FHE Volleyball night, Miracle during Tropical Storm, Frisbee golf YSA activity, and More!

Miracle during Tropical Storm Hilary:

The young sister Missionaries in Chula Vista shared with us a miracle that happened during Tropical Storm Hilary:  Despite the rainy day, the Sisters attended their Sunday meetings & after the meetings were over, they met a lady who said she was drawn to our Church that day.  The sisters broke the news that the Sunday services had just ended, but that they would love to give her a tour of the building & teach her about the Church at 4PM that afternoon.  The lady said sure & that she would be back at 4PM.  So the sisters returned a little before 4PM & there wasn't any lady there; after waiting for 15 minutes, they were just about to leave & guess who shows up!  Yes, the lady.  She explained that she had been invited to the Jehovah Witness church but that she didn't feel quite right about it so she felt prompted to come to our church.  The sisters proceeded to give her a tour of the building and when they showed her the baptismal font explaining that this is where we make promises to Jesus Christ, she said that it was the most beautiful thing she had seen!  After teaching her about the restoration of Christ's church, she was excited to share this with her family so the sisters put her on "date" for baptism on September 16th!!  Even tropical storm Hilary couldn't stop the gathering of Israel from happening!!  Here is a picture of Sister Corno & Hull:

Some creative Missionaries put together a short video about the storm & what they did:

https://fb.watch/mHF2gW0sZ7/?mibextid=9R9pXO

Well, by Monday night, the tropical storm was over, so we had our regular YSA FHE night at the Church & played some fun volleyball with probably 30 YSA's that showed up - I think I love working with the YSA's.  Anyway, we had a great time mingling with the group and learning a little more about gravity & volleyball.  (Yes, gravity prevents me from jumping very high - ha, ha!)

On Tuesday we had an institute class with the YSA's and furnished Dinner for approximately 20 people - Debbie made Hawaiian haystacks and watermelon - it was a hit.  Sister Hardy is getting a reputation for making GOOD food - the YSA's love to eat free food!!!!  Brother McKay (the institute teacher) has a great rapport with the students & we had a spiritual lesson about forgiveness based on the new book by Elder Anderson called "The Divine Gift of Forgiveness".  A big take away was that it is harder to be forgiving until we try to see our "enemy" in the way that God sees him/her as a child of God.

On Friday, we sponsored a YSA frisbee golf activity for the YSA's.  We brought our homemade frisbee golf set from home and set it up at the Church - after buying a few more frisbee's, we ended up with a successful activity followed with Rice Krispie Treats - again the YSA's love food!

Finally, we experienced a minor miracle playing pickleball this past week.  Debbie & I decided that we needed to exercise more faith in striving to find people that we could share the gospel with, so before we left for pickleball, we knelt down and prayed that Terri (who said she liked our Church, but we hadn't seen for a couple weeks) would be there & that we might be able to share a message.  Soon after we arrived at the pickleball courts, Terri showed up and Debbie was able to invite her to come to Church.  Also, another man named Loy came up to me, examined my name tag & told me that he was Catholic, but that he didn't like the their Priests and wondered what our beliefs were.  I was able to share with him a pamphlet about the Plan of Salvation for him to read!  Prayer works!!

Today, Debbie and I spoke in Sacrament Meeting in the YSA ward - We spoke about advice & counsel for YSA's and the power of covenants to bless their lives.  The Lord has blessed us with a love for the young people of the Church and we pray for their success!

 Beach Clean-up, Chicken Legs, Forgiveness, Zone Conference, Institute Party and Hurricane

We're learning more about San Diego and loving it!  The people are friendly, and the weather is amazing!  Except when a hurricane hits the west coast.  More about that later.

We met with the Stake President last Sunday.  There are a lot of YSA's that attend the family wards, and he would like to see them come to our activities and to Institute class.  There are also a few new YSA converts.  We will be working with them helping them to progress on the Covenant Path.  

