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".