Happy Anniversary to Us

One year ago today we landed in Sacramento, full of faith, a little trepidation and a lot of anticipation.  What we found here was beyond our wildest dreams.  This is what we found one year ago

We had no idea how these people and so many many others were going to change our lives for the better.  We have made so many lifelong friendships out here with missionaries and members.  This morning the doorbell rang at 8 a.m. and when I opened the door I found this box of donuts sitting on the front porch.  I don't know who the anonymous donut dropper is, but thank you.  The way to my heart is through a BJ Cinnamon apple fritter (I never thought I would find donuts better than Dick's donuts, but I have to say BJ Cinnamon has done it!) Even better than the donuts was the idea that someone actually knew it was our anniversary and thought of us and acted.  We were ministered to today and it made our day!

Our first night here we went out teaching, Scott went with Elders Watts and Pennington, and I went with Sisters Turner and Morris.  This was us today...

 The names and faces have changed in a year, but the work remains the same.  Scott went out teaching with Elders Dobson and Ingram and I went with Sisters Searle and Maldonado.  It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary.  It also made us realize once again that this work is not for the faint of heart.  It was over 100 degrees today and these Elders and Sisters just work through the heat with smiles on their faces and faith in their hearts that they are going to find the elect and they just keep going and going and going and finding miracles along the way.  

As I went with Sister Searle and Sister Maldonado we had a unique experience.  We had the typical drop bys where no one was all that interested in our message (however, on a return to one after I wasn't with them anymore they got a new investigator, which was a miracle).  We did get to teach one really good lesson to a man named Steve.  He told us his birthday is tomorrow and he is 65.  He lives with his son because of some tragic circumstances and he is very open to the spirit.  It was a great lesson, the only problem is, he wouldn't, or couldn't let us in to his house and so we had a lesson outside in his front yard under the 'shade' of a tree.  Although it was 103 degrees today, so even in the shade, that's pretty hot.  He also only had one lawn chair, so he sat down and we stood up for an hour teaching and answering his questions.  It was a great lesson and it is always amazing to me that the spirit can be present anywhere, even standing in a front yard, under a tree in 100 degree weather.  

One funny thing about the lesson; about a month ago Elders Forte, Yorgason and Thompson told us about an investigator they had found named Steve.  The problem was they didn't remember what Steve's last name was, but when they found him he was eating sunflower seeds, so they put him in the area book as Steve with seeds.  After our lesson today with Steve I sent them a text and told them that I thought of them while we were teaching.  They have a 'Steve with seeds', and now I have a 'Steve without seats'.  

 After being out teaching for a few hours, we got to attend the baptism of Xavier, the gentleman three from the left.  What a neat story his is, he was introduced to the church by his landlords who are members, and he came to the Saturday night session of Stake Conference when Elder Carl Cook of the Seventy was there.  It was the first church meeting he had attended. He met Elder Cook and on Sunday morning he was there again and Elder Cook invited him up to basically bear his testimony about being an investigator of the church.  Fast forward a few weeks and we were sitting at his baptism.  The spirit worked strong with him and we were honored to be at his baptism.

We left the baptism and headed up to Pleasant Valley in El Dorado to go to a lesson with Sister Fausett and Sister Wallentine.  They were teaching a man who has been coming to church for several months, he knows all about it, but is having a hard time deciding if baptism is a commitment he can actually make and keep.  We had a great lesson with them and then took the Sisters out for a little dinner.  It was a great day.  

Since I updated last we had our transfers.  We received 5 new missionaries and had to say goodbye to 10 of the best.  I always say this, but I have a love/hate relationship with transfer week.  I always love getting the new ones in, and I hate sending the old ones home.  

On Monday June 18 we were able to welcome into the mission Elder Geng from mainland China, Elder Mandisodza from Zimbabwe via Texas for the past few years, Sister Shaw from Utah, Elder Brown from West Virigina, and we are counting Elder Barr, who I wrote about last time, but he is from Australia.  It was a great and diverse group. 

                       Elder Brown                                                      Elder Geng

         Sister Shaw                                                                       Elder Mandisodza

 We have dinner and some training on Monday night, and more training on Tuesday morning. The moment, when the training is done and we walk the new missionaries in and they see a group of missionaries singing Called to Serve, and then we introduce them to their new companions is one of my favorite moments.

