Eight Months Out

Remember the tree? It arrived for our June 1  Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary along with our 11 children and their spouses.  It now sits on the counter by our large kitchen window reminding us of the joy our wonderful family brings even though at present they are not present.




In the housing industry they say it is "all about location."  Serving in the California San Diego really is all about location.  Because we are HERE, we've had lots of family visits in addition to the super duper one in June.  Many have come to see where we live, where we serve, where we attend church; but mostly to do the tourist things for which San Diego is famous.  Pictured below is just one family of all those who came and some of what we did.

 They come ostensibly to visit Grandma and Grandpa but most everyone has toured the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum pictured above behind Nathan, Amy, Miah, Samuel and Mateo, visiting from Bowling Green, Ohio; the Wild Animal Park, with a white rhino pictured below; the San Diego Zoo, and the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center and of course a full Mexican dinner in Old Town.
                         If I were a better photographer there would be more pictures.

 On the first Monday of each month all the senior couples in the mission get together for a FHE.  October 5 found us enjoying a "Halloween" party complete with costumes and games.  Below are Gordon and Anna Barlow.  Gordon is a cousin of Bruce's from Cache Valley, formerly the owner of a dairy farm that milked 200 cows!  They serve as missionaries to one of the Young Single Adult Wards in the area, work in the mission office two days a week, welcome visitors to the San Diego Temple grounds one morning a week and help with employment in the Sweetwater Stake.  They are a busy and wonderful couple to have three feet from our front door.

We also do "true" missionary work.  To make sure all our "saints" who don't come to our Sunday meetings knew about General Conference we mailed out the announcement pictured at the right about a week before conference.  At first glance I thought Bruce's "Announcement" was a little "flip". However, we decided some humor might create a more positive response. We hope the recipients, while enjoying their Sunday at home, took advantage of the opportunity to hear our prophet and apostles.  If nothing else, the returned envelopes helped us identify those who have moved, sadly many with no forwarding address.


 With list in hand and a better knowledge of the area after 8 months in the mission, we regularly go out searching for "lost sheep" and sometimes find them.  We even get greeted warmly once in a while.  It is a highlight that brightens our outlook and gives us renewed desire to continue.  The full time missionaries serving in our ward regularly invite us to join them in teaching.  We enjoy being with them and helping to augment their lessons, doing our best to let them lead the discussions.  Our current missionaries are Elder Corum who goes home in December and Elder Climer who has been in the mission field 10 days!

Another opportunity we enjoy is participating in the monthly Mission Firesides.   Each month Ginny is responsible to audition and choose special musical numbers prepared by missionaries and then direct a missionary choir at the fireside.  It is a job both daunting and enjoyable.  The real reward comes during the fireside as new converts share their joy in discovering the depth of understanding and joy the gospel brings, the president and his wife share their testimonies and the missionaries teach through their music.  Ginny is pictured here with Jamie Breckenridge who was our organist for the evening at the Santee Stake Center.  Jamie is related to David Carr, Michele's husband.

Last, but definitely not least, Bruce is now teaching all the missionaries involved in Transfer Meeting which occurs every 6 weeks.  He chooses the topic, researches, outlines (on his trusty computer) and prepares diligently to share what he has learned over so many years of study.  John Bytheway he is not, but slowly the missionaries are coming to recognize the wealth of knowledge he's gained and regularly thank him for adding to their understanding and testimony of gospel truths.  

A senior mission is a unique and rewarding experience because for the first time in your life you are working full time in the Lord's service TOGETHER!  We are really enjoying the opportunity.

A "Golden" Treasure

It doesn't have to glitter to be gold.  In fact the greatest treasures often have nothing to do with gold.  However....

One week ago, June 1, 2015, we observed a golden day.  Fifty years before we were sealed in the Logan Temple.  Why Logan?  There were no temples east of Utah and most of our extended family that would attend our sealing lived in the Cache and Marsh valleys of northern Utah and southeastern Idaho.  Besides, we had just finished school for the year at BYU, with Ginny graduating with a BS in Music Education.  Logic meant the Logan Temple.  Now, 50 years later, that decision means much more.  Family is the underlying reason for temple covenants and ordinances and we shared that special day with grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles with whom we hope to share eternity as we prove worthy of that blessing.  Our life together began with family and when it came time to celebrate 50 years together, once again we did it with family.


Our children stealthily planned for many months the perfect weekend.  On Spring Break David and Kari did their usual trip to Utah for skiing and visiting kids at BYU.  But this time they took an extra trip further north to Cache Valley, up Logan Canyon where the rock for the Logan Temple was quarried.  When they returned home, a beautiful rock, heavy with what must be iron ore came with them.  Cassandra, Michele's granddaughter, seeing the picture of the rock, fashioned the tree pictured above, spray painting it with various hues to match the colors of the rock.  There is a branch for each child where leaves may continue to fill the tree with beautiful gold.  It is a thoughtful piece of art with so much meaning.  We leave it to you to find your own symbolism but we are grateful that David anchored that tree to the rock, as we hope our marriage and family are anchored to the Rock of our Redeemer, sealed so many years ago in the Logan Temple.

The other part of the stealth was the way they kept the best surprise of all.  The four children who live in Fountain Valley planned with us long ago that on Saturday May 30 they would come to San Diego, do an endowment session in the San Diego Temple all together and then go to lunch afterwards.  We were so pleased that they would choose to celebrate our 50th in that way.  So, Saturday morning we arrived at the San Diego Temple at the appointed hour.  The kids suggested we go over where the brides get photographed for a picture.  Mal, going to get someone to be the photographer,  disappeared around the side of the temple, returning with the word that someone was coming.  As we stood there waiting and looking for that someone, who should come down that long walkway but every one of our children with their spouses.  As Ginny hugged each one she just couldn't quite absorb the fact that they were ALL there. All twenty-two.  It was a wonderful thrill with each new person and they all got big hugs with tears and too many shrieks of delight.   The kids were as thrilled as we were to all be together but also that they had pulled off the biggest, best surprise of 50 years.

