen too many movies? It might not be like that at all!) Joshu describes it this way:

    ”They clear a room in teams of 4 and each person has what they call a “section of fire” that overlaps with the next person in the room so that all areas are covered. The first man in goes one direction, the second one goes the opposite side of the door, etc. There is a certain way to walk and fire at the enemy and a procedure to “clearing” a room. Everyone was told to start off moving through the procedure slowly at first to make all the movement automatic.”

    Joshu said he did not do well at this on the first day, nor on second or third tries, to the point where the DS told him to “get his head where it belongs” or less polite words to that effect. Perplexed at his performance, Joshu took this to the Lord:

    ”I asked the Lord about it, what was going on? When I was on the bus home the Lord showed what I was doing wrong and what needed to be corrected. In basic words I was trying to think about too many things at once – trying to run before I walked. More and more I am reminded that this is BASIC training. They cover the basics and expect you to get the rest from your duty station or next school. Once I simplified things I had no problem the next day. To confirm what the Lord showed me, one “Specialist” who is “re classing” and just coming into the platoon, went over the details with me. He asked me what part I was having most difficulty with and I told him what the Lord showed me was the problem – and how to fix it. He had some confirming advice and told me of the things that helped him, which I thanked the Lord for. He also said (advised) that I not let the criticism that can be cruel at times bother me. “Just take the core point of what they are saying and forget the rest.” Again, this was a confirmation of what the Lord was telling me. So I was shown by the Lord to stop taking this whole thing so seriously. Just have “fun” with it and move on. Usually I am so concerned about doing the best possible job but the Lord says to cast your cares upon the Him and He will be your salvation. My whole performance improved drastically the next day. Imagine that!”

    In another part of his letter as his basic and AIT training come to a close, Joshu told us of the amazing change and turn around he has seen in so many other situations that were a problem to him.

“There have been some stormy times, particularly at the beginning, but in every situation the Lord was and is glorified. So many, many times man has come up against the Son in this vessel in one way or another but in every situation the Lord has been vindicated. So many times the attitudes have been turned around so completely and totally that it is a night and day difference.

     “As this phase of training comes to a close and the days race by I am seeing a remarkable change. I easily remember my last letter and bringing to the Lord the attitudes here that I am surrounded by and how to respond to the numerous questions — attacks — that I experience daily. Again, as soon as I put the request down on paper and send it to the COT the answers begin to come. This week I saw ways the Lord turned things around. They say that water drops on rock erode it away eventually. This is what I see here – the water drops of the Lord eroding away centuries of religious garbage. It is subtle and really happens without them realizing it. One thing that is for certain, no matter what is said, the Lord’s presence brings a conviction.

    ”There was one who had a habit of really snapping at me over the smallest things that I should or shouldn’t be doing. I appreciated the reminders but the sharp edge to the tone was bothersome after a bit and I committed it to the Lord. There came a point where he told me that he thought it was a mistake that I was raised in a sheltered environment (which comes right up against the Lord and he knew it). He also said that he thought it would be better if I had stayed doing whatever I was doing before because being in the Army was just going to be really difficult for me. … He flat out told me that when I get to my unit I would be treated as an outcast. (He asserted that I didn’t have the ESSENTIAL social skills that build camaraderie which is essential in battle because everyone will work together better.)

    ”As I reported earlier though, it is obvious that the Lord brings this kind of attitude down every time.

“Later, this same person I was talking to was caused to apologize and admit that he respected the fact that this vessel held a line and would not yield to what everyone else was pushing for. I started out by stating matter of factly that there is nothing that transpired in my childhood that I am ashamed of or regret. In fact, I am very grateful for my upbringing and would not trade it for anything in the world. I went on to reiterate that I did not join the Army to be a liability, (He jumped right in to say that I wasn’t a liability) but to put to use those things that I have learned from the Lord in that upbringing. I elaborated a bit more and this is where he apologized. His excuse is that he gets annoyed about things; the day is hotter than hell, his hip is hurting, something someone else does bothers him, he is tired, etc. so he snaps at people. It broke up his marriage and that brought him down a few notches so that he tries to control himself. Also, in the conversation he said to “Just keep doing what you are doing, the Army will have to change, they have before.” He asked if he should snap at me again please don’t take it personally.”

    We thanked our Father very much for this report of His power to change attitudes, and cause the real reason for them, the anger, to be brought out into the Light, in the presence of His Son in His vessels. It was right for that soldier to bring out what caused him to say the things he did, and say he was sorry in the Presence of a Holy God. It always does good.

    In another instance, it became very clear that Joshu is seen as the very willing, helpful, highly competent and diligent asset to the Army that he truly is.

    “Right off the bat this week DS Westover said that I was NOT to volunteer for details anymore because he was annoyed that so many others didn’t and I was the only one who consistently did. To be totally honest, I didn’t jump to volunteer for every detail and I let the others either volunteer or be assigned the job. Additionally, I usually volunteered when the DS’s weren’t around so I didn’t think it was noticed. There are others who regularly do what needs doing so again, I didn’t think I was doing anything all that extraordinary. It was kind of the first positive acknowledgement that there was a benefit that the Lord represented here that I had not gotten since (my weeks at Reception).”

    Joshu surprised us by telling us that the last three of these newsletters have been read by most of the platoon, as one asked if he could read them and it went from there.

    ”Again, this continued to help turn around attitudes. One night I went down to do the laundry and when I returned I was really very surprised to find that my bunk mate had made my bed. That had to be the Lord because that is the most unselfish thing I have ever seen in the nearly 6 months I have been here. Things ARE turning around!”

    We praise and thank You, Father, for these reports of the power of Your Son’s Life lived before men in Your vessels.

    Last week we promised a few more of the pictures that Andrew took on his hike in Mt. Rainier National Park. Washington State is called the “Evergreen State” because of the density of conifer forests there, particularly on the Western side of the Cascade Mountains that run from north to south and divide the state in half. Mt. Rainier is in the Cascades, the tallest peak, and not far from Fort Lewis. Part of Andrew’s trekking was through these forested areas.

Andrew next to a very large moss covered trunk

Where the forest opens up are meadows thick with wildflowers including lupines (only they are called bluebonnets in Texas!)

Fred sent another email with a note about being bored. In the Lord there is no boredom.

    ”I thank You Father that unlike many others I see around here, I never come to a point where I am bored, I very much enjoy what I do because I am always moving forward and when the direction is lacking from the higher ups, You show how to take initiative and move forward, to accomplish something instead of sitting on my backside.”

And Fred had a few words about the best solution for missed meals at the Defacs (dining facilities) where the meals can be quite good, though nothing is like the wonderfully prepared meals at home.

“I thank you also for the solution you showed, that is quite simple, to the occasional time I miss a meal at the Defac. Your solution tastes much better than the Subways, Burger King, MacDonald’s, Manchu Wok or any other fast food places I have eaten at. People asked me incredulously why I never ate at these places. I told them it was because I had better food. Why would I? They said, how do you know, you’ve never tried it? Well, now I have. I didn’t care for any of them. I didn’t really need to try them to know this. I already knew how they would taste from the unpleasant smell. They sufficed for that one meal but I wanted something that you could actually say tasted good. The Lord’s solution? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! They are made from ingredients that combined could make several meals but cost LESS than even ONE from these fast food places. The Commissary here is huge and things seem very reasonably priced.”

Thank You, Father, that you do have the right solution for everything! Praise and thank You for the great changes You have wrought since our troops entered the Army, in them, and in all that surround them. These newsletters have been a chronicle of Your power over tremendous odds and obstacles from the outset and that power at work through Your Son in these vessels has brought peace and happiness and thankfulness and confidence in every situation.

Thank You,
Father. Amen

August 25, 2008 Volume 1 Issue 22

Goodbye Alabama! Hello Home!

    By the time some of you read this newsletter George will be home on leave at last! He graduated from AIT on Friday, August 22^nd and is having some dental consultation and possible work done in the coming week and then his leave begins on Friday, August 29^th.

    He had a very nice experience at graduation. He bought a disposable camera so he could take pictures of it and hopefully have someone take his in his Class A (uniform) which we have not yet seen.

    When he approached a couple there for their son’s graduation and asked the husband if he would mind taking a picture of him with his disposable camera, the man was very happy to oblige. His wife, however, was there with an excellent, professional grade digital camera such as Nikon and other higher end manufacturers make, and she said she would be glad to take more pictures with her camera and when downloaded, email them to him. She took pictures of him graduating and getting his wings and others just as we would love to see and would take if we had been there. We are so very thankful to our Father for bringing this about because you make the people willing.

    When she has downloaded the pictures she will call George and get his email address to send them.

    We are so thankful that every time there has been an occasion where we could not be there with you, our Father has always brought forth someone happy to share their celebration, or give you a ride, or take your picture; Thank You, Father! We know it is a blessing to them too.

    In preparing to leave Fort Rucker, George made it a point to stop by and say good bye to some of the people with whom he made acquaintance in his shopping and business dealings there, and to thank them for their helpfulness. In his own words:

“I showed my appreciation to the Lord for such a nice PX and for the good prices they had, especially with no tax. It has been a very good resource while I was there. I also extended special thanks to those whom I dealt with, a final goodbye to the one I dealt with at Unicel and the lady I dealt with at the eyeglass place. She was definitely used by the Lord and was quite helpful to me and seemed to genuinely appreciate me stopping by. At least once a week I would do so, even though I didn’t get anything. Her husband and she lived in Savannah, Georgia so she was able to tell me a little about the area and how nice it was. From that, and from what others have said about that duty station, I do believe it will be a very enjoyable place.

   ”I also saw the Lord at work in the cab driver, a husky woman who helped me in and out of the SUV with the container and box to the UPS and she was only too happy to do so. This and many other events do show the Lord is right here, continually at work.

     “Another example was Sergeant McClear, a female Sergeant who was the one who saw me and really chewed me out those many months ago for a very non deliberate infraction of the rules. I hadn’t seen her or had much of any contact with her for a long time. However, yesterday I had contact with her for she was very active in handling all our out processing needs. So when I asked about traveling she was a completely different person toward me as opposed to being always abrasive. I think that is just a face to help get things moving on their way. Whatever the reason she was most helpful to me and to others as she tried quite hard to move everyone as quickly as possible through the required out processing so they would depart that Friday.

    ”Also, the lady at Brown Dental was quite helpful and we even spent some time talking about my goals and experiences. As it turns out she has a husband who is a pilot and she even made some calls to see if someone could assist me with the desire to be a pilot. She made it plain to not give up but pursue the goal of a pilot even though there is a lot involved. Also she is part of a “network” and said that once I start to talk to other pilots and Warrant Officers they will “take you under their wing…” They encourage pilots, because there is a demand for them.

    “She gave me her cell phone number. We shall see what the Lord does. I can already see many things He said. Be persistent, do not give up, but pursue though there is much involved. I do agree with what the Lord was saying through Captain Champlain at the FOB, to expect great and mighty things, to not be intimidated by the giants of the land but go in and possess it.”

    We see George doing just that as he related last week during his FTX (Field Training Exercise) before graduation. They were allowed to take their cell phones with them and he called from there on his birthday, Aug. 19^th, to tell us that, after being invited for an informal interview with the officer in charge and telling him about some of his background and upbringing and home schooling, he was chosen to be his unit’s leader for the day. He relates more about what his experience at FTX accomplished for him:

    ”I saw the Lord bring about a change in me during those two days of FTX, (Field Training Exercise), a change that is seen by others as well and though they know not what it is, they react differently toward me, more respectful. That is the Lord. Yes, the Lord has changed my whole approach, my whole thought processes toward taking authority over others.

