One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final.
--Thomas S. Monson
God smiles upon us as we offer heartfelt acts of compassion, especially acts that are unseen and unnoticed by others.
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Never lose your faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend.
--Jeffrey R. Holland
Our responsibility is to rise from mediocrity to competence, from failure to achievement. Our task is to become our best selves.
--Thomas S. Monson
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Friday, January 5, 2018
Fire Clean Up, Transfer #14, Two Sisters Get Visas, Safari Park
The missionaries have been helping with the clean up from the fires the past few Saturdays.
This group spent their time cleaning up at a nursery.
Others have gone to neighborhoods and helped sift through ashes of homes that were burned to see if anything salvageable could be found.
In the ashes at one home, a missionary found the owner's wedding ring.
The people affected have been very appreciative of the help they have been getting.
This group of departing missionaries came to our home the night before they were to leave. The date happened to be New Year's Day, so that's how we were spending our holiday--feeding the missionaries.
We fed them our usual roast beef dinner
After the testimony meeting, we had them pose for a photo on the steps.
From left to right (back row) Elder Walker, Elder Draper, Elder Ledbetter; (front row) Hermana Mathews, Hermana Mendez, Sister Odette, Sister Guiver, Sister Robinson, Hermana Brockhausen
The next morning we got up early to get to the temple for the 8 a.m. session. We never know how bad traffic will be at that time of the morning.
These sisters are quite special to us because they were in the group of missionaries we met while we were at the Missionary Training Center in Provo at our Mission Presidents' Seminar. We got to meet with them for an hour and teach them a lesson.
They arrived in the mission as part of our first transfer, which was just a short few days after we arrived in the mission. Now we've watched them grow and mature as missionaries and I think they will agree they watched us grow as well as we have served together the past 18 months.
I told them they remind me of my 3rd grade teacher Miss Agee, who was my favorite elementary school teacher. Our class was her first class of students as a young, new teacher, and she told us we always held a special place in her heart because of that.
Likewise, these sisters (along with the elders who will be going home in 6 months) will always hold a special place in our hearts because they are the first group of missionaries we welcomed into the mission as a brand new mission president and wife.
Since the MTC changed the time of our arriving missionaries to later in the afternoon, we now have hours to wait in San Diego between the old missionaries leaving and the new ones arriving.
Like last time, we decided to have lunch at Tom Ham's Lighthouse Restaurant. We love sitting at a table by the water as it is so beautiful and relaxing.
We had even longer to wait this time because we didn't have to get back to the airport until 4:15 because we were not getting any Spanish-speaking missionaries from the Mexico MTC this time. The Mexico flight arrives an hour earlier than the Provo flight.
So we decided to use our time wisely and went to a nearby public library so the assistants could do their emailing home to their family and friends while Glen started working on reading and answering 162 missionaries' letters.
Because of the Monday holiday, the libraries were closed. When that happens, we change preparation day to Tuesday--as was the case this week--so the missionaries can go to the library to email.
Unfortunately, Glen was only able to get some of the letters answered before it was time to go back to the airport. He didn't even get half of them done, but at least he spent several hours working on them rather than just twiddling his thumbs all those hours as we were waiting, waiting, waiting.
We saw President and Sister Stubbs from the San Diego Mission at the airport as they were expecting one missionary.
Their elder is the one on the far left. We received three elders and one sister. Our elder from the Philippines kept his winter coat on all the rest of the day. He says he's not used to the cold here in America...and it was in the low 70s that day.
I thought about my brother Mark who served his mission in the Philippines. He said he would shower in the morning and never dry off all day. He was constantly sweating.
Traffic was slower, but we got to the mission office in pretty good time. We found this food table all set up. Sister Radford was ready for our arrival.
She has carried on the tradition of getting California burritos for the new missionaries. A California burrito has french fries in it along with the usual other burrito ingredients.
After the missionaries ate, we had them do the office paperwork, the finance stuff, learn about housing information, hear about medical information from me, have some car/driving instruction and have an interview with Glen. That all got done in time for them to meet their trainers at 8:30 p.m.