Often we will hear a talk in conference about the joy of being in the temple with all your children.  We experienced that very feeling.  It was difficult not to tear up during the endowment session with overwhelming happiness.  We spent wonderful time in the Celestial Room and the atrium after the session discussing the temple and its meaning.  The rest of the day was spent having an absolutely gourmet meal in La Jolla with lots of visiting there and at our little missionary apartment.  Thankfully our children know how to "hang out" in tight quarters.  Happily the celebration didn't end Saturday night.  We have written these past four months about our very interesting San Diego 4th Ward and how much we love being here, the challenges, frustrations, and joys and the good friends we are making.  We've invited all to come and see for themselves.  So those wonderful children arranged to stay the night and attend church with us the next day!  And to make the day even better, our mission president spoke in our ward that day.  You might call that a coincidence but we are very thankful that he just happened to come on the very day our children were there.  He met them, they met him and had a great conversation.  We are grateful to be serving under he and his wife and so thankful that he could meet our children.

To top off the visit, we came back to our little apartment where the kids brought in all the makings for sandwiches and other lunch fixings.  We had a great make your own feast amidst all the visiting we could squeeze in before everyone left at 2:00.

The work of the Lord calls.  Parents needed to return home to children.  Bruce and Ginny needed to leave for El Centro, 100 miles east in the desert for Ginny to lead the missionary choir in the Mission Fireside which is held once a month.  Gratefully, Michele and her husband David were able to stay an extra day so went with us.  The reunion lasted a few hours longer for the four of us.

The world calls it a Golden Wedding Anniversary.  We are grateful for good health and a marriage based on solid gospel principles that have made it possible for us to have enjoyed 50 years that got us to that anniversary.  We don't glitter and neither do our children or their children, but they are treasures more precious than gold and we hope to spend not only a weekend celebrating with them but all eternity working, playing and celebrating the joy of the gospel.

May the tree continue to be solidly attached to The Rock and continue to gather golden leaves, the greatest treasure of all, forever.

A Flood Instead of a Drought

    What?  It rained in San Diego?  In May?  Yes!  So much so that we got a flash flood warning last evening because so much water was pouring out of the sky.  In contrast, there has been no flood of missionary teaching appointments the last few weeks.  Kind of like California, we and our 4th Ward Elders have been experiencing a bit drought.  But like the unexpected rain, people interested in learning the gospel are once again appearing.
     When things do get dry, we try to carefully plan, looking at past records, deciding who is best to visit again.  After a month here we got smart and created a master list of everyone we have had any interaction with.  That includes letters sent, calls made, visits to gated apartments, actual visits with human beings and teaching opportunities.  When I make a new entry it brings a little of that joy referred to in D&C 18:15 to know that we've been working diligently and had some success. Above, Bruce is sitting at our kitchen table going over records while I interrupt our planning meeting to play photographer.
     However,  even when the appointments are down, we have standing appointments every week to teach an Egyptian Muslim, a single adult nurse who is working his way back to full activity and an inactive man who wants to become active again.  For each lesson Bruce comes with a detailed outline of what we are covering in the Book of Mormon that day.  Hopefully one day they will study those outlines and realize the gems contained therein.  Also, for the past month we have taken a young man, a native of India, who joined the church in January, to the temple to do baptisms each week.  We've also taken him to tour the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center, to see "Meet the Mormons", and  introduced him to Institute.  Hopefully he will discover that there is much more to this church than what he knows in San Diego 4th Ward.

    When not out teaching Bruce spends many hours at his little desk pounding away on the keyboard writing down insights he has gained as he pours through the Book of Mormon once again.  His favorite part of this mission is the opportunity to study and outline his thoughts and then teach. As he shares insight into the doctrine his companion takes the practical side of things.  How do all these lessons apply to us here and now?
     Just opposite him in this picture is a very small desk where I sit with my back to him with my laptop and scriptures open.  Besides studying topics suggested in Preach My Gospel, the everyday work goes on at that little desk:  correspondence with family and friends, tracking our mission labors, planning music for the Mission Firesides, making calls, sending texts and even ordering tickets for a July 4 Concert.  Yep.  We senior missionaries play too.  Five couples are going to the San Diego Symphony concert on the Embarcadero on the bay to celebrate Independence Day.  And lest you think that is the only time we will play, check out these less than stellar photos.

     On a sunny, warm late afternoon some of the senior missionaries had a bonfire (as they put it) at the beach.  We added hot dogs, chips, soda, plenty of marshmallows for s'mores, some singing and lots of visiting.  It was well past dark when the party ended.
     The young man next to Bruce is a convert of about a year, in the Navy, and very committed to living the gospel.  Sister Thompson, from Jackson, Wyoming in the yellow and Sister Parkin, from Utah in the blue serve in the office with their husbands.  Below is Elder Tanner, from Fillmore, who with his wife, lives upstairs from us, Sister Storrs , from Price, who is the better half of our "trailer trash" couple (they live in their 5th wheel in the RV Park), and Sister Barlow, married to Bruce's cousin.  The Barlows serve in a YSA Ward, the Tanners, like us are MLS missionaries and the Storrs work with military families.
 