As soon as they were with their new companions, we drove up to the temple for pictures. We are really blessed to have a temple so close

     Elder Barr being trained by Elder Kemp                  Elder Organ training Elder Mandisodza

Sister Clark training Sister Shaw                                     Elder Schwendsen training Elder Geng

After pictures they were off to their new areas and we headed back to the mission office to be part of transfers.  There are always lots of hugs and some tears as companions have to say goodbye to each other

Sister Leavitt and Sister Roberts were our Silva Valley ward missionaries, Sister Roberts got transferred and it was sad saying goodbye to her.  I won't get to see her quite so often now that she doesn't cover our ward.

After transfers we were on to the hardest part of the transfer cycle, starting the process of saying goodbye to the departing missionaries.  We start with a meeting in Scott's office before we go to the temple with them all.  I walked in and saw these four stellar elders who were going home all in matching ties and I had to snap a picture to prevent me from bursting into tears on the spot. 

After we talk about the temple, it's back up there to do a session with those going home.  I love the temple and it is amazing how the missionaries are so nervous and full of emotion prior to the temple, and after the temple a calm settles on them and they feel ready to go.  It's a time for them to pray and meditate and have the feeling confirmed that their offering was acceptable to the Lord and that they have finished what they were sent to do.  It happens every time!

After the temple it's back to the mission home for dinner, signing our mission banner and a testimony meeting.  It's like one of those parent payday evenings.  How we are going to miss this group of 10. We love them so much!

 First time serving for Elder Thompson and Elder Ricedorff so they got/had to wear my aprons.  

 I'm so grateful for Sister Gail, who always comes while we are in the temple and gets everything in the oven for me and has things ready to go when we return.

The next morning we are off to the airport to send them home to their anxious and excited families.  I'm glad I have been on that end or I don't know how I could let them go.

Sister Baird and Sister Hernandez had earlier flights than all the others and so Scott took them early and I followed a little later with the rest. 

Also, we've only been here a year and found a new favorite wall to take pictures in front of.  You will be seeing this one again!

           Hermana June                                                                Sister Brown

        Hermana Barrerra                                                            Sister Koller

            Elder Snow                                                                   Elder Berry

        Elder Ravston                                                                  Elder Yorgason

Off they go...

We didn't have a lot of time to sit around and be sad, we had an extended Mission Leadership Council on Friday.  We invited the District Leaders along with the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders.  We are gaining 41 new missionaries from the Modesto Mission due to a Boundary Realignment and we wanted all of the mission leaders there as we discussed the blessing of gaining these new missionaries and ways to love them and help them feel immediately part of our mission family.  It was a great council meeting and we are all SO excited about this new addition to our mission. 

 I never get tired of pulling into a church and seeing all of the cars with bike racks lined up!

Elder and Sister Gunnell once again provided us with a delicious lunch

Thanks to Elder and Sister Scott as well for helping with the set up and serving that day.  It takes a lot of people to make a mission run smoothly and we love and are so grateful for all of our senior missionaries 

             This is an outstanding group of missionary leaders.  We love them so much!

We have had a good month full of a lot of baptisms, each and every person who enters the waters of baptism is such a blessing and we are grateful for the difference these missionaries make in individual lives. This is just a picture I took at one of the baptisms this month.

As I've said before, we absolutely love it when we have any of our returned missionaries come to visit.  Last Sunday Sister Cha was in town and we were blessed to have her come to dinner and stay for a good visit.  We loved getting caught up and talking about important things.  It was wonderful to see this darling sister who we love so much again. 

The past few weeks have also been full of interviews, working on plans for a smooth transition in for our new missionaries and 3 new zones/stakes etc.  But now the personal.  We also got to have some of our family visit this past week and how we love and live for those family visits.  Our daughter Stacie, her husband Bennett and our darling grandchildren, Thomas, Charlotte and Caroline came to town.  It was the first time Scott was able to meet Caroline and we were so happy to have them here.  We fit a lot into a few days.

Way too much good food

Lots and lots of swimming

The Crocker Art Museum

Funderland

The Incredibles 2

A visit to the office is a must for our grandchildren, who are the recipients of our dear Sister Skank's talents.  She makes the most adorable crochet animals and is always so generous to give them to our grandkids.  Thomas named his dragon Fire, and Charlotte named her bunny Caroline, until they saw the incredibles and then the dragon's name changed to Dash and the bunny's name changed to Jack Jack.  