We sent them off on their way and told them to come back in two days for their new missionary training meeting.
Then we waited at the mission office for a while until these sisters arrived. Two of the sisters have received their visas and we brought them to our home to spend the night so we could get them to the airport early the next morning.
Once back home, Glen had lots of missionaries' letters left to read and answer because he hadn't been able to finish them the day before.
It was such a relief for him when he finally got them done. He was able to get in a short nap before the phone woke him up. We decided to take a little break and spend a few afternoon hours at the Safari Park walking around for exercise before it closed.
Bonus for me was the Christmas decorations were still up, so we got to enjoy them as we walked around.
I was intrigued with the mountain goats which blended so well into the rocks.
A couple of them gave us a little show when they started head butting with each other. I liked the one sitting on the rock platform.
It is so peaceful walking on the paths through the Safari Park. There is so much beautiful vegetation to enjoy. We love it!
A tiger was up and prowling around its habitat.
The elephants are a favorite of ours.
We had just enough time to take a tram around the African plains before it got dark and the park closed.
After some busy weeks, and a transfer we had just completed, it was a much-needed respite to spend a few hours with the animals.
From left to right (back row) Elder Walker, Elder Draper, Elder Ledbetter; (front row) Hermana Mathews, Hermana Mendez, Sister Odette, Sister Guiver, Sister Robinson, Hermana Brockhausen
They arrived in the mission as part of our first transfer, which was just a short few days after we arrived in the mission. Now we've watched them grow and mature as missionaries and I think they will agree they watched us grow as well as we have served together the past 18 months.
We said our good-byes at the airport and then they were off. So long. Farewell. Until we meet again at a mission reunion some time in the future.
Like last time, we decided to have lunch at Tom Ham's Lighthouse Restaurant. We love sitting at a table by the water as it is so beautiful and relaxing.
We had even longer to wait this time because we didn't have to get back to the airport until 4:15 because we were not getting any Spanish-speaking missionaries from the Mexico MTC this time. The Mexico flight arrives an hour earlier than the Provo flight.
Because of the Monday holiday, the libraries were closed. When that happens, we change preparation day to Tuesday--as was the case this week--so the missionaries can go to the library to email.
Unfortunately, Glen was only able to get some of the letters answered before it was time to go back to the airport. He didn't even get half of them done, but at least he spent several hours working on them rather than just twiddling his thumbs all those hours as we were waiting, waiting, waiting.
We saw President and Sister Stubbs from the San Diego Mission at the airport as they were expecting one missionary.
Their elder is the one on the far left. We received three elders and one sister. Our elder from the Philippines kept his winter coat on all the rest of the day. He says he's not used to the cold here in America...and it was in the low 70s that day.
I thought about my brother Mark who served his mission in the Philippines. He said he would shower in the morning and never dry off all day. He was constantly sweating.
After the missionaries ate, we had them do the office paperwork, the finance stuff, learn about housing information, hear about medical information from me, have some car/driving instruction and have an interview with Glen. That all got done in time for them to meet their trainers at 8:30 p.m.
Then we waited at the mission office for a while until these sisters arrived. Two of the sisters have received their visas and we brought them to our home to spend the night so we could get them to the airport early the next morning.
We got up at 4 a.m. so Glen could fix a French toast breakfast for them before we headed out to the airport. There was a long line at the airport we had to wait in to get the sisters checked in and get their luggage tags.
We were glad we had planned plenty of time to deal with that. There were some very frazzled travelers who were fearing missing their flights.
It was such a relief for him when he finally got them done. He was able to get in a short nap before the phone woke him up. We decided to take a little break and spend a few afternoon hours at the Safari Park walking around for exercise before it closed.
Bonus for me was the Christmas decorations were still up, so we got to enjoy them as we walked around.
A condor was perched in a cage nearby.
From the condor cage we could look out over the many acres of the zoo and see the balloon safari in the distance.
A tiger was up and prowling around its habitat.