 

There are times when we truly see the hand of the Lord in our lives.  When we submitted our application to serve we did not request a place of assignment.  Receiving the call to the San Diego Mission seemed logical because of medical needs.  However, when President Schmitt asked me to be responsible for the music at the Mission Firesides there was immediate confirmation that the Lord knows me.  Now, as time has passed and we watch others in various assignments, we know this is exactly where we should be. We are learning to truly love our unique ward with so many challenges but with leadership that is committed and really cares about the members here. We are having many opportunities to share the gospel, perhaps more than in any other setting.  We appreciate our good elders who anticipate at least an adequate rainfall of people seeking to know truth even when to us it appears we are heading into an irreversible drought.  We'll keep praying for rain; of both kinds.
 
 

Three Months But Who Is Counting?

Today was Creek to Bay clean up in San Diego; an apt name for the cleaning of this city.  If there isn't a river or creek bed in a canyon, the gully would still carry water in a good downpour and it all goes to the ocean.  Our stake sent members to the Canyon Crest Park which includes Chollas Creek where we spent our time in the dry creek bed which is very full of bull rushes, bushes, trees and the debris remaining from homeless camps.  We left the natural flora but put into dumpsters tires, mattresses, chairs, bedding, jeans, shoes, plastic of all sorts, stuffed animals, shopping carts, the containers of many meals and in one case the meal itself which had putrified under cover of an old drawer.  It was a good morning; we worked diligently and knew we had accomplished something really worthwhile.  Although we expected no material reward, Bruce won two tickets to the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park, I scored this great T-Shirt and we got our picture taken with the missionaries who serve in our stake. Afterwards we enjoyed a lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers compliments of San Diego County.                                                                      

Pictured here is a portion of Chollas Creek with Bishop Martin of San Diego 4th Ward in the foreground with a small portion of what we collected.  We filled half a large dumpster with debris that we and another group farther down the creek bed gathered.  Thus we cleaned the creek this morning, did our weekly cleaning of our building last evening and this afternoon made bread for tomorrow's sacrament.

    

 A week ago we hosted dinner for the 4 couples who serve in San Diego as Member Leadership Support missionaries.  Two couples are new and were asking, "What do we do?"  The evening was a combination of swapping stories, assuring that given time they will discover the needs of their ward, and like all other callings as they "go and do" the opportunities will come.  

Every week we teach our Egyptian Muslim, two single adult men, one a nurse who can't get Sunday's off yet, the other a man who was raised in the church but has been inactive since he was 17.  He wants to come back not only for himself, but to honor his parents who raised him in an active Latter-day Saint home.   Each Wednesday we take a new young adult member to the temple to do baptisms and try to take advantage of our time with him to teach the gospel.  Last week we toured the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center and this week we will watch Meet the Mormons with him.  Being a native of India, he has very little knowledge of the church, just a testimony of its basic truths.  The elders in our ward invite us on almost every teaching opportunity.  We listen to them teach and add our testimony when invited.  In the front row standing, Elder Sheppard is 4th from the left and Elder Davies is on the far right.  They are seasoned elders, both out for over 20 months.  

       As of April 19, I am now responsible for the music presented in the monthly San Diego Mission Fireside.  President Schmitt first asked me to take that position when we arrived with the understanding I would begin my service when President Morgan, who is now in the presidency, left to serve as mission president in Chili.  It was nice to have two firesides to observe, ask questions and participate only as the organist.  With a very straightforward format and only 1 hour prior to the fireside to rehearse our missionary choir, we have to keep things "simple".  This is the April 19 program:  processional of missionaries singing "Called to Serve" with yours truly accompanying with the organ full throttle; my arrangement of "How Great the Wisdom and the Love" with the 6th verse as the final verse, 3 special numbers, 3 testimonies by new members, 3 videos and a final testimony by President Schmitt and his wife followed by "Did Jesus Really Live Again/Jesus Has Risen" arranged by Brett Stewart as a closing song, recessional of missionaries singing "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go".  Time elapsed:  1 hour 15 max.  Each fireside has always been a spiritually rewarding experience.   The testimonies, videos and music all convey the priceless joy we find in living the gospel.  President and Sister Schmitt teach succinctly and hopefully our music is beautiful and also bears testimony.  That is our goal.  Each month missionaries audition to perform the special numbers.  Probably my biggest challenge will be to handle those auditions with kindness, always teaching the value of beautiful music in conveying the spirit. 

     

 Missionary service for senior couples is akin to life.  You search out, you befriend, you teach, you enjoy friends and family, you take care of home and each other and everyone else who might need your love and concern.  We also take time to relax and enjoy the fun of life.
     To the left is our ward Relief Society President who happens to be the wife of our bishop, serving home made root beer to go with our ice cream at Ye Olde Root Beer Stand at the ward square dance party complete with homemade stick horses for the kids.  Fun time.

Sarah and family came on their spring break.  We are standing right by the Midway aircraft carrier with a Princess cruise ship in the background.  The Midway tour was very impressive.  Come for a visit - our neighbor can give you an "inside" tour!

The Quist and Michael Richardson families also came.  Just as with the Browns we visited the Midway and the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center and enjoyed late lunch at a great Mexican Restaurant in Old Town.  Come and find out for yourself what a great place it is.  After the "serious" stuff the kids played in the pool and at pool, both located in our luxurious RV Park.




On a rare free Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a concert at the Spreckles Organ Pavillion in Balboa Park.  This is the largest outdoor organ in the United States and concerts are given every Sunday afternoon rain or shine.

Yes, it has been three months since we left home to embark on this new adventure.  Each day gives us more opportunity to seek and teach the truths of the gospel.  It is good to be fully engaged in serving others.

