Music, Tiffany (aka?), & Sister Taylor Talbot

Music

Once a month our mission combines with the Mormon Battalion Historical Mission to put on a program of music and narration.  It is called "Inspire", and this month's theme was "Thanksgiving".  Two to three weeks before the program, Sister Merritt (our mission president's wife, who has a strong music background) gave Stan some music for "All Creatures of our God and King" and asked him to write a violin and cello part to go along with the piano and chorus.  

He has spent hours upon hours learning a program to write music (Symphony).  She would tell him what she wanted, he would try to interpret what he thought she wanted.  He had about four rewrites before he got it close to what she was looking for.  

There was another song, "Gratitude", that she wanted a cello part added in to go with the guitar and a vocalist.  There wasn't any music, just a YouTube video to watch.  So he listened to it over and over trying to add in a cello part.

Last Friday was the Inspire Fireside.  It was well attended, and the music was beautiful and enjoyed by all who attended, even though there was a small glitch at the beginning of the program!  The first song began with a cello and violin solo, with the piano coming in after a few measures.  Everything was wonderful until the piano came in.  I could tell something was off, and Stan looked confused.  After a few measures, Sister Merritt got up from the piano and walked over to the microphone.  She apologized.  Apparently the piano, a digital piano, had been set with the notes transposed to a different key!  After that was discovered and she set it right, the rest of the program was very lovely.  Stan was so glad when that evening was over!  He sure learned a lot from this experience!

Tiffany (aka?)

We had Zone Conference this last week.  ZC's are always a spiritual experience as well as fun to see all the missionaries.  After the conference, Stan had a music rehearsal.  While I was waiting, I saw an Elder that I recognized.  On a previous Blog post, we had mentioned about a lesson that we had participated in over Zoom with a young woman named Tiffany.  She is deaf, so the Elders had an ASL Elder (the one I met in the hallway) join in to do Sign Language so she could be taught.  After this lesson, she chose to go to the ASL Branch, so I hadn't heard anything of her since.  Upon recognizing this Elder, I asked him whatever happened to Tiffany; I was curious if she had been baptized, because she had seemed very interested.  

So he stands back and said he had an interesting story to tell me.  Apparently "Tiffany", or whatever her real name is, has been baptized at least 8 times!  I guess there is a private Facebook group that lists people for the missionaries not to contact.  This Elder's companion was looking on the list in Facebook, and saw Tiffany's picture.  This is where they found out that she has been all over the country and has had the missionary lessons and has been baptized multiple times, upwards of 8 or 9 times!   They had to politely ask her to not contact the missionaries any more!  I've never heard of a "Serial Baptizee"! 

Sister Taylor Talbot

You may recall that we've written about Sister Talbot in a previous blog.  She is a Service Missionary who is also a Paralympian.  She is visually impaired caused by an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa.  Since the age of 2, she has been losing her vision.  She is now 23 and is blind in one eye, and in her other eye, she said it's like looking through a straw with only 5% vision!  She has a guide dog named Fargo, that is by her side most of the time.  I would like to briefly share her story, which she shared at a Fireside that she spoke at this evening.

Taylor began to gradually lose her vision beginning at a very young age.  By the time she was in high school, she became pretty angry and didn't understand why she had this eye disease that kept her from being like her friends. She prayed everyday that God would restore her vision so she could be happy.

One day, while she was reading in the Book of Mormon, she felt God's love for her, and she knew that she didn't need to be healed to be happy.  She knew that God had blessed her with gifts and talents to be able to be a force for good in her life, even though she was blind.

Her family loves track and field - her parents and three younger siblings all have been involved in track.  Taylor has been running track events since she was very small, so when a friend of hers suggested she apply to be in the Paralympics, she thought he was crazy!  She has also always wanted to serve a mission, but wasn't sure how that would fit into her life.  After much thought and prayer, she felt that she should go ahead and apply to be in the Paralympics.  During this time, she was called into the Stake Presidents office.  He told her that the Lord wanted her to serve a mission, but that it would be a mission unique to her.  She was called to serve a full-time Service mission to represent Jesus Christ and the Church combined with her sport.  She has been been running races as a Paralympian and serving as a representative of Jesus Christ ever since.  She has raced in many countries throughout the world.  Because of this, she spends a lot of time in airports.  She tells a story of a time that she was waiting at a gate for her flight, when someone came up to her and asked about her belief in Jesus Christ (they must have noticed her missionary tag).  So Taylor began to explain her belief in Christ.  While they were talking, someone overheard them and joined in the conversation about Christ.  She said that soon a big group of people had all joined in the conversation and many were bearing testimony of their belief and love for Jesus Christ.  She said that she has had many opportunities to share messages of Jesus Christ and His Gospel in her travels.  She even gives Firesides in some of the places and countries she has traveled with the Paralympics.  She has been a Paralympian for two years and a missionary for one year.