All the while enjoying nature and Christmas decorations at the same time.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
The Fun Continues With Abe's Family, Missionaries Put On a Talent Show
The day Sarah left, we had an office staff meeting in the morning at the mission office and then Glen was doing transfer planning all afternoon with the assistants.
We got together with Abe's family that evening for dinner at Coyote Grill in Carlsbad Village.
That turned out to be a very good idea as Newland and Wynne had a perfect view of everything that was happening.
The talent show started out with reindeer sister missionaries pulling a sleigh (two office chairs), upon which were our M.C.s for the talent show--Sister Robinson and Sister Harker.
They got up on the stage and rolled out their naughty/nice list which had a few ground rules on it for the audience to remember for the talent show.
Somehow they had rounded up a shepherd's crook to have on hand to pull off any performer who went overly long. They were a pretty comical duo with several costume changes along the way.
Abe gave his smile of approval about all the great acts performed by the missionaries.
We all gave our M.C.s two thumbs up on their job of keeping the show moving along and giving us some laughs while at it.
We had When Pigs Fly cater our meal. They are always so happy to be a part of the missionaries' Christmas each year. We are always so happy they are always so willing to cook and serve for us.
It wasn't long before the M.C.s were coming our way with their plates of food. We have a standing joke with them that they will sit at our table whenever there is a meal. Generally speaking, the missionaries avoid sitting at our table, but not them.
These two sisters don't have that stigma at all and very eagerly join us and bring their happiness, good cheer and light (this time Christmas lights) with them.
After lunch we went into the chapel and had a spiritual devotional. Several of our missionaries did musical numbers and several came prepared to share their testimonies of Christ.
We showed the video Jacob made for his ward party about Grinch Jr. who came to realize what his father had told him: "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
Jacob did a wonderful job inserting our missionaries' photos in the video to personalize it for our group.
We also showed the video the assistants had made of the missionaries with their converts and the missionaries reciting lines from "The Living Christ" with a little message from Glen and me to finish it off.
At the end of the devotional we spoke for a few minutes. We handed the missionaries a couple of little gifts from the mission presidency as they walked out of the chapel.
These are Glen's counselors in the mission presidency: President John Burgon and his wife Elaina and President Israel MarÃn and his wife Herlinda. Such good people!!
We stopped by the mission office on our way out to show Abe and Klarissa the transfer board. It is behind us.
Those wooden panels open up to reveal magnetic cards with all the missionaries in our mission so Glen can move them around as he changes companionships with each transfer (and oftentimes mid-transfer as well).
Benihana was the decision for dinner.
Good choice as it provided entertainment for the little ones while the food was being cooked at our table.
Abe had Newland take a picture of him in front of the house in Oceanside where the movie Top Gun was filmed.
We have our own version of Tom Cruise right here!
The kids enjoyed some play time on the playground and in the sand.
When Newland saw this beach ball, he jumped up on it and started doing yoga poses.
They gave us a message and a gift before they left. They had actually given us some gifts the night before when they did a ding dong doorbell ditch. When we opened the front door, we found a little battery-operated, lighted Christmas tree on the porch.
The assistants wanted Newland and Wynne to have a Christmas tree and provided the little table-top tree for their enjoyment. There were also bags of Hershey's kisses.
At the missionary lunch, there were Hershey's kisses on the tables. We ate all that were on our table and the little grandkids wanted more so I started walking around to all the tables with Newland and Wynne asking if the missionaries would share their chocolates. Now they had their own two bags full!
We were very touched by their thoughtfulness with the tree and the candy, but were even more touched when we saw and read the beautiful letters they had written to us. Such tender feelings of love shared about the time they have spent working closely with us as the assistants.
Elder Hadfield and Elder Eddins told us they had a re-gifting theme going on this year. The tree had been a gift from one of their mothers last year, but they hadn't been using it this year. They said they were re-gifting all the unapproved socks they had been getting and gave Abe a pair which Newland put on and was modeling for us.
Later in the evening when Klarissa was freezing and Newland had gotten hot, he took off the socks and re-gifted them to his mother so she could get warm.
This decorated-for-the-Christmas-season beach tree made for a great photo op.