    ”Yesterday, we were taken to the graduation by a bus and somebody needed to stand out in front to call the people to a formation, so several volunteered me. Before, I would decline and with further persistence I would refuse, then someone else did the job. Not yesterday though, I immediately took that spot, called fall in. My voice still needs to be louder but as many have observed, including me; the more I do it the louder I have become. I then called them to attention and fall out to the bus. Instead of something I dreaded, now I look forward and enjoy such an opportunity.

The route to the FTX grounds through

A forested area in Alabama’s

“wire grass country”.

The FTX area is a “tent camp” similar to what a Forward Operating Base might be wherever the troops are deployed.

    Fred had an interesting story to relate about one of his bike excursions in Hawaii. He and his “bike buddy,” Pridgeon, took a 15 mile ride from base down to Waimea, one of the island’s many beaches, for a different look at the ocean. Yushi described it in his email as a “very beautiful beach.”

    “It is a broad and wide expanse of sand that is ringed by mountains and high rocks. One of the rocks juts into the sea and these rocks are regularly used for jumping into the sea. I did it 3 times to get an idea of what it would be like if I had to jump into water. It seems like 60 feet up it is so high! When you land on your feet it is no problem. I shifted once in falling and landed on my seat. That stung some but I was ok.”

    Fred says the trip to the beach was easy, down hill all the way! Schofield Barracks’ elevation is about 867 feet according to Google Earth, A 15 mile ride back to the barracks, uphill all the way, did not appear to be quite so doable, but since bike riding is a common mode of transportation there, they found there was a bus that would take them back that has a rack for 2 bikes on the front! They waited for one with two empty bike slots and returned to Schofield. They missed evening chow, but Fred says he made up for it at breakfast next morning!

    Some of Fred’s riding requires crossing busy streets and waits to walk the bike safely across can be long. But one day when he was waiting at the side of the road to cross it and the cars kept going by, one car saw him and stopped, holding up all the traffic behind him and waving Fred across a clear street so he could continue on his way. We are always very happy and thankful to hear of the ways the Lord causes each of you to be helped in so many different situations.

Picture of Waikiki Beach with the breakwater swimming area in front of the hotels as Fred described it in last week’s newsletter:

Picture of Waimea Beach with jumping rock in the foreground. It is beautiful. A far lovelier place than the commercialism of Waikiki at Honolulu!

Fred finished In Processing on Friday the 22^nd, and was moved to new quarters. He said the rooms were not so bad, but the bath rooms and showers were such that he hated to bathe there. They were in

Some disrepair as well as being filthy. Fred will be making inquiry into cleaning supplies to address this because it is not right that facilities in the Army be allowed to get into this state. In the Soldier’s Creed they vowed to maintain their arms, their equipment and themselves. It is only right. In the meantime, the Lord had a unique answer. One of Fred’s roommates told him that in that building there were bathrooms and showers that were set aside for the use of the soldiers who live off post but need to shower on base from time to time. Those bathrooms are in much better condition and Fred is able to use them. Even this is only temporary as next week he will be moving to quarters where he will have a single room and share a bath with the single on the other side, similar to Andrew’s set up. That is a whole lot more uplifting to anticipate for him and we thank the Lord for such accommodations.

Andrew’s unit
has
had its first
training exercise since he arrived at Fort Lewis. It was one of those scenarios where some of the soldiers act as local Mid East civilians, some as insurgents and the rest as US troops. In this case, first and second platoons were the US soldiers, and Andrew’s platoon played the civilians and insurgents. When the 1^st Lieutenant asked if someone had a camera and could take pictures of the exercise, Andrew was the only one with a “real” camera as opposed to one on a cell phone, so he became the recorder of the event. He took this very seriously and snapped over 300 pictures, which he put on a CD for them. As he was going from room to room and photographing the action he found that he could hide himself in dark corners and go unnoticed, (not actually a good thing as far as the soldiers were concerned, for if he could do it so could an insurgent, definitely something to be learned.) While he was observing he noticed many things that could have been done better, or would have caused a problem in real life. He said he learned more by observing and taking pictures than he would have if he had been directly involved in the action. When he gave the CD to the First Lieutenant, she was delighted as she looked at the photos, exclaiming over how good they were. When he pointed out the things that needed improving as she was going through them, she was even more pleased and very impressed with his observations.

    In a slightly different scenario, all the soldiers in Andrew’s unit had a “mandatory fun day” after a day of particularly intense lectures on Army matters. Tables for an outdoor meal were set up on the American Lakeside, a large and beautiful lake which much of Fort Lewis surrounds. There were to be games and sports events, an opportunity to just have fun. Well, actually they were “ordered” to have fun! When all went to formation before this event they were dressed in their ACUs and Sgt. Ho Chee asked them why they were in those uniforms. They told him they were instructed to wear them. Oh no, nothing doing. Sgt. Ho Chee humorously informed them that, “There is life beyond the ‘Pickle Suit’!” and ordered them all back to change into civvies for the day!

    Last weekend, (Aug. 16-17), Andrew did purchase a bike for getting around. He had walked from the North Fort where his barracks are, down to the PX on the Main Fort, almost a 4 mile walk, but without a ruck sack! He walked more than 4 miles though because he detoured around the residential area of American Lake and took pictures of the lake with his camera phone. When he got to the PX he found a nice bike and rode home and has been using it ever since.

     On Saturday, August 23rd, Andrew rented a car and drove to Mt. Rainier National Park. It is a beautiful place for those of you who would like to look it up on the internet. Andrew parked the car and did 11 miles of hiking the trails and taking pictures of the spectacular views. We are so thankful that the Lord provided this opportunity for Andrew to see first hand this part of His magnificent creation and to be able to share it with us via camera. Of course there are many, many post cards, pictures and books of the area but it is especially meaningful to “visit” the park with Andrew and see it through the eyes of the Lord in one of His vessels! TYF! He sent a series of photos of the varied and breathtaking views, and he even had snow at his feet when it was 70 degrees and sunny. We are including a few pictures here and may add a few more next week as it is very hard to choose from so many interesting ones.

There are many spectacular views of the mountain but we liked to start with this one since it includes our camera man!

A park resident enjoying the view too!

Snow country in August!

Alder Dam. One of 2 Dams on the Nisqually River near Mt Rainier

“Tacoma Power began generating electricity on the Nisqually River over 90 years ago. The original La Grande Dam, completed in 1912, was replaced in 1945 with Alder Dam and the new La Grande Dam. The Nisqually River Project is now Tacoma Power’s second-largest hydroelectric resource, generating nearly 600 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, enough to serve nearly 43,000 Northwest homes. Alder Dam forms the 3,000-acre Alder Lake. The beautiful lake has striking views of Mt.
Rainier”
Excerpt from Tacoma Power Website

    Adeline had a nice experience at the Ft. Leonard Wood base library when they were giving used books away free. She found three she was sure would be appreciated here at home, but there was a limit of two per soldier. When her battle buddy only found one book she wanted to have she gladly made her second one Adeline’s 3^rd choice and gave it to her to send with the other two. We are very thankful because the books are being enjoyed!

Joshu had a funny story to relate regarding his Family Day weekend. On that Sunday he and the battle buddy he went into Columbus with met another battle buddy who was with his parents. Joshu and BB were invited to have a meal with them. When it was time for them all to return to base, the parents thoughtfully offered to take Joshu and his buddy back with them. However, none of them were familiar with the area, and the parents had been given misdirection on the return route. A wrong turn was taken and they all arrived at base about 15 minutes late. The father, who had been in the Army himself, knew just what to do. He immediately apologized to the Drill Sergeant in charge and said for him to please not blame the soldiers and, to everyone’s surprise, he got down in push up position and said he would be glad to do the push ups for all of them! Just give the number and he would do them. The DS was a bit taken back by that display of “penance” and possibly amused as well and quickly told the father to please get up, no push ups were required of anyone!

Here at Home some “spring cleaning” has been undertaken, never mind that it isn’t spring! Barbara Alice first tackled the paint room in Atarashii’s Garage, going through and clearing out all old, no longer needed and unusable automotive paint supplies and bringing much back to the Sturdy Shop. She will be ready for the next automotive paint assignment on Li’l Twuk, which isn’t all that far in the future anymore!

On Sunday, August 24^th, Mother did a major clearing and cleaning in the new laundry room area of the Jasmine garage, currently under construction, making it ready for the shower to first be put in place. Then the framework and door to the room could be installed a few days later. The wiring of the outlets and switches has been started. It is a work in progress.

Jasmine Garage with laundry room door installed

We did get another 1.8 inches of rain last Monday and Tuesday combined, (8/18 and 8/19). By Thursday the crepe myrtles in the orchard were heavier with blooms than we have ever seen them. They scented the air clear across the yard, even over the tractor/mower exhaust! The bushes along the fence on the garden side of the yard were a little slower to fill out but by Friday they too were thick with blooms so that their lovely scent fills the yard there too.

Li’l Twuk’s Corner: A custom fabricated

aluminum dash being formed and fitted.

The 2 pieces (above) are fitted into place (below).

Good bye for now, everyone. We are thanking our Father for a wonderful celebration this week and for all the very thoughtful ways every one of you took part. Your presence and love were greatly felt by all and it really was as though you were right here with us, because in the Lord and the POTBOTL we know you are!

Thank You, Father. Amen

August 18, 2008 Volume 1 Issue 21

Beach near Schofield Barracks HI

Monday Morning, 3 am:

    Fred left for the airport and Hawaii as C and BA took him to Houston. This is becoming a regular occurrence here! But he didn’t get away without the following photos being taken for all of us to keep, and note the Hawaiian shirt on Joanna!

Mother and Joanna get an “Aloha”

good-bye from Fred!

At Houston International Airport

During his leave, with all the other things he did, there was still time to play the clarinet:

It was very nice to hear that lovely music and we are very thankful that Fred is able to have the clarinet with him now. He is having it shipped in its tube along with other boxes he is sending.

Fred had a good trip from here to Hawaii. He had to change planes in Phoenix, Arizona and had been assigned a window seat in the 8^th row back. When he boarded the plane a passenger, already sitting in a window seat in the 2^nd row closer to the front and considered a better location, asked him what his seat assignment was. Fred told him and the man got up and said, “Not any more, take this seat, and thank you for serving!” Fred took the seat and thanked the Lord. We do thank the Lord for this unsolicited deference shown to His Son’s vessel.

    When he arrived at In Processing which begins on Mondays, he found he was too late to start that week so would be at In Processing for 2 weeks. The first quarters that he was assigned did not have locks for the lockers so he had to leave his laptop locked up at the office there and it looked like he might not be able to email for the next 2 weeks. But the Lord had another plan! To our very thankful surprise we received his first email next day saying that he had been given choice of a different room and he got one with a locking locker!

    His email was forwarded on to George and Andrew because they are both able to receive them. Adeline’s air card was mailed to her and she will be on line soon too. But for those who haven’t heard, once he was settled in his quarters, Fred purchased a good 18 speed bike at the PX for a very reasonable price and began his scouting about immediately. There in Hawaii less than a week, he has already had an adventure or two, in his own words:

“Hello,” or as they say here, “Aloha.” Friday, August 15

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty eventful. On Wednesday I did a lot of bike riding around the barracks, getting a definitive idea of what everything looks like compared to the map. You can look at a map and say this looks like the way to go but when you look at the road it’s like, What?! At the finance briefing yesterday they gave us a map of Schofield so I could spend time getting oriented without getting lost. The roads here are not good and the finance guy said the highway system is pretty bad. There are a lot of winding roads, some whose names are absent, others hard to see and I am walking or on a bike. I don’t go as fast as a car. Perhaps it is only lack of experience but I would venture to say the roads are very hodge-podge.