Not So "Picture Perfect" Post

Last week it was potato salad; this week cupcakes with sprinkles on top of buttery frosting.  Don't kids like cupcakes?  The three children of one family enjoyed them but the other cancelled three times.  The Elders got the cupcakes.  After two Family Home Evenings and dinner with the Elders at our one single sister's home, she failed to make it to church 3 weeks in a row, even with reminder calls.  She has sought out the church, welcomes our visits and calls and yet the ability to consistently make the gospel an integral part of her life eludes her.  Our bishop painted a picture that made me laugh:  where is the hammer so I can go hit myself with it again.  He is a very realistic yet compassionate man .  Our other single sister is being threatened with eviction, has been on the streets before and acts like she wants to return.  Old habits are hard to break.  Not only do we feel for these good sisters but for their young children who are growing up without gospel teachings and living.  We all know what a difference a good dose of Primary would make in their innocent lives.

     

  This is a land of cultural diversity.  This tower sits on a corner of University Avenue, a main east west artery.  Not pictured is the tattoo parlor also within the building.  This avenue along with the parallel El Cajon Boulevard house more tattoo, smoke, vape and liquor shops in a 3 mile length than it seems possible for the public to support.   Not only is the area diverse as to culture but is also just south of the San Diego State University campus.  Perhaps those two populations converging explains the multiplicity of such commerce.
     


Pictured here is a Laotian Temple we discovered yesterday set among a neighborhood of single family homes.  The parking area was full of families gathered with their meals under E-Z-Ups conversing as their leader spoke.  The surrounding neighbors would have all been able to "enjoy" the sermon if they chose; if they understood Laotian.

Speaking of temples, we attended an endowment session Friday, mostly filled with young missionaries from the neighboring Carlsbad Mission; a needed refreshment and a wonderful reminder of eternal truths we are working to help others appreciate. 

                              

                              There is an old saying, "All work and no 

 

play makes Johnny a dull boy" so we also take a little time to laugh about life here and to enjoy different activities.
      After teaching a discussion Saturday morning about our pre-mortal experiences and the governance of law to a fine young man who has not attended church for about 6 months,  we attended a performance of the" Commandants Own" Marine Drum and Bugle Corp and the Silent Drill Platoon.  They are headquartered in Washington, D.C.  That experience came because our downstairs neighbors are missionaries assigned to work at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot.  They interface with the new corpsmen as they go through 12 weeks of basic training and coordinate with the leaders at Camp Pendleton (thing Steve and Cindy Lang) where the young men go after basic training.  This last year they had 52 young men baptized during that basic training time.  Besides a wonderful musical and precision presentation we watched those raw recruits going through drills on the adjacent field.  The Lawsons say that you can tell the new from the old just by the strong, fit muscles they have developed by the time they leave.  They begin in tennis shoes and end in combat boots.

 




After our trip to the MCRD we all attended the St. Patrick's Day party held in the club house here in our RV park, put on by the management.  Once a month they sponsor a party with generous food for all who live here.  Bruce and I were able to enjoy a wonderful visit with our night managers who have lived here 8 years.  They are the "salt of the earth" and would do anything to help a person in need.

 Although the picture is poor, Ben and Sue are sitting to the right of Bruce.  The clubhouse was full of friendly neighbors.  As I've said before, we feel like we are living in a campground atmosphere.  People just naturally say hi and treat you like an old friend.  Freeway noise aside,  this is a "nice place to live".

       Just two more pictures.  Sunday we brought a real life investigator to church and she stayed for the entire 3 hours because she wanted to attend the meeting with the sisters.  The Relief Society is preparing to sing in Sacrament meeting next week and she rehearsed with us.  Here's hoping she sings with us next Sunday.  Our Relief Society president asked if I would direct the women.  I asked if she knew I could do it.  She replied, "You play the piano."  It was a fun experience.  The music continues as pictured below.

 

This is rehearsal for the Stake Mission Fireside held monthly with testimonies, videos and musical presentations.  Very effective.  I am at the organ because I volunteered to President Schmitt that "Called to Serve" and "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go", sung as processional and recessional numbers, might be more effectively sung with organ accompaniment.  However, in April I won't be at the organ anymore; I will be directing the missionary choir which rehearses just before the fireside.  In fact, I will be responsible for all the music at these firesides.  Any ideas - send them my way QUICK!
   
Missions are interesting with ups and downs just like real life.  We personally go up and down a lot as we traverse San Diego.  Just to prove we aren't kidding about the hills check out the yellow sign in the picture below.  The picture of the road doesn't do the grade justice.

Life can be like those hills.  Sometimes we go down very steep hills into deep gorges where the way out seems almost impossible to find.  But there is always a road out.  The gospel of Jesus Christ, that strait and narrow path with the iron rod right beside us is always there.  We just have to lay hold and stay on the path.  Follow the Word.

As our former drug dealer commented about her former drug dealer husband:  "He went through his rehabilitation and prison time extra fast because 'he stayed right on the road.'"  She gets it!

Typical Work Week?

What does a bowl of potato salad have to do with a mission?  Or cupcakes with sprinkles, chocolate chip cookies or homemade bread.  They are the same as a 9 x 13 pan of "funeral potatoes".  We serve in any way that will help us share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Because we live upstairs from Bruce's cousin, our relationship is stronger than just missionary couples living by one another.  We have common ancestors and since the Barlow's come from Cache Valley where our parents grew up we have a shared love for that beautiful valley.  A couple of weeks ago Anna asked if I might be willing to help with a luncheon she had volunteered to create for the leaders in the mission.  Of course the reply was yes.  So we did our homework on how best to satisfy the appetites of 50+ young missionaries spending approximately $3 per person.  If you have some good ideas, we'd love to know as we may be doing this more than once.  Perhaps we were too successful or maybe it was just that we are willing but Sr. Schmitt offered to let us do it again.  Suffice to say, this past Friday, we served, with the help of our good husbands (the schleppers) a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad with brownies topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert.  It only took 20 pounds of potatoes and 2 large pork roasts to feed that bunch.  We were glad to do it and they seemed to enjoy it.  Besides, I got to spend Thursday afternoon in my little kitchen (pictured above) cooking and cutting up all the ingredients.  A great exercise in space management and wonderful exercise for the arms!

