Happy "BirdDay," Interviews, Stress Relief, MLC With District Leaders

This is Glen's happy place--walking near the ocean knowing he'll soon be in the South Carlsbad State Beach Campground. He loves walking through the campground because the scenery changes all the time with new campers every time we are there.

It's rare we get to enjoy an ocean sunset, but we are happy when we do get to see one!!!

Brooke is now into bird watching. Her new interest is reflected in the adorable birthday BirdDay card she made for her grandpa.

I laughed at the asterisk by the number 60 at the top of the cake which directs you to look at the bottom of the page to learn she is just guessing at how old he is. She was only off by 2 years.

I love this picture Natalie posted of herself in our back yard. Natalie has always loved to pose for pictures.

It works out so great that Emma apparently loves to be behind the camera, so Emma takes pictures of Natalie. I am impressed with Emma's photographic creativity with this photo.

It made me so happy to see this picture because the tree is no longer there, so now we have a photo to help me remember its existence. Our next-door neighbor asked if he could pay to cut it down because it blocks the sun to the solar panels which he recently had installed on his roof.

I have always been annoyed at the stuff that falls from the tree. It would get all over the sidewalk and patio out there. I was all for the cutting of the tree so we wouldn't have that mess out there anymore.

Little did I know that the enjoyment the tree gave me of seeing its beautiful branches and leaves outside the small window in the shower every morning would be sorely missed. At least now I have a photo to remind me of the tree--and of the enjoyable visit of Natalie and Emma and their family.

This photo reminds me of Memorial Day weekend. There was a big holiday breakfast going on that day at this church building.

Our long holiday weekend started with a phone call at midnight from a distraught missionary. We ended up going to pick up that companionship in the middle of the night and brought them to our house to sleep. They were able to go out and do some missionary work during the days, but they were back again each night.

Things had escalated to the point where the one needed to go home to get medical attention. But, with the holiday weekend, no one could get a hold of the parents. It was stressful for everyone involved to have the missionary remain here, but the last day in the mission turned out to be a wonderful experience where they were able to teach some great lessons and they had experienced a great day together.

The morning the missionary left for the airport, as we prayed together as a group, Glen had prayed that the missionary would be able to share the gospel, even on the way home. I wondered if that would put more stress on the emotionally struggling missionary, but an amazing report was made about how the missionary engaged a fellow traveler in conversation and had been able to teach him, left an Ensign with him, along with a pass along card so he could contact the Church to get more information. What a wonderful answer to a heart-felt prayer by a loving, concerned Mission President for his early-release missionary.

We were dealing with several big issues at the same time this was going on, so no wonder Glen went straight for the popsicles one evening. As our granddaughter Emma pointed out--they are his stress relievers.

My stress reliever was begging our children to send me photos of what they had been doing over the holiday weekend. I love seeing pictures of the family to know what is going on in their lives.

This was a nice one of Jacob's family at Liberty Jail.

One of the baptisms that weekend was for Roberto.

Glen was the one who did Roberto's baptismal interview. Roberto loved that Glen could speak his language and had felt a strong connection with Glen.

Shortly after the interview, the sister missionaries called. They wanted to know if Glen would baptize Roberto as per Roberto's request.

It's interesting the deep connections that are made at a baptismal interview. The same thing happened when Glen interviewed Cruz.

Now whenever Cruz sees Glen, he radiates happiness and joy at seeing him. He rushes to Glen and gives him a big hug and calls him his amigo. It has been an amazing bond to witness.

It is always so wonderful to see Cruz. He has such a light of goodness about him. He is being a friend to Roberto. He is spending more time with his family. He is serving faithfully in his ward. The gospel of Jesus Christ has made a world of difference in his life.

Our interview week began in Temecula.

These four elders had me laughing as they walked into the church building, each holding a plastic lunchbox.

When I asked about the lunchboxes, they said a member had a lot of them and had given each missionary in their district one so they could be unified as a district. They only use them once a week at the church for lunch after their district meeting.

That evening we met up with President and Sister Ham for dinner. It was a festively decorated restaurant. I really enjoyed the sign on the door after the stress-filled weekend we'd just experienced.

The next day we were at it again doing interviews in Carlsbad and Del Mar.

The last of the interviews were with the Escondido and San Marcos zones.

We went to dinner with former Sister Hannah Petterborg and her family.

On Friday of that week we had Mission Leadership Council. We loved the beautiful, unique flowers sitting on the table.

Elder and Sister Radford always do such a fine job getting the food for our various meetings.

Looks like a thumbs up for the pizza, chicken bake and yogurt fruit cup from Costco.

The district leaders were invited to join with the zone leaders and the sister training leaders for this MLC.

The sister training leaders requested a photo.

This is a fine group of missionaries. We appreciate their willingness to be leaders in the mission.

On Sunday we were able to coordinate meeting up with former Elder Erik Kapp who was vacationing here with his family.

The former missionaries keep coming back because they loved their mission so much.

