Happy to New Year to one and all!  2014 starts tomorrow full of new opportunities to learn and grow.  We just returned from a "new member" lesson with a Marshallese brother who has been taking the missionary lessons for over 30 years off and on.  All 6 of his children are members of the church but he just never felt the time was right for him to join the church.  Two of his children are in my Sunday School class and when we had gone to their home before he was not receptive.  To state that he was friendly would have been the understatement of the year.  He is a changed man.  His heart has softened and he wants to learn as much as he can about the gospel.  His wife speaks no English and is extremely shy so their 20 year old daughter translates for us to her. It continues to impress me how clean the Marshallese people are in their homes.  I was thrilled to see the 2 little granddaughters playing with toys!!  We have always assumed that all children have toys of some sort but that has not been the case in many Marshallese homes.   I'm not quite sure if it's because they can't afford them or they just don't feel that they are important.  We had a wonderful Christmas with Amy's family and returned rejuvenated and ready to hit it hard for the next 7-8 weeks.  We miss all of our children and grandchildren so it has been such a blessing to be close to Amy's family, especially for the holidays.  I almost feel guilty and don't want to tell the other senior missionaries that we are going to visit family when they do not have any family close by to see.  Everyone here loves hot chocolate so we made 200 "Candy  Cane Cocoa Dippers" to give as gifts.  We put the "dippers" in with cocoa packages and they were well received.  When we went to Amy's we took supplies and their kids made them to give to family and friends.  Amy made nativity costumes this year and 14 Wise grandchildren acted out the Christmas story from the scriptures while G-pa Wise read.  (That's Alph's Dad.)  Our Bea, who's almost 4, took her role as Mary very seriously and cuddled that baby doll just as tenderly as she would have a newborn babe.  Simon wanted to be the innkeeper because he knew what the innkeeper said, "There's NO ROOM here."  He firmly said his lines with great gusto.  Whenever I hear the innkeepers lines, I think of Neal Maxwell's popular quote, "Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus."  My friend, Cindy, made me a Christmas ornament one year with that quote on it and I keep it around all year to remind me not to make room for Him just at Christmas but all year around.  On Christmas Day we opened presents very slowly.  I know that may be hard to imagine with 5 kiddos but Amy and Alph feel very strongly about really enjoying the gifts and expressing appreciation for them.  The grandchildren had bought us gifts from the Dollar Store which they picked out personally for Hana and Hapa.   Last year Melissa and other children sent us lots of little gifts to put under our tree and it was such fun opening one a day.  We have enjoyed using all the gifts and we are saving the "hand warmers" for our trip home.  Hopefully, we won't need to use them!!  Christmas evening Alph's brother, Brig and family, came for supper and we had a family talent show.  Amy said it was the "Wises 1st Annual Christmas Day Talent Show."  John and I did a song rewritten by Julie Andrews to the tune of "My Favorite Things" but was called "Ode to the Old".  It was a smashing success but the kids had no idea what Pollident   or dentures were.  Loretta Broker and I did that song many years ago at Villa Marie Nursing Home and won a talent contest.  We taught the older kids how to play "Spoons" and played "Catch Me' with the twinners.  It is so wonderful to kneel in family prayer and express our gratitude for all our blessings.  All the grandkids love to do "Sure Love Ya" in our circle.  Thanks Cananns for sharing that lovely tradition with us so many years ago.  We are having four other seniors missionaries over to play "Spoons" and "Dominos" this evening and then we are going to crash a New Year Even's party at the Tongan Ward.  How grateful I am for all the blessing and challenges of the past year!!  2014 will be much different for us than 2013 but hopefully we will be able to continue to grow and learn in the Gospel and have many opportunities for service.  We are going to Hawaii for a week at the end of our mission (thanks to our children) so if any of you have been there and know of "must see" places, please let us know.  We miss you all and look forward to renewing our friendships and making new ones in 2014.

