October 2019

Since our mission is military relations, we have been visiting military families at Fort Belvoir on a regular basis. Some of the families are alone because one of the parents has been deployed. We try to help the family that's left behind, and offer them any assistance we can. Homemade cookies have been quite popular. We have been having a wonderful time with the Elders teaching a young woman who is in the Army. She was so excited about everything she heard, and was on date for baptism. She called her mother in Texas and told her she was going to be baptized. The mother was angry with her daughter and told her she could just be baptized a Methodist when she returns to Texas. Sadly she backed out of her baptism two days before it happened. We are hopeful that she will remember the spirit she has felt and have a desire to be baptized in the near future. On October 14, we were driving into our parking garage, and when we came around the corner on our way to the third floor, there was a young woman on the ground who was hysterical, and though there were two people comforting her, she could not be consoled. We continued on to our apartment, and shortly thereafter attempted to leave again to perform a few errands. When we drove from the 3rd level to the 2nd level, there was a policeman blocking the way, and said that there had been an accident on the second level. We eventually found out that there was a domestic dispute and that the woman in the dispute had got in her car and drove as fast as she could into the cement wall at the end of the 2nd level ramp. She hit so hard that it killed her. The hysterical young woman was the other person in the dispute. Apparently when we drove by it had just happened and we hadn't noticed the damaged car because it had hit the wall and looked just like someone had parked it there. It is such a sad story, and a life is lost because of anger. We met a Sergeant on post who was a member of the Church, but hadn't attended church for at least three years because of unkindness by some of the ward members. Coincidently, we found out she was in our ward, so we asked her to attend stake conference with us and she accepted. She has been attending all her meetings and told us she has decided not to let others stand in the way of her working out her own salvation. Two lessons that we learned from this experience: never give up on anyone, and be kind to everyone. You never know if someone's faith is fragile enough to be broken by a careless remark or slight. There was a broadcast to the North America, North East area by Elder Ballard and Elder Christopherson. It was a very spiritual meeting! One of the strongest councils given by Elder Ballard was that, we all need to pray for this country. If an Apostle of the Lord has concern for our country, we need to take note and pray earnestly for our leaders and the inhabitants of this great land. May God bless America! The Fort Belvoir ward had a ward activity at the Mt. Vernon chapel. There was a chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat. While we were there our daughter Ashley, her husband Vern, and their kids arrived from New York for the weekend and joined us for the festivities. There is a young lady from Africa who is receiving lessons from the Elders and is on date for baptism in December. She had a baby recently and wanted to know if she could have the baby blessed in our church even though she wasn't a member yet. She was told yes, and one of the Elders blessed the baby in Sacrament meeting -- it was a very special occasion. We were sorry to lose track of our good friend who is inactive and had moved from our ward to a town 45 minutes north of us. She called recently and told us she was having the Sister Missionaries come over to teach her about the Gospel, and invited us to attend. The Sisters asked if we would lead off since we knew this young woman better, so we discussed The Plan of Salvation. She couldn't remember that last time she had attended church, but is dedicated to start doing so. "finding" stories: We had a fun experience at the PX. We were at a display looking over some things, and there was a woman doing the same. She looked at our name tags and asked who we were. We said we were missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ. She said she had never heard of us. We said, well maybe you know us better as the "Mormons". She said, she had never heard of the Mormons, but mentioned that she was looking for a church, and asked where our church was located. We looked at each other with a look that said, "Is this real life?" Then we exchanged contact information and have given her information to the Elders who work in her area. Nothing happens by chance! Sister Zabriskie went to get treatment for her back pain and when the therapist saw her name tag, she was very interested in talking religion. She had been taught by the missionaries in Guatemala when she was visiting her grandmother a few years ago but hadn't known how to find the missionaries when she came home. They exchanged contact information and the missionaries in her area have been informed of her request to learn more about the Church. You never know where your best finding moment will be. We helped a woman bring in some things from her car as she was moving into an apartment a few doors down the hall from us. She thanked us for our help, then noticed our name badges and said, "Oh, no wonder you are so kind! You are Mormons!" She told us she was having a hard time and asked us to pray for her. We have talked often since then. When we introduced her to the sister missionaries she surprised us by saying she would like to attend church with us. Why did we wait for her to invite herself? As we were making copies of a Plan of Salvation chart at a UPS store, the woman who was helping us told us about losing 5 babies out of 6 pregnancies. We gave her a copy of the Plan and pointed out the time in the hereafter when she would have a chance to be with those babies again. She said she believed that would happen and asked us to pray for her. We said, "It will be easier for us to pray for you if we have your name and contact information." The other woman there said she had been baptized as a teenager and quit going after she got married. They both gave us contact information and we have been back to visit them several times.

Meeting new missionaries is always enjoyable. On the first of the month, we had the opportunity to pick up a new Sister at the Reagan Airport who was coming from the Philippines. She didn't arrive until midnight, had been traveling for 23 hours, and was completely exhausted. We took her to our apartment to spend the night, and the next day took her to transfers for her first assignment.	Our niece lives in our area, and we were able to attend her wedding. Sister Zabriskie's brother George and his wife Allie who are parents of the bride, were there and we had a nice reunion with them.

Having dinner with the Petersens who are from Utah, with our hostess and friend, Marie who came from Sierra Leone several years ago, and is an amazing cook!	At zone conference with Sister Bonner who is a granddaughter to our neighbors the Simisters. She is a terrific young lady and a great missionary

Our friend Vanida preparing for baptism. She is from Thailand and used to be a Buddhist. She converted to Christianity and has been a member of several other denominations, but said there was something missing in each one. We have been assisting Elders Pullan and Worthington to teach her for over two months.	The Zabriskies with Elders Record and Wilson after teaching a wonderful woman from Sierra Leone

This is beautiful Burke Lake. It is part of a park located on 888 acres. It has a miniature train, carousel, picnicking, miniature-golf, fishing, biking, boating, camping, and a 4.7 mile lake trail.

George Washington's Gristmill We drive past this building several times a week, and decided to stop and check it out. During the 1760s Washington moved away from tobacco cultivation and began to plant more grains, primarily wheat and corn. The gristmill turned these crops into flour and cornmeal. In 1797, alone the mill ground more than 5,000 bushels (275,000 pounds) of wheat and another 3,200 bushels (178,000 pounds) of corn.

We are still volunteering at the USO. We really enjoy being there and associating with so many great people.	From the Washington D.C. South Mission, we hope you are all doing well.

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