Mostly we just loved the time we got to spend with our family just doing normal family things!

Sleepovers at Mimi and Pop's are the best!

 On the trail by our house looking for bunnies, unfortunately they are a little scarce this year.

It's been a great two weeks, and we are looking forward to the coming weeks as we welcome our 41 new missionaries into our mission family.  We love this gospel, we love the work, we really love our missionaries and as we look back on the past year we are amazed at the blessings we have received individually, as a family, as a mission and in so many other ways that are hard to quantify.  Our hearts are full of gratitude for the past year, we can't wait to see what the coming year has to bring. 

Lo Siento Que No Hablo Mucho Espanol

I know I sound like a broken record every time I update this blog/journal and say it's been a busy few weeks, but it really just never slows down.  When I feel tired, I just have to think of our son Preston who is on an around the world study abroad and has been in 7 countries and on 3 different continents in the past two weeks, so he may be more tired than we are, but he's also younger!  

Unlike Preston, we have stayed within our 60ish mile radius but we have interviewed over 100 missionaries, spoken in two different Stake Conferences and a missionary fireside, taught lessons with several sets of missionaries, taken another group to Coloma, had lots of meetings, cooked and served lots of food, had FHE with our senior couples, attended a wedding/baptism, and several other baptisms, worked the transfer board, welcomed a new missionary and said goodbye to a couple others, and we've been preparing to integrate 50 new missionaries and 3 new zones into our mission in a few weeks when we pick up half of the Modesto Mission due to new mission boundary alignments.  I've also now ordered and sent back 10 dresses for our son's wedding in August (I may be keeping the 11th) and tried to support our kids at home and abroad who have lots going on in all of their respective lives.  It is only through the enabling power of our Savior's atonement that we are able to do all that this calling entails and how grateful we are for Him every single day!

This is our friend Hector, he was baptized last November and we were thrilled to see him on the program to speak in the El Dorado Stake Conference.  We were honored to speak with him and we were so proud of him.  A few days after this Stake Conference, Hermana Alexander and Hermana Barrera called to see if they could have a lesson and dinner at our home with one of their friends, Gerardo (we don't call our investigators investigators, we call them friends) that they are teaching.  He is a co-worker and friend of Hector and we live about halfway in between where Hector lives and where Gerardo lives and they thought our home would be a good meeting place for a lesson where Hector could come and participate. We didn't have a night open, so we decided to have a breakfast lesson.  The Hermanas, Hector and Gerardo and his daughter Ruby came.  

It was so great to have them in our home and we had a wonderful lesson.  We have been in so many Spanish lessons, meetings and baptisms lately that I am starting to really be able to follow the lessons, but I still can't say much.  My main phrase is always "lo siento que no hablo mucho espanol" It was an honor to hear Gerardo say a heartfelt prayer and to hear Ruby pray for the first time in her life.  I have heard people say that the best thing in the world is to hear someone pray for the first time, and I have to agree now that I have been witness to that out here.  During the lesson the Hermanas asked Gerardo if he would come to Stake Conference the next day.  He said he had to work and so Scott invited him to the Saturday night session.  The Cordova Stake had Elder Carl Cook from the presidency of the Seventy coming and we wanted Gerardo to be able to meet him.  He said he would come.  There is nothing more nerve wracking than watching missionaries pace the hall and wait by the door at a meeting they are hoping a friend will come to.  The meeting started and no Gerardo.  About 15 minutes into the lesson, in he walks.  He loved the meeting and after it was over, we had him come up and we introduced him to Elder Cook.  Sister Clark and Sister Simpson also had a first time friend there named Xavier who also met Elder Cook.  We were thrilled that they had this opportunity.  

Sunday morning at 7:15 Scott got a text from Elder Cook telling him that he would like to meet with Gerardo and Xavier 15 minutes before the Sunday session of conference, that he had a few questions to ask them.  Scott quickly got on the phone with both sets of sisters and asked them to make sure those two were coming to the meeting.  The problem is that we knew Gerardo had to work and knew he wasn't planning on coming.  Scott told the Hermanas to call and invite him and tell him that one of the top leaders of a worldwide church had requested that he come and meet with him.  They did that and Gerardo called his boss, got off of work and attended the meeting Sunday morning.  Elder Cook called both he and Xavier up to say a few things during his talk.  After the meeting one of the Spanish members came right up and got Gerardo and took him to see the baptismal font and he asked how long it would take before he could get baptized. That was the first Spanish miracle. 