Tis the Season

     Hello dear friends. Sherrie and I just got back from driving around some neighborhoods tonight looking at the beautiful lights and decorations. One ten block area is called the "Fabulous Forties" and is like stepping back into time as we walk down street lined boulevards of stately homes of all sizes and shapes that were built in that era. Each block of homes had decided on a main lighting design for the street and trees and then the individual home owners would decorate their homes around that theme. This was complete with horse drawn carriages and long limos driving people around to see the sights. We even saw a "fleet" of sightseeing bicycle riders go by with their bikes all lit up and decorated. Amazing! Walking down the sidewalks on a full moon night at 40 degrees made it quite magical.
     As with any city there is always so much going on at Christmas. Last Saturday we went to a "Tuba Christmas". This was the 40th year for the program that has been held at one of the local high schools at which over one hundred individuals ranging in age from 11 to 83 play tubas or related brass horns of various sizes. There were at least 30 of the big marching sousaphones along the back row, and then below them the next size down and so on. This is one of one hundred and sixty such tuba Christmas concerts that are played throughout the world at this time. What an experience!
    This past weekend was also the weekend of a beautiful Nativity display exhibit that is held annually here in one of the big stake centers. There were hundreds of nativities on display. It brought back memories of the one we had in Jefferson City for several years.
     If there was a downside of this past week or so, it has been that of our mode of transportation. The car was bucking and snorting like a horse. After having three or four mechanics looked at it and give their opinions and shrug their shoulders we were getting discouraged. Then after much prayer and the advice of a good friend and member of our congregation I bought a new set of spark plugs and wires and took matters into my own hands. Happily we now have a smooth running car, but I still don't want to be a mechanic as a second vocation. Car computers do not give out all the answers of what to fix at times! I'm starting to believe this electric hub that I bought for my recumbent bike that I will be using when we get home sounds better and better. I think I'll get one for the tandem also, and do away with our car!
    Switching gears to what Christmas is all about, Sherrie and I are so grateful for all that the Savior has done for us and all of mankind. As we continue to read daily from a book entitled "Infinite Atonement" and we try to comprehend what the God the Eternal Father and His son Jesus Christ have done for us, it is hard to grasp what happened, yet at the same time, how grateful all of mankind must and should be for what they did do.
    The fact that Jesus Christ was with His Heavenly Father in the planning stages of "worlds without end", that He then under his Father's direction created heaven and earth, and then was chosen and willing to come here as a baby, grow to adulthood, die and atone for the sins of all mankind, and that he will someday return again to this earth is a lot to comprehend but at the same time it enables us to have the faith to believe that it is all so real.
    At a recent "Christmas conference" that all of us in the mission attended last week, we learned to think this time of year as the "The spirit of Christ" rather than "The spirit of Christmas". We were encouraged to think as individuals more along the lines of "What shall we give Christ for Christmas?" One thought we were given as Christians is to offer our whole soul as an offering to Christ, to endure to the end, to sacrifice through service and align our will with Him. Striving to live in a small infinite way like the Savior did when he was here upon this earth is a good start for me in trying to give back something to Him.
     As Neal A. Maxwell once said "There is a personalized plan for each of us. Like the Christmas star, each of us, if faithful, has an ordained orbit [a reward for us] if we live a life such that the Savior wants us to live".
     My friends, I want you to know that I know that Jesus is the Christ. He has given the ultimate gift to all mankind, His life. And because of that I know that eternal life is possible and that as we endure to the end we will be blessed to someday be in the presence of Him and a wonderful loving Heavenly Father. I know it. I know it.