This year she has felt the strong prompting that she needed to change her focus from running track to participating in Triathlons, through the Paralympics.  I won't go into all the reasons and promptings and miracles she has experienced in making this change, but I want to share some of the lessons she has learned from being a triathlete.

As a visually impaired person, Taylor said it's impossible for her to do a triathlon by herself.  So the paralympic triathletes are given a "Guide".  This person is a qualified athlete who has been versed on the rules of  what they can and cannot do as a guide.  Taylor shared with us all the parallels she has made with her Guide and with the Plan of Salvation.

She shared with us that the Guide is always with her throughout the entire race.  The Lord, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are always there for us.  She said that during the swim portion of the race she is tethered to her Guide.  There is a cord tied to each of their upper thighs.  The Guide told her that she wouldn't be able to see or hear during the swim portion but that she would feel a gentle tug to keep her going the right direction; just as the Holy Ghost gives us or prompts us with gentle feelings when we are getting off course.  During the cycling portion, the Guide would take the front position on a tandem bike and Taylor was the stoker on the back.  The Guide would speak to her in a normal voice telling her the direction they were going or when they needed to make a turn.  Taylor had to tune in to her voice, and shut out all the other sounds around her.  This is an example of what we need to do to hear the Spirit speak to us. When they transitioned to the run, they were tethered at the waist with a short cord.  The Guide was not allowed to pull or force her along, but gently would lead her and speak to her in a soft voice, saying, "Come to me", until Taylor followed her direction.  Taylor shared that the Savior is always with us, saying, "Come Follow Me".  He will lead us to the finish line; back to Him.  Our part is to follow and keep His commandments and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  I loved listening to her stories and how she ties her experiences into the Gospel teachings.   

She will be leaving us to move to Arizona for the Triathlon training later this month.  She wanted to have a Farewell party so we opened up the Institute Saturday evening with some food and activities to celebrate her new adventure.  She will soon be transferring to the mission in Arizona.  Hers is a unique mission by sharing the Gospel in giving Firesides and speaking in conjunction with her sport.   

She has been an inspiration to many and we're grateful that we had a short time to get to know her.  She is a pretty independent young woman, and looks forward to her new adventures.  

Here's a picture of her faithful companion, Fargo.  See if you can zoom in and see his missionary tag!

This is a picture of our YSA Ward after Taylor spoke in Sacrament meeting.  She is loved and supported by this group.  I know that as the people in Arizona get to know her, they will love her, too.

Halloween, Charcuterie tray, Celebration of Life, and more!

 Here it is the end of the week again; I know we were busy but I can't remember what we did! Oh well, here goes.  Monday turned out to be a practice afternoon with Sister Merritt (Mission Leader Spouse) and some of the young Missionaries to prepare for an "Inspire" night at the MOBAT (Mormon Battalion), which is a night of inspirational messages and music.  Sister Merritt found a vocal rendition of "All Creatures of our God & King" and wanted me to add cello & violin parts.  This required me to come up with the parts & then print them out with a software program called "finale".  There is a learning curve with this program, & I was pulling out my hair trying to get it done in time for the practice, but only got about 3/4 the way through before the practice, only to find out that her mind & my mind had different versions in "mind".  I guess I was having trouble reading her mind!!  Hopefully the next practice will be better!

Monday night was a "Halloween fun" night with the YSA's.  We ended up playing games with the YSA's at the Church.

We had an opportunity to meet with our Missionary district to counsel together & role play.  Debbie played the "good friend" and I played the "disruptive friend" trying to come up with random tough questions for them to explain in a gospel context. This was a lot of fun trying to trick and fluster the Young Missionaries 😁.  I guess that the Lord's hand was in this as well, because one of the Sisters said that the very question that I asked them came up when they were teaching one of their friends a gospel lesson this last week!!  Debbie then proceeded to wow them with a Charcuterie tray for treats that she had diligently prepared.