The best part of serving lunch was meeting another relative.  Pay attention.  My father's youngest brother, Phill Goodsell has a grandson serving in our mission as a Zone Leader.  When he heard we were from Huntington Beach (he'd been prompted by grandparents) he asked if by any slim chance I might be a Goodsell.  That caught me by surprise.  Goodsell is not a common name.  But when I replied in the affirmative he told me how we are related.  He's a good looking (of course, his grandpa my uncle Phill, is the most handsome 80+ year old you'll meet) tall, well spoken elder serving as a leader in our zone.  There is no picture.  Despite thinking about it, we never managed to take one.  Hopefully that will happen for the next post.

In fact, this post will have no more pictures.  We tried but they aren't worth posting.  But here's what's been happening this past week:

        We taught a Family Home Evening on Tuesday to one of our single sisters and her 3 busy little boys.  She lives in a small one bedroom apartment and we sat on the futon/bed in the "living room" to learn about how we are all children of God.  By the end of the lesson after my singing "I Am a Child of God" 3 times, they joined in along with Bruce.  The oldest was quite attentive.  But he is just 7 so why should we ask for the others to pay much attention.
        We attended a Family Home Evening for all the senior couples in the mission held at the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center.  While there we met the couple who directs the Visitors Center.  He grew up in the D.C. area and his mother was a talented musician who directed Relief Society choirs in which my mother sang, including the one that sang at the World's Fair in New York City in 1965.  Wherever you go in the church, there is always someone with whom you have a connection.  But the connection runs deeper than just knowing someone who knows someone.  We have that common bond of gospel knowledge and testimony.  It ties like nothing else.
      Thursday the senior couples who live in our RV park were all invited to dinner cooked by the "night manager".  He and his wife have become good friends with the missionary couples who come and go.  One of them, who lived here, was back for a visit - an occasion to get together.  Ben is a great cook - he does a lot of it on his outdoor grill and we enjoyed a delicious meal.  He and his wife adopted their two granddaughters and have raised them here for the last 8 years.  The oldest is in college, the other on her way there when she graduates high school this spring.  Perhaps during these many opportunities to associate with Ben and Sue they will desire to know more about why we all come and serve as we do.  Our job is to continue that relationship when our downstairs neighbors, the Lawson's return to Utah in April.  We're the new people in the park.
     Thursday morning was our time to teach our Egyptian friend who seemed to more readily accept the idea that God is a personage who can talk, walk, see, hear and communicate with us.  Bruce compiled pages of scriptures backing up that concept, all from Genesis and Exodus.  Muslims accept the first 5 books of the Bible as inspired scripture.  We followed up with a simple "Plan of Salvation" about which he seemed intrigued.  We return tomorrow with more - a deeper look at our pre-mortal experiences and the role of Jesus in our lives.
     Thursday evening we had a delicious meal at the home of the ward Executive Secretary and his wife -  Mediterranean, Middle Eastern cuisine .  Interesting conversation and food.  We had to leave quickly to meet the missionaries for a first discussion.  It is the first time we have observed them in action with an adult non-member.  They worked seamlessly together, teaching her the need for a restoration, the reason for the Book of Mormon and asking her to read it and discover for herself its truth.  We were impressed.
     Thursday was a great day, especially because I made potato salad in the middle of all that!
     Friday was our luncheon and finally an opportunity to clean this little apartment that even with just two of us needed some sprucing up.  The highlight of the day came about 5:00 when we met with a man who, working as a nurse in fairly new employment, cannot get Sunday's off.  He met us at the door enthusiastically, so glad to see us, with his scriptures on the table ready to have a gospel discussion.  Our meeting was mostly a get-acquainted with him (and his roommates, some of whom are very friendly, with one claiming he wanted in on the next visit).  We are returning this afternoon for the first of our Sunday afternoon "if you can't come to church, we'll bring the church to you" visits.
     Saturday:  the day to find people home, or so we thought.  With a list of eleven "heads of household" in hand and our handy Google Map app on the I-phone we went seeking.  No one home.  Not one!  But we discovered that most are in homes or at least rentals in nice neighborhoods where we could knock on a door without a security gate.  We shall return.  But in lieu of a visit we have prepared our introductory letter to mail to each home.  If we can't bring the gospel to them in person we will do it by the written word.
     Sunday:  The best day of the week.  We went to church and sat by our Egyptian friend and his wife.  We enjoyed good meetings and lessons and a wonderful discussion of part of D&C 93 and 88 and Abraham 3 with our newly found enthusiastic friend.  We'll end our day with ward choir practice.  One of the speakers today used Elder Hallstrom's  conference talk about the gospel and the church, their differences and how they work together for our salvation and joy.  We need to learn, understand and live the gospel and we need the church structure to help us in that quest.  They go hand in hand.  Therefore, we've taken our testimonies and moved 60 miles south to share with those who are struggling to learn, understand and live the gospel and teach them use the structure of the church to do so.
    The gospel is true.  Take advantage of that knowledge.

     

Now That's Success!

Now That's Success!