Love ya,

Elder John
    

The season of Christmas is here!!  We both love this season so much but yet get so emotional about everything!!  We've always been this way but seem to get more weepy as we get older.  California, especially our Sacramento area, is the home to MANY homeless people.  If I knew the exact numbers I would probably cry all the time.  It has been around 30 degrees during the night and we have often thought about where those with no shelter go to sleep in the cold.  We sit in our cozy little, modest, apartment and if we get cold, just turn up the thermostat or put on more clothes.  How blessed we are!  We had a wonderful visit with Amy and family over Thanksgiving.  We were to go to Alph's parents home but they got the flu so Amy and Alph pulled off an incredible Thanksgiving feast in a very short amount of time.  Alph's family graciously include us in their family activities and we do so appreciate their kindness.  We got to attend Sophie's (our oldest grand daughter) play "Aladdin Jr."  She "shines" on the stage.  Your eyes are just drawn to her because she has great stage presence and such a warm, natural smile.  The next night John and I took Oliver, Beatrice and Simon to "Temple Hill".  This is where the LDS Oakland Temple is located, just 20 minutes from Amy. We really didn't want to take Simon (3 1/2) because he doesn't like to sit still for very long.  He pleaded and promised to  "be good" so much we didn't have the heart to leave him.  I'm happy to report, all 3 children were great!  Simon said, "I kept my promise, huh, Hana?  Now I can go with you other places, right?"  I told him that he was now a good "promise keeper" and we would be happy to take him anywhere (well, "almost" anywhere.)   There was an hour of incredible music and then we went outside the Stake Center and watched as they turned on gazillions of Christmas lights.  Huge palm trees were covered and outlined with all these lights.  The music thrilled our souls!  What a wonderful evening and 2 sleepy heads slept all the way home.  We headed back pretty early Sunday morning so that we could keep our Sunday commitments.  We just have one more "marriage class" to teach then our Sundays will slow down a little bit.  We've said this lots, but we really do like to keep busy.  Not crazy busy, just busy. The topic of my Sunday School lesson was "Preparing for the Savior's Second Coming."  I was really having trouble getting and keeping their attention until we got to the scriptures that tell about the signs of the time that will happen before He comes.  When we started checking off the events that have or are now occurring, the class became very serious.  One student said, "You mean, we don't know exactly when He will come BUT it could be ANYTIME?"  The whole class was like, "Wow".  I asked if anyone needed to be making any changes in their lives and they quietly nodded yes.  Very sobering moment for many I believe.  We have been attempting to visit many less active members in the two English wards that we work with.  I say "attempting" very loosely.  One of our main responsibilities is to try to help bring "lost sheep" back to the church.  Most folks are not home so we leave a note with our name and number.  I really felt like a missionary last week when we got a door slammed in our face.  Since this was the first time this has happened to us, we were a little taken back to say the least.  We were sharing this with our young Elders and they just smiled because this happens to them all the time.  I admire those young men so much!  Those of you who feed the Elders, we thank you!!  We usually do not make church visits after dark unless we have a specific appointment so our evenings are free to study or do whatever.  We took a recent convert to see the Travis Air Force Golden West Coast Band on Thursday night in downtown Sacramento.  They travel throughout the west coast giving free concerts.  This was a "Songs for the Season" concert and was one of the finest we've ever seen and heard.  When they played the "Star Spangle Banner" to open, I had chills running down my arms!  We just received word that our good neighbor in Jeff City, Tom Brooks, has passed away.  He was a very good man and we will really miss visiting with him when working out in the yard.  Each day here on earth is a gift but thankfully we know that there are such wonderful things awaiting us in eternity.  How grateful I am to know that families can be forever!  We have been having some frustrating problems with our car that no one seems to be able to figure out.  How we miss our Brauns Bros. in Jeff City.  Closing on a funny note.....John got up this morning and put on his glasses and thought, "Mmmmm, my left eye is sure fuzzy.  He went about getting dressed, eating, reading, etc. and began to think, goodness, first my hearing is going and now my eyes are growing worse, even over night.  He started cleaning his glasses, first the right lens then the left.  Strangely, there was no lens in the left side.  He wasn't going blind, the lens had just fallen out!  Thankfully, we found the lens before either of us old fogeys stepped on it!  Popped right back in!!  Got our first Christmas card today with a wonderful newsletter from Chris and Julie.  We appreciate their wonderful care of our home.  We couldn't have served this mission without their willingness to housesit.  We really know Christmas time is here because we broke down and bought some peppermint ice cream.  We had been "ice cream free" for over 2 months!!  And it was soooo good.  Cantorum Christmas Concert is this weekend (we think).  We miss singing with them so much and know that it will be a great concert!  Make the most of the month preparing for the Savior's birth!  Love to all!!
  .