Later on that day, we had a very heartwarming new member lesson with one of the newly baptized members of our Ward; Eric.  Eric is the very epitome of a golden contact - he is humble, teachable, focused on Christ, and becoming a life long disciple of Jesus Christ.  I truly believe that he is one of the many "choice" spirits that God reserved to come forth in this difficult time on earth.  He asks intelligent questions & listens to the Spirit - something that we are all trying to do.  What a great blessing it is that the Savior would trust us to help spiritually guide one of His children on the covenant path!

For most of the rest of the week, we received permission from our Mission Leader to fly back to Utah to attend the funeral of a dear Brother-in-Law who died this last week - Mike Munsee, husband of Debbie's sister, Dixie.  Although Mike had been sick quite a bit over the last few years, it was still a shock to receive a text that he had passed away peacefully.  Mike was a great example of service that he gave to many people - he was honest, hardworking, & loved & cared deeply for God & his neighbor.  He had a trucking service & parts business for many years, and his employees had become a second family to him.  The "celebration of life" service was beautiful and his casket was taken to the burial site on one of his favorite trucks! We will miss him! The best comfort we had was the strong spirit that was there, testifying to us that God's plan of happiness extends life beyond the veil and that death is not the end, but that our Spirits return to that God who gave us life, to await the Resurrection when we will receive our bodies back, but glorified, perfected, & immortal. The scriptures tell us that not a "hair of our head" will be lost.  Those who have chosen to repent & follow Jesus Christ on the covenant path will be in a joyful place.

After arriving back to Chula Vista, we had an opportunity Saturday night to host a Senior Missionary Family Home Evening.  Our theme was "gratitude" and after a wonderful potluck dinner, we had songs of gratitude with Guitar, cello, and piano numbers, followed by a testimony from departing Senior Missionaries & verbal messages of thankfulness.  There is a wonderful bond of love that develops with our fellow Senior Missionaries - we are all striving to do the most fulfilling work there is - to invite others to come unto Christ.  We are so grateful to be a small part of the Lord's merciful army!

We also loved giving rides to and from Church for the "friends" that the Missionaries are teaching.  Today, while giving Antoine (a Haitian young single adult just 4 months in the United States) a ride home, he asked us how he can be baptized into the Church!  We encouraged him to continue to read & pray about the Book of Mormon, and keep meeting with the Missionaries.  We believe that these choice young people are being "found" through the hand of the Lord - miracles are alive & well in the Lord's Church.

Hurrah for Israel!!

Have a great week!

Lessons, 47th Anniversary, YSA Halloween Dance 

We have a new set of YSA missionaries - Sisters!  And boy, oh boy, are they on fire!  Sister Draney (from Florida) is on her last transfer, and her goal is to work as hard as she can to finish up her mission.  Sister Snow (from Farmington, UT) is about half way on her mission, and is following Sister Draney's lead.  They make a good pair.  We had three opportunities to meet them for lessons this week.

    1. Anissa - we've known her pretty much since we arrived here.  She's been taught by the Elders for some time.  She finally set a baptism date for the first week of January (I think she did this just to please the Elders).  She's a fun girl, about 19 years old.  I feel that she likes a lot of things about the Church and doctrines, but she says she hasn't felt the confirmation to know for sure.  She goes to Mexico every weekend with her family, so she hasn't been to Church.  Today the missionaries told me that she's trying to decide between two churches!  

    2. Eli - this young man seems to be a golden contact.  He loves the Lord and prays everyday and throughout the day.  He reads the Bible faithfully, so hopefully we can help him to start reading the Book of Mormon.  I love bearing testimony of my love for the Book of Mormon.  I love the Spirit I feel when we're in lessons. The Sisters invited him to Church, but he had some commitments on Sunday morning with family, so wasn't sure if he would make it.  He didn't make it!

    3. Will - he met us at the Church.  Will was baptized earlier this year, came to Church for about a month and hasn't been back.  He's a fun guy - he loves shoes!  We read from 3 Nephi 11 with him, and had a good discussion. The Sister's invited him to Church, but didn't show up.  