I went along the roads around the PX, the huge Commissary, the bowling alley, and the library. I went to the bowling alley and found the rougher element there and only passed through. The library is not extensive, a lot of used books and many empty spaces. I checked out two and when Sergeant Gillian (the intel person) saw them he said they were good books. They give a good idea of the unconventional tactics used by the Muslim fighters.

On Thursday after formation and a safety briefing from the 1SG we were all released. As I was organizing some stuff Pridgeon came to me and asked if I wanted to go with him and several others to Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. Since it was now or never the Lord said to go. I took my wallet but left all money but $8. That was for the bus fare to and from. The bus will take you all over, but the downside is that in some places, like Schofield, it doesn’t come by very often. Once you take it and get an idea then you know how to do things better but I was with a group that had done no fore planning and I myself was clueless, but the Lord kept me well and pointed things out for future reference. By the time I was finished I could well tell some how to get back to base if they were in Waikiki or several other places. Also they have route maps and times so you don’t have to go to the bus stop an hour early.

As to my experiences at the beach, we all stopped near a massive Marriott and right in front was the beach. It wasn’t packed though there were many people. In front of the hotel there was a breakwater (an offshore barrier that protects a harbor or other coastal area from the full force of the sea) about 100 yds out. You could walk out to within 50 feet but after that you were treading water. I did ok at that but the waves kept sloshing me around, even shooting water up my nose. I was surprised not to smell the salt air so to speak and thought I would at the beach. Nope. The water tasted very salty though. I worked quite a bit behind the break wall and then finally got up on it. I wanted to see what the ocean was really like. Some waves were mild and barely sloshed over the wall, easy to stay on with those. Some further down came wham over the wall. The first hit and shot straight up taking my glasses right off my head. For a moment I was horrified, but saw them floating because of the glasses strap. Also it is easier to float in saltwater. I almost don’t have to tread water much.

I will send this off because I must go now. I will send phone pictures, the story of getting back to base with Pridgeon and other escapades in the next email(s). ” PV2 Fred Prince

So, we stayed tuned for the “Further Adventures of Fred”! From his email Saturday, 8-16:

“As I was saying I got up on the wall after a good deal of swimming and tried to see if I could stay on it when the waves came over it. For a while I could, but every now and then a big wave came and it was really difficult to hold on. Finally a wave came that took me clean off and there was nothing I could do about it. After that I did a little swimming and went back to the beach. I looked at how the sand moved and drained as the water came up and down the beach. There was a small stretch without people, which was unmarked as the waves had erased all footprints. I walked along that stretch and looked at the footprints. That story came to mind about the footprints in the sand. I always pictured a beach when I heard it. I looked back and I said, ‘There is only one set of footprints in this sand, and they’re Yours Lord, never mine.’

Further down the beach there was no breakwall so Pridgeon and I went down into the water. After a taste of the ocean, sometimes literally, I wanted to see what it was really like. These were little waves here, something that people who are familiar with the ocean don’t even give a second thought to but they can really move you around and up and down. If you are ever where a wave is going to sweep over you try not to be on the rocks. My feet got several cuts and scrapes from that, which I didn’t realize until later. You hardly feel it when it happens. I feel them now though. Something to avoid. Speaking of rocks, I picked up several from Waikiki, including some coral. Coral is rocklike.

    After a while of working with the water I saw the sun go low in the horizon out over the sea; a very pretty sunset.

    As it got dark we figured it was time to go back. However we didn’t see any of the five we came with and hadn’t for the last two hours. Pridgeon had put his wallet in one of the guy’s backpacks and had no money or ID card. To make a long wait for the bus ride short I remained calm, calmed him down, told him we’d get back in time, and his dog tags would do fine for ID. As the Lord assured me so it worked out. We even walked through the poorer section of Wahiawa but encountered no trouble. The guard took my testimony because I did have an ID card and his dog tags. All worked out ok and we got back at 11:43.”

We are very thankful for this time that he has to find his way around and to enjoy some of the benefits of being in Hawaii. He does know that he will be going to the Middle East and there may not be any beach for him there.

Meanwhile, back on our side of the Pacific at Fort Lewis, Andrew has been learning his way around too, and experiencing many of the advantages and benefits of being there.

Last week’s newsletter told of his trips to Wal-Mart and now we have a picture of the very nice result of his room decorating:

The room came with Army issue curtains in a large floral pattern quite unsuited to his new spread so he found these to match and added the nice wide navy valance at the top. He removed the Army issue rod which would not work with these as the curtains snapped to it, and used tension rods instead; the best way to go for temporary curtains Andrew had the originals folded and put away in the closet for quick reinstallation when he goes. It is covered by the curtains, but he also purchased a box window fan just like ones we use here.

    He has a very small kitchen, and Joanna and Mother got together a “Kitchen in a Box Kit” of extra pots, pans, utensils and dishes, that we had on hand and are sending them to him. He can be his own “chef” when he wishes!

The Grass is Greener!

Thursday at the COT was mowing day again, and Hikari was so happy that this time there was really something to mow! The rains had filled in bare spots and made what was here thick and green as spring! No more layer of dust all over the tractor and her. The wet grass clung to the underside of the deck requiring the rounded scraper to remove it. The last several mowing days the grass was so dry it didn’t cling to anything! What a wonderful blessing the rain has been and it comes straight down as though poured from a giant watering can! The very next day, Friday, we were blessed again with another inch of rain! The reservoir is filling up and the sound of the fountain is lovely to hear again.

Mother spent Sunday afternoon skimming, not swimming quite yet!

Now We are Two!

Soldier Bear has a battle buddy to join him at chow these days, filling both chairs at the end of the table!

Adeline tells us that she has had further training in driving the Humvees. When they needed 14 trainees to drive the Humvees over to the training area, her platoon was lined up and the DS went down the lines choosing who would drive and Adeline was chosen. It rained on the way back but she said the width of the vehicle makes it very stable and she had no trouble with it at all. She definitely enjoys driving it!

    She also says that they are concentrating right now on learning how to deal with IEDs. The Infantry are the ones most exposed to them, but the next most exposed are the MPs, as it is their responsibility to check out anything or any vehicle that seems suspicious. As we know, it is very serious business and the Drill Sergeants have told them all that it is time to start “soldiering up”! Get with it, be a soldier. Adeline was very glad to hear this admonition from him. As we know, she has been wanting and doing what she could to see everybody in her unit work as a team and act like the soldiers they are being trained to be. Adeline finishes her AIT and graduates on September 18^th.

Joshu called on Saturday, 8-16, and he is, of course, very much thinking about his trip home, being on “short time” with just 3 weeks to go. But as you know, there is lots he will be doing before then! His FTX (Field Training Exercises) week begins on the 25^th of this month and he completes the AIT part of his OSUT on September 12th. Hard to believe September is so close and it looks as though we may well have at least 3 leave takers next month!

    Joshu’s mouth is completely healed with no problems at all. We are very thankful for the Lord’s complete and total healing!

    We were glad to hear that he purchased a disposable camera before Family Day last week and did have his picture taken in uniform there. We have not had a single photo of Joshu since he left! So all are looking forward to seeing photos of him and his surroundings and we know you are too. Even with limited phone calls and no emailing capability, he has been very diligent to keep us posted in his letter writing and that has been a great blessing here and made us able to share his experiences with you. The Lord always makes a way to keep us all connected because it is so very important to each one of us.

George called on Sunday afternoon, 8-17, and says he is doing fine. Still nothing definite on his next assignment but he has plenty to keep him busy and is very much enjoying the freedoms that come with being a Phase 5 Plus.

    When it was determined that it would be good for him to have a Military Star card to use for some of his purchases, BA went online to fill out an application for him, but she heard nothing back for several weeks. So George just went to the PX and signed up for one there and had a line of credit to use right away until he receives the actual card. It appears that this is the most efficient way to get one and we are very thankful it worked out and we could pass the information on to you.

Andrew called too, and told us that
he had a very nice time at a barbeque dinner Sergeant Ho Chee held at his home for the platoon. Sgt Ho Chee’s 3 bedroom house is on base and Andrew reports that, while the rooms are not large, the house is quite nice with many trees in the yard and the area. Barbeque dinner at the Sergeant’s home… this is definitely not boot camp any more! It is a very nice thing for the sergeant and his family to do and we are thankful for Andrew’s experience and a first hand look at what some of the base housing is like.

Now. For Li’l Twuk!

A major accomplishment, the sun roof is in!

On the right shows the Flaming River splined shaft has been turned down by the local machine shop to insert into the Nissan steering box shaft. Note the groove convenient for welding. Temp pin shown has been replaced with a spring pin. It is a very sturdy and professional solution for mating the 3/4″ Flaming River vibration resistor to the 11/16^th or comparable metric measurement of the Nissan shaft.

How blessed is the rain, Lord. Thank You.

Green Acres!

As always, we are very thankful for these Newsletters the Lord brings forth every week. It is a joy for all of us to put them together and we so appreciate all of your input as you describe the new things you are learning every day and the blessings you are experiencing as you follow the paths the Lord has set before you. We look forward to what the coming week will bring! LTLGJBM in the POTBOTL!

Showing approximate location of gauge panel White aluminum piece closing cowl area. Will be sealed

August 11, 2008 Volume 1 Issue 20

Tuesday, August 5^th ~ Just Singing in the Rain!

    And we all were doing just that as the rain continued it’s gentle, steady, soaking flow all day long! After the long, very hot and dry spell we have had we rejoiced openly over this wonderful gift from the Lord that revived the ground and our bodies and spirits, too!

    The rain was part of a tropical storm system that hit the Texas and Louisiana coast on Tuesday morning. There was an earlier one last month where no rain reached us at all, but this was different. While other areas sustained high winds and gusts, we had little of that and only the rain settled over us. And the Lord prepared the ground to receive it with 1/10th of an inch on Sunday, August 3^rd that had not been forecasted at all!

    On Wednesday morning several heavy “sun showers” added another 3/10ths inch bringing the total received to 2.3 inches or slightly more. We do praise and thank You, Father for this abundant

blessing and answered prayer!

Andrew reports that he is settled into his new quarters, and what nice new quarters they are! He has a private room with a good-sized closet so big that even if he put all that he has in it, there would still be lots of space! A definite upgrade from a BCT locker! He shares a bath with the soldier in the room on the other side of it and they also share a little kitchenette area with microwave, refrigerator and sink. He says the building is stone and quite new and the day after they arrived all were told to put their mattresses out in the hall. This seemed odd until he saw a large semi pull up outside and brand new mattresses unloaded from it! And he also said he slept well because there was no noise all around him. We are so thankful for this very helpful new accommodation. My, what an improvement over the barracks of WWII!

    When he needed sheets for his new bed (you get to ‘personally decorate your room,’ no Army sheets provided), he told a sergeant during a unit gathering that he needed to go to Wal-Mart for sheets. The Sgt asked the group if anyone was going to Wal-Mart that day. No one was. Then the sergeant asked if anyone would be willing to go and take Andrew there. A young woman volunteered to take him and they went to the Supercenter in nearby Lakewood which is about 9 miles from the Fort. Andrew says it is a beautiful Wal-Mart, much nicer than any he has seen and laid out quite differently. He was very favorably impressed. The young woman with him was most helpful and able to show him what size sheets he needed, pillow cases, etc. as he would not have been sure. He found some very attractive combinations in sheets and a bedspread in khaki and light blue and he also purchased curtains for his room. He is very happy with the way his bed looks now. (Tip for all you soon to be decorating your new quarters, maybe: Andrew found that one king size pillow fits perfectly across the head of a twin size bed!)