A Season of Thankfulness 2013

      Do you ever remember seeing the red funnels at a children's museum where you drop in a coin at the top and it slowly goes around and around, and then picks up speed as it drops further down into the funnel until it is going very fast by the time it drops out of the bottom?
     That is how I am describing how fast out mission seems to be going as we have passed the 15 month mark. If these last few days of events are any indication of how fast it's going I know that Sherrie and I need to hold onto our hats as we complete the last 3 months.
     On Saturday one of the most wonderful highlights of our mission occurred. We were involved in escorting and the witnessing of eight Marshallese Branch members who attended the Sacramento Temple for the first time for their individual endowments. The word "Endowment" is a sacred terminology used in the LDS church when church members go to a temple to make covenants or promises with the Lord to live a righteous life while here upon this earth. These covenants or promises help us as members to focus on the Savior, understand His role in our Heavenly Father's plan, and to understand our commitment to follow Him. We believe these are the greatest blessings available to all of us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
     Six of these people were husband and wife and we watched as each couple was sealed to each other for all time and eternity. Then the children of two of the couples were brought in all dressed in white to be sealed to their parents. There is something special about little Marshallese children who normally are what I would say are "little hellions" at church, but now come into the sealing room looking like angels as they kneel around the alter with their weeping parents. For that matter we were all weeping. It was a wonderful experience that we will never forget.
     Earlier Saturday we also attended the funeral of a 91 year old man who had lived a wonderful life of love and service to his family, the church and to the Lord. His wife of 67 years, 7 children and spouses, 39 grandchildren, and at least 60 great-grand children were all in attendance. The entire center section of the church pews were filled by his family. What a tribute to such a wonderful man! We had been visiting weekly with he and his wonderful wife.
      This past week we were in attendance at what our mission calls "zone conferences". It is an event that lasts pretty much all day with about 100 missionaries in attendance each day. Elder Baxter, a General Authority of our church, was in attendance. He and his wife are British. He provided wonderful spiritual guidance and direction to the missionaries. At these zone conferences Sherrie and I also assist in inspecting the missionary cars that the young missionaries are assigned to drive. A unique experience. All were in pretty good shape.
       This Wednesday Sherrie and I go down to the home of our daughter Amy and her family who live in Walnut Creek CA, to be with them for Thanksgiving. Can't wait.
       Last but not least it looks like we are taking a round about way of coming home in February. The kids have given us an early 50th wedding anniversary gift and we will be going to Hawaii at the end of February 2014! We are excited! And hopefully by the time we start home the winter weather will have passed.

Got to go. Love ya,

Elder John

November 16, 2013  I am either a great procrastinator or time goes by way too fast.  I shall choose the second option!  This past Sunday we had our first adult baptism in the Marshallese Branch in many, many months!!  We have had two young elders assigned to our little branch and they are wonderful.  They are very diligent as well as very in tune with the spirit.  It is so amazing to see how the gospel of Jesus Christ can change lives.  This man, early 30's, has made many bad choices in his life and never had responded to the pleadings of his family who are strong members of the church.  I don't know what exactly brought about his change of heart, but I know his heart has been softened and he was ready to make a commitment.  His 13 year old daughter is in my teenage Sunday School class and she is so happy. The brother that we have been working with on his English conducted the baptism service for the first time.  We were so proud of him.  He is very shy so it took a lot of courage to get up and conduct the meeting.  He will make a great bishop some day, I'm sure.   Next Saturday there will be 7 members of our tiny branch of the church to go to the temple for the first time.  One of the couples has asked us to be there with them to kind of be their escort or guide as they go through the temple.  This is a couple who would not even speak to us a year ago and were not coming to church at all.  They had gotten their feelings hurt and did not want to participate in church.  They now have learned that powerful principle of forgiveness and are now active in the church.  What a joy!!  They have 2 daughters and their families who are setting a goal to all go to the temple next year.  Lives are changed by learning to forgive others. How I wish we could all be perfect sometimes but then of course we would not have opportunities to grow in humility and understanding.  John told you about our new convert friend, Naomi, in his last blog.  Naomi is still going strong and has been baptized and confirmed a member of the church.  She is an incredible cook and loves to have us over and cook for us.  It's kind of a "eat and ask" meal.  We "eat" and she "asks" lots of gospel questions which we are delighted to answer.  I hope we will always remain in contact  with her after we leave Sacramento.  We have a new assignment of about 61 names of less active members from the Sacramento 1st Ward who we have been asked to try to contact and invite to church.  So far are batting average is about zip for folks not at home.  We started a new marriage class last week and had a great turnout.  We had the second class last night and had 4 people there.  We were trying to figure out if it was our breath, our body odor, or our personalities that might have driven them away.  We're thinking positively though and thinking it may of just been "one of those nights."  We look forward to see what will happen next week.  A Marshallese sister has just been called as my "assistant" in Sunday school so we will team teach for a while so that she will be ready to take over in February.  It doesn't seem possible that we will only be here another 3 months!  We are having 4 sister missionaries over for supper next week and celebrating Thanksgiving with them early.  We are blessed!  Take care!!!

