The USS Cod

On our 42nd anniversary (see previous post), we went on a self guided tour of the USS Cod, a World War II submarine.  This one is the only one left which has not been heavily modified to more readily accommodate tourists.  The Cod is pretty much just as it was during the war.
And it still is service- able. They start it up every month or two, just to keep it in decent condition. But they have to be careful.  There are strict laws against operating any kind of war vessel on any of the Great Lakes.
Look closely at the right and you'll see the periscope. Just like in the movies! "up periscope!"

It is amazing to see how cramped it is in there.  And difficult to imagine that as many as 90 men would man it at any one time.  Makes the two of us living in our RV seem quite palatial!

To the left is a pic of the most important part of the whole sub! And it's bigger than the one we have!

The sub has four huge diesel engines. But, curiously, it is all electric. Huge electric motors actually drive the boat. The diesel engines just power huge generators which provide the electricity and recharge the batteries.

And, of course, something else we always see in the movies are the torpedo tubes. Pictured here are two of the four on board the Cod -- two at each end.

There's not much wasted space in this thing! It is tight quarters everywhere! But we are told that the subs always got the best food. Real top notch, apparently. That must be to make up for the lack of much of anything else!

It was a fun little 'field trip' to go see this special boat!

Happy Forty Second!

Yesterday (Monday, June 27) was our 42nd wedding anniversary. Been a while since we have celebrated one of those at home!

But, we did celebrate! Last night and today (Tuesday is our normal free day).  We started out with dinner and a movie on Monday night and then continued with a couple of fun things on Tuesday.

Here's some pics of a couple of the things we did.

The second picture (the first being anniversary flowers, of course) is of the James A. Garfield mansion in nearby Mentor, Ohio.  It is quite a place!  James Garfield was the 20th President of the United States but was assassinated after only 120 days in office.

The house started as a simple nine room home which the Garfield's added onto and fixed up over a period of a few years. We'll show pictures of the inside in a later post.

From there, we went to the Cleveland Zoo (again). They had the sea lion and seal exhibit back together (it was closed for our first visit) and we were there when they did their daily show. We kind of enjoy zoos.

And then drove over to Lake Erie to visit a nice piece of World War II hardware -- the submarine USS Cod.  A veteran (and champion) of many sea battles, the Cod is the only sub from that era which is still in original condition. And it was really fascinating to walk through the old boat.  We feel better, now, about living in our VERY roomy RV for six months! Boy is it cramped in there!

That's Elder Caldwell as he exited the sub.  It was fun seeing things we had only seen before in movies.

Again, we will show more pics (some of the inside) in subsequent posts.




We had a good time. Tomorrow, we go back to work at Grandpa Johnson's place. That will be fun, too!

A Wonderful Visit

Julie, Dean, Lindsie, DJ, Jarod and Karen (Dean's mother) came to visit us here in Kirtland! And they arrived on Father's Day!  What a great Father's Day gift. And we had an awesome visit! Busy, but awesome!

We were able to show them pretty much everything there is to see in the way of Church historic sites, plus a few extra places thrown in for good measure.  First, we went to Lake Erie and ate lunch at this pavilion in a little park not too far from where we serve.

It was raining but the kids still managed to get in the lake!

Then we went on up the coast to Fairport Harbor Museum and Lighthouse (also on Lake Erie) where members of the Church arrived from the east coast and England. It is also where missionaries left from to go and serve -- like all of the Twelve Apostles!
Sister Caldwell (aka Mom and Grandma - you know who we're talking about) actually went all the way up the lighthouse and out on to the platform! And we didn't get a picture! Rats!


The next day we went out to grandpa Johnson's farm, ate lunch there and then took the tour through the home. It was great! It is a special place in Church history which also happens to be a special place to our family, too.  Three generations of grandchildren were there that day visiting his farm (Mike, Julie and the grandchildren).

It is such a beautiful place and has a special feeling to it.  We really enjoy being able to help take care of the farm as part of our duties.



And the kids finally did get more of an 'official' swim in Lake Erie on Tuesday!

But then we all had to say goodbye on Wednesday morning. Didnt' get any pictures of that. Some things just aren't worth remembering.

It was nice while it lasted!

Kirtland and Mongolia

I, Elder Caldwell, spoke in Sacrament meeting today in the Chardon Branch - the branch we are assigned to attend. It is about 8 miles or so from where our trailer is located.

After the meeting was over, I noticed a couple sort of making a very determined 'beeline' for the front of the chapel, obviously heading in my direction.  Seeing them, I just sort of thought, 'Well, they liked the talk and were coming to say thanks.'  We still don't know people very well in the branch and so it wasn't surprising that I didn't know who they were.

They reached the stand, walked up to me when I had finished a short conversation with another member, and said (to my shock and surprise), "Sain baino uu!"  It took me a minute to realize what I had just heard before I managed to stammer out an appropriate replay.

It seems they were not members of the branch at all. They were just stopping there to attend church on their way to Cumorah, Palmyra, etc.  And they had served in Mongolia just before us!  They are the Baileys and were the English Department couple before the Hitchmough's, whom we were very good friends with.  We actually remembered people mentioning them while we were there.

We talked for 30 minutes or more about all the people we knew there and how was so and so doing, etc.  But then we both had to be on our way to other responsibilities.

It's a small world, indeed!

Flash Back

We know we are in a different mission, now, but we couldn't resist sharing about Elder Hollands recent visit to Mongolia.

Click on the link.

http://lds.org/church/news/elder-holland-instructs-mongolian-saints-missionaries?lang=eng&cid=facebook-shared

Heart Attack!

When we came home today, we found the Sisters had given us a "heart attack".  Last Sunday they talked us into meeting them at Sister Davis' house on Tuesday to help her with some yard work.  Sister Davis is a 78 year old widow.  She is a very sweet lady, so we agreed---despite the fact that yard work is what we do all day long, every day!  We agreed to meet them at 7:00.  We were on time, they arrived at 8:15!  There were four of us, and we pretty much had the weeds pulled by the time they arrived!  I think they were a little embarrassed.  They did help put the weeds in the bags, as they continued to apologize and tell us how much they appreciated us!  How can you get upset with sister missionaries?  They are so cute!

Now here is an interesting side note:  We have been asked to talk in Church Sunday.  The topic:  Finding Joy through Loving Service!  We will find the bright side of all this (by Sunday).

We had one of those HOT and MUGGY days today.  They tell us it will get worse in July and August.  You all may need to pray for us that we will make it through this.  I think if Marcia made it through wearing a long, long-sleeved dress, then there must be hope for us.

We have started leading tours through the sites on Sundays.  We had to read an entire book and then come up with our own presentation that lasts an hour and a half.  We have really enjoyed leading groups around though.  We have many opportunities to share our testimony as we go around.  This past week we had a couple that is not a member of our Church in our group.  They seemed very interested and it was a neat experience to share testimony about prophets and about some of the sacred experiences that happened here in Kirtland.  Working an extra shift on Sunday kind of makes for a long week, but we really look forward to it.  Kind of makes all the hard work in the heat worthwhile.  Plus, we get to stop and point out that we are with the group the keeps the grounds looking so beautiful.