Week 10: Camarillo

We had a beautiful week this week. Our mission is made up of eight zones, with about 18 missionaries in each zone. For Christmas, each zone was divided into two groups and each group was assigned to share thoughts and music about Christ in two special zone meetings. On Tuesday, we met with the missionaries who are serving in San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. They spoke and sang, and the love in the meeting was really beautiful. Then on Thursday, the missionaries in Camarillo, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Newbury Park did the same thing. Dad and I arrived about 2 hours early to decorate tables and help prepare lunch. Then after the meeting, we served lunch to 140 cute young missionaries. We really enjoyed getting to know them, wishing them Merry Christmas, and feeding them. 

As Dad and I were driving and talking about the conferences on Friday, Dad said to me, "I think you have more faith in Christ than you did before the mission." He's right! I began the mission with goals to serve (not easy to measure), become more outgoing, and to improve my Spanish. I didn't think about how I might come to feel as I served here, but truly, this experience touches my spirit, and I'm so grateful for that. The other blessing is that I can feel generous more easily. Dad and I spent the weekend visiting people we love, giving them copies of Dad's booklet and a Christmas ornament, telling them that we love them, and trying to remember all the ways we love the people we meet here.

To make the week exciting, we were invited for a Mexican celebration of Christmas at our friends, the Aparicio's home, and we had an amazing meat roll (hamburger rolled up with green, red, and yellow peppers, lots of cheese, then wrapped in probably 50 pieces of bacon and baked. When we got to the home, we saw that the door was wide open, and we felt so welcome, knowing that the Aparicios would leave the door open for us. But as the evening grew cold, they kept trying to close the door and the smoke from the meat roll would trigger the smoke alarm, thus causing them to open the door again. We had so much fun trying not to laugh and to eat that thing! 

When we went to church on Sunday, the choir director had prepared a copy of the music for O Holy Night and O Come, O Come Emmanuel for each of us. We sang those two songs together like a choir, and I loved the experience and the music. Those are beautiful songs that we don't usually sing at church. It was a special day. In our other ward, too, a man created stockings for each of us with our names on them and the name of the ward on the back. We were treated like kings that day and it was very fun!

Week 9: Camarillo

We are doing well. This week, Elder Weatherford and I had a few meetings to attend. We enjoy them. However, at the beginning of every meeting, the leaders of the Spanish groups ask (almost beg) the participants to turn off their cell phones. Then, the leaders remind people to turn off their cell phones before the sacrament prayers. Then, during the sacrament, at least one phone rings with some funky ringtone and the sound goes on and on. We just laugh a little because it's a different culture. The ward had a blood drive and I saw that no one reserved a time. I was sure that no one would come, so I went and donated, and there were a TON of people there. Again, it's a different culture because our friends never know when they will be called to work, and they can't plan their days like we can. The beauty of living in another culture is that we can learn from their willingness to work when needed and their more open and relaxed approach to life. 

We had a discouraging week in some ways. I suppose that is very typical. A few of our friends had hard times, and we felt their sadness and carried that with us. We invited a friend to come to the family history library, but we didn't realize that the man who runs the library is not mentally sound. So our friend got discouraged and had to leave. But by the end of the week, there seemed to be good news for most of our friends. Still others needed our prayers. In one family, where the grown children live with the parents and help pay the bills, two of the three cars they own have been wrecked and the family members are struggling to get to work. Yes, the drivers in California are pretty crazy! Dad has done all the driving so far, for which I am very grateful. 

Dad and I spoke again in church, this is the second time. We performed our musical number with our friends. And Dad led the music while I played the piano. AND at the end of that meeting, several people gave us big hugs with tears in their eyes. Wow! It's hard to describe the depth of this experience. We love it. One of our friends in this ward loves soccer, and so we have been following the World Cup as much as we can and we share it with him. I think we are developing a new love of soccer. The final game was a thriller!  Now Dad has a soccer-buddy.