Cultural Diversity

Today as I sat in Fast and Testimony Meeting, I pondered on the call we received to serve as Member Leadership and Support Missionaries in San Diego.  People would ask what that meant and we could only reply that we would serve where and how our president would ask.  We assumed that meant to go into a ward and build it in whatever way might be needed.  Upon meeting with President Schmitt he mused in our presence that he felt prompted to send us to one of two wards.  Then he called the stake president on speaker phone and asked him which and he replied, "Send them to 4th Ward."  In a previous blog you saw a photo of the chapel, a beautiful space that inspires awe just being there.  I still find great joy in
listening to the organ each week, even though it could be played with much greater skill.  But now, as we enter and worship we see more than a space and hear more than a beautiful instrument.  In 3 weeks we have discovered the inner city and its people, especially those who in one way or another are identified with the church.  As the Lord has promised, as you lose your life in serving others, you are blessed.  We are just in the beginnings of losing our life and learning to love these souls, even those who aren't the least bit interested in our finding them or sharing the gospel with them.

The above picture is of a building on a large portion of one block, surrounded by flags of many nations.  It appears to be a cultural center for Asian people.  As we drove by there were many children running around the outside of the building but within the fencing.  Many if not most of the properties in this area are fenced, even our beautiful chapel which sits in a neighborhood of small homes, each one surrounded by wrought iron fencing with apartment buildings interspersed with most first floor windows and doors covered with security bars.  Nearby is a commercial building that is occupied by an agency that works to help Africans assimilate.  The diversity is palpable.

 This is one example of the little homes we find as we look for people.  Some are much smaller, some are in nicely restored neighborhoods, but all are tiny homes built about mid-century.
We don't know who lives here but they have received a letter introducing ourselves, explaining why we are writing to them, followed by some basic information about the restoration of the church, focusing on the role Oliver Cowdery played in the translation of the Book of Mormon and then a picture of our beautiful chapel inviting them to join us, with our meeting times.  We hope they will be enticed.  When we visit a home like this they usually don't have a phone or they have not responded to our calls.

One family of at least three generations in our ward lives in this home.  With no ability to contact them by phone we have struggled to visit.  Finally we caught a man at home who appeared to have not washed his body or clothes since he became an adult and obviously did not live by the Word of Wisdom.  He dismissed us quickly.  The gospel once blessed his life.

This past week one of our assignments was to inspect the apartments of 5 sets of missionaries.
When we turned in our reports, which were all very good (we have obedient missionaries) we drove around San Diego Mesa Community College.  The mission office occupies what was once the institute building across the street from the campus full of large buildings, set literally on a mesa.  Below is the entrance with what we assume is the administration building in the foreground.  Many of the buildings are set on the edge of the canyon which is to the left of this picture.  Obviously, the campus demographics have changed in such a way that an institute was no longer viable in that location.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Mesa Community College

 If you were to turn around from taking this picture and look exactly opposite from the campus you would see the beautiful canyon in the picture below.  This is only one of many, many canyons all over the city.  Sometimes a freeway follows the bottom of a canyon, or as in this case a road.  Many times the canyons are steep and deep, untouched and covered with greenery.  Everything around here seems much more green than in the Los Angeles area, but maybe that is because it is winter.  Only time will tell.  With the rain we have enjoyed

all this day, things will definitely be greener for

awhile and ducks in creek by our property will

be very happy.

Now lest you think we never do missionary work, below is a picture of Elder Smith on the left and Elder Sheppard.  We are hoping when transfer calls come this week neither will be moved.   Because of their diligence, most of the success we have had can be attributed to their help.  They helped us find a single mom with three boys who has come to church with us and expresses sincere desires to turn her life back to gospel living.  We have met with and taught a single man and his young adult son because they thought he would appreciate a relationship with a senior couple. They came to church today.  He  has been inactive since he was 17.  Another woman we are meeting with is a single mom with 4 children and she came to church today.  Our Muslim Egyptian friend did not come today but we will meet with him Tuesday to teach him that God is not just a "force" but a God with body, parts and passions.  Before this week is over we will have given two Family Home Evening lessons to our little families with the single moms, hopefully have convinced our wonderful Egyptian friend that God is a being with whom we can talk and our friendly inactive that he wants to come to church regularly.  Our work is what our returned missionary boys term "real mission work", looking in strange places for missing people, rejoicing when they return.  One last happy story.  At the end of our list of people to find yesterday afternoon was a convert of a few months.  He hadn't been to our ward for about a month.  We found him home, happy to see us, warm and friendly and going to the older singles ward in the area.  As we visited we could tell he understands gospel principles and is happy to be a Latter-day Saint.  That news will make the elders  smiles even bigger.  Now that is success!

Two Week's Work

Two weeks - a ward PEC Meeting and a Ward Council Meeting.  Names to be called, visited, and reported on.  A list from Bishop Martin, a list from his wife, the Relief Society president, a list from the Young Women president.  Then off to do the work.

San Diego 4th Ward is geographically large, at least to us who come from Harper Park Ward.  It's boundaries along with San Diego 1st Ward make up most of the inner city.  Our borders go from Interstate 8 on the north where the very new and nicely appointed Stake Center is located, clear down to the coast just below Coronado Bridge.  The I 805 and I 15 run north to south through it along with Highway 94, a east/west freeway.  I would guess the north/south length is about 10 - 12 miles and the east/west is about 5 miles.  We live about 3 miles east of the ward boundary but it is a quick trip west on El Cajon Boulevard or on I 8 to arrive within our ward area.  

The missionary companionship assigned to our ward, Elder Smith and Elder Sheppard live in an apartment complex right on I 805 in the heart of our ward.  Going through the city to get to their apartment is an education in cultural diversity.  There are neighborhoods of people from what seems every area of the world overlapping into each other.  Driving west on University Avenue yesterday we saw a group of people leaving "church" dressed in what appeared to be traditional Somali clothing.  There are two very ornate Buddhist temples in the area, colorful murals on the walls of schools, obviously with a Mexican flavor.   The San Diego mission has missionaries who teach in Thai, Arabic, Mandarin, Tagalog and of course Spanish (there are about 10 elders assigned to the Spanish ward that meets in our building and the Spanish branch which is close to Coronado in Barrio Logan) and probably other languages.  The shelf in the office of Books of Mormon in other languages must have at least 20 languages represented and they get calls for all of them.

