In an attempt to loosely summarize what we've been doing on the mission (mostly as Housing Coordinators now), i am sending the following list:
we have moved missionaries into 4 new apartments (1 in Oxnard, 2 in Paso Robles, and 1 in Santa Maria)
we have moved missionaries out of 2 apartments (both in Paso Robles) due to an unsafe neighborhood (armed robbery in the complex, and police cars there on a regular basis)
the other 2 moves were just partially vacating current 4-person apartments and letting them only have 2 missionaries in there (better for managing relationships in companionships)
in all of these moves, Hna Weatherford and i were super impressed with the young missionaries' willingness to serve us and each other! it made us feel a LOT of hope for the future of the Church and the world with young people like that!
we flew out to Baltimore (3 days) for Rob's graduation from his MD residency in Ob/Gyn at Johns Hopkins University. we had a wonderful time and were so PROUD of Rob and his amazing accomplishment and also enjoyed having 4 of our kids together at the same time (Carolyn, Laura, Rob and Josh).
we both bore our testimonies in the "Departing Missionary" Zoom testimony meeting that is mission wide...not only us, but also the Haslams and Carters as senior missionaries/leaders and 10 junior missionaries. it was a powerful meeting as the cumulative service of dozens of years and the spiritual experiences gained and miracles seen were witnessed by 16 departing missionaries. many tears of joy and happiness were shed!
We also attended the Los Angeles Temple with the same group of departing missionaries. i drove the Sienna minivan with 6 of us (incl. Haslams and Hnas Dickinson and Bunnell). it was a very special day as we took the time to each do an initiatory ordinance, an endowment and witness a sealing of husband to wife and child to parents. we got to take privately with Pres. Carter on his insights into the washing/annointing ordinances as well as a seasoned sealer. then he gave us a tour of the very large Assembly room and a sealing room with a wood altar from the SLC Temple. a great day overall!
we had a wonderful dinner/lesson with our dear friends, Piedad & Carmen Chavez, along with ZLs, Elders Wester and Lafferty and the APs Elder Larsen and Isaacson. it was a special night, and her chicken/cheese stuffed quesadillas were as good as ever. they also had manzanita gaseosa which i love.
on the Monday night before the Carters drove off, i had the prompting to organize all the senior missionaries to go over to the mission home and surprise them by singing "God Be with You" on their doorstep. i think it greatly touched them, there were tears and a lot of good-bye hugs. very kind words from both Pres. & Sis Carter to us about being 'workhorses of the mission' and doing double duty while also extending. those words meant a lot to us from the normally quite shy Carters!
We met our new Mission Leaders, Juan y Martha Rodriguez from north Texas! they are wonderful, loving people who we are happy to serve with. we went to their mini zone conference and really enjoyed getting to know them better and hear their testimony of the truth of this Gospel of Jesus Christ.
we also trained the newly arriving missionaries (4) in Housing and bike issues.
all in all, we have never been so exhausted—mostly a cumulative effect of 9 months in the mission field, combined with double duty of both MLS and Housing, and trying to keep up with key events in our kids' lives. wow! we have prayed mightily for the Lord to sustain us and He has. how lucky are we to get to do this wonderful work!
along the MLS lines, we got Everardo Corral prepared to go to the Temple for his own endowment, by helping translate for his TR interview with Bp Terry and being there for support with his Pres. Basua interview. we are excited to take him down to LA this coming Saturday.
we also attended the baptism of Juan Nunez and did the music like we often do.
in order to protect our mental/emotional health, we have carved out fun dates to Wood Ranch Grill, the Camarillo Greek festival and time at Zuma beach in Malibu.
life has been very busy, but also very fulfilling and deeply satisfying!
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