Blog #20 New Beginnings

Blog #20   New Beginnings

Just about every Saturday we go to one or two baptism.  That is a wonderful way to end the week. I find myself thinking about the changes these folks have made to study, gain testimony, then embrace a new religion.  For many it is a new beginning, and a new way of knowing Jesus Christ.  My heart is touched as I see the faith these new members have.  Even when we attend the Spanish baptisms, and don’t understand the words, the spirit is so strong that we can feel the joy, and love the person has for the Savior. 

Mike and I spend quite a bit of time taking our new friends to meetings and church functions.  We love to get to know about their lives and their relationships.   For many, their lives haven’t been simple, nor have they been easy.  We had a Stake Temple Trip last week and took a dear friend who has had some health problems and hasn’t been able to drive lately.  She was one of the first sisters I met when we arrived in the Meadows Ward.  She has such a positive light about her and seems to see the best in everyone.  As we began our two-hour drive, we shared our stories.  I was amazed to hear about her conversion to the gospel.  Her parents belonged to different religions and decided they wouldn’t ever discuss religion in their home so thatk their children could choose for themselves.  Eventually she discovered and joined the church.  She married her husband twice, and they had three children.  Several years ago, her husband and 30-year old son were in a storm that crashed their small plane into the ocean and killed them both.  Her life had been a series of changes, and this one was a huge heartache.  Although she had worked several jobs, she spent many years taking in “challenged” foster children.  She would have eight children at a time for 3 months to 3 years.  She has had 642 children in her home.  She had many great stories and talked of the love she has for these children (who are all grown now).  As we listened to her it was evident that her life history has several new beginnings, and we were amazed at her wisdom, tenacity, and positive nature. We were grateful to spend time with her.

We are astonished that we have been here over a year now and the days are flying by.  As we celebrated our year mark, we were discussing how many wonderful people we now know and love.  The young missionaries are in one place a minimum of six weeks, and rarely more that 18 weeks.  They connect so quickly with ward members; it has taken us much longer to feel at home.

October was filled with ten zone conferences (a half day each).  We love those days because we get to spend time with the missionaries.  We do a housing presentation for 20 minutes, and also, give our “Golden Plunger Award” to the cleanest apartment in each zone.  We have a lot of fun with that, and are also thrilled with the missionaries’ willingness to raise the standard.  Along with our one-year mark, many of our senior service missionaries have completed their missions; so, on this side of the mission we have a whole new crew of apartment inspectors whom we are training.  They are wonderful couples who are willing to enter a new beginning in their church service.  They, too, quickly fall in love with the missionaries.

I am continually unaware of what day it is.  We often miss the fact that the day is a holiday.  But we did celebrate a “Trunk or Treat” party on the church parking lot on Friday, and had a Halloween dinner Saturday night with our ward missionaries.  We do know the weather is changing to fall, and the temperatures are down in the 60s.  I love the heat, but the Thanksgiving/Christmas Season is worth the colder weather.

Please know we think of you, love you, and appreciate your support.  

                                   This was the sky on the way to Ridgecrest Zone Conf.

                     The coveted "Golden Plunger" Trophy for our own Meadows Elders

                                       Most of our office staff (- President & Elder Moon)

                                                                Happy Halloween!

                                               Side trip on way home - Red Rock Canyon

                                Grandpa Earl home from Honor Flight! (thanks Karen)

Blog #19 The Circle of Life

Blog # 19  The Circle of Life

One of the first sights that captured me when we arrived in Bakersfield was the miles and miles of Almond groves.  I was fascinated.  Although almonds are a staple for us, I’d never thought about the process to get those treats into the bags for sale. The young tree takes about five years to start producing nuts. Beehives were staged in the groves so the bees could pollinate the trees (2 hives per acre).  In February the almonds blossoms were stunning. Our friend, Patti, took a photo shoot of us in the beautiful groves that looked like a snow forest. As this year progressed we would stop to check the pods (with a tiny gel substance inside), then a solid small green ball formed with a green kernel covered with a hull. Finally, we noticed the hull begin to split and expose the almond shell.  The hulls became like leather, and some fell from the tree.  Then we started hearing about the shaking of the trees to get the almonds down to harvest.  Oh how we wanted to see that.  Our Bishop works at the South Valley Farms (includes ten miles of almond trees) and invited us to take a tour.  After they shake the almonds from the trees and leave them on  the ground for a week, they sweep up the almonds.  The hulls and shells come off, the fruit is  sorted according to size.  All parts of the almond are used, and we left the farm with a bag full of delicious nuts.

