We had a good week. As the week progressed, I noticed that Chase Bethers was smiling a little more and that he seemed to be sleeping and eating better. Larry took him out to Chick Fil A and he ate a big sandwich with fries. That made me feel better. Chase invited us to teach a family named Chavez with two cute girls (ages 5 and 10), and we have really enjoyed getting to know this family. Both of the parents work in the strawberry fields, and they gave us some of the most beautiful strawberries that they picked. We were so grateful. They are getting married on Feb. 11, and we are going to try to make it special with a cake and punch.
We started the week by going on a boat to the Channel Islands. On the way to the big island named Santa Cruz, we saw two gray whales and about 100 dolphins. We were absolutely delighted! It was a sunny day without wind and the trip out to the island took about two hours by boat. It was beautiful. We hiked about 5 miles along the bluffs overlooking the ocean. We brought our own water and food in a backpack because the island has no services. Then the boat came back for us five hours later. It was an adventure that we loved. The Channel Islands have never been connected to California by land, so the species on the island have evolved, like species on the Galapagos Islands. It is a fascinating place. We saw two red foxes which are only found on the Channel Islands and a Island Scrub jay, again only found on the island.
On Wednesday, we met some sister missionaries in a park to teach a man named Mario. We learned that he is married and has four children. He was hard to understand because he had a huge white beard and moustache covering his mouth. He wore a huge sombrero. Think of santa claus in a big hat. So we asked him if he would like to be with his wife and children forever. He said he likes his wife, but his kids are like burros. Then he kept talking about burros, rolling his rs all the time, and making hand movements like a burro. He said they are stubborn, they do not work, they want him to take care of them even though they are in their thirties. All the time he was making faces and hand movements like a burro. Well, Dad and I nearly lost it. We were laughing so hard that tears were coming out of our eyes, and Mario loved it. He kept going on and on about his burros. We thought we were going to have to take a walk so that we could breathe because we were laughing so hard. The sister missionaries probably thought we were crazy. After that meeting, Dad and I thought that Mario was just a lonely old guy who likes to tell burro stories, but he came to church on Sunday and brought his wife to meet us.
On Thursday night, Larry and I visited an English connect class that has been going for a year in Santa Paula. It was amazing. These young missionaries have become really good teachers, helping each student pronounce and speak and memorize new grammar. We loved seeing the program work for our English-learning friends.
On Friday I tried to teach piano to a 7-year-old in Spanish and it was a disaster. I don't know the words for notes, keys, treble clef, etc. But oh well, I tried. Then on Saturday, Larry and I went trying to see if people still lived at the addresses we were given. After searching for a while, Larry took me to the Thousand Oaks Stake for their preparedness fair, which I loved. I went to the gardening class, where the man said that if you live in California, you should have a garden because it's just too easy. He brought oranges from his yard for all of us to eat, and he produces 40 pounds of tomatoes a week in the summer. I had so many memories of the amazing gardens my family had growing up. And finally, church on Sunday was wonderful. We know more than half of the people in our wards, we understand a little more than half of the talks we hear, and we play and lead the music, which is fun. We are the music-leading team.
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