On Monday, we went to Thousand Oaks. Besides Santa Barbara, it is probably the most wealthy of the areas in our mission. And yes, Oxnard is probably the poorest. In Thousand Oaks, there is a huge church built by a wealthy donor, and at that church, the members set up a town of Bethlehem and gave us "shekels" to spend. After we spent our shekels (pennies) on homemade bread, oil lamps, and bracelets, we went to the theater and watched a musical representation of the nativity complete with donkeys, lambs, and a baby almost as cute as Ariana (it's not possible to be as cute as Ariana). We loved it so much. We are so happy to celebrate Christmas here in California. 

Week 8: Camarillo

I would like to tell you about some of our friends. We have truly incredible friends. 

Abraham. He first met Chase Bethers in Santa Maria, a city about 100 miles north of Oxnard, where he lives now. He struggled with alcohol, and he needed help. He wasn't quite ready to quit in Santa Maria, but when he saw Chase here in Oxnard, he knew that he could have the support he needed to make a change. He gets up every morning at 4:00 to cut celery (strawberries in the spring). Some days he works until 6:30 PM. But then, he meets with Chase and Elder Larsen and often us, too, and they read with him, pray with him, and he says that their focus on Jesus Christ has helped him develop a new mindset and he has been going without alcohol for a few weeks now. (picture with blue shirt)

Abraham dropped out of school in Honduras at 3rd grade, so he doesn't write. But he wanted to give all 33 men on his crew a copy of the Book of Mormon, so he dictated his testimony to the missionaries and to us, and we wrote down everything he wanted to say. In all, 33 books!  The next day, Chase and Elder Larsen helped him give them to his crew. 

Augustin. He showed up at our church tonight and told Chase and Elder Larsen that he has walked by the church several times when no one was there and thought that if only someone were there, he could find help for his alcohol problem. So we met with him, and Abraham told him how happy he was to have Jesus Christ in his life. Augustin is going to come to the church every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to meet with Chase and Elder Larsen, and often we will be there, too, to read and pray together and to help him find a new way of living. (no picture)

Everardo. He loves everything about coming to church. His wife and his children tell him not to come, but he loves it here, and he is patient with them. He gets up at 5:00 to maintain the grounds on a golf course 5 or 6 days a week. Such a strong man. (picture with white shirt and tie)

Felipe and Alejandro. They are 20-year-olds and we give them rides to meetings sometimes. They work long hours in a calamari factory. Alejandro offers to pay us for gas, which is incredibly generous, as they live in an apartment with 15 or 20 people. Last Friday, he left his phone in our car and we didn't notice it. We drove for about 30 minutes when it started ringing, and we finally found a way to return it to him. He was completely patient with us. (picture with two young men and me)

Rogelio. I love meeting with Rogelio because he speaks Spanish very clearly and he has a big, beautiful smile. I understand him well. He has read a lot of the Bible. He loves coming to church, and he is hoping to find an American wife. He is the only friend who I am taller than, and sometimes when we are with him, we think of Mary and the blessing (although it is not easy) of getting the shots to help with growth. (picture in white shirt and vest)

Gilberto. He was baptized three weeks ago after learning about the church for several months. He wanted to commit himself completely when he was baptized. He said that he chose this church, and he was "all in." His enthusiasm and his strength are obvious. He runs his own electric repair business. He pushes himself to learn English. His drive and courage are very impressive. 

We meet with these loving and humble men in our evening hours, and we love this part of our mission. Each one of them brings a joy and kinship to our meetings. We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to love people who are so different (and yet not really so different at all) from us. They have so much to teach us. They feel so much gratitude for the things that really matter. I feel really blessed to be someone who loves and encourages them to be their best selves. I am grateful for their great examples of hard work, of working for a better life, and of being willing to do hard things. That's one of the reasons that I truly, deeply love this mission. I hope that you can feel how much you are loved by us and by Jesus Christ, too. Before our mission, with all the daily routine of life, I almost forgot what a precious gift that love is. 

Second 3-Week Update for President Carter

Hello dear Pres. Carter,

We're doing well and hope that you and Sis. Carter are doing the same.  We pray for you both often.