I know the Sister's invited others to Church as well, but none of those they taught showed up.  I'm sure they are disappointed, but that's part of being a missionary.  I think of Christ when he  went around teaching people.  Not everyone accepted him and his teachings.  He experienced a lot of rejection.

We drove up to the La Jolla Institute on Wednesday to meet with the Stringham's, a Senior couple that works with the La Jolla YSA's.  Elder Stringham is really good at finding addresses and figuring out how to get in touch withe the YSA's that we can't find.  So while he taught Stan the tricks he's learned, Sister Stringham and I had a nice visit.  We found out this week that we are going to be working with them in feeding the missionaries at some of the training meetings they have at the San Diego Mission Valley Church building beginning in December.  The Senior couples that have been doing it are going home in a few weeks. 

We celebrated our anniversary this week.  Forty-seven years ago we were sealed by the power of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood in the Salt Lake Temple.  President Nelson says this date is more important than our birth or death dates.  Why?  "Because the very reason the earth was created was so families could be formed and sealed to each other.  Salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter.  No one can be exalted alone."

In celebration of our 47th Anniversary, we went into San Diego to the Embarcadero where the USS Midway Museum is located.  We enjoyed a seafood dinner at the Seafood Market Restaurant next to the San Diego Harbor.  Our table was next to the water where we had a perfect view of the sailboats, Navy ships, and other watercraft in the area.  After dinner we walked over to the Midway, where we had tickets to attend a concert from the Candlelight concert series.  This is a series of concerts played by various  musicians  and genres of music at different venues in the San Diego area. They are all played by candlelight!   This particular concert was located in the USS Midway with a string quartet playing music composed by Hans Zimmer, who writes music for many of the famous movies like Lion King, Inception, and Pirates of the Caribbean and many more.  We really enjoyed the talent of the musicians (the cellist was amazing), being on the Midway, and the ambiance of the lighted candles with the lights turned low.

                                        

 

Friday evening we went to a Regional YSA Halloween Dinner and Dance.  We were trying to figure out what to do for costumes and what to dress up as - what do you think?  

Some of the young people had pretty creative costumes; the guy in the shower was pretty amazing!  There was a costume contest with $10 gift cards from In 'n Out; the Senior missionaries were the judges.  Here is a picture of some of them:

I'll end with a scripture that impressed me in my reading this week.  "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and love, and of sound mind.  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord..."  2 Timothy 1:7-8

Painted pumpkins, Angels, & departing Missionary testimonies

 Greetings from the land of gorgeous weather!  The weather here in Chula Vista has been continuously beautiful, typically with sunshine & in the 70's...... virtually every day - although we do usually get a little marine layer of clouds for an hour or two in the mornings - we have really enjoyed the mild climate. 😊😊😊.

Our FHE activity with the YSA's on Monday night (after a spiritual thought) was to paint pumpkins - I am always amazed & a little jealous of their creativity & artistry (I wasn't blessed with much!):

On Tuesday, we had the last district meeting with the young Missionaries before transfers, so we offered to take them all out to In n Out for lunch - they were excited!!  They were even more excited when we told them they could have anything on the menu, including shakes!!!  It is great to be considered their friends & they rewarded us with happy smiles:

Debbie prepared dinner for our institute class again - some baked herb chicken legs, mashed potatoes with gravy, and string beans with bacon.  One of the eager students piled about 6 chicken legs on his plate & another YSA student came after class was over, just to eat the dinner that was prepared!  I think Sister Hardy is spoiling the youngsters!

The lesson this week was on how the angels in Heaven assist & help us in our repentance process, & how this can happen in people's lives. In Elder Neil Andersen's book, " The Divine Gift of Forgiveness",  Chapter 17 discusses how Angels "office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance"  and that "Angels have been part of the Lord's work throughout the history of time..... and that [they will be] round about you, to bear you up".  "Many times those most interested in our welfare are those connected to us but are now beyond the veil."  Elder Andersen  reminded us of the touching story that President Nelson shared with us in the April 2016 General conference about two angel daughters who intervened to accelerate the repentance and bless the lives of their good father and brother!  