We spent some of our day watching the electronics training videos on our missionary portal so we can learn more about how that works when our mission becomes a smartphone mission. We don't have iPads yet, so it is all new to us.
That evening we met Abe's family and the Jacksons at one of the few restaurants that was open on Christmas.
As if that hadn't been enough food, we went to a different place for dessert. Wynne took it very seriously as she was using two of the little plastic spoons to consume her gelato.
The little ones had been sick when they arrived and then we learned Abe got sick right after Christmas and now Klarissa has been ill.
We got together with Abe's family that evening for dinner at Coyote Grill in Carlsbad Village.
Friday was our mission talent show, lunch and devotional. We had gotten permission from Elder Cook to continue on with this tradition. This year we held it at the mission office church building in Vista.
The assistants had reserved us seats on the front row.
Somehow they had rounded up a shepherd's crook to have on hand to pull off any performer who went overly long. They were a pretty comical duo with several costume changes along the way.
We were very pleased with the quality of the performances. It was all around good entertainment!!
These two sisters don't have that stigma at all and very eagerly join us and bring their happiness, good cheer and light (this time Christmas lights) with them.
We showed the video Jacob made for his ward party about Grinch Jr. who came to realize what his father had told him: "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."
Jacob did a wonderful job inserting our missionaries' photos in the video to personalize it for our group.
We also showed the video the assistants had made of the missionaries with their converts and the missionaries reciting lines from "The Living Christ" with a little message from Glen and me to finish it off.
At the end of the devotional we spoke for a few minutes. We handed the missionaries a couple of little gifts from the mission presidency as they walked out of the chapel.
These are Glen's counselors in the mission presidency: President John Burgon and his wife Elaina and President Israel MarÃn and his wife Herlinda. Such good people!!
Those wooden panels open up to reveal magnetic cards with all the missionaries in our mission so Glen can move them around as he changes companionships with each transfer (and oftentimes mid-transfer as well).
Next morning plans were made to go to the beach--after playing cards and dominoes, of course.
Wynne didn't want Newland to be the only one doing yoga poses on a cement beach ball. She just needed a little parental help with balancing as she was striking her pose.
Some big rocks further down the street called for some more yoga posing by both of them.
We ate at Jolly Roger restaurant in Oceanside Harbor.
Later Abe's family decorated a gingerbread house. I am so happy they left it with us because I have really been enjoying looking at it and remembering the fun time they had working on it together.
Then it was popcorn time!!!
We invited Elder Hadfield and Elder Eddins over for Sunday Christmas Eve dinner. They work in a Young Single Adult ward and don't get as many dinner appointments as other missionaries who work in family wards.
The assistants wanted Newland and Wynne to have a Christmas tree and provided the little table-top tree for their enjoyment. There were also bags of Hershey's kisses.
At the missionary lunch, there were Hershey's kisses on the tables. We ate all that were on our table and the little grandkids wanted more so I started walking around to all the tables with Newland and Wynne asking if the missionaries would share their chocolates. Now they had their own two bags full!
We were very touched by their thoughtfulness with the tree and the candy, but were even more touched when we saw and read the beautiful letters they had written to us. Such tender feelings of love shared about the time they have spent working closely with us as the assistants.
Elder Hadfield and Elder Eddins told us they had a re-gifting theme going on this year. The tree had been a gift from one of their mothers last year, but they hadn't been using it this year. They said they were re-gifting all the unapproved socks they had been getting and gave Abe a pair which Newland put on and was modeling for us.
Later in the evening when Klarissa was freezing and Newland had gotten hot, he took off the socks and re-gifted them to his mother so she could get warm.
Abe and Klarissa packed up their stuff, including the little Christmas tree, and headed out at bedtime to make their move to San Diego for the rest of their vacation where Klarissa's parents were going to be spending Christmas this year.
On Christmas morning we enjoyed a walk by the beach.
That evening we met Abe's family and the Jacksons at one of the few restaurants that was open on Christmas.
We had a great time hanging out with Abe's family.
Feel better quickly everyone! The new year of 2018 has begun!! Let's make it a great one!!
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