In the past 3 weeks, we have given rides (to airport, or medical appts) to the following missionaries:

E. Gustafson, Hna. Valentine, Hna. Braun, Elder Nunley, E. Pickrell, Hna. Marshall

We were privileged to teach 15 lessons with the junior missionaries!  Always a highlight for us.  One particular lesson i wanted to share with you re: Abraham (who you first met in Sta. Maria, then later at an Oxnard baptism)...he is so excited about the new principles he's learning from the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, that he asked his missionaries (E. Larsen, Bethers, Rosenlund) for 33 Books of Mormon to share with his fellow 'celery field' workers!  We obtained the books and had him dictate his testimony to us 5 missionaries (he can't write) and we wrote it in the front of these precious books.  The next morning, the Elders hauled these books out to the field and distributed them with Abraham!  wow, so impressive!

I must say wrt Abraham, that i was super impressed with your memory of meeting him in Santa Maria, when he didn't even remember it himself.

We went 3 times to Catholic Charities in Ventura and helped with their food pantry and have also helped them organize a new clothing closet.  Now that we've moved to our Camarillo duplex, we will probably transfer to their OASIS services (older adults) in Camarillo.

We have spoken in the Camino Real ward Sacrament meeting (and are scheduled to do so again next week).  we also had dinner with the EQ President and his wife (Miguel & Belia Soto) to get to know them better.  Lastly, we attended an English Connect Class in Lompoc and they did a good job (4 attendees).

Week 7: Camarillo, CA

I'm supposed to write to all of you on Monday, and yes, today is Wednesday. Of course, we have had a crazy week! Last week, we took some missionaries to the Santa Barbara airport, which is beautiful. We taught several lessons. One memorable lesson was a young man who slipped up and drank way too much over the weekend. It was nice to tell him that everyone slips up and that we love him dearly. That's our message -- love. We took a couple of hours on Friday to visit the Santa Barbara aquarium, and we loved it! On Saturday night we found a really fun restaurant and ate dinner while watching the sun set. We love living here.

Our weekend was crazy! The couple we are replacing have just gone home. So our Spanish groups threw them big parties, and the people here really know how to party! First, we made tamales at a member's house. I LOVED learning how to make them. Then, we practiced our musical performance. We were singing Away in the Manger, and a man who is a professional musician was leading the music, but we sounded so bad that I could barely keep from laughing. We tried to add a junior high student who plays the flute, but he can't read notes, so his "melody" was pretty crazy! We all tried to transpose to the key of B-flat so he could play more easily. Yikes! Then, we tried to have the men sing the harmony, and that was not working. Our conductor kept making people change seats to see if the music might sound any better, but alas, no. Finally, he gave up.

Both groups had goodbye celebrations for the couple who went home. We ate at Golden Corral with some lovely members, and we had a posada feast with others, complete with a pinata. These were the choir members, and they decided to sing Feliz Navidad. They sang with all their hearts, using all sorts of noisy instruments and laughing so loud. Our conductor made them record themselves and he asked if they could hear the singing over all the maracas, tambourines, scrapey things, and other instruments. At this point, our choir is scheduled to perform Feliz Navidad and Away in the Manger next week. We shall see how it goes! Our conductor will probably have a panic attack. 

Yesterday, we moved into a new place. This one is a duplex with two bedrooms. It is beautiful. We were swamped with cleaning and moving, but everything went well, and now we are preparing to take a sick sister missionary up to see the doctor. We took a sick missionary to the LA airport on Monday to go home for treatment. His mom flew from Utah to meet him in the airport because he was too sick to fly alone. He had a positive attitude and we loved him. As he was saying goodbye, he told us that he signed on to be University of Utah's kicker when he returns from the mission, so we should watch for him. We were impressed. We had a little time in LA so we went to the Santa Monica Pier and to see the Christmas lights at the temple. 

Week 6: Oxnard, CA

We are truly growing and enjoying our work here in California, if you can call eating fresh produce and going outside without a coat "working." Every week is so interesting for us. This week, we did our usual service at the Catholic Charity organization. We handed out a lot of turkey dinner packages, and we felt the love of those who donated them. People are really good and very generous. We met with our Elders Quorum president, who just happens to be Larry's first companion on his youth mission, and he asked us to go by some houses to find if the members still lived there. This was very interesting and gave us the opportunity to see parts of Oxnard that were new to us. Maybe a tiny bit dangerous? But we went in the bright sunlight and were very safe. One of the addresses was a church, specifically the "Embrace! Jesus!" church, so we went in (the door was open) and we asked if anyone there had heard of this person. It was Wednesday and the people there were running a preschool. They had never heard of her, but then they looked at our tags and said, "Oh, the Mormons! This was a Mormon church until about 5 years ago when we started renting it from them." As Larry and I walked around with the women, we could see the traces of our typical building, the accordion doors in the classrooms and the cultural hall (gym). It was surreal.