We had the opportunity on Thursday to go to the Mission devotional & departing Elders testimony meeting.  It was a choice experience to hear the strong testimonies of those Missionaries.  Some of the messages included:

1. One Elder during his Mission was prompted with this question, "Did you come on this Mission to serve or be served?  This helped him to re-dedicate his service.
2. Another Elder said that we need to "seek that Jesus".
3. Another said even though it might be a cliche, "This has been the BEST 2 years of my life."
4. Another was grateful for the life experiences that he has learned.
5. "The Lord was always with me & has not left my side."
6. "I have seen many miracles in people's lives as they accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ".
7. "Jesus has saved me; He has redeemed me".

President Merritt, our Mission Leader reminded the Missionaries that "The Lord can't drive a parked car!"  The Spirit is strong in the Missionary meetings & I am convinced that there is nothing more edifying, testimony building, joyful, preparatory for life, marriage, and eternity than for a young man or young woman to serve that Lord for 2 or 1 1/2 years.  Many Missionaries come into the Mission field a little timid & shy, but leave with confidence, and a strong testimony & witness that God lives & He has a plan for each of us.

I am also amazed at how the Church can adapt many situations to help Seniors fulfill Missions.  One of the Senior Missionary couples in the Mission here is a "threesome"!  They have a twenty something handicap down syndrome child (Amy) that they care for, so the Lord called all THREE of them on a mission here together!  Amy proudly wears the Mission badge & is helpful with the Mission effort!

Amy & her parents are the 3 in the middle:

Friday night was another fun YSA volleyball activity.  They seem to like volleyball & soccer the best when it comes to sports:

Saturday gave another chance to do some "Seek & Finds" with the hundreds of names of YSA's that are "lost" - most of the addresses we go to are not current & the occupant can't or won't tell us where they are!  But sometimes we find one & invite them to the activities, institute and Church, so the Lord has blessed us.  

We are grateful to be here & hope to be able to make a difference in some young person's life.  We are trying to THINK CELESTIAL!!

Apartment Inspections, Inspire, Baptisms, Stake Conference, and Jail Part 2

This week has brought us a few new experiences.  I think a mission is like that - you never know from day to day what you might be asked to do or what comes along.  We're grateful for opportunities to serve and help out in many different ways.

The week before Transfers we have been asked to inspect the young missionaries apartments.  We were originally assigned six apartments to inspect in our area, but one of the Senior couples had to go home early, so we've been asked to inspect another six apartments in El Cajon, which is about a 30 minute drive north east of us. Stan calls and sets up appointments with the missionaries about a week before so they have us on their schedule, and (hopefully) we meet them with a clean apartment.  We are looking for general cleanliness, we check to see if they have any problems with plumbing, furnishings or  anything else, and basically check on their well being.  We have a check list we go through, and spend a few  minutes teaching them how to clean certain things if they aren't up to spec!  When we arrive, we have a prayer with them, and at the end, if there is time, we ask them to share something they've learned from their scripture study or something unique that's happened that week.  Before we leave, we give them a bag with some treats.  This time we also included the following handout for them to put on their door.  They all really liked it!

Think Celestial!

We were on our second day of inspections, about half way through the day, when we arrived at an apartment of Elders - 4 Elders plus an extra one (he's a traveling Elder who moves around to different apartments every three days or so to help them with their teaching).  Stan started talking with the Elders so I began my inspection of the apartment.  As I walked into the bathroom, this is what I found:

I was shocked, to say the least.  I called for the Elder's to come into the bathroom - they were all chuckling and laughing.  I realized the joke was on me!  Like I said, you never know what you'll find.  Here's a picture of the guilty Elders; don't you just love those smiles :)

Friday evening we attended an Inspire program of music and narration at the Mormon Battalion in Old Town San Diego.  This program is held every month and is put on by the missionaries.  They have a different theme every month.  This month it was "Peace in Jesus Christ".  This was the perfect theme following a week of declared war in Israel.  The titles of the music were "Where Can I Turn for Peace", "Shalom" (a Hebrew word meaning Peace), "Peace in Christ", "Peace, Peace Be Still", and "Let There Be Peace on Earth".  I was so moved by this theme.  I kept thinking about the people in Israel and Gaza and the turmoil they must be in with being suddenly thrown into war.  Even though the world is in chaos, we can have Peace, through Jesus Christ.  I'm grateful for the spirit that I felt that testified this truth to me that evening.