Not only is there a diversity of cultures, there is a conglomeration of neighborhoods that continues to surprise us each day as we search out members.  Vast neighborhoods of small, probably 3 bedroom, 1 bath homes build in the 1950's cover the hills and spill down the hillsides.  Many are now rundown rentals in areas that once housed the postwar boom families who have long since moved out.  Many areas have apartments interspersed with these little homes on narrow lots and more than once we have found members or investigators living in little extra buildings on the back of the lot, down the driveway.  Streets run for miles but if a canyon intersects, then the street stops and then just continues on the other side of the canyon.  Thank goodness for Google Maps.  

The majority of the people we are looking for live in gated apartment buildings, thus we can't get in; have phones that are disconnected, or in some cases they just haven't answered our calls - yet.  But...lest you or we get discouraged we have had some success.  

We were sent to find a single sister with three boys who has had a very difficult life and is struggling to turn her life around.  The elders helped us find her on Sunday, February 15.  She is without transportation so we offered help.  With follow-up from the elders and us, we picked her up Sunday morning, she happily came and expressed several times how glad she was to have been there.  From a phone call and a follow up visit we found a mother of 4 children whose husband had left her 2 weeks before for a cute little 18 year old.  She is devastated.  Although she was married in the temple 15 years ago she has not been living the gospel but feels the need to come back and make it part of her and her children's lives.  She came to church on Sunday also.  Two women who chose the world for many years and are now trying to choose the Lord's way.  It will be a very difficult road but they have made the first critical step.  

It was interesting to sit in our Sunday meetings looking at everything from the perspective of wanting so much for these women to be able to change their lives through gospel living.  The sacrament hymn and the sacrament itself had greater meaning to me.   Our prayers have become more focused on the needs of those who need the gospel.  

We have also visited Yousry, an Egyptian married to a member, who is interested in learning about the gospel.  Today we began a lesson on the First Vision which morphed into trying to answer his concerns about who or what God really is.  We shall address that in greater depth next week.  He is seeking truth, but with a Muslim background.  His thoughtful questions will keep us thinking.  Happily he wants to meet every week and Bruce is happy to oblige with the teaching while I try to keep him from overwhelming Yousry with doctrine.  Our two meetings have been quite worthwhile.

Our Elders, whose picture I couldn't post, are wonderful.  They work effectively and well together and are very pleasant to be around.  Transfer calls come tomorrow.  We worry that we may lose one of them.  Such is the life in the mission.  At least our companionship will remain in tact not just for two weeks or two years but hopefully through eternity.

Life in Reverse Order

 This is the chapel of San Diego 4th Ward.  Designed by the architect who 30 years later designed the San Diego Temple, it is unique with wonderful acoustics - you can hear someone speaking at the pulpit in a normal voice in the back of the chapel with no amplification.  The organ has a beautiful, mellow sound.  Unfortunately, the pews are not full on Sunday with only about 120 out of 700 members attending. That is why we are here.

 A visit to Point Loma National Park.  The lighthouse with the home of the keeper at the bottom.  The wind was blowing strongly, as it probably always does up there on the headland which helps form San Diego Bay.  Below is a view back to the city.  We will improve in our camera skills.  Just know that beyond the green is the bay and beyond that a large Naval air station and beyond that the skyline of San Diego.  This was our Friday excursion followed by dinner in Old Town.

After attending the funeral for an elderly man in the 4th Ward, we visited Balboa Park on Thursday afternoon.  What a beautiful place.  It is famous for the zoo, but the buildings, originally built for a World Exposition in 1917 have been preserved and put to use as museums.  We hope during our time here to visit many of them.  Above is the carillon tower which chimes every quarter hour.  To the right is the botanical garden, the largest building of its kind made out of wooden lathes.  People who visited in 1917

were amazed at the tropical plants displayed.  The museum area is connected by beautiful walkways, ponds, plantings and many places to sit and enjoy the scenery.

Least you think we just play, we now have lists of people to find, visit and discover how to best help them return.  We spent President's Day going from address to address, and actually found one woman with whom we had a pleasant visit.  We have already received a dinner and a lunch invitation from individuals who don't even know us.  Tonight we go to dinner and then on a visit with the Elders assigned to our ward to a less active man who they feel would benefit from friendship with us.  The work is truly beginning.   We don't pursue our missionary labors in "Greek" t-shirts but want Bob Bolen to know we appreciate his efforts to share the truth in Huntington Beach.  The lush greenery is just outside our apartment pool!

We've Only Just Begun

February 16  A Happy Family Home Evening to you.

This blog comes minus photos.  My computer expertise has been put to the test and found wanting.  There are pictures, but they don't seem to be available.  The phone doesn't want to give them up.
Suffice to say the past week was one of getting settled, getting acquainted and getting around the city.

San Diego is a set on a series of mesas intersected by canyons which makes for very interesting terrain and lots of picturesque views.  We happen to live in La Mesa, just to the east of the city line.  The RV Park in which our apartment is located was built in the bottom of a canyon where the creek runs which I believe comes from Lake Murray which you saw in a picture last week.  I will have to post some pictures of our "park".  It is quite nice, very well used and well maintained.  There is a good sized pool by our apartment building which has 5 apartments, a game room, meeting room and the office.  Three of those apartments are and have been occupied by senior missionary couples for quite a long time.  Other than the noise from the freeway, it is a very comfortable place to live, close to stores, easy access to the city and especially to our ward.