On Wednesday, we took a morning to visit Ventura Harbor, and we thought it was beautiful. We loved watching the pelicans diving into the sea for fish. We love the smell and the sound of the ocean. We love the views from these harbors, and we love watching the surfers in their wetsuits.

For Thanksgiving, we went to Golden Corral, and it was fun! We studied most of the day and we watched a little soccer. Our members here LOVE the World Cup, so we like to talk with them about it. Last Sunday, the ward clerk's office was shut during Sunday School, when he usually helps people, and when someone opened the door to ask if he was helping, they found him watching the Germany Spain match on his computer. Ha ha! On Friday, we helped in the mission office so that the other couples could go and shop. We received about 40 packages for young missionaries for Christmas. What a blessing! 

On Friday night, we had dinner with the Sotos, strong members in one of our wards. Elder Soto is the Elders Quorum President and Larry's boyhood mission companion. I am going to teach Sister Soto piano lessons. She has always wanted to learn. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. I'm really looking forward to working with her. On Saturday, we spent the day driving up to Lompoc to watch and help missionaries teach an English class. On our way to Lompoc, we went to Solvang, a Danish town, and I LOVED it! I told the missionaries in our group all about Grandpa Schow and going to Copenhagen. I am very proud of my Danish heritage.

Finally, last Sunday, the bishopric counselor asked Larry and I to bear short testimonies in Spanish so we worked on writing them all week. On Sunday, he announced us as the MAIN speakers! What? We thought we were going to talk for 5 minutes each! But, the "short" talk given before our "long" talks was given by a cute older woman from Peru. She spoke for 15-20 minutes, and Larry and I wanted to hug her for it! We have learned that the members here speak a lot for long periods of time. So our 5-minute talks worked out just fine after all. And the meeting ended on time. When the meeting started, there were only about 30-40 people there, and I felt less nervous thinking that it was a small ward. Then, as we sang the opening song, another 40 slowly drifted in. The young men shut the doors after the opening song, and then when they opened the doors again, another 80 people came pouring in and filled every seat on every bench. Yikes! And this is the ward that starts at 11:30 AM.  

This week, Larry and I will be very busy driving missionaries to the airport. Some Taiwan-bound missionaries got their visas, and a Brazil-bound missionary got his visa, too. We will take our first trip to the airport at 2:00 AM tomorrow. So today, we worked to clean our apartment and fill the car with gas, etc. to prepare. When Larry took out the recycling, he was surprised to find the doors to the huge dumpster garage closed. They are always open, and the trash dumpster garage was wide open. Larry opened the recycling door, and then he jumped out of his skin! A man was sleeping in the space with the recycling. He was homeless. Larry thought he was smart to sleep with the recycling instead of with the stinky trash. The weather here is good enough that we see a lot of homeless. 

I want to finish with something spiritual. We taught a man, Alberto, who wants to go to the temple to do baptisms for his family. His dad was murdered when he was four years old. Larry told him that grandpa just died recently and that maybe grandpa was teaching Alberto's dad about the gospel on the other side of the veil. Elder Bethers was there, too, and he said a closing prayer that asked to bless Alberto's dad and Grandpa to be well and to perhaps find each other in the next life. It was a really special moment. I have loved working with and seeing Chase several times a week. That is only one of the many wonderful things that have happened to us and for us on this mission. 

 

Week 5: Oxnard, CA

We are beginning to get into a routine, and we are loving California. 

Our mornings are usually open, after our study time, so on Tuesday, we hiked in a canyon that overlooks the ocean, near Malibu Beach. Gorgeous! On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings, we worked in the Catholic charity helping distribute food from the pantry, pack lunches, distribute hygiene bags, and organize giveaway clothes. (Josh's eagle project trained us well.) Also on Wednesday morning, I have a zoom Spanish tutor.Then on Saturday, we went to Camarillo Ranch, where the first residents of Camarillo lived, then we went on to downtown Oxnard, where Henry Oxnard made sugar from the sugar beets they grew in this valley. We went to a farmer's market to buy tomatoes, blackberries, and strawberries. We love our mornings. 