    We are very thankful for the willing help from the Lord. Because they would get back to base too late for chow hall, to show his appreciation, Andrew treated his “shopping buddy” to dinner at a restaurant of her choice on the way home. She has been promoted to “Specialist” and the promotion has been approved for some time but she is waiting for the paperwork to go through before she can actually operate in that capacity. When she told Andrew this, he said, “Well then, it looks like I’ll be an “E-Fuzzy” for a long time”! We pondered what “E-Fuzzy” meant; was it because of the short haircuts? No, Fred and BA say it refers to the fact that the fuzzy Velcro patch on the ACUs doesn’t have any insignia placed on it until you get promoted!

    Later in the week, Andrew was asked by his “quarters mate, a sergeant,” if he needed anything from the PX when the young man was going there. At first Andrew declined but when he was asked again was he sure, he said he really could use a laundry basket and a waste basket. So the fellow purchased these for him and when Andrew went to reimburse him, the Sgt waived it away to Andrew’s great surprise. We are very thankful for this unsolicited and very helpful offer.

    On a more serious note, we see that the “harassment ” to get you all to subscribe to the kinds of talk and things many of the soldiers engage in, doesn’t automatically stop when you progress to what should be a more mature level of service. Andrew has experienced this at Fort Lewis too. However, this has given him the opportunity to speak to his unit regarding his stand. He has told them simply that he very much enjoys having fun and making and hearing jokes when it is appropriate to do so, and when the subject matter is clean, but as a Levite, he will not engage in or talk about or be drawn in to anything that isn’t right. They can do what they will, he won’t preach to them, but just don’t try to persuade or make him part of it.

    When he encountered a situation on the range that might have been a problem he nipped it in the bud. The sergeant, noting this, told him that they had to encourage unity and camaraderie among the troops and hoped there wouldn’t be any dissention among them. Again, Andrew was able to explain his position to the sergeant and said that he wanted to do all he could to be a help to others and to get along well with everyone. He is friendly and outgoing and enjoys working with the others, but there is a place he draws the line, and will not cross over it and asked that they abide by his request.

    The sergeant told him that he would support him in that stand. As a note, what the harassers are doing is not tolerated by the Army or considered acceptable in any way.

    Later, a higher ranking sergeant, who had obviously heard about this exchange, asked Andrew if he was okay. When Andrew realized why he was asking that, he said he was fine. The sergeant then said that he also agreed with Andrew’s stand, but the sergeant wanted him to know that sometimes, when he got frustrated and angry with those under his charge, he did come down hard and use some pretty rough language. He didn’t want Andrew to be offended. Andrew said he would not be and that he knew the sergeant cared for those under his command, and that he wanted to be corrected when he needed it, he wanted to do things right, and he was raised to know that you correct the ones you love and are concerned about. He said the sergeant looked surprised to hear this and Andrew could see that this understanding almost brought tears to his eyes.

    Yes, they are all seeing something so different in you all, and in the way you see things, that is good and totally unique, leaving an impression that will not be forgotten or ignored. It is a Light that is not hidden under a bushel. Thank You, Father!

Another kind of correction:

     We have learned from Adeline that we need to correct an impression given in last week’s issue of the PFH regarding her account of their driving lessons. The course was actually set up very well, and, while there were not just 2 vehicles, there were in fact 10-12 vehicles (2 models, Impala & Strata)) for the training and enough drill sergeants to go around. She said they moved right along and did a good job of getting all 243 students through the course. She did not want to leave you all with a negative view of the situation, when it was quite the opposite. We are sorry, it is true that sometimes the phone connections are fuzzy and we misunderstand what is said. We do want to be as accurate as possible, so will always be glad to print any corrections you have.

Adeline tells us that this past week they have been learning how to apprehend culprits and put them in restraints (hand cuffs and leg shackles), practicing on one another. This course took a surprising turn though when they were presented with a real life apprehension as MPs came and took one member of their company into custody using the methods just described. Once the suspect was removed they were told that he was arrested for the kind of harassment for which the military had gotten a very bad reputation when women entered the regular forces. They were told in no uncertain terms that that kind of harassment is not tolerated in any shape, form or variety and the punishment for it in prison terms are worse than it is even in the civilian world. That is how seriously it is taken by the Army.

Adeline also related two incidents that gave her the opportunity to speak to an acting First Sergeant about her own stand in the Lord.

    She went to the PX with three of the women in her unit, and, when it was time to go, they left without telling her, leaving her with no battle buddy to return with. Knowing that she was not allowed to be alone in this stage of her training, she looked for someone else she could ride with and did find a couple of women from another unit to return to quarters accompany her. She said nothing of the incident to anyone. However, the next day, when everyone in the bay was to go somewhere, and Adeline was just finishing straightening the barracks before they left, she found that all of them had gone on ahead and taken the van or bus without her. As you all know this is absolutely against the rules. NO SOLDIER LEFT BEHIND! But she was, and when a DS came into the bay and found her alone he immediately said she was going to get a counsel statement (write up) for being without a battle buddy. Adeline then asked to speak to the one who was acting as First Sergeant while the First Sgt. was away. When she did, she explained that this had happened to her twice now, and she was going to let the first time go as an isolated incident but she knew she needed to say something now. She told him that she very much respected and tried to keep the rules and regulations and to help others to keep them too. There was no counsel statement given when it was seen that she was not at fault and the situation was turned around for good in telling him of the place and stand she has in the Lord.

George was excited when he called earlier in the week because he had “found” the Aviation Library at Fort Rucker! He just about got “lost” there among all the books and information on this favorite subject and wished he had found it sooner. No doubt it will be seeing more of him now, though! Still no definite orders for after Fort Rucker but, he is in “Phase 5 Plus” which entailed a move and he describes it in his own emailed words!

    “I have successfully moved into my new Phase 5+ quarters, a few walkways from the building I was living in. Since Gentry left those many weeks ago I have thankfully had no roommate, not that he was real bad, it’s just all around best to have one’s room to themselves. Even though new people were coming in to fill rooms, my situation remained.

    I was hoping that this trend would continue in the new room. From all that I was hearing, with so many other people coming over, that wasn’t going to be a possible. It wouldn’t have been, if the Lord hadn’t moved on some person who wanted to move to be roommate with another. We switched keys with the Sergeant’s permission and I moved into his room and found myself alone. After surveying the room I realized what a well worn and filthy room this was. Not to be deterred though, after moving all my belongings over, I cleaned, I vacuumed and I scrubbed and scrubbed all the dirt from the room. Mildew is a problem here as the smell and two pillows in the corner showed. I will spare you the details of the filthy bathroom and floor. With the cleaning supplies I brought over, combined with the cleaning supplies here, I attacked the bathroom and now it looks so much better. Even though I can’t reverse wear it’s a good looking bathroom. I also brought the shower curtain with me and threw out the original, disgusting shower curtain. Yes the toilet the shower and sink and even the walls look so much better, worthy of the Lord’s vessel to stay in. With the Lord working it out, I was able to borrow two different vacuums from the room right across the way. Both are Dirt devil brand. One was a floor vacuum and the other one got in all the corners and crevices. Even though the room is still musty it looks a whole lot better. (I believe the mildew is in the ducting system.) When finished, I put all the class A uniforms in order and the top drawers and closet on display, for inspection. All this took me to twelve noon to complete, and the work put my appetite through the roof. So I got a good drink at the Shoppette.

    I am thankful that I can at last walk without a battle buddy, after duty hours. This has given me a great deal of freedom. For the remainder of my stay, long or short, it certainly is a very workable set up. This morning I went to breakfast alone, passing by the usual formation held in the morning and heading straight for chow. Normally I would have been in that formation. The times I need to do things are always different than others and often it is hard to get a “battle buddy” to accompany me. Last weekend though I traveled mostly by myself, to and from the PX and library, of course I had my back routes. It is so relieving and peaceful to go about one’s own business without that millstone about one’s neck. Even when I do have them I so often walk faster than they do just out of habit, it’s a comfortable pace for me. Slow for me is painful to say the least. Having a point to go also accelerates that natural tendency. Andrew has also mentioned the same thing. This holds true in anything that I do and I do a lot of walking in the company area, to and fro, or to and from the classroom. It’s noticed and so I have been nicknamed “NASCAR”. It’s true I do prefer walking or jogging. Why pay for a taxi when I am perfectly able to use the motivators that I already have.”

    We had very much hoped that he would be able to go to Joshu’s graduation from BCT and spend Family Day and night with him. But it turned out in this case it was so close and yet so far. Greyhound could make the 106 mile trip in 10 hours (it is just 2 by car) but the scheduled times didn’t coincide anyway. A cab was pretty expensive. And, in this case, USO and MWR couldn’t help. We even called the recruiting office in Enterprise, AL, closest to the base, but they had no suggestions. No stone was left unturned, but in the end we learned that George’s off base pass would not have allowed him to go that far anyway. Something we had not known.

Joshu now a BCT Grad!

This segment of the Newsletter is being written on Saturday, August 9th, and Joshu is on the phone for the second time today as we type! He has taken a room at a La Quinta Inn in Columbus, GA with a battle buddy and we will update you later when we know what all he did on this auspicious occasion! We are very thankful for the way the Lord has brought him to this point in his training in a roundabout and very profitable way as he experienced his extended stay at Reception before and after surgery and his time as an orderly learning more about the way things are run than he other wise would.

Andrew had another trip to Wal-Mart today, Saturday, August 9, only this time he got there under his own steam so to speak. He found that the local U-Haul had a brand new white GMC truck to lease by the day for $20, so he rented it for the weekend. It is a very helpful solution when there is a need for transportation and we are thankful for this answer.

It was so nice to hear the clarinet again!

    Here at home, Fred has been as busy as an army of one, only with more sleep and much better meals! This is his last weekend home as he leaves for Hawaii via Houston to LA at 3 am Monday morning. The time has flown by so quickly but much has been accomplished and he has had a chance to get organized for his trip and his new post.

    One of his projects while here was to make a new shelf under the steel framed work table C is using in the barn as he works on Li’l Twuk. As you see in the picture below that is very helpful to have.

    He did spend time in the woods too, gathering kindling and collecting the large branches that have fallen and processing them for fireplace wood or just for burning. He organized the wood and spent garden plants around the fire circle that will be ready to burn when this summer’s burning ban is lifted. He felled some trees that were not doing well, and lined them up neatly there too.

    He also spent much time going through his clothes and sorting and packing, and he stitched a very handy carrier for the notebook and pen he carries with him at all times, when he was unable to find a suitable one at the store.

    He spent an evening giving Anna and Hikari some knife sharpening lessons too so we can keep the kitchen knives sharp as he used to do.

Showing the use of a Japanese wet stone for sharpening.

    AND, he has a new laptop now! This one is a Toshiba, found at Wal-Mart (how many “plugs” has that store gotten in this newsletter?!), for a very reasonable price. It also has a wireless mouse. BA did lots of research and that was definitely the Lord’s answer. She has been helping him program it and put some very nice music files on it for him to enjoy We purchased 3 AT&T USB “air cards” and 2 of them arrived yesterday in time for him take one with him. It has been installed and seems to work perfectly. The second is being sent to Andrew and the 3^rd will go to Adeline when it arrives. When the time comes there will be a 4^th for Joshu and then you will all be connected to the internet and to each other and to us! Thank You, Father! If, or when, you are deployed out of the country the 2 yr contract is suspended and can be resumed at any time and for any length of time and suspended again if necessary all at no additional charge. Another marvelous solution the Lord has provided for this time. You can see the little air card on the counter next to the laptop

Joshu’s “Family Day”!