Yes, we have been assigned a "job".  After meeting with President Schmitt on Tuesday February 10 and in consultation with the president of the San Diego Stake, we are now serving in the San Diego 4th Ward.  In the past week we have met the bishop on Tuesday evening and talked to his counselors that same night; attended ward PEC meeting Wednesday evening to get a feel for the ward and its needs; attended the funeral of a longtime member of the ward on Thursday; helped clean the ward building Saturday morning; attended ward choir rehearsal before Sacrament meeting and then sang with the choir in Sacrament meeting; acquired a list of members of the ward the bishop wants us to visit; went with the full time Elders in the ward to visit a single sister who has 3 boys and needs to be encouraged to return to church; attended the monthly Mission Fireside at the Chula Vista Stake Center Sunday evening where a missionary choir sang, several young missionaries sang or played violin and cello, 3 new members bore their testimonies and President and Sister Schmitt shared very good, short talks on the fact that our Father is seeking to save our spiritual lives and He knows us and gives us much help to return to him.   That was a perfect way to end or begin our week - however you want to look at it.

A senior mission has a different feel; we make our plans and work according to our schedule.  Most mornings Bruce swims in the pool just outside our apartment.  I walk all around the RV park. And we can get as much sleep as we need.  With no people to visit last week we took the time to visit the famous Balboa Park which has a right to be famous.  Numerous buildings designed in the Spanish Classic Style for an Exposition in 1917 have been turned into museums with wonderful walkways, plazas and ponds between them.  We spent an afternoon exploring.  Another afternoon we went to Point Loma which is the peninsula that creates San Diego Bay.  There is a National Park there commemorating Cabrillo who was the first European to see the bay and also the lighthouse that marked the point for many years.  The views from the point are what people would say are breathtaking - looking west over the vast ocean and east back towards Coronado Island and the city.  That particular day the bay to the east was dotted with sail boats and as we looked west we spotted a whale or whales spouting and diving about a mile of the coast.  We stopped in Old Town, the original area settled by Europeans with help from Mormon Battalion men, for a very tasty dinner at a highly recommended Mexican restaurant.  One nice perk for senior couples is we don't have a district to stay within.  As President Schmitt said, "You can go anywhere, just don't leave the mission without texting me."  So we explore when we can.

We now have a list of people to visit.  We spent Washington's Birthday morning making calls and the afternoon looking for addresses, finding one home, others no longer there and even getting invitations to dinner tomorrow evening and lunch on Friday from total strangers (at least to us).  Not bad for a day's work.

This is really what we expected from our call; an assignment to try and find lost sheep and hopefully build in them a desire to return.  There are many in this area - our ward being in the most densely populated part of San Diego.  There is work to be done and as some song says, "We've only just begun".

Leaving Home - Arriving "Home"

We left all this...

Christmas shirts this year

A Heart Attacked home from several home teaching families - they surprised us while we celebrated Julia's 2nd (Mal's and Melissa's daughter) birthday,

For the privilege of spending a week at the MTC with about 60 these good couples, including the members of our district; Elder and Sister Morgan who are going to Denmark to do Archival Retrieval and Elder and Sister Kearns who returned home to Layton to work with less active members as full time missionaries for two years.  We are standing with one of our three outstanding teachers.  Well trained, kind and willing to push us beyond our comfort zones in discovering how to approach people, discern their needs, and then role play doing exactly that....

  To come to this....Not a bad view from our large bedroom window.  The pool is actually big and warm enough for Bruce to swim laps each morning.  Right next door is a little stream that widens to a pond lined with bullrushes and full of ducks.  We even have wonderful neighbors downstairs - Elder and Sister Barlow from Lewiston, Utah, a cousin to Bruce's mother Wilma (He is the son of Granville, her mother Matilda's youngest brother) and Elder and Sister Lawson from Kaysville.  They kindly had us to dinner with Elder and Sister Monk on Friday evening. The Monks were in the MTC with us and are teaching at the institute connected with Grossmont Community College just a few miles east of here.  There is another couple living close by, the Storrs.  They are living in their motor home in our park here.  Yes, I didn't include a picture of it, but this little apartment complex is in the middle of a very nice RV park of about 200 spaces,  here in LaMesa.  Our accommodations are quite nice.  A very sunny apartment with plenty of space for computer, printer etc. (which by the way we are figuring out how to use all on our own!).  There is only one drawback to this very conveniently located apartment with nice amenities.  It is right next to Interstate 8 - I mean right next to it.  The frontage road runs right along the wall of the freeway.  So...the noise level is a little higher than we are used to.  But it gives one lots of privacy.  You can talk, turn up the stereo and no one will notice!

      As for missionary work, we haven't begun.  We met President Schmitt's wife at church today and she indicated that he has been buried in meetings but said she would tell him she had met us.  I suspect we will hear from him tomorrow when all the meetings have ended.  In the meantime we've been able to settle in, do some shopping, visit downtown San Diego yesterday and get caught in traffic surrounding Petco park which was hosting motocross racing.  We also visited Lake Murray Park this afternoon, just 1 mile from where we live, sitting in the middle of suburbia but far enough from the freeway to be quiet and a little shang-ri-la.

So here we are.  Stay tuned.  By next week we should be fully engaged in the work. We'll let you know what it is really like.  And since I said that I won't be afraid to admit that I've been a little lonely, missing family and familiarity.  But meeting with saints today in the La Mesa 1st Ward was an antidote - another reminder that when you lose yourself in the service of others you are blessed.  We know it is true and now we get to prove it all over again.