We were blessed to attend two baptisms on Saturday.  One was a man, Kim, that will attend the family ward that meets before us, and the other was a young man, Eric, that will be joining our YSA Ward.  Both men were so happy after they were baptized.  Kim exclaimed "that was great" and "thank you" after he rose out of the water.  Eric also rejoiced as he came up out of the water.  They were both glowing with the spirit.  Here is a picture of Eric with Elders Shelley & Johnson, who taught him, and Kale', who baptized him.  Kale' is a new member himself.  He was just baptized about 11 months ago!  It's so wonderful to see the progress and enthusiasm of these vibrant new members.

We attended Stake Conference this weekend.  It was so good I didn't even doze off!  Our Mission President and his wife both spoke this morning.  Sister Merritt spoke of seeking the riches of eternity and being rich toward God vs. seeking riches to build up our possessions.  Instead of building barns to store wealth like the rich man did in Luke 12, "he layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God", we should focus outward to bless others with the riches of eternity.  

President Merritt told us that he recently got out his Missionary Journal from when he was a young missionary serving in Uruguay.  He shared some of his journal entries, which were filled with the spirit of his missionary experiences.  I thought about my sons, my son-in-laws, and my grandsons who have served missions.  I invite each of you to dust off your Missionary Journal and read and remember the spiritual experiences you had on your missions.  I encourage you to read them to your children and share your testimony of missionary work with your families.

Okay, now the story you've been waiting for:  Jail Part 2:

Last Sunday when we weren't able to get into the prison (read the last Blog), we were told that visiting hours were every morning during the week.  So we drove back down to the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Tuesday morning to see if we could visit with Jose'.  Once again, we were turned away.  Even though we are considered Clergy, they said we had to talk with the prison Chaplain to get permission to come in - he wasn't on site.  So we drove back home, and over the next couple of days, Stan was able to get in touch with the Chaplain and found out that the only way we could get a visit would be for the prisoner to put us on his list of visitors.  In the meantime, Stan contacted the mission president and the Sister Missionaries who were in contact with the mother of the prisoner - she's the one who originally requested we visit her son.  He spoke with the Sisters and they put him in touch with the mother.  We arranged to meet her at the prison Sunday afternoon to see if we could get in.

We met her at the prison gates (not anything like the Pearly Gates, I'm sure!), and went through the two sets of electronically locked doors to get inside.  After giving them our Drivers Licenses and waiting about a half hour, we were given badges to wear.  We went through a security check, like at the airport, and walked up two flights of stairs through locked doors, and finally into the room (cinder block walls with no windows) for visiting.  After a few more minutes, Jose' entered the room dressed in his green prison clothing.  He and his Mom hugged, we shook hands and sat down to visit.

Jose' is about 26 years old.  He's been detained at this prison for three months.  He's been deported, kidnapped in Mexico, dealt with drugs, and is waiting for a court date.  His mom said he has ADHD and thinks he has some brain damage from drug use.  Because of this, he was a little hard to follow where his train of thought was going.  Stan told him that he is loved by God and Jesus Christ, even though he's made mistakes.  He tried to engage Jose' in a discussion, but it was not easy to follow his thought pattern.  He had a tattoo on his hand that he said symbolized Alpha & Omega, which seemed to help remind him of God.  He said he prays over his food, and seems to believe in God, although I don't think he has a very good understanding of who God is, and of His love for him.  

Our visit lasted about an hour.  We felt like Jose' was grateful that we came and shared some messages of peace and the love of God with him.  He was polite, even though he didn't necessarily agree with all we told him. I'm not sure what his future is - he has many challenges ahead of him.  We said a prayer with him, and I think he appreciated that.  

I'm grateful for the freedom I enjoy.  I can come and go as I please, I can look out the windows and see what the weather is like for the day and see the beautiful green trees and shrubs.  I will pray for Jose' and his mother.

I feel like I want to end with a little humor.  This is Preston.  This is what he wore to Stake Conference! He is one of our older Young Single Adults, and has quite the personality.  He's the master of games, and where ever he goes, he has friends.  We're so blessed to get to know each of the young adults, and their unique personalities.  We love them all!

 

Halloween cakes, seek & find, and Jail!