Joshu was able to call again Saturday night from his hotel room and he and Mother talked at great length. She took the cell phone outside in the breezy coolness of the summer night air. What a wonderful blessing for Joshu to be able to have this long visit home without a line up behind him waiting for the phone! Later, as Hikari was on her way down to the laundry room and bed she saw Mother, Fred and Barbara Alice all sitting at the edge of the reservoir with Joshu on the speaker conversing together as though he was right there with them. It was a very great blessing to see and we do praise and thank You, Father, for this way You made “Family Day” a reality!

A New Face at “Chow”!

    Soldier Bear was assigned to the COT from Fort Leonard Wood, accompanying his “battle buddy,” Andrew, home on leave. His present assignment is to be a stand-in or, rather, sit-in, at the table for those of you who are not here. This he does quite well, though, truly, it isn’t quite the same. One thing C noted was that he didn’t eat very much, and Mother assured everyone that was because he was already “stuffed”!

    His other assignment is to make us all smile and he definitely qualifies in that department! See, when you look at his picture you are smiling, aren’t you!

Already stuffed bears don’t eat watermelon, but we do and we have been enjoying it daily now. It is even noticeably sweeter after the rain!

Ever wonder what goes on under a row cover? Joanna got this worm’s eye view of a tiny seedling emerging. The cover probably looks like an airplane hanger to a worm!

Joanna used a post hole digger to make holes for these two posts that Yushi helped her carry up to the garden. They were installed for the raspberry vines that have grown so well. Wire will be strung from post to post to train the vines on as they continue their growth.

The rain brought new life to the crepe myrtles too as they began to blossom forth in bright color again.

We are so thankful for the rain, and for all the blessings you have reported this week: Joshu’s graduation and “Family Time,” Andrew and George getting settled into their new and private quarters, and being able to do the things they need to do more freely, Fred’s time at home, and Adeline’s progress in her training, and good health and strength for all of you and we look forward to all the Lord will bring forth in the week to come in the PBL!

August, 2008 Volume1 Issue 19

    The USO leads our articles this week because it has been such a helpful organization in so many ways to our traveling troops and to us as we make arrangements for you. And as you will travel more and more and likely be making some of your own arrangements we wanted to be sure you all knew about this resource.

    After much looking around airport web sites and digging out such simple answers as how to get from airport to base, or how to get from terminal to terminal, we finally learned to call the USO first, They KNOW those things! Need a place to park your bags while you have a lengthy wait at an airport? Go to a USO (all major airports and many smaller ones have them); the USO provides a place to lock them up for you. They offer complimentary food service, a place to wash up or even shower, and even a bed to rest your weary head if need be! It was a USO volunteer at the Houston airport that mailed Joshu’s first letter home to us when he wrote one at the airport.

    The USO web site tells you which airports have them and describes what is available there and gives the phone number and often the name of someone to speak to. The fascinating history of the organization is available there too. George sent us the article he found on it. It is a non-profit, volunteer organization with facilities in many places all over the world and with many programs. The USO is funded by corporate and individual donations, much like the Red Cross. We are very thankful that the Lord has made such a helpful resource available at such a time as this.

    Another resource that you all are aware of is the MWR (Morale Welfare Recreation) organization on each base that provides many services and information to soldiers that can be very helpful also. It too, is an Armed Services sponsored organization made up of, and staffed by volunteers. We have learned that its programs and agencies are funded by the purchases you make at the PX!

    Andrew has finished his 5 day In-Processing at Waller Hall in Fort Lewis and will be moving on to his unit barracks on Monday, August 4. Meanwhile, he was assigned CQ (office duty) over the weekend. It is a great opportunity to become more familiar with things there and for staff there to become more familiar with him.

    We were very thankful when he related how, on Wednesday, July 30, as he was walking back from the PX to his quarters it began to rain, a cold Northwest rain, and he had no jacket or cover of any kind. He prayed that somehow he could get a ride, and sure enough his prayer was answered as a vehicle pulled over with an officer and his wife and they told him to hop in and very graciously transported him to his building.

    Andrew has been doing a lot of walking around there. The PX is walking distance, and he has been out and about taking pictures when he has time. There is a van that transports him and others at In-Processing to the various buildings where the things they need to do take place and to the chow hall, as they call it there. But otherwise, walking is the way around right now. It is good exercise! Sometime he may be able to take advantage of the beautiful trails in Rainier Nat’l Forest.

Mt. Rainier WIKI photo

(See Andrew’s version on pg. 4!)

Meanwhile, back at the COT, Fred is taking advantage of a very different kind of transportation for him. On Tuesday, July 29, after we bagged up the “recyclables” for BA and Fred to take to the Bedias “Recycle Center,” Fred got behind the wheel and drove down the driveway!

The next day he and BA went to Huntsville where Fred passed his written test for a DL so, if time permits, he can take the driving part before he leaves for Hawaii! We are thankful for progress in this.    

    We are thankful too that a trip to Wal-Mart brought forth some very nice new slacks and shorts and polo shirts for him to wear and take with him as, when he got home and got out his “civvies” to wear, they were too small! He has filled out and gained muscle and looks very FIT but NOT fat as the following photos attest. When he was packing up the things he will send on to Hawaii, he donned his Class A uniform so we could see him in it and take pictures. It was interesting to see what the Infantry’s blue cord, which is given on graduation from AIT, or rather, OSUT, in his case is like. It is intricately woven and does add a very smart looking touch to the uniform. We also noted that the brass buttons at the collar are set on a pale blue disc to match the cord. And, as with Andrew, the three ribbons above the left pocket represent having graduated from BCT, service in time of war, and one for service during the War on Terror. Altogether it is a very handsome uniform, and we look forward to seeing each one in yours when possible.

Blue cord and ribbons and Infantry cross can also be worn on the shirt when not wearing the jacket.

What a Difference a Twig Makes!

    On Wednesday, July 30, Mother got out the tractor and the DR and tackled the ever growing carpet of leaves that had been covering the drive as the trees shed them in the heat. This is something she has been wanting to learn to do. She took the DR manual and did her reading first. It was a “family project” as Joanna got the gas blower on back pack and blew leaves into piles for vacuuming while C raked them from the edges, where the vacuum could not get them, into the center of the road.

    Mother went back and forth over the road many times to get as much as she could yet when she finally went to empty the hopper onto the pile where raked leaves are composted, it seemed like such a very small amount. How odd! Well, not so odd when she learned that a small twig had gotten caught in the intake “tunnel” and the leaves she had been vacuuming had simply turned into leaf mulch and gone back onto the road as she went over it. C. then told her that a lodged twig was something George had to check for often when he was doing the job. Now aware of that, the next day Mother went over the road again and this time had a hopper full of mulched leaves to empty. The drives look so much better and once again we thank our Father for such a marvelous way to keep them looking nice.

    Much of the garden has been cleared out of spent crops now and is being made ready for planting for a fall harvest. The weather is quite hot right now so Joanna has been setting row covers over the new plants to keep them shaded when needed and to keep unwanted bugs from finding them and laying their eggs on them. It is a very neat arrangement and Hikari got this photo of the rows of squash and bean seed beds in the glow of early morning as the sun was just coming up over the yard.

    Adeline called with good news this past week, regarding her PT finals. She did 52 sit-ups in 2 minutes and said she could have just gone right on doing them! What a miracle of total healing and restored strength this is. We praise and thank You, Father! But that is not all! She also did 27 push-ups and the 2 mile run in 18:25.

    Joshu’s Family Day weekend at Ft, Benning is coming up on Saturday, August 9^th. Seems as though he has been there forever because of those first 10 weeks at Reception Battalion! But BCT is almost over and he wrote that he had his final PT test for this segment of training and he also did better than he had been able to before, mostly in the 2 mile run time which dropped from 15:09 down to 14:03. He continued:

    ”However, I only did 5 more push ups and 6 more sit ups than I did the last time. I expected a greater degree of improvement for all the exercises I had been doing but I had been hitting a threshold I couldn’t get past. After the PT test though, that threshold was broken and I have seen a big improvement in those areas as well.” He went on to say, “It is encouraging to see such significant strides made. The strides are so significant that it is now very feasible to get 100% on my next PT test. I have already done 100% on the sit ups and almost doubled my push ups.” We do thank You, Father for this answer to prayer and for Your strength to take hold of in everything. While getting high scores on the PT tests is not the focus of being in the Army, it is wonderful to see the miracles of healing that these improvements represent.

    Regarding his meeting with Fred he says, “Thank You, Father for the meeting Fred and I had and the agreement between partners. I know it was no mistake that we were stationed here together for so long.” They agreed that the Fort and everything pertaining to it is for the very good purpose of the Lord, and will come into that.

    Today, Sunday, August 3^rd, we heard from each one of you, sometimes more than once! That makes for a very nice Sunday, when everyone can call home or be here, as in Fred’s case!

Adeline reports that she has had a one day training course in emergency and evasive vehicle driving. A must for MPs! It had to be done in one day and it took all day as they had only 2 vehicles and 243 students with just 2 drill sergeants to do the training! One of the vehicles was a Chevy Impala and the other a Dodge Strata. How old or in what condition we don’t know! They learned to drive carefully, careen safely around corners and whatever else involves an emergency situation. She did say it was fun!

    She also mentioned that she was learning many MP functions and how best to conduct them. For example, the way to approach an intoxicated driver so as not to cause a confrontation. MPs are not always the best loved soldiers on duty, but it is very interesting and very worthwhile work with opportunity and authority to be very helpful in protecting, defending and assisting as the MP Song goes!

George is continuing his training in applying the things he has been learning and taking apart and reassembling parts and mechanisms. His next duty station is not confirmed yet, there are a couple of possibilities depending on what direction his training takes. We will keep you posted!

Andrew emailed a wonderful set of pictures from Ft Lewis and we want to share some of them with you so we will close this part of the newsletter with several photos. We do thank our merciful Father for all the ways He is moving on with all of us here and all of you! Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! LGJBM!

Mt Rainier through the clouds from the plane as it approached Seattle.

Ft Lewis Entrance Gate

Pvt. Andrew I. Prince reporting for duty!

July 28, 2008 Volume 1 Issue 18

Aloha, Fred and Sayonara Andrew!

    But before we had to say goodbye to Andrew as he left for Fort Lewis early (very!) Sunday morning, July 27^th, he and Fred were both home for a very nice time together. We are so thankful for the way

the Lord worked it all out. Andrew and Barbara Alice drove down to Houston International Airport on Friday evening to meet Fred’s plane at 10:30 pm and they all returned about 12:30 am to be happily greeted by Mother, Joanna and Hikari.

A very happy Mother with two of her soldier sons!

Lioness took a few minutes of pacing around everyone to recognize Fred, but soon she did and said her hello, too.

“Oh, I remember now, it’s Fred!”

    Before he left Fort Benning Fred did have a very warm and wonderful visit with Joshu that they both have been so looking forward to. It was out on the rifle range where Joshu’s unit was qualifying in Basic Rifle Marksmanship. After his graduation ceremony in the morning, Fred took a cab out to the range and when he reported to the DS the DS said, “Oh yes, I know who you are.” Then in his loudest, gruffest voice hollered, “Prince, get over here!” And Fred and Joshu had 20 minutes together where they could share experiences and the things that they have been learning from the Lord. Thank You so much for this blessing, Father!

Andrew’s Adventures have brought forth several surprises as he has been out and about on business and on the business of visiting!

    There was a trip to “Rick’s Car Collection” on Wednesday, July 23, as they had hoped to see you young men when they stopped by here the week before Andrew came home. While he was there he met Gilley, who told him that he should stop by the Harrisons and see them when he could. More on that later. Andrew did find a needed part at Rick’s and as they talked, Rick expressed a desire to see Li’l Twuk and all that had been done to incorporate the parts you had gotten from his place so many months ago. So, when Andrew left, Rick followed him here and they spent some time with C. and BA and Mother as they were working on Li’l Twuk. When Rick left he was very emphatic in his thanking them for the visit. He was most impressed with all that has been done. He also said that he would be glad to take the steel and parts we no longer needed for recycling. So the next day the Heavy Haul trailer was filled with parts to recycle and Andrew returned with an empty trailer.