October 27, 2013

         Hello again. Starting to wear long sleeves and sweaters now, but usually quite pleasant in the afternoon. This past Friday and Saturday night we went to two Chili cook-offs and Trunk or Treat events in two of the wards we are assigned to. We don't care to see anymore chili for quite a while! Sampling ten to fifteen different kinds each night is a little much.
        On Friday afternoon Amy and the twinners came up for a few hours and we went to Funderland, a miniature version of Six Flags ( a real, real miniature version). It was great to be with them. In a few days the plan is to meet Amy halfway a day or two before Thanksgiving and we will bring the twinners here for an overnight and then take them back with us to Walnut Creek the following day for Thanksgiving. They really want to do it, I think we do too. It will either be a nice night or a long night. But it should be fine.
        We also took in a little more area culture this weekend. First it was on later Friday night when we went to listen to the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra. The program consisted of movements from Handel's Opus 4, organ concerto in B Flat as well as two other choral numbers. A beautiful setting in a large Presbyterian church. Then on Saturday afternoon we went to a Harvest Moon Celebration in a little Chinese settlement town of Locke along the Sacramento River. Of the many Asian performers the most outstanding was the Bukkyo Taiko drummers (barrel drums of different sizes pounded by authentically dressed performers. Great experience.
        As we have mentioned before the responsibilities of Sherrie and I have mainly been working with recent converts from the past 12 months as well as with long time members, teaching English classes, budgeting classes, marriage classes, teaching members to become more self reliant, and a few other things thrown in. But another area that we love is to go with the younger missionaries when they are teaching someone who is investigating the church. They are not to be alone with single women so we provide the "proper supervision". One such person we have been working with is a woman a little younger than us who is what we call a self-referral. Rather than the missionaries finding her to teach, she contacted the church to say she was interested. She first started with the church's chat-line on which she can communicate with missionaries who are in the Mission Training Center in Provo Utah. Then she asked for missionaries to be sent to her home to continue discussions about the church. Naomi is an amazing person. In addition to going with the missionaries to teach her, we have also become good friends with her. She is what we call a "golden contact" and is someone who can't get enough information about the church. In the discussions whenever we bring up one of the Christian beliefs of our church she always says " I believe that, what's next!" She will be baptized soon, and we are happy we have been able to play a part in her conversion. Great experience!
      Well, Sherrie and I have started mailing boxes back home in anticipation that there won't be enough room in the car when we travel back home. At least that was until we found it cost $50 to send two boxes home! So it's back to the first plan of cramming it into the car tighter, or just not bringing some accumulations home. We'll see.
      One other experience, and then I have to quit. We visit regularly with some couples "older" than us. One of the husbands is in his 90's and is in the terminal stages of colon cancer. But the amazing part is that he has no pain and still has a very sharp and witty mind. He has lived a wonderful life, and has a great love for the Savior. He does not fear death, and even welcomes it so to speak, knowing that he will be completing another step in the plan of salvation that our Savior has provided for us. He looks forward to leaving this existence to be in Heavenly Father's presence again. As I said he still has a sharp and witty mind. His parting comments to us as we were leaving him the other day were "I'm glad the doctors chose not to perform surgery on me, because I didn't want to leave this life with just a "semi-colon"".