This week started with helping the Young Single Adults at their family home evening activity;  a Halloween cake decorating activity.  Debbie & I were assigned the role of the judges - it was strictly a visual judgement - no eating!  The YSA's were very proud of their creations and starting talking about bribes for the judges!  Ultimately, the black widow spider and the candy eating monster won dual 1st place!

Debbie cooked up a fabulous pasta al forno with some exquisite home make bread that was a big hit at the institute on Tuesday with both young and old - I think she is spoiling these YSA's!

The pickleball players we meet during the week at McKensie Creek Park are still a great place to have gospel conversations.  This week I was able to share a Book of Mormon via the app with one of the players that I got to play with - his name is Angel so I got to tell him about the several angels that appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith including John the Baptist & Peter, James, and John.  He asked about differences in our Church, so it led a discussion about the restoration of Christ's new testament Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith, his first vision, angel Moroni, gold plates, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.  Hopefully, I will get to follow up with him next week! 😄

Debbie & I had the opportunity to go on a "seek & find" expedition several times this last week, looking up some of the YSA's that are on our roles, but not coming to Church.  It seems that about half of the addresses don't exist, so we have some interesting conversations with the people that answer the doors.  One I remember was a Hispanic young man who answered the door so I asked in English if he was "William" to which he responded in perfect English, "I don't speak any English".  I immediately reverted to Spanish to ask him the questions - it turned out that he wasn't William & he didn't know who William was.  I think that he thought he could be rid of us if he didn't have to speak English!  I had similar experiences on my younger Mission tracting in Cuban neighborhoods in Miami, Florida.  Ladies would answer the door, look at these English looking boys & wag their finger at us saying "No espeake English" even though we were speaking Spanish to them on our door approach!!  

Saturday night was a Mission wide Senior Missionary activity that we attended at the Marine Corps Recruiting Center on Base in San Diego.  We rode with one of the Military relations senior couple & got on base to enjoy the bowling center & a potluck dinner - we have a great time getting together with the other Senior Missionary couples even though our bowling skills were quite rusty!!

Sunday (today) we got an assignment from the Mission President to drive down near the border & go visit a recently baptized member who was in jail (Otay Mesa Detention Center - US Department of Homeland Security).  We drove down and entered the locked down facility, not knowing what to expect & asked to visit "name - & prison id #".  Apparently, someone else was visiting him before we got there & the guard explained that they are only allowed 1 visit on Sunday - so we will have to come back during the week to visit by phone (only at the prison) or next Sunday to see him in person.  We suspect that it is our time to come face to face with the illegal immigrant dilemma down here!  More info later!

The gospel is for everyone, even those who have made serious mistakes!  Jesus Christ came to the world not to condemn the world, but that through Him humanity might be saved!!  I am grateful for the principles of faith in Jesus Christ & His atonement, plus repentance that gives all of us hope for the future!  Everyone think Celestial!

 Ultimate Frisbee, 30 second lesson, Car Inspections, Evening Walk, Zone Conference, Institute/General Conference

Here's a quick update for last week:

FHE - Ultimate Frisbee

Gas - $5.59 a gallon at Costco (around $6.20 + elsewhere), fill up was nearly $85!  Most of the time we             fill up twice a week!

Cooking - Chocolate/Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats for District Council,

         Chicken Noodle Soup and Homemade bread for Institute

         Texas Sheet cake for Break the Fast

        General Conference viewing at Institute - Applesauce muffins, Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip for Apples,         Taco Salad

At District Council we practiced answering a question in 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Oftentimes when a missionary has an opportunity to talk with someone, (at their door, at the park or on the street) they only have about a minute or less to get in a message about the restored Gospel.  To practice, we each chose a slip of paper out of a bag and then went around the room and answered our question.  

The amazing thing about practicing this on Tuesday was that Stan actually put it into practice on Friday at pickleball!  He had three different people ask him questions, and probably only had 30 seconds to a  minute to answer them in between games!  One guy asked Stan his age and how he was able to be so quick and active on the court.  Stan gave him a 30 second lesson on the Word of Wisdom.  Another guy, who told him he was Catholic, asked him what were the major differences between our two churches.  He shared with his friend about Joseph Smith's vision and how we learned from that that the Godhead is three separate beings.  The last friend asked Stan what he was going to be doing over the weekend, and he shared that we would be watching General Conference, so had the chance to quickly explain about having a Prophet and Apostles at the head of our Church.  So, you never know when you might need a 30 second lesson ready to go.