Ready to Recycle!

    Andrew then went on to visit with the Harrisons. Mr. Harrison was leaving on an errand when Andrew pulled in to their drive but Mrs. Harrison greeted him and Mr. Harrison returned shortly to join the visit as well. Mr. Harrison was with an agriculture company in Wisconsin at one time in his career and learned much about the farming in that agricultural and dairy state and how the crops were harvested and processed in canning for sale. One of the things he related was that the hangars of a retired Air Force Base had been turned into warehousing for the food and are still in use for that purpose now. So old bases can get recycled too!

    Andrew also had occasion to visit the Del Valles, next door Thursday evening and they talked till past midnight, well past everyone’s bed time for such early risers, but they so enjoyed seeing him that they encouraged him to stay on, if he could.

    On Thursday, July 24, a visit was made to Gilley at his home, and the next day Andrew spent some time with Mr. Lindsay, our other neighbor as well. It was very nice that he was able to have the time to see everyone, he enjoyed doing it and they all appreciated it.

    Of course, the 1 Ton still got much of his attention, and he was able to do some plasma cutting for Li’l Twuk too. He helped Joanna take the spent tomato plants she had removed from the garden down to the woods, something they both had fun doing. See below!

Never return with an empty trailer,

so Joanna gets a ride!

    We all had a good time with Joshua as he went through his things on Saturday night to determine what to take to Fort Lewis and what to leave behind for now. He had sent a very large box home ahead of his arrival and he and Mother went through it piece by piece and sock by sock! And one thing we have noted regarding much of the clothing issued to you all is that it is very good quality and very well thought out as to how it needs to perform. When doing his Army laundry, Hikari gained a new respect for those Battle Dress Uniforms that we looked on as camouflage “pajamas.” The attention to details, all the pockets, flaps and closings looked as though the uniform was engineered with computer aided design! It is obvious that many things have been taken into consideration that we would never think of in civilian dress, and no doubt the uniforms are still evolving as new needs are discovered and met. We are very thankful to see how every item of clothing for every activity from the handsome Class A uniforms to the cold weather PT outfits, and everything in between, is provided for your use.

    Of course, as he was deciding what to take with him, Andrew’s first choice if it would fit into his duffle, was who else, but Mother!

Nope! She doesn’t quite fit in there but it was a nice try! Note how the reflective “Army” lettering on the PT shorts really works at night when a light shines on them!

    One of the items that got left at home for now is a beautifully embroidered winter jacket he purchased to wear with his civilian clothes. When Hikari asked him to pose in it for a picture to show you he declined and put it on her instead and he took the pictures. The reversible jacket has a bright orange lining for wearing at night or whenever else visibility is needed for safety. The jacket is very warm and he will need that in Washington where at the end of July it barely reaches 70 degrees and 50 at night! It sounds very good to us though, since we have hit the Texas ‘triple digits” (100 and over) as the forecasters say. The jacket fits Andrew better, but you will get the idea!

    It was difficult to see Andrew leave, but we are so very thankful for the very good time we had with him and for all that was accomplished in the Lord while he was home and will continue to progress on as he enters a new phase. He called Sunday evening, 5 o’clock our time and 3 o’clock his, to say he was settled in a room at the In-Processing Center and had an easy “on-time” trip. And later Sunday night, he called again to tell us a van had picked him up at dinner time and taken him to chow hall. His chicken, rice and vegetables dinner was very good! Thank You, Father! He had scouted out the PX too and says it is a very nice and large facility, the best he has seen so far. He also tells us that the surrounding scenery is very nice and we are anxious to see the pictures he has taken.

Still Not an “Empty Nest!”    

    Having Fred home is wonderful and he will be here until August 11^th when he flies to LA Int’l Airport and from there the Army has booked him on a flight to Honolulu, Hawaii; he will be stationed at Schofield Barracks not far from there. He had a much needed nap in the evening as Andrew was packing but, with the rest of us, he was up at 3 a.m. helping to get Andrew on his way.

Getting it all together – a family endeavor!

    Sunday found him familiarly busy washing the Merger and D-2, both of which were used during the week. Sunday night we had enchiladas for dinner so you can just guess what Fred was doing then…

When asked, he jokingly said he wasn’t sure he remembered how… we assure you, he did! Mmm!

Fred had an interesting story to relate regarding the many members of his unit who had treated him abusively throughout his time in basic and AIT because he would not join in the kinds of talk and activity that they know is wrong, though he never preached anything to them. It was brought before the Lord there and here though.

Just 4 days before graduation 13 of those soldiers took it on themselves to get a “high” sniffing spray paint and gun scrubber, which is very detrimental to the body. It definitely affects the eyes and that is a tell-tale sign of doing it. So determined were they to do this that they offered to pay Fred $60 for the gun scrubber he had paid $6 for. It was night time and the PX was closed. Of course Fred had no idea why they considered it so valuable except that they must really need it to clean their weapons so he agreed to sell it to them for $20, thinking $60 was far too much to take for it. He did it on the agreement that if he needed to borrow some back in the next 4 days they would give him what he needed. However, when he found he did need some and went to them they told him it was all gone. All gone? Enough for a “regiment” of guns? Shortly after, he learned the real reason why it was gone, when the 13 soldiers were caught using it.

    The DS lined everyone up and looked in their eyes and knew who the culprits were. He could not believe that with just 4 days to go they jeopardized their graduation like that. Normally they would be disciplined and sent back to start BCT all over. In this case they didn’t have to go back that far, but were suspended for 45 days of “extra duty” before they can graduate.

    Fred says they all were brought very, very low, the puffed up arrogance gone, and when one of them borrowed Fred’s cell phone to call his mother to tell her why he wasn’t graduating, Fred overheard him say to please tell his brother to NEVER, NEVER to do a thing like that. It wasn’t worth it.

    We have seen again that no one can act as they have toward the Son in these children and get away with it. They are brought down and turned around. It is our determination that all will come to benefit the Lord and be of a help in whatever way they are given in every place that each of you are, and of course, things will be better for them as well. This we have been seeing too.

Joshu called Saturday afternoon to tell us that he had passed his marksmanship qualification after Fred left. We were very thankful to hear that. He also had written a letter last week where he told us what happened after his long phone call with everyone gathered around on Saturday, July 19^th. It had been agreed then that the unwarranted animosity shown towards him by several in his unit because he did not subscribe to or take part in their unseemly talk, would be turned around. He said that immediately he began to notice a change in their attitude toward him, a real friendliness, even to the point where one, who had been the most antagonistic, came to him and apologized and hoped Joshu would forgive him for the way he has acted! We do praise and thank You, Father, for this manifestation of Your power. No one could ask for a kinder, more considerate and caring, helpful acquaintance than any of you. And fun to be with too. We are appreciative when ones respond to these qualities of the Lord Jesus Christ in you and show respect for the strong stand against all forms of evil that you represent just in the way you live in the PBL!

George sent an email on Saturday describing the day he had and considered a
lot of fun. In his own words:

    We had Warrior tasks and battle drills from early morning to 4 or so o’clock. We first re-qualified with our M16 on the computer simulator. I did a very close group again and did very well on the pop up targets. The first round of targets I got confused as to what lane I was in but the last two rounds from a kneeling and unsupported position I made nine out of ten. I am certain that if I hadn’t gotten confused on the first round I would have won sharpshooter instead of just marksmanship. We then moved to another room with an even more sophisticated setup that put us through simulation of different terrains while we shoot air powered 50 Caliber and other machine guns at various targets, day and night. That was loads of fun and expands one’s knowledge of firing moving targets. Next we drove to a mock town set up in the hot boon docks. Then we broke down to Alpha and Bravo companies and learned to clear rooms. With simulated noise and smoke and Arab pop up dummies we performed our clearing task of clearing several floors and rooms. Then we reviewed our moves which were all on film. That
was interesting and we learned more. We then rode on buses back to the hangars to eat our MRE’s. I had forgotten how it was in basic with my metabolism going through the
roof when I run around like that. Needless to say the MRE’s
were gone along with Gatorades, water and such. We then performed live fire convoys and how to dismount and mount Humvees. That will be the first time I have ridden in a Humvee. It was stable and moved right along on its coil springs. Then we were driven back on the buses, cleaned all our weapons and cleaned up, showered and in my case ate a very big dinner. I am so thankful that all bodily functions have returned to normal. The Lord brought total healing. I was also noticing how I have now returned to a complete full night’s sleep once again. By the way, when I went to sleep at 6 and awoke at 3:50 I was plenty rested which carried me through the whole rigorous day. Thank you Lord.

Adeline reports that she has had fun too with her first driving lessons in a Humvee, 2 on road and 1 off-road. Up over rocks and logs and steep inclines and really rough terrain, mud pits and water, and of course she loved every minute of it! They even had a roll over drill where they are turned over and are hanging upside down in a vehicle until they can undo their seat belts and climb out a door!

Oh, Say Can You See and Salute the American Flag? Yes, an article we have read in the July 2008 issue of the American Legion magazine reports that a change in the U.S. Flag Code this year regarding the saluting of the American Flag “gives veterans and members of the US Armed Forces the authority to render a salute to the flag whether or not they are in uniform or wearing identifying veteran apparel such as an American Legion cap.” So, regardless of what you are wearing, you may give the flag an official salute when you see one.

Oh, that watermelon growing on the vine!

July 26^th and just one of at least a dozen or so!

Li’l Twuk’s Page of Pictures taken July 25^th

Body coming down on frame

Front inner fender panel being fitted and fabricated

Front fender panel fabrication close up

Note: Underside of bed and cab sprayed black

Engine compartment with heat shielding in progress

July 21, 2008 Volume 1 Issue 17

    This week we are leading into the newsletter with the report that two of our soldiers have been designated as Squad Leaders. Adeline was given that responsibility after she graduated from BCT and began her AIT (Advanced Individual Training) at Fort Leonard Wood. We are very thankful because this does give her the opportunity that she hoped for in AIT to help her unit work together as a team to become the best unit possible. Her battle buddy is the platoon guide, a young woman of Korean heritage, though she is thoroughly American and doesn’t speak Korean. Their DS, who has been in Korea, teases her because he does speak the language! In any case this gives Adeline someone she can work together with to achieve the goal.

    Joshu came by this assignment in his platoon in a more unusual way. As reported last week, his unit has not been outstanding in anything much except disorder and disobedience and the platoon guides and squad leaders they appointed did not work out as expected. Squad leaders and platoon guides play an important role in the overall progress of a unit and good ones can really help the unit move forward in training and assist the Drill Sergeants so they are better able to do their VERY BIG JOB! However, Joshu’s Drill Sergeant became so disgusted with this group of recruits that he finally told them they were not worthy to have a squad leader or platoon guide from their ranks. This disturbed Joshu greatly as he knew the value of squad leaders and platoon guides from his experiences at Reception Battalion. And he wanted to see his company move forward in training without all the time consuming disciplines and set backs, because he knew, in the Lord, it could be done. So he wrote a note to the DS telling him how he felt and offering to take the position of a leader himself. Later, when he was in the PX, his DS met him and said that he had gotten Joshu’s note. He asked Joshu, “Why aren’t you as eloquent in speech as you are in writing?” Joshu answered, “I am working on that, Drill Sergeant.” The result of his “boldness” in the Lord was that Joshu was assigned as a squad leader in his unit. We are thankful that Joshu too has the opportunity to see the Lord turn things around as he carries out this assignment. As for his not being so eloquent when he speaks, he says his company already accuses him of using too many big words like, “perplexing.” That brought a round of smiles from us too!