In the afternoons and evenings last week, we had an office meeting, met with one or two people each night to teach them about the church, including Everardo, Ignatio, Felipe, Francisco, Omar, and Roberto. Do you see the pattern? We are working almost exclusively with 30 to 60 year old males who speak Spanish. We generally wait for a text from the sister missionaries that they would like us to join them for a lesson, and of course, we love being there, so we go meet them at the church. On Sunday, we attend a branch in the Camarillo chapel at 9:00, then we rush off to the Oxnard building for a meeting at 11:30. We have a meeting at 1:30 that goes long, then we come home and collapse.

We have had a few funny things happen to us. As we were driving on the 101 from Camarillo to Oxnard, we saw cars ahead of us swerving and then we got thumped by two giant tumbleweeds. They are even bigger than ours in Wyoming. We ate lavender ice cream. We saw a beautiful sunset at the beach. We hiked a very dusty trail and then visited the famous town of Ojai yesterday. We think that Brittany Spears has a ranch there. 

And we are doing really well. Dad and I both have mild colds, but we have our shots, and we wear masks here, more than we did at home. We love the beautiful weather, and we are thriving. Thank you for supporting us on this unique opportunity to serve and learn.

 

First 3-Week Update for President Carter

Hola Pres. Carter,

Per your request, we are sending you an update every 3 weeks.  Overall, we are doing well, settling in and really loving these wonderful Hispanic people.

 

We mostly spend our evenings accompanying the junior missionaries in teaching lessons to investigators and new members (13 lessons in 3 weeks).

 

One of the highlights has been teaching 3 Temple Preparation classes to Everardo Corral in the Camarillo Spanish group!

 

We have looked at a couple of different community service opportunities and chosen to help out at the Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry in Ventura (2 days/week, 4 hours total) for now.  They seem to really need our help.

 

We have only taken 1 missionary to the airport (Elder Redd for gall bladder surgery)…hopefully things went well for him.

 

Lastly, this week the Wilson’s are taking us up to SLO or SM to begin our training on supervising the English Connect program.

 

One question—do you know any more about the special multi-stake Hispanic fireside on Dec. 9 at the Ventura Stake Center?  one of our units announced it, the other one didn’t and we want to make sure to invite as many people as possible to this special opportunity.

 

Warm personal regards,

Elder y Hermana Weatherford

Week 4: Oxnard, CA

This was definitely a crazy week because we were only in the mission for 3 days, followed by 4 days traveling to and from my father's funeral. On those three days, we helped with zone conferences. This means traveling to a central location where missionaries meet, sing in a choir, have their cars and bikes inspected, hear inspirational talks, and eat a nice lunch. Larry and I attend to help with the lunch and take pictures of the missionaries to post on the Facebook family page. We drove to San Luis Obispo the first day, and it rained heavily the whole time. The people were so excited and grateful for the rain. But it made the drive really tough, 2 1/2 hours. We drove along the beach, but the rain made everything gray. We saw sea otters and lots of waves crashing on rocks, so we can't complain much. Even in the rain, it was beautiful! The next conference was in Oxnard, close to home. On that morning, I met on zoom with my Spanish tutor. I am really making progress in my Spanish, what a blessing! Then, we helped with the conference.

For the next day, we were asked to skip the third conference and drive an elder to the airport instead. He needs surgery and recuperation that will happen better at home in Bountiful. Yes, he graduated from Bountiful high school with my nephew, Chase, who is also serving in the Ventura mission. We picked up the elder at around 5:30 AM and drove to the LA airport. The traffic on the freeway was terrible, seven lanes in both directions, and cars were at a standstill. We are so happy to live outside of LA where life is more like life in Wyoming. After checking the elder into his flight, we went to the temple in Los Angeles and then returned for our flight to Salt Lake City.