I’ve thought a lot about the process of life as I observe growth all around us.    Growing from a seedling, to a tree, then blossoming and developing a fruit that can sustain life…it is amazing.  I’ve often pondered what a miracle our lives are, but lately I’m even more aware that every part of our lives is miraculous.  Wow!

This week Mike and I were in Lancaster and Palmdale opening two new apartments.  We put in a rather long day then headed the two hours to Bakersfield.  But, we started thinking about the wind damage to the home of the Elders in North Edwards, so we changed our course and went to look at their place.  This took us about an extra hour. A storm was threatening and we heard of flash flood warnings.  Once again on our way home, we stopped at Mojave to get gas, but the first exit was closed.  When we finally entered the town, the traffic was bumper to bumper.  Traffic from interstate-5, because of flash floods, had been re-routed through Mojave. We were about an hour away from Tehachapi (Highway 58), the route we were taking to Bakersfield, when mudslides closed that road.  193 vehicles were stopped by mud sliding down the mountain.  Luckily the people got out, but their cars are still buried.  What a tender mercy for us – had we not stopped to see the Elders, we most likely would have been in the slide.  We decided to spend the night and see if the storm would pass.  All hotels and restaurants were full, and traffic was stopped.  We called for a hotel room in Lancaster, turned the car back and spent two days stranded, but healthy, in Lancaster.

Last week Ryan and Hali got married, and I was able to go home for a week to celebrate.  Seeing my son married and starting his own family reminded me again of the circle of life.  What a joy it was to spend time with the children and grandchildren.  We met Hali’s cute family, Susie gave a wonderful wedding shower, and the week just flew by.  I was so glad to have Mike join us on Thursday.  The wedding was beautiful – a perfect day.  Then, Saturday was an open house in Nephi.  Sunday we had a 6-hour layover in Phoenix, and Brad’s family picked us up to spend some time together.  I felt like I had been given a joyful shot of adrenaline and was ready to go back to work.

My foster daughter in Cambodia, Davin, also got engaged this month and will marry in December.  I have been able to visit her four times over the years and we have become quite close.  We are both sad that I cannot attend her wedding.  Although we senior missionaries have much more freedom that the young missionaries, leaving the country just doesn’t fit into the job description of a senior missionary.  The mission president has been generous to let me attend baptisms, a birth, and Ryan’s wedding, but leaving the country would take too much time.  It is difficult for Davin to understand why I cannot come “stand” at her wedding; and, I pray that she will sometime understand my commitment to serving on this mission.

Another piece of my circle of life is my dad.  He will be 94 in December.  He is a great man who has lived a remarkable life; and, he is finding that this stage of life is not his most joyful time.  But, he does have the opportunity, and is looking forward to going on the WW-II Honor Flight at the end of this month.  He served as a marine, and truly loves our country.

Life is good and we feel blessed to be serving in Bakersfield.  We have learned much and met so many wonderful people.  We see the Lord’s hand wherever we turn, and for this we will be forever grateful.  We love you and appreciate your support.

                                           Dad almost 94

                                           Wedding fun

                                                        A time to love

                                                             Davin and Veasna getting married in December

                                                              Lunch with Beckett

                                                                                The Family

                                                  The couple is married

                                                                      Mr. & Mrs Ryan Newbold

                                                       Tehachapi mudslide - one vehicle

                                                    Flood on interstate-5

                                                      A V-rake for the almonds

                                                         Just before shaking the tree

                                                                        Facinating!

Blog #18 The Colors in My Mind

Blog #18      The Colors in My Mind

 y.  We had the opportunity to go with the missionaries as they taught them.  It is so touching to watc

I was watching the young women singing in Women’s Conference yesterday and I thought about how much I love color as I noticed the red, pink, purple, orange and yellow blouses they wore.  Last weekend we went over night to Catalina Island.  I loved the many colors of green we saw in the cactus garden, and I was fascinated by the many colors of blue and green in the ocean.  Tonight we have been watching in awe as we witnessed the colors changing during the eclipse of the moon. I do love colors (wish I could have been an artist); but most of all, I love the many colors of skin I see in Bakersfield.  I remember when I was still working in the schools, I mentioned to my wonderful boss that I really didn’t notice students of color as I counseled with them.  She assured me I needed to notice so I could validate their heritage.  But, over the years, I’ve decided that the best way for me to reach them is to let my love for them show because I love their souls.  I love the people here and we are particularly having fun with the missionaries.  I still regret that I didn’t take the time to learn Spanish when I was younger, and now my brain seems to refuse to comprehend it.  Two weeks ago at a Spanish baptism (Mike and I didn’t understand most of the words—though we did understand the feelings), the missionaries in front of us were giggling as we sang the hymns in Spanish.  I love the diversity here.

