Great Grandchild, Exotic Minivan RV, and Temple Prep

 Yea!  We made it through another week here in beautiful San Diego; voted the most expensive place to live in the United States!

This week was a very busy one, but our most memorable event was the birth of our 1st Great Granddaughter!!  Camille Agnes Nagle made her appearance on Friday, December 1st - 6lbs 7 oz, a week premature, but doing pretty well.  The happy parents are Shayden & Lexi Nagle.  There is nothing like the birth of a beautiful innocent child that brings gratitude, reverence, & wonder to an otherwise chaotic world.

We took advantage of our "P" day (preparation day) to do a bike ride around the San Diego Bay.  The weather was another 70 degree sunny day with a light breeze - boy, are we grateful for such a mild climate - as you can see from the photo below, it is like a paradise with the palm trees & sandy beaches!

On our ride, we came across a group of Marine recruits, jogging & singing on the way - we are blessed to have a dedicated Military out there helping to preserve our freedoms!

Along our ride, we came across a very interesting decked out Mini-van  - someone had quite the imagination!

The Young single adults sure like to play volleyball, so the Family Home Evening after starting with a spiritual thought, quickly morphed into some volleyball play for the rest of the night.  We then had the opportunity to sing some Christmas songs with the Chula Vista 1st ward. We were recruited, along with the YSA's, to prepare for the Christmas program (We will join with their Sacrament Meeting on Christmas Eve.)

At Missionary District meeting, since transfers were coming in a week, we took 6 of the young Missionaries out to In n Out fast food place to treat them before some of them would be leaving with a new area & assignment.  As usual, the young Missionaries were polite & grateful. - we sure have a soft spot in our hearts for these young "hero's" dedicating 2 or 1 1/2 years of lives at their expense to serve others & the Lord.

For institute,  Debbie made her Mom's recipe of home made Mac n Cheese - it was a hit as the YSA's gobbled it down.  It is always difficult to know how many YSA's will show up for institute, so we usually make a little too much & get people to take home some of the extra!  The regular institute teacher, Brother McKay is finishing up Elder Neil L Andersen's "The Divine Gift of Forgiveness", which has been an amazing course of study.  Near the end of the book, Elder Andersen counsels us as follows:  "The Greek word for perfection means completed.  We are completing ourselves as we continue the process of becoming.  Moroni exhorts us to 'Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him...that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ'.  If we find ourselves temporarily facing setbacks, we don't become discouraged.  We focus on our love of the Savior and His love for us, and we move forward.  Week by week, year by year, our repentance and resolve draw us closer to Him.  We become more loving, more obedient, more holy in our discipleship.  We feel the power of His Spirit upon us, and we know that our sins are being forgiven.  We pray that one day, through His grace, we might stand clean and pure before Him, our tears wetting His pierced hands and feet."

Wednesday had us doing apartment inspections again!  It seems to come around fairly quickly.  Two of our 5 apartments were kind of messy & dirty, so Debbie had to kindly correct them! Of course, Debbie spoiled them with some treats.  As we also expected, the Sisters seem to always beat the Elders when it comes to cleaner apartments!

After getting home from a Mission assignment on Thursday, Debbie & I had a few free minutes, so we decided to watch an episode of "Amazing Race", so we propped up an old chair to place my tablet on (we don't have a tv set in our small apartment), and sat down on a couple of squeaky old rockers next to it to enjoy the program.  After looking at us, we had to chuckle at the lack of luxury amenities in our "retirement".  Despite this, we seem to be happy serving the Lord, who with His Love mercifully compensates and blesses us as we strive to invite others to come unto Christ.

Saturday night, we had the opportunity to participate in the Senior Missionary fireside at the Mission Office in San Diego- many of the other senior Missionaries were there to enjoy the dinner, gift exchange, & fellowship.  Debbie got a simple, but pretty Nativity set; it was enjoyable.  I had to leave early to participate in a musical evening at the Mobat (Mormon Battalion Historic site), where I got to sing "Away in a manger" with a Missionary ensemble.

Sunday, Debbie & I started to teach a Temple Preparation class to a dozen YSA's during the 2nd hour at Church.  It is an exciting time for the YSA's to contemplate their progress on the covenant path by preparing to receive their own endowment in the Lord's Holy Temple.  They were curious & excited - we love teaching them about this upcoming event in their lives.  President Nelson has taught strongly about the importance of making & keeping our covenants we receive in the temple.  The ordinances of the temple are essential for us to be able to return to our Heavenly Father & live with our Spouse & Family for the eternities!

Later Sunday night, we enjoyed the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional with our Stake with light refreshments afterword,  The Missionaries enjoyed a little fun doing a "live nativity" scene!

Have a wonderful week!