Monday is our P-day so we decided to go for a bike ride and check out the bike paths.  (We brought our bikes back with us when we returned from Utah last week.) There are bike lanes on most of the major roads, but very few bike trails like what we have in St. George and the Springwater Trail in Portland.  There are some packed gravel paths next to some of the roads, but they don't connect very well, so it seems we were having to find a crossing or go up and down curbs and cutting across streets to get to the other side.  We need to look for other areas to ride that might be better.  We had a fun time and enjoyed getting on our bikes. 

For Family Home Evening, we met at Mission Beach for a service activity.  By the time we found the group, the sun was setting.  So we put on our latex gloves, grabbed a garbage bag and picked up as much trash as we could before it got too dark to see.  It is so amazing to us that a couple of old geezers like us get to hang out with these amazing youngsters.  

Tuesday night is Institute night.  I made Chicken Legs, Baked Beans and Sand Lake Inn cookies.  I had never cooked chicken legs before.  I found a recipe online, and it turned out to be delicious.  The students really liked them.  And, of course, they loved the Sand Lake Inn cookies - they are the best.  I  noticed that I'm starting to remember their names and can associate something with a lot of the students.  I've been wondering if that would ever happen.  

The teacher is starting a new course of study for this Fall.  He is teaching from the book written by Elder Anderson titled, "The Divine Gift of Forgiveness".  I'm excited to be able to participate in learning.  Here's a quote from Elder Anderson"  

"Repentance is the perfect spiritual remedy for sin.  Each sin we leave behind through our faith in the living Christ - both those of commission and those of omission- opens spiritual doors."

Wednesday and Thursday was Zone Conference.  The mission is in the process of trying to update all the apartment emergency back packs.  We helped empty and refill backpacks on Wednesday.  Each apartment should have a backpack and 6 gallons of water in case of emergency.  Little did we know that we would have a Tropical Storm arrive this weekend!  

On our drive home we decided to take a little scenic drive and drove over to Imperial Beach and the Silver Strand.  We have some YSA's that live in this area.  The beaches here are white sand beaches and are beautiful.  

Our District decided to have a District Family Home Evening on Wednesday nights.  So we drove over to the Church (about the time we might be thinking of putting on our PJ's) and had a spiritual thought and games with the missionaries.  It's always a good time when we get to hang out with the missionaries.

Thursday was our turn to attend Zone Conference with our Zone.  We were blessed to hear from our Mission Leaders, our AP's (the Assistants to the President), and the Sister Trainer Leaders.  After lunch we had some break out classes.  I came away with a desire to improve my personal study, Stan and I want to read Preach My Gospel together and practice role playing, and to improve on my personal prayers.  

President Merritt said that when he and his wife were attending the Mission Leader Training at the MTC before they began their service, President Nelson counseled them to pray in their closets often.  Prayer is such an important part of missionary work.  We can't do it without the Lord's help.

This is a picture of the missionaries singing our mission song.  They are so loving and supportive of each other.

On Thursday we saw in the news that Hurricane Hilary is on her way up Baja California and southern California.  We decided to make a Costco run and fill up with gas to be ready.  

Friday was the big back to school Fall Institute Party.  It was held at the San Diego State Univ. Institute building.  We went early and helped set-up and make cookies.  It was a really fun party with food, Karaoke, Axe Throwing, Corn Hole, Fried Twinkies (Yuk!), and other games.  There were about 40 students who attended and they all seemed to have a good time.  After clean up, we arrived home with our weary bodies about 10 pm.  It was a fun day!

The Hurricane was predicted to hit this area on Sunday, so we ran to Home Depot on Saturday to pick up a couple things.  While we were in line, we started talking to the couple in front of us.  I found their comment kind of funny; they said the people in San Diego are pampered with such perfect weather that they don't know what to do with a storm coming in!  I guess it's good to have a little adversity so they can learn!

