We survived our 11th atmospheric river rain and flooding and tonight we are beginning #12. Wow! It has been pretty cold here, and it is unusual. I tell our missionaries that they will always be able to say that they were in California during the year of all the rain and atmospheric rivers.
This week was different from other weeks because we had zone conferences. We usually have four days in a row of zone conferences with one-fourth of the missionaries invited to each one in four different places. We arrive an hour early to set up tables, take photos of the missionaries to post on Facebook for their parents to see, and help with cars if needed. I attached a photo of the car inspections that take place every 6 weeks at zone conferences. Then, we start a meeting with talks by our mission leaders. This time their talks were about the Book of Mormon and about how the sons of Mosiah met Alma the younger on the road. The leaders called that the first zone conference. Then, the assistants to the president (this is what Larry did on his mission) taught about how to listen as we talk to people and to hear the things that they are concerned about. They role-played this. Then, the sister leaders (this is what Amy did on her mission) taught everyone to turn off and on a bunch of tabs in Facebook that help them keep some privacy. Sometimes, uninvited people like to post dating sites and other inappropriate content on their profiles. So they taught about online safety. Then, we always eat a nice lunch. Larry and I always eat last, and on some days, there is no meat left. But we always survive. Then, Larry and I clean up tables, floors, and garbage while the zone leaders (like Joshua on his mission and Chase Bethers) lead sessions on how to study or get along with companions, etc. And finally, the mission leaders give a last talk.
In the evenings, Larry and I help our friends with passport papers or divorce papers or an uplifting message. We are beginning to feel a little like lawyers. (except for the uplifting message, thank goodness.) We also had a meeting with our stake presidency about creating a Spanish branch here in Camarillo, and we are so excited!
The week was cold every day except for Saturday, and so on Saturday, our missionaries asked us to come help them teach two brothers about the bible. The brothers, Jesse and Ben, were sitting outside in their yard when we arrived. They are both learning disabled and they have been members of the church for years. We all sat on rickety chairs in the yard, but Larry had to bring the chairs over to the table, and he accidentally stepped on the tiny dog's tail. After that, this tiny dog named Shorty always barked when Larry moved his hands. Shorty only barked at Larry. I could not stop laughing. He watched Larry like a hawk. We sat under some gorgeous orange trees with blossoms that smelled so good. I thought it was amazing that these trees also had oranges on them, but I realized that the oranges were overripe. They kept falling off, and the hermanas would gasp when the oranges fell. They were so afraid that an orange would fall on their heads. Also, we all kept swatting bugs off our legs for the hour that we visited. So California in the sun might not be quite as promising as I hoped.
Somewhere during the week, Larry caught a flu-type bug, so after our meetings on Sunday, he began to run a fever. We have been staying home and taking care of him. Our goal is to be better for Friday and Saturday when we are going to the temple with our friends from Jalisco and Michoacan, the Rangels. We brought a thermometer with us to California, but it reports that one of Dad's ears is a degree hotter than the other one.
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