Every weekend we try to attend one or two baptism.  We feel such delight as we see the faces and hear the testimonies of those who embrace the gospel.  The Savior can do so much to lift a soul!  This weekend we actually visited six baptisms.  A mother and her eleven-year-old daughter in our ward were baptized Saturday morning.  They both glowed with jo

h a testimony grow within the investigator.

We also had a young couple, Brian and Kymmie, move into our ward who were not married.  He joined the church a year ago, and they met at church. She had been inactive for years, but had decided to attend church, and they found each other.  They desire the blessings of an eternal marriage.  They asked the Bishop to marry them so they can prepare to go to the Temple.  They have experiences some rough times, so we, as a Relief Society, decided to give them a party for their wedding-- which included wedding clothing, a cake, photography, decorations, music, and a night at a hotel.  They were so excited. The missionaries who had baptized him in Florida had completed their missions, and were able to come to the wedding.  What a special night it was for this couple.

My daughter, Lori, has always quoted Elder Holland’s admonition for missionaries to keep in touch throughout the years with their converts.  We saw first hand the joy and blessing that came from the two returned missionaries because they have kept in touch with Brian.  And, Brian recommitted to keep his baptismal covenants because of their care and counsel.

We have mentioned the closing of apartments as the church opened eleven new missions, and the reduction from the departing eighteen-years-old infusion has settled down.  But now, we are having more missionaries come than leave, so we are in the process of opening new apartments.  I believe they call it “job security.”  Anyway, Mike and I have been busy acquiring new leases and getting the contents to set up new homes for our missionaries.  Some of our beloved inspectors have completed their missions, and we are in the process having new ones called.  It is a time of change.  My problem is that I get attached to people and it is hard to let them go.  But the one new couple who has just been called will be wonderful.

We’ve been here almost a year now, and I’ve been reminded how long it takes to develop real and loving relationships.  We certainly love and enjoy the people with whom we work daily. Gratefully, we are also feeling more a part of the ward.  We, and our other ward missionaries, went to the anniversary dinner of our dear friends, Petra and Javier, and we were so thrilled to meet their extended family.  We are getting to know and understand the hearts of many in our ward. We see families and individual working to become like Christ.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is such a blessing in our lives.  We know many who have serious heartaches and struggles, but when we know the Savior and have the gift of the Holy Ghost we who believe Him and trust Him are given the peace and strength to endure life’s challenges

We are grateful for this opportunity, and we appreciate the love and support of you, our family and friends. We’ll be home a couple days for Ryan and Hali’s wedding.  And then we’ll be back to work. May the Lord bless you! 

                                                            Celebrating our birthdays

                                                                     Transfer Day

                                                        Sandra and Hannah's baptism

                                                               Fun Elders in Bishop

                                            We love the missionaries to meet us in the office!

                                         Elders riding to the Departing temple trip with us.

                                                                     Transfer Day

                                                         Brian  and Kymmie's wedding

                                                         Javier and Petra's anniversary

                                                  Catalina Island Birthday Celebration

                                              We are both a year older -- (and wiser???)

Blog #17 Surprises

Blog # 17  Surprises

Toward the end of my counseling career I was convinced that I had witnessed so much pain, sorrow, hurt, and poverty with my students and their families that not much could surprise me.  Yes, there was often growth through pain, but I never stopped wanting to shield them from their traumas.  Here on this mission I also see challenges, heartache and poverty . . . and I still desire to hand them healing balm by helping them recognize the Savior’s love.  But I also know, in both cases, that my role is only to guide, while also praying that the sufferer will open his heart to allow light and truth into the soul so he can receive both hope and faith.  Consequently, I find my emotions are frequently on the surface in this calling as I get to know these wonderful people.

However, I love, love, love happy surprises . . . and in this family we have many.  Two weeks ago was my birthday.  Jaci had called and said she had sent a package from the family and I could expect it Friday or Monday.  Mike and I had had a crazy-busy week, so when he suggested we just relax on Friday, I agreed.  Well, Friday night at 6:00 there was a knock at the door.  It sounded like UPS, and when I looked through the peep hole, no one was there.  As I opened the door, there on the ground was a beautiful baby boy in an infant seat, all by himself, with a sign, “Happy Birthday Grandma!”  Now, I am rarely speechless, but I was in such shock I couldn’t get any sound to come out of my mouth.  I hadn’t seen Beckett since his birth, and even when Jaci and Lori came around the corner, the moment still seemed surreal.  How could I have had no clue that they were coming?  How could Mike keep this secret from me?