“Conference Call”

    Saturday evening when everyone was gathered for dinner we had a call from Joshu. It was kind of an “event” because he has not been able to call for some time, though we have had several very good, long letters from him. Mother put the phone on speaker mode and C. and everyone gathered round the phone to hear Joshu’s reports, including the way he became squad leader, and why.

    He also related that he had been on the10 mile ruck march, carrying 40 pounds when about 30 minutes into it he became so exhausted it seemed impossible to go on. He cried out to the Lord and the Lord answered so miraculously and magnificently that before long Joshu was way up in the front line moving so fast that others said, “Hey! Keep the pace!” We do praise and thank You, Father, for this tremendous manifestation of Your power and Your strength and Your Word …he shall run and not be weary, he shall walk and not faint, because Joshu’s trust is inYou.

    On Sunday, (7-13) his battle buddy, who professes to be a Christian and is a proselytizer, asked Joshu to go to church with him, and Joshu agreed. The sermon stated that the Lord Jesus Christ is like your Drill Sergeant, you must listen to Him and obey Him and do what He says. Joshu agreed that was a good point, however, he asked his BB afterwards how could the Lord Jesus Christ be his “Drill Sergeant” and rule over him and direct his every step if He wasn’t here to do that, but coming back someday? His BB said that simple question was confusing to him and he had no answer for it. We are so very thankful that our troops do know that the Lord Jesus Christ is here and lives and works through each one of you, and yes, directs your every step as He does ours here at home.

    It was so very nice that Joshu had time for a long call and with everyone gathered round it was almost like having him sitting at his place at the table. Thank You, Father, for this blessing to him and to us.

    Adeline is able to use her cell phone quite a bit on weekends and she is now a “lap topper” as well! She found a very nice Compaq on sale at the PX and consulted with the family and BA looked up the specs on it and agreed it sounded like a very good buy. It has 2048MB ram and a 160GB hard drive and all the bells and whistles needed to do anything a computer should do! Soon she will have a Windstream email acct. as George and Andrew do, and be able to easily email too.

Can you see me?

George reported in his last email:

“Today I have also done something else. As it turns out my roommate bought a web camera at the Shopette and communicates with home though it. Since my computer already has one I have been looking for a way to share real time video with you so I inquired. The way he is doing it is through a “messenger.” At no charge, all one has to do is sign up to one. Yahoo.com is one such. I would request of you to register with one at Yahoo.com then download and install Messenger 12MB to your computer at http://messenger.yahoo.com/  Then you would give me your Yahoo ID. Once I enter that in my box you will be able to see the real time video on your Yahoo account. What fun that will be…. Have a good evening.”

Well, as you must have guessed, we wasted no time in doing that and we had some fun with George before breakfast on Sunday (7-20) morning.

To check it out, Mother called him before breakfast to find out how to use it and in seconds there we were seeing George in real time right on the screen! He was able to model his new glasses for us. They are not the Army issue, but a pair with new and very desirable features at a very good price, that he can wear when the Army’s aren’t required. Of course he clowned around a bit with those and he also showed us his travel surge protector. (Andrew has one too. They are a good idea.) We will get our web cam hooked up so that he can see us as well. The reception is a bit jerky and slow, kind of like watching an embedded reporter overseas, the actions don’t quite catch up with the words, but it is plenty good enough and VERY helpful and a delight to see. We are so thankful for all this technology that keeps you in contact and “closer” to home.

    George also reported another100% on his last test.

Doing ‘Swimmingly” Well! (Okay, it’s an old expression, but it fits here!) In his last email, George reported on a very nice day in the Lord on Saturday, July 19^th, and it was so uplifting to read that we are going to quote some excerpts for you:

“During the week there was an announcement made at one of the formations that there was an event taking place at some area that included swimming and phase 4 and 5 could go. I tried to get a battle buddy to walk me over there. I asked several, the few that were here. During the weekends the company area is some sort of ghost town, quiet and eerie. The duty sergeants are about and some people who are too broke remain. The others are out on overnight passes and such. So someone suggested I ask the sergeant if I could go over there alone. Well, that was an idea but the answer would seem to be obvious, no, I am at phase 5, should walk with a battle buddy.

By this time I was frustrated because there are many events I would and could attend if I didn’t have to drag along some battle buddy. At that moment the duty sergeant came into the day room where I was just to check things out. I took that time and asked him what I should do in this situation. His reply to order me was to go. Leave alone to the pool and return alone. That was the Staff and so I did so. When I got (to the pool) there were some people, couples and children, but overall the huge pool was uncongested. The pool was enormous, some 25 meter by 15 meter (82′ X 49′) and 11 or so feet deep. The attendant there was kind enough to supply some goggles that fit my face perfectly. I arrived with towel, PT shorts and flip flops in hand. I changed in the building next to it. In there were lockers to lock ones belongings away for the time being. That was perfect. They had some horrible “noise” going but that didn’t matter at all. I enjoyed myself tremendously. I didn’t eat any lunch because they had barbeque there.

As I was swimming I remembered the question that the sergeant asked yesterday, whether I could swim or not as one of the qualification for going to 160^th Aviation Regiment. (George has been asked if he would like to apply for a place carrying out his same MOS but in Aviation Special Operations, which is an honor, but we have nothing definite as it is still under
consideration.) Well, look what the Lord provided, a way to further practice my swimming. There were diving boards and all. I should have brought my camera phone but I didn’t want it to go missing. I didn’t know about the locked lockers. During my time at the pool there was a young boy there who was a very proficient swimmer so I inquired about his technique and he obliged happily and gave some very good pointers and I put them to action. They really helped. We had a good conversation about how his dad is a army pilot and his grandfather a airline captain pilot. The staff was quite helpful and genuinely glad to help give swimming techniques.

This is an event held only once in a while. During the week the pool is used and weekends it is used for lap swimming and such. It was quite enjoyable today, though, and a lot was gained. What better way to spend a hot day, from 1:00 to 3:50. I then ate two double burgers with all the fixings, mmm, good, and chips and cookies. The sergeant major was there as well. There were people there but I felt like I was the only one there, just enjoying ”myself” having a good day with the Lord and learning a lot. This I saw was a gift from the Lord (And a confirmation to look further into the 160^th.) I was further encouraged in this course by other solders this morning. My, how the word does spread fast. I was quite hungry after that swim, as we all know any work causes my metabolism to run in overdrive. Come dinner I enjoyed another large meal to finish off the good day. I also had a sherbet ice-cream cone. I am so relieved to be able to look forward to eating and once having eaten, enjoy the meal with no after effects. Note: George had been stricken with a severe stomach problem for over a week, as have several others there. He could eat nothing at first and then gradually a bit more was added daily, but very little. This didn’t keep him from his classes but of course made it difficult to concentrate. So the very fact that he got 100 on a test is one big miracle, and, as we brought the problem before the Lord he was healed and so the fact that he could eat normally and really enjoy it again was another great miracle and blessing. In his own words:

“Truly things are changing. It is amazing what expectation one has when the body is operating correctly and how the Staff can work.” YES! Thank You, Father!”     

    Fred was able to call on
Saturday and he had good news about his final PT test, which he was very concerned about because for over a week he had had a harsh pain under his left arm. Not conducive to doing push-ups! But, in the PBL he did 36 push ups, one over the required amount, which was a miracle. He really did well on the sit ups with 61 and his 2 mile run was in 13:22 minutes. Then during the formation where the DS goes by each one to shake their hand, tradition has it, at least with this one, that he punches everyone kind of hard on the left shoulder, a “rite of passage” we guess that causes momentary discomfort. However, in Fred’s case after this punch the pain under his arm disappeared not to return again! Thank You, Father!

    Mother called Fred’s DS last week to find out if she could send the cell phone just gotten for him and have them hold it for him until after graduation on Friday, July 25. The idea being that he can keep in touch during his trip home from Georgia, advise us of any changes, etc. The DS said no, absolutely not, they could not do that. Well, we do very much understand the reasons why there must be discipline and standards kept to, but in this case it did not seem reasonable, that once he graduated and was signed out and “on his own” so to speak for the next 2 weeks, that he could not be given his cell phone to help with the trip home. It just didn’t make sense. Sometimes mothers don’t take no for an answer! It was put before the Lord, and Mother determined then to call someone with more authority and see if something couldn’t be done. She got hold of the unit’s First Sergeant, and when she made her request, he said, of course they could do that and to go ahead and send the phone! The phone was sent on its way the very next day. We are so glad Mother didn’t take “no” for an answer! C. says Mother will be running the whole Army soon!

Andrew’s week at home has been full of activity as you may imagine. He had hoped to be able to devote some time to unfinished business on the

1-Ton and that is where he could be found when not engaged in other duties, meals and meetings. As you can guess it has been good to hear that ready laughter and funny stories mixed in with the things being learned at home every day.

    He has streamlined and upgraded the fuel system by hooking up the second tank. He bled the brakes and has upgraded the braking system too. AND, he and Mother installed the large telescoping mirrors that came from Shiiban, (2004 Chevy Duramax). Not only do they look very sharp, but they have a special “blind spot aid” section and they will add much ease and safety to driving in eliminating the blind spots and telescoping out for trailering.

Mother was co-worker on this night time project!

Back view of mirror with telescoping arms and front view (next column).. Though it isn’t evident in the photos, the new mirrors are much

larger than the white ones they replaced (see below) which did not have the telescoping or blind spot feature.

And here she is! The 1-Ton sporting her snazzy

new mirrors. Not quite as big as the trucks Andrew has been driving lately but just as suited to her job and 1,000 times more beautiful! though it is true, “pretty is as pretty does” and those Army trucks do a lot and tread where others fear to go!

Is there a ’77 GMC under there somewhere?!

The 1-Ton had a “shake-down” trip to Houston yesterday as BA and Andrew went to visit a friend there and I know you all will hear more of that when you call. Andrew reported the 1-Ton did very well, with just a few minor glitches he can readily fix and she will be ready for anything! J

The trip to Houston was also an occasion for wearing the Class A Uniform so we got to see and have our pictures taken with Andrew in full dress regalia and looking very “Army sharp”!

Mother, Andrew Barbara Alice

A “be-ribboned” Andrew with Barbara Alice

July 20, 2008

Andrew has gone to the Recruiting Office today (Monday 7-21) to take care of some business there and will no doubt give your regards to any familiar faces that remain. Sgt Rodriguez won’t be in today though. Joanna offered to be his battle buddy, though of course he doesn’t need one! As it turned out, they missed a turn so both ended up at the recruiters and Joanna then got to meet the ones the young soldiers were so familiar with.

Andrew and Hikari July 20, 2008

Joanna took photos for the photo op session. She treasures the pictures taken when she attended his graduation in May.

Here she is earlier in the week painting the reservoir cap! She also did A LOT of pruning, trimming and shrubbery and yard and garden bed clean up.

Joanna painting in the “tropical” sun.

Since our final page in this issue is given to Li’l Twuk, we will sign off here thanking our Father for a very full and eventful and wonderful week. We are seeing His hand move in unbelievable power and mercy and loving care, here and with you everywhere. LTLGJBM! Amen and Amen

Time for the Li’l Twuk Page!

    Li’l Twuk has had her ups and downs this week!

Barbara Alice has primered all the work that C has done and is getting ready to do the Hippo liner in the designated areas.

LT up and all primered 7-19-08

Primered fire wall 7-19-08

Wheel well primered. (Floor supports have protective cardboard over them.)

When LT was temporarily lowered onto the frame to be sure everything was lined up and in place, C, BA, Mother, and Joanna each manned a corner to bring her down carefully and evenly.