The funeral was really nice. I saw family members there whom I have not seen for 45 years. I saw many of my cousins, and even a couple of families from Stockton for whom I used to babysit. The love at the funeral was beautiful. My siblings and I were real, but loving, and it was really good to be there. Larry and I flew home on Sunday, and instead of sitting in 14 lanes of stuck traffic, we drove on the Pacific Coast Highway to Oxnard. It was so beautiful! We walked around Pepperdine University, where dad interviewed successfully, but then the job opening didn't happen. Can you imagine how life would have been different? We drove by some beautiful hikes and beaches, which we promised to return to on Tuesday when we had a few free hours. We loved the ocean.

On Monday, we did laundry, and we went to Walmart to pick up some groceries for the week. We pulled up into the space between a Mercedes and a Porsche. The cars here are so fancy! And they shop at Walmart just like us. Ha ha! We walked for exercise and watched a possum cross a four-lane highway right by our apartment. The next day, we saw an exterminator parked right by the bushes where the possum was making his home. We think he caused a little mischief for the building. 

Week 3: Oxnard, CA

We spent a whole week in Oxnard, and now we can write a really full letter home about what we are doing and how life is going here in California. Larry really loves it here, and for me, it feels so much like where I grew up. I am LOVING California! We are very happy on this mission.

First of all, this mission is night-and-day different from our Bogota temple mission. Yes, we do speak Spanish, but only with the older members. The youth and their parents grew up in California going to school, and they are actually more comfortable with English. So I'm still spending an hour a day learning Spanish, but when I lapse into English, the people here understand. There are 8 zones or stakes here in our mission, and each one of them has about 1500 members, of which only about 100 speak Spanish and meet in their own little groups. Dad and I are assigned to two of those groups, so we work with around 100-200 Spanish speaking members of the church. 

This week, we spent our mornings, trying to get internet set up, grocery shopping, getting prescriptions, etc. But when we got some free time, we explored the beach (beautiful and chilly), a park with an amazing view (Ventura), the Navy Seabee Museum, the San Buenaventura mission, and the Ventura County history museum. We are learning so much about the area. We try to do laundry and cleaning on Monday, preparation day. We know where to go to volunteer when we return from grandpa's funeral. My father died on November 1, 2022, not unexpectedly and with a final phone call from me. It was a special day to know that he could rest. Our days have just the right balance of work and rest. 

In the evenings, we have meetings with members. On Tuesday, we met Carlos, and Larry helped explain to him that he can still come to church and feel accepted when he uses curse words. It was a cute discussion. Carlos is such a sweet man. Then, on Wednesday, we met Francisco (or Fran). We learned that he is related to about a fourth of the members in Oxnard and he is really sweet, too. Larry helped explain to him in Spanish that he doesn't have to feel bad about working on Sunday and that we can have the sacrament with him later. The people here work SO hard, early in the mornings, most days every week, or the night shift. They need to feel loved and accepted. Loving them is a great part of our mission! On Thursday, we met Everardo. He loves coming to church, but his wife and six children are very upset that he comes. So we told him we love him, and we would pray for all of them. That's a tough one. (All in Spanish.) Mostly I would say the opening prayer and then a phrase or two like, "You look pretty" or "It's a nice day." Dad does the heavy-duty stuff. Then Friday we went to a Day of the Dead celebration, and I put a cell phone photo of grandpa on the table for ancestors. Carmella taught me that dying on Dia de Los Muertos is a beautiful thing, and that's when grandpa died. Pretty cool! 

Our weekends are crazy! On Saturday, we cleaned the building, then we were witnesses at a baptism in which the boy was someone who my nephew Chase taught. Chase blessed him in Spanish and it was beautiful. The man in charge called us the "Waterfords" as so often happens. The boy who was baptized was crying and I asked Larry to help him, but he said he was crying because he was so happy. Precious! Then, Larry and I decided to go on a date, and I found a Mexican grill. But Larry said it sounded too "hoity toity" with its locally grown organic veggies and tofu. I said, "Welcome to California!" We're not in Wyoming anymore. That night we had a church meeting, then another the next morning. After the meeting, we had a potluck with some of the Spanish speaking members at their home. This was a $1 million home in Camarillo. It was nice. The father does not speak English, but he is an amazing artist, and he has been very successful. One guest had a persimmon tree, and I ate 4 persimmons. Just like when I was a girl.