What a wonderful birthday weekend it was.  Lori wanted to see the Sequoia forest (which we did), we had pedicures (except Mike), ate out, laughed, and even played dominos.  I was so thrilled to hold little Beckett.  What a blessing family is! That visit gave me a boost of energy.  We enjoy our mission, and we love the missionaries; but I know that when the Lord offered us the opportunity to have eternal families, that there could be nothing more precious.  I am so grateful. 

Much is happening with our families.  Along with the two weddings of Ryan/ Hali, and Ryan/ Liz, my foster daughter, Davin will be getting married soon to Veasna in Phnom Penh.  They have not set the date yet, but I’m hoping it will be a time that I can go.  Davin has been an important part of our family, and we hope she will have joy and happiness with her sweetheart.  The language barrier makes it a bit difficult for her to understand what this mission is, but we are hoping to be able to attend her wedding.  Davin has done amazing work as she graduated from high school while in the orphanage, and now has graduated from nursing school and is working as a nurse for a factory.

I find I’m still surprised by the variety of conversion stories we hear.  I love it when members tell us their experiences.  Yesterday, in Relief Society, a sister shared her conversion story.  She fell in love with Donny & Marie Osmond when she was seven (1974) years old.  She saw Marie (a young teen herself) on TV and immediately wished she was her sister.  Then she got a crush on Donny. As a child she lived in a little town with few people.  Her company was the Donny and Marie show on the radio.  She followed their careers religiously, and when she learned they were Mormons, she even asked her mom if she could go to the Mormon Church.  The answer was a definite “No!” Since then she has gone through challenges, raised a daughter, and (like the rest of us) worked to figure out her life. She never lost her love and admiration for the Osmonds and their music. Although she had some Mormon friends and coworkers over the years, she had never really checked out our religion.  Then, almost 40 years later, she was still listening to their music and following their careers. One day Donny “tweeted” that he was watching General Conference, and invited others to tune in.  She turned on conference and heard a message by Elder Nelson that was tailored just for her. She prayed for the missionaries to come to her so she could learn more. She finally tracked them down.  After being taught the gospel, she joined the church two years ago.  She attended a “meet and greet” with the Osmonds in Vegas and, though she is shy, she whispered a thank you to him for tweeting about conference, and told him she had just joined the church the week before.  When he realized she wasn’t kidding, he had tears in his eyes.  She even found that there is a Donny Osmond facebook group. The members got together and several of the LDS converts, who were introduced to the gospel due to the influence example Osmonds, wrote their conversion stories.  I suppose many of us would be surprised if we knew how our examples affected others.

I hope we each can enjoy the wonder and surprise that comes from loving and enjoying our families, neighbors, and friends.  I pray we can learn more about our Savior and His great love for us.  I hope none of us will be surprised to find out that He is real, He is infinite, He is eternal, and he knows us individually.

We hope all is well with you.  Please know that we love you and appreciate your love and prayers.  And we are not surprised as we hear of your goodness.  We love and appreciate you and your example to us.

                                                                My Birthday Surprise

                                                                    time to cuddle

                                                             Big Sequoia tree!!!

                                                                     Majesty

                                                                  Stretch  and grow . . .

                                                               Part of our family tree

                                                         Lunch with part of office staff

                                                                   Veasna & Davin

                                                   Elder Ross brought farewell mellon

                                                         Departing missionary temple trip

Blog #16 The Power

                                                                The Windmills

                                              Time Machine -- Witness of Raising Lazareth

                                               Elder Carper's birthday

                                                                      Ryan & Liz
                                                                                                                    Ryan & Hali

                                                  

Fall Back SundayFa

Blog #16      The Power

8.14.15

We are driving through the mountains from Tehachapi to Bishop (we are setting up a house for the MLS couple who is coming tomorrow) and we see the numerous windmills that frequent so many of the mountains and hills in our mission area.  There are thousands of them.  Not all of them are always moving, but, of course, that has to do with the airflow and maintenance of the turbine. Wind power plants are turbines that use the energy in the motion of the wind to make mechanical energy, which is then converted to electrical energy. 1) Wind blows toward the turbine's rotor blades; 2) The rotors spin around slowly, capturing some of the kinetic energy from the wind, and turn the central drive shaft that supports them; 3) The rotor blades can swivel on the hub at the front so they meet the wind at the best angle for harvesting energy. 4) Inside, the gearbox converts the low-speed rotation of the drive shaft into high-speed rotation fast enough to drive the generator efficiently. The generator, immediately behind the gearbox, takes kinetic energy from the spinning drive shaft and turns it into electrical energy. That is power!