All hands carefully lowering LT

Adjustments being made while LT is almost completely set on frame.

July 14, 2008 Volume 1 Issue 16

When PV2 Fred Prince graduates from Advanced Individual (Infantry) Training at Fort Benning on July 24^th he will be taking part in what they call their “Turning Blue” Ceremony, where the graduates receive the blue “ribbon” that signifies the completion of the initial training courses and their transition to full duty as qualified soldiers.

    The phrase is so appropriate however, to what we did this week, that we adopted it for the transition of our reservoir from white to blue!

    Last week saw the complete draining of the reservoir so this could be accomplished. On Monday a trip to Lowe’s was made to pick up all the paint that would be needed to cover the walls, steps, floor and cap with at least 2 coats. This is waterproof, latex “DryLok” paint, specially formulated for reservoirs, pools, ponds and other water holding devices built of concrete and concrete blocks. 25 gallons of Harbor Sky blue were purchased and 2 gallons of the terra cotta color.

    Tuesday the painting began with Mother, Anna and Barbara Alice all wielding rollers and brushes. The work went well and by dinner time the walls had one coat of paint and the floor was about 1/3^rd done. There was a welcome cloud cover most of the day and even a few sprinkles, but nothing major until the middle of dinner time when we got 3/10^th inch of much needed rain! Though not needed in the reservoir just then, what did accumulate was easily pumped out and the paint was already dry enough that it was not damaged. Painting continued on Wednesday. On Thursday Mother and Hikari needed to mow. Yes, with the rain we had gotten there really was some nice thick grass in many places again. So Anna and Barbara Alice continued on in the reservoir all day and on Friday Mother joined Barbara Alice in the painting while Joanna was baking and by evening all was done. Thank You, Father! It was a very large undertaking and we praise You for all the supplies, and all the strength needed to get it done. There has been no more rain, perfect drying weather for right now. Of course we took lots of pictures of this on-going project.

Mother and BA in the settling basin

BA and Anna painting the steps

Mother starting on the floor, which was

perfectly dry and prepared to receive the paint.

Several good coats were needed as the

bare concrete really soaked up the first coat.

All done! A beautiful and very useful

“Blue Lagoon”

The First Home Leave

A happy soldier stepping out of D-2 and into the waiting camera!

Andrew’s trip home from Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri was a very good one and he even got to College Station an hour earlier than scheduled. He had a 2 hour Greyhound bus trip from Ft LW to Lambert Airport in St. Louis. A shuttle at the bus station at Lambert took him right to the airport terminal’s check in door. He arrived there around 9 pm and his flight to Houston didn’t leave until 5:45 next morning (Saturday) so he had time to get his bearings, and see where he needed to be next day. He said on Friday night the airport was almost deserted, few if any late flights, not like Houston would be. They have a very nice USO there and he had a complimentary dinner of chili dog and a turkey and cheese sandwich, which he said were quite good. He was also able to leave his bags in a secure area there while he went exploring around the terminal. His bags weighed almost 100 pounds, but what is that to a “ruck marched” soldier in full battle gear?! They even have beds at the USO for sleeping or resting if you have a long wait. He did say that Greyhound has a 50 pound limit on each bag and he did not realize until he got there that his heaviest was 50.4 pounds. They didn’t charge for the extra weight or make him repack his bags though as they normally do. We thank You, Father, for that. A fellow with 55 pounds did have to redo his bags! I guess it is like a speeding ticket, they give you a leeway!

    His flight left on time in the morning and he had 2 hours at Houston Int’l to get to the shuttle to CS and wait, only it wasn’t 2 hours! The shuttle was already there and had only one other person with a reservation to CS and when she came there was no reason to wait longer so they left an hour ahead of schedule! Andrew called here and our “Shuttle Service” was very happy and ready to go early.

    A little shopping at Sam’s Club when they all arrived (of course!) and the rest is history as the table is set for one more and the laundry basket is pretty full again! Thank You, Father!

C. reminded Andrew that he couldn’t go anywhere without his battle buddies as they left the house together to see the work that has been accomplished on the shops and we all laughed at that.

Adeline did get to go to his graduation on Friday morning and they were able to have a nice time together before he bid her good bye. She has her cell phone all the time now so is able to keep in touch with home regularly.

    She learned this weekend that after she finishes her AIT at Ft Leonard Wood, which is about another 13 weeks, she will be posted to Fort Drum in upstate New York near Watertown. It is home to the 10^th Mountain Division Light Infantry. Fort Drum is in northwestern New York close to the St Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. It is also only 241 miles from South Woodstock, Vermont so much to their delight and ours we expect she will be able to visit with Diana and Tom from time to time. We thank You, Father, very much for this arrangement to have close friends that close! Texas and home is a long ways away!

Adeline’s next 13 weeks in Missouri will concentrate greatly on all the legal aspects and law that must be a part of the MP’s education and training.

Adeline’s next post – Fort Drum, NY

    A letter from Fred arrived just after the last newsletter went out to you. In relating his experience in “Combatives” (hand to hand combat with padded clubs and gloves), he said, ” … I was not confident at the beginning. (But) people have also noticed that there has been a change in me, that I am much different than when I came, more confident, more comfortable, etc. I realized that I didn’t have the confidence in the Lord that I should have had but during “Combatives” it was very plain that I was protected by the Lord.” Fred learned how to face the punches head on, not flinch, and get right in there and put the “enemy” into a place from which he couldn’t punch any more! Fred went on, “One of the other people in the platoon told me,. ‘You have to be aggressive in everything you do wherever you are going.’ This is truth and has always been the case. He says he has learned that he could do better by not hesitating a bit. “That is what warfare is all about, that’s the way, the only way to win”! His bb Reed says he stands up for himself more but Fred says, “Really I stand up for the Lord, but a change is noticed and it was a change I needed.” We Thank You, Father for this under-standing from You for all of us.

    On another note, Fred had a very amusing description of his state-of-the-art (when he needs to be) DS Phillips. “He (DS Phillips) told us a couple days ago that he plays with the mind a lot and he can be very intimidating. He has a stare that you can’t match. I was quite intimidated by him at first. You know when you have crossed the line with him and he freezes in mid expression or sentence, fixes his gaze upon the offender and makes a slow push-ups motion (with his hand). That has never happened to me but it happens quite frequently with the cheeky ones here.”

Joshu’s letter this week tells us that he has passed his PT test with 48 sit ups, 39 push ups, and 15:08 on the run. That he passed is not a surprise to us except that we are very thankful for the renewed strength that he has. What did seem surprising was that he was one of only 14 or 15 out of a unit of 55 that did pass! Overall, his unit had not been a prize performer in anything except the arrogance and disobedience of several of its members, bringing everybody down, though things have improved.

    When the choice was made for Platoon Guide, a position of some responsibility given to a qualified recruit in the later phase of BCT, the person chosen was one who had been angling for the job and stepping on others to get it and had shown no respect for the Lord in Joshu. Within days that individual was fired from the job. A much more mature and respectful individual with management experience at Home Depot before enlisting was put in that place. In another instance of the Lord’s intervention, Joshu was partnered with several others on map reading exercise who “had a big opinion of themselves”. One in particular

zeroed in on Joshu making him out to be incompetent (Joshu incompetent?), treating him like a child, like an idiot, and lording it over him in every way he could. Joshu committed it to the Lord and the next day said individual “couldn’t do anything right and failed the test. On top of that he left his gun by a tree and someone else had to retrieve it. Leaving your weapon (it is never called a gun) is a big offense around here so he was notched down a few necessary notches as near panic set in when he couldn’t find it. No one can treat the Son like dirt and walk away in that arrogance.” AMEN!

    In another incident Joshu said that just as his unit was finally becoming more disciplined, a wallet was stolen out of someone’s locker when he stepped away for a couple of minutes. The wallet had the soldier’s military ID card and the theft would need to be reported to the DS. If no one confessed or returned it that would mean more “smokings” for everyone and back to Total Control phase discipline for the platoon. Another black mark on the platoon. The Platoon Guide said to the whole platoon that if the wallet could be returned nothing would be said. Joshu put it before the Lord commanding the Angelic Host to take charge of the situation. He could not see any good in this going to the DS especially since he wants to move on with training. Overnight the wallet still was not returned, but after breakfast it was found sitting in the designated box for that purpose with nothing missing. Only the Lord’s Staff could have brought that conviction.

    We smiled to read that Joshu said when the unit was taken over to Reception Battalion to get their Class A (Dress) uniforms it was almost like going to home away from home for him after having spent 2½ months there. He knew where everything was and it was all so familiar!

George emails frequently now to keep us updated on his progress and share his experiences. He did well on his last test which was about an AGPU. Don’t know what that is? Neither did we till we read on to learn that it is a mobile generator and he is well impressed with its features and was able to send C some information on it to look over. Now they get to work on the generators in 3 man teams and will be learning to disassemble them. George allows as how that will be fun! Since his training manuals are electronic he is able to send much of what he is learning for C to see.

Aw Shucks!

The first ear of sweet, golden,

tender and delicious corn was picked on July 8^th and we have been enjoying corn on the cob every evening since! The ears have been beautiful and fully filled out, “picture perfect” corn! We are so thankful for this bounty and bounty it is! 144 ears have been harvested by Sunday July 13th; 81 of them picked that day! And all those were processed for freezing (or eaten!) by Sunday night.

When each of you comes home on leave no doubt you will enjoy it too!

The bowl is holding 12 pounds of kernels from 60 ears and this was divided into meal size packages for freezing.

Leeks with our Garlic!

We also harvested the leeks this week. This was our first experience in growing them and we find the aroma and mild onion flavor to be very nice.

As you see all the outer skins are peeled away and the green leaves, which are kind of tough, are cut off and what remains is a very long, slender leek, perfect for slicing and cooking.

A Surprise Visit!

    On Wednesday, July 2, we had a pleasant surprise visit from a party of two who were quite interested in seeing and speaking to you young men before you shipped off to the Army. We had to regretfully tell them that the Army had snatched you all almost as soon as you enlisted and you were all gone off to training by mid-April. (They had thought you weren’t going till late July.) When asked who they might be they told us they were the two that ran the auto recycling yard down the way and had met you all when you went to find a new home for the engine and parts we did not need. They were still quite impressed with all the careful preparation and consideration shown in how the used engine had been wrapped so meticulously for protection. They also were amazed at how you all had almost completely taken apart the Chrysler van for the parts we needed on the Li’l Twuk project and we told them that the parts you had gotten had been just perfect – a miracle how they could all fit together so well – and we were very thankful to have them. The parts were windows for extending the cab. We promised a few pictures soon to show how it was all working out.

    Anyway, we (Joanna and BA answered the gate) and had a very nice conversation during which they said several times to be sure and let you all know that they stopped by wanting to see you and they asked us to let you know that “you are missed.” We assured them we would certainly tell you and that you would be very happy to hear that they had come. They wished you well and agreed that you will all do well and be kept safe in your assignments. Needless to say, we greatly appreciated their concern and sharing their sentiments. Not taken lightly by any means. Rick said when he had heard that you all had joined the Army he was “proud of you” and certainly felt that with all the skill you showed and teamwork with the parts acquisition that you would be an asset to the service. (We agree! J).

BA with Rick Tomlinson and John Gregorcyk

Wednesday, July 2

Phone: 1-936-577-4922

Emails: johngreg@yahoo.com

rtscarcollection@windstream.net

Li’l Twuk has been Moving Right Along

The firewall is fabricated of aluminum and filled in

Close up of the sections bolted together

The firewall inside from the passenger side door

The aluminum back seat floor area with seat riser

The P. side door panel section welded in place