The second came that Sunday night, but started a few nights earlier.  Hermana Peterson and Hermana Vogt called late on Thursday night and told Scott about a sister in their ward who they referred to as a 'dry member'.  Her two daughters are members and she has been attending for over 2 years but had never been baptized.  On Thursday she told the Hermanas that she thought it was time to be baptized but she wanted it to be a surprise to her daughters.  It was about 8:00 p.m. when Scott got the call and they asked if their district leader could hurry over to do the baptismal interview before her daughters got home from work.  It was kind of a crazy night but he did it and all was well.  That Sunday night the Rio Tierra ward was having a missionary fireside where Scott and I were speaking.  The missionaries in that branch are so great.  We got there and Elder Nilson and Elder Howlett had got me a translation headset, I was the only non Spanish speaker there, but they know  'lo siento que no hablo mucho Espanol.'  They were so cute, after I spoke (I try to say a few Spanish phrases and then move to a translator), they came up to me and told me I had really good Spanish.  I SO don't good Spanish AT ALL, but I love them for trying to make me feel comfortable and good about myself. 

It was a great turnout and they had it planned that at the end of the fireside, after Scott finished speaking he would announce that we would now be moving in to attend Pilar's baptism.  It was so special.  He finished talking about the blessings of being a member of the church and then said "it is easy to talk about the blessings of the gospel, but it's another thing to see them"  Then he asked if the Tovar family would come up to the stand.  The girls looked confused and Pilar was completely composed.  As they stood up on the stand, Scott announced that they were about to receive the joy of having their family all in the gospel and told them of Pilar's upcoming baptism.  I was sitting behind the girls, but I could see the tears of joy flowing down their cheeks, and it was special to see the faces of the ward members in the congregation as they heard the news.  There were tears on their faces as well.  It was a wonderful experience to be a part of.  After the meeting we all filed in to the baptismal room and were able to watch Pilar enter into a covenant and become a member of 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Seeing her and her beautiful daughters and the joy they experienced that night was a good reminder to me of what this is all about. It is about bringing the joy of the gospel to families and that night was certainly a good example of the joy that comes through the covenant of baptism.

The Rio Tierra ward was just full of baptismal surprises this past week.  Hermana June is going home next week.  We tell our departing missionaries to ask for and to expect final transfer miracles, and they do.  Hermana June has been teaching the Quintillia family and has had them on date several times. The mom is a member, but the dad and the sons have had several baptismal dates, but Brother Quintillia has some back issues that keeps preventing him from getting baptized.  We actually were hoping he would get baptized after the missionary fireside but he couldn't do it.  We met and talked with him at the fireside and Scott told him we would love to get him baptized before Hermana June went home.  He told us that he was planning on getting baptized the next week, but he wanted it to be a surprise for Hermana June.  This surprise wasn't as well kept and I think she caught wind of it, but it was an honor to be at the Quintillia baptism on Hermana June's last Saturday in the mission. 

One last Spanish teaching experience and then I'll move on to another final transfer miracle.  Sister Van Valekenburg is companions with Hermana Smith in Placerville.  We have one Spanish speaker and one English speaker together because they have both Spanish and English members in the same ward.  They called and asked if we could go teach a lesson with them to a man named Jesus, who lives with the Wixom's, some members in that ward.  Again, we were blessed to be able to see Jesus ask questions and to see light and understanding come in to his eyes.  As I said, I am able to understand or at least follow the jist of the lesson, but I kind of love not being able to understand everything because it is then that I really just let myself feel the spirit and let the spirit speak to me and the spirit was strong as they were teaching Jesus. Hopefully I have another Spanish baptism to attend and try to understand soon. My Spanish is getting better!