         Take care,
                John

Fall is indeed here in sunny California but we hear it is even lovelier in Missouri right now.  Not a lot of trees change color right in our area but we are hoping to travel to Napa for the day in 2 weeks and bask in the autumn colors there.  We usually wear our missionary "tags" when we go somewhere so even though it may be a "pleasure trip" we usually get some opportunities to share a little about the church and "why" we are "doing what we are doing".  John and I have recommitted ourselves to get back on the "health wagon" and abstain from as much sugar as possible.  It's really hard for me to challenge someone to live the "Word or Wisdom" when I need my daily fix of chocolate or ice cream.  Yes, yes, we know there is sugar in everything but we are just trying not to add to it. :)  The older you get it seems to become so much harder  to shed those extra pounds that have crept on your body from out of nowhere.  Now to share good news.....a  Marshallese family has just returned from living in Salt Lake City and have been joyously welcomed back to our tiny branch.  They speak very good English, are hard  workers and have strong, strong testimonies of the Savior.  We have very few Marshellese who understand the importance of service and hard work.  This family has changed their lives since joining the church 3 years ago and set a wonderful example to the other Marshallese people.  They still have plenty of problems, like all of us, but because they have committed their lives to the Lord, they handle their problems so much better. I'm hoping the wife might be able to take over my Sunday School class.  It would be great to team teach with her and help  her with this very unique class of teenagers.  I worry that no one will be prepared to take over in 4 months.  I have some students that I have some very big concerns about the direction they are going.  One of my biggest challenges is to try to teach my Marshallese friends how to cook and eat differently to lessen their diabetes.  Many of them are fully aware of the dangers of diabetes but due to lack of money, they eat the most filling things, i.e. rice, and candy that they can buy cheaply.   Those are the times when I wish I had an endless supply of money and could just go and fill their refrigerators full of yummy healthy food.  In one of our English Wards we are teaching a Hispanic woman the new member lessons.  We love her so much!  She was introduced to the church by the couple that she is a caregiver for and she has totally embraced the gospel.  The challenges that she faces within her own home are enormous.  She was sharing with us how hard it is for her living with an alcoholic husband, 4 children, a son-in-law, and a new baby in a very tiny home.  She said to us, "I don't think anyone has as many bodies in a little house as we do."  And "we" said....."Actually, we have Marshallese friends who have 23 people living in a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house and 6 of those "bodies" are under the age of 6."  She replied, "Oh, thank you so much for telling me that.  I need to know that other people face just as great, if not greater, challenges than I have.  My "pity party" is now over!"  Everything is "relative" isn't it?  The couple she is a caregiver for have served missions before and are wonderful.
He is totally bedridden, has difficulty speaking, but has the sweetest countenance.  The caregiver came to work one night totally frustrated with her family at home and said to Sister Carter, "Would you like to adopt some children?"  And Sis. Carter said, "I probably should talk to my husband about that."  Thinking that Bro. Carter was sleeping they went about their chores.  Pretty soon Bro. Carter k calls out quite clearly, "Honey, I really don't think we should be adopting kids right now."  Hilarious!  The students in my "Daily Dose" class have started telling jokes in Marshallese after class.  The nerve!  I told them they couldn't come back to class if they didn't start telling their jokes in English! I can't remember if John or I mentioned this, but we are studying the most incredible book entitled "The Infinite Atonement" by Tad Callison.  It's a "must read" for anyone who loves the Savior and wants to understand his magnificent gift of the Atonement more deeply.  I am so grateful for this mission that has made us take time to study and ponder those important things of the gospel that we should have been doing more diligently before our mission.  Thank goodness for repentance!  To our wonderful children who have called faithfully, skyped, drawn pictures and visited us.....we love you and appreciate your support so much.  Love to all!!!

Humor in the life of the "old" missionary couple

September 30, 2013

Episode #1: Innocence of youth

We are dressed in our Sunday best and we are leaving the apartment to go do what missionaries do. As we are going out to the car, four young boys are playing as we walk by. The conversation goes something like this.

Mister, how old are you?
 I respond without breaking stride "a 100 years old".
"Wow!"
To Sherrie he says "Are you really both 100?"
"No, we are both just 68 years old."
"Wow! That's still old!
"Were you both born on the same day, too!"
Then he says "Where are you going?"
"We are helping Jesus".
Then he says "Is Jesus here on Greenhaven Dr. right now!!"
"Yes, He's everywhere."
"Oh, Okay", as one of them starts to sing a song about Jesus.
As we say good by to get into our car, the oldest is heard to say "Their married you know!"

Episode #2: Hearing problems

Today we went to Travis AFB for me to get fitted for my new fangled hearing enabler (hearing aid). Coming back to Sacramento I'm looking for the switch it has for me to use for "selective hearing" when I don't want to hear "certain conversations". At the same time Sherrie is asking me where the switch is to turn it up so she can make sure I can hear those "certain conversations". Hmmmm. I wonder how this is going to work out. Now Sherrie is saying "John, why are you talking so softly?", and I'm saying "Sherrie, you are talking too loud" and "Stop making so much noise with the candy wrappers!" Maybe we can take turns wearing the device.