We have a young man in our ward, Chance, that is getting ready to go through the temple for the first time and then be sealed to his fiancé for time and all eternity.  The Bishop asked us to teach him a couple of Temple Preparation classes to prepare him for the temple.  We really enjoyed this blessing of being able to teach and talk about our love for the temple and the importance of the ordinances and covenants we make when we enter the temple.  

This week was Zone Conference.  We were asked to come Wednesday to help with car inspections.  The missionaries drive into the church parking lot and back their cars into a slot.  They raise the hood and the tail gate and leave their keys on the seat.  The idea is to come with a clean car, inside and out, and without clutter.  Our job was to inspect the cars for cleanliness, and make sure everything is in working order.  The Car Tsar told us that it should be absolutely perfect to get a score of 100. The top two scores get a golden license plate cover that announces them as the winners.  All the cars looked really good, but some definitely did a better job of vacuuming and cleaning their wheels.  One sister told us that when her Dad was a missionary, he often won the cleanest car award, so it was her goal to follow in her Dad's footsteps.  We didn't inspect her car, but I'm sure it was spotless!

We decided to take a break from the apartment Wednesday evening and go for a walk.  This area has lots of hills and canyons.  On our way to the church building there is a canyon we cross over and we've wondered if there were any trails.  It's called Rice Canyon, and there is a trail that's just under two miles one way.  We had a nice walk and enjoyed the colors of the sky as the sun went down.  At the trail head there is a cactus garden with some pretty unique and beautiful cactus plants.

Thursday we attended the Zone Conference for our zone.  They had invited a guest speaker, Gerritt Durkmaat from the BYU Church History department.  He has been working with the Joseph Smith Papers project for the last 20 years.  He taught us that Joseph learned how to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ line upon line.  He wasn't given all instruction during the First Vision in the Sacred Grove.  He received instruction as he was ready to receive more.  When we look at Joseph during the Nauvoo period, we see tremendous growth from the earlier years.  Of course, that's the way it is for all of us.  We are all at different stages of learning, and as we progress, we are given more.  His presentation was wonderful!  I love learning about the Prophet Joseph Smith.  

At the end of the Zone Conference, we all gathered into the Chapel to receive final instruction from Pres. Merritt and have opportunity for the missionaries to bear testimony.  The concluding song is a song that the words have been adapted specifically to our mission.  We stood and sang, and the Elders and Sisters were all arm in arm and swaying together.  The spirit is strong.  I love these moments.

We forgot to put it in our blog last week, but we had visitors!  Dixie and Mike (my sister and brother-in-law) came and visited.  We went for a drive to the Julian Pie store (they are pretty famous around here) near Ramona, CA.  We enjoyed seeing the countryside; some areas were kind of desert looking, and other places with green hills.  I had a piece of Apple Mountain Berry pia a la mode.  It was yummy!  Apparently some grocery stores carry their pies, so you don't really have to take the long drive to get a piece of pie.  We just enjoyed being together.  

The Bishop asked us if we would be willing to open up the Institute Building on Saturday and Sunday for General Conference.  He also suggested it we be nice to provide some food for the young adults in between sessions.  So we planned and prepared to feed the young adults, having no idea how many would show up.  We had as many as 13 and as few as 3 (counting ourselves) over the two days.  Here's a picture of some of us listening to conference.

The best part was enjoying the conference messages together.  We were blessed to have two of the Elder's friends, that they invited, show up this  morning.  One of them, Eric, has a baptism scheduled for October 14.  This was a first Conference experience for both of them and I think they had a good experience.

 I think one of my favorite talks was Elder Rasband's.  He spoke to seniors.  He spoke pretty strongly about the need for Senior Missionaries.  I think the reason I liked his talk so much was that I didn't feel guilty. Haha! Seriously, it made me feel gratitude for the opportunity and blessing of serving as a senior missionary.  It is a choice growing experience.  I love being with the younger missionaries the young adults and feeling of their spirits and their desire to serve the Lord.  

My most favorite talk was hearing from our prophet, President Nelson.  I was praying the whole two days in hopes that we would get to hear from him.  I love how he told us that we choose where we will live, the kind of body we will have, and who we will be with in the next life.  I am going to practice putting Jesus first and thinking Celestial.