We just had a couple sister missionaries come over.  One needed a repair job on a torn bag.  Glad I brought my sewing machine.  Missionaries have their own language.  They have an acronym or shortened saying for many words.  Here are a few examples:  Ghosting - this is when they have an initial contact with someone and get their phone #, but then can't get ahold of them later - it's like they are a ghost, never existed!  Sus - suspicious.  This is a person they meet, get their info, and find out all they want is some food or help.  Yellow Dot - kind of like 'ghosting', the missionaries can't get ahold of them.  They have various colors of dots that mean different stages of teaching.  Anyway, we're learning all kinds of things.  

The hurricane had turned into a tropical storm by the time it arrived in our area.  We've had wind and rain this afternoon, but nothing worse than a typical rain storm in Portland.  We are safe and appreciate all your prayers and concerns for our well being.  

Grandson Wedding, Pickleball clinic, Kyle & Kellie visit

 This week was eventful!!  We received a visit from our Son & daughter-in-law & family (6 kids!) coming from Oregon on a family reunion trip to San Diego - we knew that  we would get more visits on this Mission in San Diego versus our last Mission during COVID in New Jersey!! It was great to see them & get to visit on our "P" day.

We visited the Mormon Battalion historic site & learned of the valiant group of early Church pioneers who stepped up to serve their beloved country in the Mexican American War while crossing the plains leaving many women & children to bear the journey without their husbands.  This they did, despite been mistreated by their own country who rejected their pleas earlier for reparations for the persecutions and destruction of property by the lawless mobs & the murder of the Prophet Joseph Smith & brother Hyrum.

We found that my 2nd Great Grandfather, Silas Harris was one of those volunteers who served the entire time from 1846-1847, starting in Iowa and ending in Los Angeles, California, a virtual 2,000 mile march.  

The Mormon Battalion historic site is well worth visiting - cudos to Brad & Dantzelle Allen who served as Mission Leaders there for several years!!

The YSA Ward asked Debbie & I to conduct a pickleball clinic for them as a Family Home Evening activity on Monday night, so we were HAPPY to help - it turned out to be a successful activity with more than 30 coming to learn something about the game of Pickleball!!

After receiving permission from our Mission Leader, Debbie & I were able to take a few days to attend the marriage & sealing of our Grandson, Jamen Johnson & his bride Courtney in the Payson Temple - this was the highlight of our week to see the "capstone" ordinance & covenant step in the Temple of the Lord.  We invite others to come unto Christ, so that they can experience the greatest joy that God intends to bestow upon His children which is the opportunity of being sealed to your spouse for all eternity and to bind families together - this is the crown jewel of mortality & eternal life.  The Spirit was strong & the counsel was wonderful from the Sealer - Jamen & Courtney were beaming with joy and gratitude.  The Sealer reminded them that Marriage between a man and a woman is really a covenant of 3 people - Husband, Wife, and the Lord - when the Lord is part of this covenant, it can be binding forever because of His power & His atonement on our behalf, as we strive to let the Lord prevail in our lives & follow Him.

We are getting to know the YSA's a little better now & learning to love them.  They are such a fun group and have so much life in front of them during this "decade of important decisions".  We are grateful that the Lord in His mercy has led us here on this Mission & hope to be able to accomplish His purposes in the lives of these precious souls!

District Council, FHE Art Project, Cheri & Rob, Institute, Anissa, Breakfast, Dinner with Mission Leaders, Olympic Training Center, Glow in the dark Capture the Flag

We attended our first District Council Meeting on Monday.  We will meet once a week with this group of Sisters and Elders.  Each week, the District Leader selects a section from Preach My Gospel to give instruction and have a discussion.  We are so impressed with the maturity of these young missionaries.  The are mature, responsible and filled with the spirit.  When I see young people like these young missionaries, I feel like the future of the Church and the world is in good hands.  The meeting ended with everyone sharing their testimony of Jesus Christ.  I brought homemade chocolate chip cookies for a treat; they were well accepted!

Every Monday evening we have a Family Home Evening with the young adults.  Just before the opening prayer, Elder Hardy was asked to give a spiritual thought.  He didn't bat an eye, and shared a message with the young adults reminding them that they are each a child of God, and how God knows and loves each one individually.  Then, we were off to painting with Bob Ross, a PBS phenomena.  We each had a canvas, paints and brushes and used our creativity to paint trees with a bridge and a waterfall.  It was a successful activity as there was much interaction among everyone.  I loved that they weren't glued to their phones, but were talking and laughing and having fun together.