Many of the homes, carports, and businesses have solar panels on their roofs.  They use the power from the sun to run their homes.  We can change sunlight directly to electricity using solar cells. Every day, light hits the roof's solar panels with photons (particles of sunlight). The solar panel converts those photons into electrons of direct current ("DC") electricity. The electrons flow out of the solar panel and into an inverter and other electrical safety devices. The inverter converts that "DC" power (commonly used in batteries) into alternating current or "AC" power. AC power is the kind of electricity that your television, computer, and toasters use when plugged into the wall outlet. The use of solar panels cuts their power bills to almost nothing. That is power!

It is amazing how we, as a people have, been tutored to access and use the power sources that exist on this earth for our daily living.

Last Sunday Mike and I were asked to visit the primary and act as eyewitnesses to the story of the Savior raising Lazarus from the dead.  We wore biblical costumes, and set the stage with a few of our photos from our Israel trip.  The primary leader informed the children that we had come through a time machine, and we shared what we saw, as recorded in John 11.  Our point was to help the children understand that Jesus has power over death.  Now, that is power!

We had fun studying and practicing our story, but were also reminded how Jesus Christ has the power over all things.  He lets us access our wonderful inventions and many great comforts of this world, but He also is mindful of all we do and are.   He wants us to succeed in our endeavors, live a life of service and worship, and give the credit to Him, the Father of us all.  I’ve been thinking so much about His power and what a miracle this life is! 

The children were fun and very attentive.  But when question time came, the older ones were more concerned that we could have a computer, watch and two rings when we came from the past through a time machine.  They were really cute.

We had the privilege to read Sister Katie Jones’ letter this week, and she mentioned a few of the tender mercies that she is seeing on her mission. My heart fills with joy when I see the missionaries recognize, though their job is challenging, the many moments of tenderness from the Lord.  When we arrived in Bakersfield, we started a book in the mission office where missionaries could jot down a recent tender mercy on an index card.  We compile the cards in the book, and leave them on the table for other missionaries to read.  The intent is three fold: the missionaries notice and are mindful of their individual tender mercies; they have the opportunity to read other missionaries’ experiences; and we share one or two each month in the newsletter.  It has helped us all pay more attention to the many miracles that enrich us daily.  Some of the tender mercies mentioned are individual gifts that help the missionary or his/her family, and others affect the zone or ward. The other day a missionary wrote:  While we were on an exchange, my companion and I had been tracting for about five hours. It was hot outside. We had no water, and strangers treated us rudely -- the odds looked like they were against us.  My companion said, “What I would do for some cold water . . .” I remember looking at him and saying, “The Lord will bless us.”  About an later we walked toward our bikes and inside our helmets were two very cold bottles of water.  We looked at each other with watery eyes, smiled, then bowed our heads and prayed in gratitude.

We keep thinking our daily work is going to slow down, but each month brings new surprises.  This transfer period we had zone conferences.  We traveled, attended and presented nine sessions in five days.  It was a great time to get to see all of the missionaries.  President and Sister Wilson are inspired leaders and we love seeing them work with the missionaries.  We, along with the other senior missionaries spent twenty minutes each addressing our particular areas.  Naturally, we presented our Golden Plunger Zone Awards, and that is always a lot of fun.  The zone leaders also taught their zones for a half hour.  It is interesting to see the skills each set of zone leaders use as they address the assigned topic. 

We’ve had a variety of activities to attend to, and one special opportunity was the privilege to help clean the LA Temple.  When possible, we take the missionaries who help us with moves to lunch.  It such a joy to get to know them better and to hear their stories.  But one of the greatest joys is when they invite us to go on a teaching appointment with them.  We are amazed at the skills they develop to share their message.  We can feel them teaching by the spirit.  The future leadership of the church will be in good hands. 

It is amazing to see how well our children do without us.  They are doing well and moving forward.  We are excited as we anticipate two weddings in the next few months.  My Ryan is marrying Hali Nielsen on October 9^th.  We are thrilled to have Hali officially join the family.  And Mike’s Ryan is marrying Liz Hunt on January 16^th and we are also delighted to have Liz join our family.  What a wonderful time this is for our sons.  We received a picture of the kids having Lori’s traditional cookie dough Sunday evening treat at our house.  They called it “Throwback Sunday.”

We continue to miss our family and friends, but we are also grateful for this wonderful opportunity to serve.  We witness the presence of our Lord and Savior as we see and feel the power of the God.  We love you and hope all is well with you.