We'll have to see if we keep coming back to the mission like they do. 

I Know Them! Glen's Birthday, Zone Conferences, The First From Nicaragua, Cinderella Reception

One day I saw a notification about an event going on in North Salt Lake. As I looked at it, the little girl in pink in the left corner picture caught my eye.

WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?!?!???? The little girl in pink is my very own GRANDDAUGHTER, Madison!!

I looked closer at the big picture and noticed it was my very own DAUGHTER and her family!! So funny that I didn't recognize the family at first glance. I guess that means we've been gone toooo loooonng!!

Glen received a birthday care package in the mail from his sister. It was so sweet of her!

Barbara and Rich were in Hawaii and the treats came from there. I must say the chocolate-covered macadamia nuts were a hit with me!!!

We spoke in the Carlsbad stake conference and as we were leaving, Kathleen Wardle handed me one of the beautiful flower arrangements to take home and enjoy.

She is the woman who catered the meal at our home when we first arrived in the mission. She will always be dear to us for preparing the food for the six stake presidents, the Area Seventy and their wives.

That was not our only gift that day. Somebody we do not even know handed us a painting of the San Diego Temple that her mother had made. She handed the member of the temple presidency a painting as well. That was awfully kind!!

Former Elder Baylor Romney was in town for a wedding and brought his wife into the mission office to meet us. They had been dating each other before the mission.

Every 6 weeks zone conferences roll around again. We started off with the Escondido, San Marcos and Del Mar zones. 

We got member volunteers to come and be investigators. They walked around the parking lot and the missionaries role played contacting them and transitioning the conversation into a gospel topic.

Sister Radford worked her magic again to come up with a cute thank you gift for the volunteers.

 

She also arranged for our lunch that day--Firehouse subs--as the stake whose turn it was hadn't been able to do it this time. It was Glen's birthday that day, so he got a lot of birthday greetings from the missionaries.

Elder Jordan is always so happy and enjoys whatever he is doing. He continues to train Elder Lundquist on everything that goes on with being an assistant.

The assistants work hard making sure everything runs smoothly at zone conferences (and the mission in general). We appreciate them so much!!

Off we went to the airport to pick up an elder coming in from Nicaragua. The Church is moving all the missionaries from the two missions in Nicaragua out of that country. 

This elder and his friend, who was in the other Nicaragua mission, left on their missions at the same time. The friend got evacuated out of the country and got sent home. This elder got sent to our mission.

There has to be some reason he is here with us--if only for a transfer plus a couple of weeks. We have already seen the positive impact he is having on the Spanish missionaries around which he serves.

He spent the night with us and at zone conference the next day (Carlsbad and Vista zones) he met his new companions.

Once again we had members who were willing to be investigators for the missionaries to contact. They were also helping do role plays of member visits with the missionaries practicing turning the conversation to a gospel topic for a message.

Third day of zone conference was held with the Temecula and Murrieta zones. It was the traditional waffle lunch that we love so much.

(A disclaimer for Elder Jordan... He is not sticking his tongue out at the camera. He was trying to make sure he had no food on his teeth for the photo.)

We were happy Brother Badal (blue dress shirt) was there participating in the role plays with the missionaries. 

Glen had submitted his name to be his new counselor in the mission presidency, so it was good for us to watch him interacting with the missionaries and be able to talk to him a little bit to try and get to know him.

We went straight from zone conferences into interviews at the end of the week. We usually do all the interviews the following week, but we had MLC the following Friday so the Vista zone got moved up a week. 

There was definitely a bonus for doing interviews that particular day at that particular church building. A Cinderella-themed reception was happening and I was able to see the beautiful decorations. 

I asked if I could take pictures to show to my sister who decorates for weddings.

There are glass slippers in the baskets at both ends of the table. 

And with that, I whisked my very own Prince Charming away from the church and off on our weekly Friday night date. 

Quotes of the Week

Many of the events that occur in our lives are out of our control. However, on matters of religious observance and righteous living, we are in control. Our faith in and worship of God is a choice that we make. And we must make that choice every day.
--Quentin L. Cook

You are the child of our merciful and everlasting Father in Heaven, the Lord of Hosts, the One who created the universe, spread the spinning stars across the vast expanses of space, and placed the planets in their appointed orbits.
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Just do the very best you can each day. Do the basic things and, before you realize it, your life will be full of spiritual understanding that will confirm to you that your Heavenly Father loves you.
--M. Russell Ballard

Quotes of the Week

Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Redeemer of the world, and He has done for us something that only He could do. His Atonement, for us, means everything. If we make a mistake, we can find forgiveness.
--M. Russell Ballard

In order for Him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured on Earth, our Savior focused on joy..The joy of paying for the sins of all who would repent. The joy of making it possible for you and me to return home.
--Russell M. Nelson

Please do not lose hope in the Savior and His love for you. It is constant. He promised that He would not leave us comfortless.
--Joseph B. Wirthlin