Tuesday morning we were doing our morning exercise at our apartment complex gym, when we got a text from Cheri & Rob (Stan's sister and brother-in-law).  They were in Coronado.  We cut short our exercise, went home and showered, and put together spaghetti sauce in the crock pot (for Institute dinner tonight) and headed over to Coronado Island.  We picked them up and enjoyed lunch together and then drove over to Point Loma.  This is the best location to get great photos of Coronado Island and the ocean.  

The most impressive part of the drive is the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  There are over 120,000 white markers signifying Veterans who have been buried there.  It is a peaceful thought provoking location.  We certainly owe much to all those who've served and died so we can enjoy our freedoms.

Tuesday evening is Institute night for the young adults.  It is tradition that dinner is provided for them before the lesson begins.  So I prepared a spaghetti dinner for about 20 (they never know how many attend).  Some arrived in time to eat before the lesson, but most ate afterwards.  I forgot to count how many were there, but we bagged up and gave away any leftovers.  They have a CES (Church Education System) instructor, Brother Mackay.  He was excellent.  He talked about justification and the atonement.  It was a great lesson along with the discussion; the spirit was present.  

Before the meeting, Stan got a text from one of the young men - he needed a ride.  Stan took off to pick him up while I finished the food preparation and set-up.  Well, come to find out, he lives off of the last exit before going into Mexico!  Stan was grateful he didn't miss the exit!  After cleaning up and then taking the young man home, we didn't get home until going on 10 pm!  The life of YSA Senior Missionaries!

Wednesday afternoon we joined the Elders for a lesson with a young lady named Anissa.  We were all to meet her at a park.  We arrived at the same time as the Elders, and she walked up and said she had a surprise for us.  She had walked to In & Out Burger, bought 4 large drinks, 4 burgers, and 4 massive containers of frys, and then carried them all to the park.  What a sweetheart.  I loved the lesson.  The Elders did such a good job teaching about receiving the Holy Ghost.  Stan and I shared our testimonies and experiences that we've had with the Holy Ghost.  I really felt the spirit, and asked Anissa if she did, too.  I know that she's learning to recognize the Spirit.  She's a sweet girl.  She has set a date for baptism, January 4!.  The Elders are hoping that as she progresses, she'll want to move it sooner, but this is a start.

On Thursday morning we invited the missionaries that live in our apartment complex over for breakfast.  Transfers are this week, and two of them are being transferred out of our Zone.  I made Breakfast Burritos and fruit.  Afterwards, Stan on his cello and Elder Poulson on the piano (an accomplished pianist) played a few numbers; The Mission, and As Now We Take the Sacrament.  Music sure brings the spirit into the room.

Thursday evening we drove over to the Mission Home and had dinner with our mission leaders, President and Sister Merritt.  It was great getting to know them better.  Stan brought his cello along, as Sister Merritt has a degree in music and is an excellent pianist.  Once again music brings the spirit.  I am so blessed.

We live just off a main road called Olympic Parkway.  We've wondered why the title, and found out that at the end of the Parkway is an Olympic Training Center.  We didn't have much going on on Friday, so we drove a few miles down the road to the training center.  It is a 155 acre complex with multiple sport training venues; beach volleyball, rowing (Otay Lake borders the property), archery, rugby, track events, BMX bike courses and extensive weight and conditioning facilities.  There is a mile long walkway down the center of the property.  We were pretty impressed.  This must be the off season though, because we hardly saw anyone.

Friday evening is activity night.  Glow in the Dark Capture the Flag was the event.  Stan was a good sport and joined in;  Team Hardy won, of course!

We feel truly blessed to be serving with these young people. They are a fun loving group!  As different as they all are, they seem to really love each other and get along well.  As we continue learning their names and about them individually, our hope and prayer is that we can make a difference in their lives.  I know they have already blessed our lives.