Anchors Away!

What in the world is Jeff Nelson doing now?? He's back on the USNS Mercy! After the first deployment in 2008, Jeff felt he had contributed to a great humanitarian mission. Now, in 2010, the Mercy is headed toward Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Timor Leste, and Jeff is on the way with them.

Jeff will be maintaining computer systems on board, making sure that all medical personnel have access to electronic records so they can treat each man, woman and child with the appropriate care. (Last time he was on the Mercy, Jeff met a few of the patients who had received treatments -- and that alone touched his heart enough to want to return!)

Perhaps the most exciting part of this trip is the fact that LDS Charities is coming along! By the time the ship leaves Guam, there will be 40+ members on board. That's 10 times what came with him in 2008. Jeff met Brother and Sister Hughes (from the San Diego North Stake) on Tuesday, April 27th. They are the group leaders for LDS Charities. Then on Wednesday, as Jeff was walking down the pier toward the ship, he noticed more than 50 pallets of supplies all marked "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" on each box. Apparently the church is sending medical supplies and humanitarian kits to all the locations along the Mercy's mission. (Next time your ward has a "humanitarian kit" activity, just remember that those little zip lock bags are going to places that someone you know and love --namely Jeff Nelson-- has been to and helped distribute them to those who need them!)

Okay, we'll keep you informed! In the meantime, if you want to send Jeff a little note of encouragement, email him at jeff.nelson@mercy.navy.mil

Bon Voyage!

For now, everyone at home (and in South Africa) is waiting and encouraging Jeff to have a productive experience, much like the last one.

Shipping Off

1-I attached the best photo that I took the day USNS Mercy left San Diego. I'm here at the food court of the Navy Exchange in Pearl Harbor, where they have free internet. Love you all!

2-One of two photos of sunset last night that will show how much the Mercy is rolling.

3-Here's the second photo. Set the two of them up as a slide show, and it will give you an idea of "how we roll" on the first full day out (check out the difference in the skyline!).

Visiting Utah

We visited our daughter Rachel and her husband Ross
and our grandson Chase in Woodland Hills, Utah
(near Spanish Fork) in July 2009. Here's a photo
of Chase. Can you tell that that is his toy box?

We saw some deer along a path behind
their backyard; here's a photo of one of them.

Oahu, Hawaii

Venus sets behind the battleship Missouri.

The Arizona Memorial at night.


Sunset over the USS Arizona Memorial, 16 September 2008.


The sun sets over the Arizona memorial, with the flag of USNS Mercy waving in the foreground.


The moon sets over the USS Arizona memorial.


On the morning of 16 September 2008, the sun rises over Oahu.


Some of the Canadians on board USNS Mercy wore their dress uniforms as we entered Pearl Harbor on 15 September 2008. From left to right, Brent, Jessica, Diane, Bethann, and Tara are standing in front of Sideflare 64, the helicopter that was hit by ground fire at Mindanao.

(By the way, Tara, at the right in this photo, earned a degree in theater before she earned her degree in nursing; she was often out taking photos of sunsets at the same time that I was. And Bethann, second from right, who is an anesthesiologist, rearranged her schedule to stay with the Mercy to San Diego (unlike the other folks from Canada and India who all left in Hawaii) so that an anesthesiologist would be on board in case of emergency.)


On our way back home, in Pearl Harbor, USNS Mercy is at a pier even closer to the Missouri and the Arizona Memorial than we were last May.


Sunrise, east of Hawaii, the morning of 13 September 2008.


Moonrise, near the International Date Line, on 12 September 2008.


Sunset on the Pacific just west of the International Date Line (GPS N 20 29.7344 E 179 20.5978) the evening of September 11 2008 San Diego time.)

Guam

Sunset over the Pacific the day that USNS Mercy left Guam.

Jeff's Pirate Cove, on the East Coast of Guam.


A memorial to the working dogs that lost their lives during the liberation of Guam near the end of the Second World War.


Todd Wright, who works at the Naval Hospital at Guam (and accompanied by 4 year old Elizabeth and 2 year old Elana, whose names I have hopefully spelled correctly), took me on a brief tour of some of the sights of Guam.


Here's another frog on Guam; they sit very still in the grass in the dark, and don't even move when their photo is taken with flash.

Goodbye, Chuuk!

The sunset that we saw on our way from Chuuk to Guam (GPS N 11 6.7486 E 148 9.8608).

As the USNS Mercy departs from Chuuk on its way to Guam, it crosses the north boundary of the atoll. Notice the small islands and the surf at the location where the wall of the atoll is just a few meters below the surface of the ocean.


If anyone has ever dreamed about buying a tropical island, I think that I found one in Chuuk that might be affordable, and I even have the location: GPS N 7 30.2350 E 151 54.4753


The last sunset at Chuuk, with Venus as the evening star.

Goodbye Chuuk!

A group of jellyfish floated past USNS Mercy while anchored at Chuuk.


One of the Micronesian turtles that IT3 Tabboga purchased for me at a gift shop called the "Truk Stop" in Chuuk.


Shell takes one last look at Weno Island, at sunset, Chuuk State, Micronesia.


One of USNS Mercy's helicopters practices with rescue swimmers.
In the first photo, a rescue swimmer splashes into the ocean near Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia.


In the second photo, the helicopter brings the rescue swimmer back on board.


A rainstorm near Romonum Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia.


One of USNS Mercy's helicopters lifts off over the blue water and blue sky of Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia.


Another sunset, with Romonum Island in the center, in Chuuk State, Micronesia.


Me, at sunset, on the deck of USNS Mercy, with Weno Island, Chuuk State, Micronesia, in the background.