Another final transfer miracle that I didn't get any pictures of was the wedding and baptism of a Marshallese couple named Junior and Obra.  Sister Koller and Sister Brown have been teaching them.  They are a young couple in the Marshallese branch who have been coming regularly to church, they have a young son but weren't married.  It is extremely hard to come to a new country where you don't speak much of the language or understand the culture.  They had wanted to get married, but frankly I don't think they knew what needed to be done or how to do it.  Sister Koller and Sister Brown took things into their own hands and made things happen.  They spent their second to last p day going with them to obtain a marriage license, they arranged for the Branch President to marry them, and following the marriage they immediately got baptized.  They are very lovely but also very shy people and I was worried they wouldn't want their picture taken.  Apparently the Marshallese people don't even like their names printed on the programs, so they just leave it blank and call on them to speak, which they will do.  I loved seeing the process of this baptism.  Scott couldn't come with me, so I arrived right as it was supposed to be starting.  The sisters, the branch president and I were the only ones there.  I was able to see the process that goes on behind the baptisms.  I was able to see the sisters ask Elder Holdaway if he would baptize them, in Marshallese and see him accept without even a pause.  The things these young missionaries do out here is nothing short of a miracle every single day.  And they all just do whatever it takes.  And they all pitch in and help.  I love it!

We did have another Coloma P-Day.  It was our third one in just a few short months.  I think I have adequately explained Coloma and the things we do there, so I will just post some pictures and let them do the talking. 

I will say something about this picture because my momma bear came out just a tiny little bit here.  We were scheduled to go gold panning at 11:00.  We got there at that time and the young man helping there that day told them all to sit on these benches and wait there.  It was about 95 degrees and he just left them sitting there in the blazing sun.  There was shade just next to the building and I asked if they could stand in the shade.  He told them they had to sit on the benches and wait and it would be about 5 minutes, then he walked in to the air conditioned building.  Well, I took things into my own hands and told them they weren't going to be sitting there in the sun and to come and stand in the shade.  When the young man in charge came back several minutes later he wasn't very happy that I had overruled his authority, but I will always have their backs!  

Two of our Chinese Elders, Elder Chen and Elder Forte, standing in front of the Chinese Store. They even know what the sign above them says

We said farewell to Elder Buckley and Elder Jones. For our friends in Salt Lake keep your eyes open for Elder Buckley.  He transferred to the Salt Lake Headquarters mission and will be such a great asset to that mission and any of you looking to do your family history.  If you see him on temple square give him a hearty handshake and an expression of our love for him.

And we welcomed Elder Barr, our new Hmong speaking missionary who came a week earlier than our other new missionaries for this transfer.  He's from Australia and you just can't beat his accent.  Also, he is going to be a terrific missionary, accent or not.

The process of doing transfers is always a revelatory experience, but it is also a lot of hard work and a lot of preparation, both spiritual and physical goes into the process.  We meet with both sets of our assistants prior to transfers to get their input.  We come to the meeting fasting and praying that the Lord's will will be revealed and that Scott will have the inspiration he needs to place people in the right places and with the right companionships.  We always joke with the assistants that it is 'game day' and Scott always asks them if they have their ankles taped.  Well, this time around, they literally came with their ankles taped.  We had a good laugh about that. 

We always end with dinner together to break our fast, which is I think their favorite part of transfer board day.  We are so sad to be losing yet another one of our assistants, Elder Yorgasen goes home next week.  They send out transfer calls where they have everyone in the zone listed, where they will be and who their companion will be.  This time as we looked them over it said "Elder Yorgasen, transferred to Hyde Park 10th ward, Hyde Park Zone with the Holy Ghost."  That made us laugh!  We are happy to welcome Elder Thompson to fill his spot.  

Finally, I just want to wish my sweetheart and the Father of my children a very happy Father's Day.  I was talking with a few of the sisters who are departing next week and they asked me how to determine if someone was worthy of marrying.  I told them to look at their prospective partner not only as their husband, but maybe more importantly as the father of their children.  Do they want their sons being raised by and growing up to be like the man they are considering marrying?  I think that is a pretty good barometer and one that I used.  I couldn't have chosen a better partner, and more importantly a father for my children.  I am so grateful to have always been able to tell my boys to be just like their dad and my girls to marry men just like their dad.  Thankfully they all listened and followed their father's example.  

Last year on Father's Day we gave our farewell talks in our beloved Brookhurst ward. This year we were able to drive up to Georgetown to go to church today.  Oh what a difference a year makes. It was a fun and beautiful Father's day drive in the beautiful Sierra Mountains.  We are grateful to have landed in such a beautiful place, with wonderful people, and the best missionaries in the world!