Episode #3: Unfinished sentences

Sherrie and I take turns going to a Physical Therapist up the street for "old people" ailments. Today she went for treatment on an old reoccurring "war injury" called a Frozen Shoulder. Sherrie comes back to the apartment and is telling me about the treatment, how the therapist is doing in her life, etc. My hearing aid must still be in the "selective hearing" mode because I hear her talking about
"....had knee surgery, has to take medicine regularly, needs exercise, etc." I'm thinking the young therapist is in bad shape, and then I realize she is talking about Missy who is the therapist's English bull dog who is quite overweight, low to the ground, slobbers, ugly at best with it's protruding teeth and rules the office. The therapist says Missy's slobber is known to heal certain patients ailments!

      Such is the life of Sherrie and I here in Sacramento. Happy times, struggles and challenges, spiritual highs. Wouldn't want it any other way!
      We've just completed the last of the two 6 week marriage courses that we have been teaching. Now we are waiting to see if the two Bishops want us to start teaching another set of courses. We are in various stages of teaching "new member" lessons to about ten recent converts.
      Last Saturday night we went to one of our favorite outdoor theaters to watch a musical production called "Best of Broadway". Good performance. (This is the outdoor theatre that has chickens roosting in the trees around the neighborhood. It was getting dark when we got there so they were already asleep.)
     Looking forward to General Conference broadcasts from Salt Lake this coming weekend. Always a spiritual high.

Take care,
Elder John

                     "When you feel that there is only a thin thread of hope, it is really not a thread
                                    but a massive connecting link."    -- Richard G. Scott

Another busy Sabbath day which we love!  We have had a very low key week this past week as I have been diagnosed with a right "frozen shoulder" and have had to slow down a bit so I was ready to get up and go today.  I had this about 10 years ago in my other shoulder so had self diagnosed earlier and hoped it would go away with some self prescribed exercises but to no avail.  Had to go to the doctor last week and he confirmed my self diagnosis and is sending me for x-rays tomorrow.  I have to lie on my back to sleep because it is so uncomfortable to sleep on either side.  I asked the doctor if I got a discount on my visit since I had already diagnosed myself and he just confirmed it.  :)  All he said was, "My, aren't you a funny little lady."  At least he didn't say "funny old lady" and I was thrilled he thought I was "little".   Speaking of old, John and I had our 47th wedding anniversary on September 17th and we BOTH forgot it.  Part of the problem was that we didn't know what day it was.  I mean, we knew what day our anniversary was we just didn't know that the 17th was this past Tuesday.  Thank goodness Heather keeps track of special days and texted us a Happy Anniversary.  We had gone out to supper that night before so we both just pretended that we did that to celebrate our anniversary.  I am so grateful that the Lord has blessed me with this good man for this many years.  We love growing older together and count each day as a celebration and privilege to still be able to kneel together each day and thank God for his many blessings.  I must admit that it is getting harder and harder to get up from that kneeling prayer position. We spend a lot of time just laughing at ourselves these days.  We can often be seen "high fiving" each other when we are on an extremely busy highway and make the right exit and our GPS doesn't have to recalculate.  We have become very attached to our new GPS and really consider "her" one of the family.  We are so grateful that we were born in this era and not in the pioneer times.  I really think we should start to say please and thank you to our GPS more often.  We cannot imagine where we would end up in California without "her" guidance.  I only had 9 teenagers in Sunday School so I felt like I had been given some sort of reprieve this morning.  I actually think 2 of them may have been listening because they asked a question that had something to do with the lesson.  Be still my heart!!  I really do love those crazy kids and hope they are learning "something" in class.  I had sharing time in Primary this morning and we had a great game on service.  We have 2 other American couples who are serving as service missionaries in the Marshallese Branch.  Sister Turner has made remarkable progress in teaching the Marshallese children appropriate church behavior.  It was a delight to be with them this morning.  We are whittling away at the new member lessons that we teach each week.  We go into members homes who have joined the church in the last 12-15 months  and teach them lessons about our doctrines as well as to help them understand how we do things at church.  For example, in our church we call the bread and water the "Sacrament" and other faiths call it communion.  They usually have some really great questions that we help answer.  It's been quite interesting some of the things that their friends have told them about "the Mormons" and then they ask us about them.  We are grateful that they are comfortable enough with us to ask us these questions.  Tonight was our last "Strengthening Marriage and Family" class in one of the wards.  We love to facilitate that wonderful class!  We have seen remarkable changes take place in the marriages of those who come to this class.  Sadly, there are some who still don't realize that it really, really pays to invest lots of spiritual, emotional and physical energy into your marriage.  What a difference it makes when spouses apply gospel principles to their marriage.  John and I have a very good marriage but we have never taken each other for granted and constantly look for ways to improve our relationship.  This class is a real blessing to us because we have an opportunity to refocus on important things in our own marriage while we help others do the same in their marriage.  We do a lot of role playing in class and it really is a hoot.  Everyone laughs together because we see ourselves in these different role playing situations.   We did 6 sealings and 2 endowments last Thursday at the temple and have rededicated ourselves to doing better at family history work.  The temple is only 30 minutes away (depending on the time of day) and a large Family History Center is also very close to help us with obstacles in our searching for our ancestors.  I feel badly that I have not been more diligent in doing this very important work.  The new temple film has deeply touched us.  It has helped me look at the Fall of Adam in several different ways that I had not considered before.  How blessed we are! We feel extra blessed because it appears that our neighbors
no longer have their 2 dogs who serenaded us with their barking for long periods of time each day and evening. (LATE evening!)    Hope all is well with anyone who reads our blog. 

September 11, 2013

       Hello family and friends. Greetings from the California delta. It's amazing how it can get so hot here in the daytime and then suddenly in the evening the gentle (sometimes not so gentle) breezes come in off the delta and make it quite pleasant. As Sherrie mentioned last week we are teaching these three marriage classes. As with most teaching and speaking situations the one giving the presentation tends to learn as much as if not more than the recipient. It's amazing to watch how the Bishops of these congregations have felt inspired to determine which couples could gain the most from attending the classes. We have such a blend of young and old ages, newly weds and oldie weds and extreme differences of personalities all brought together for 1 1/2 hours once a week in this six week course. In one case this means an older couple recently married to each other after each has had several previously unsuccessful marriages themselves. Another example is a young newly wed couple who have "taken in" her Vietnamese family of 20+ while they themselves are finding time to take college courses. The matriarch and patriarch of this family who speak no English are in the process of opening up a Vietnamese restaurant here in Sacramento. Wow!
      Some of the couples haven't stuck with it and have dropped out for various reasons, while with the others we've seen some amazing changes occur within their marriage just because they are applying these wonderful principles in their relationships. And as Sherrie said there is always room for improvement in our own marriage of 47 years due to our class involvement. Another one of the many blessings that have occurred while serving on this mission.
     Well recently my old megaphone funnel that I put up to my ear to hear better gave out (son-in-law doctor says welcome to the old age realm of life). I was wondering how to go about getting tested and looking at the cost of hearing aid, when low and behold my 20 years of military service and retirement have paid off again. I "heard" about a "Hearing aids at Cost" program that is being offered to AF retirees and that Travis AFB, which is an hour away from us, is one of the few military bases that offers such a program. So I've been fitted and will pick it up in a few weeks at a mere fraction of the cost they normally are. So soon Sherrie can quit using sign language or holding up large posters to communicate with me.
     During our sojourn here we have done some family research and have been able to find, connect and study the names of more than fifty ancestors. It is such a satisfying pleasure to be able to do this research.
     In conclusion, Sherrie and I have just started reading the book entitled "Infinite Atonement" written by Tad R. Callister. This book talks about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and states "it is the central act of human history, the pivotal point in all time, the doctrine of doctrines". Bruce R. McConkie pays fitting tribute to this noblest of all deeds by saying: "Nothing in the entire plan of salvation compares in any way in importance with that most transcendent of all events, that being the atoning sacrifice of the Lord. It is the most important single thing that has ever occurred in the entire history of created things". What a powerful statement. We both look forward to further reading of the book.  I want you to know of my love for our Savior and all that he has done for us. That testimony burns within my soul and always will.

Take care,

Elder John

Happy  Labor Day (one day late)!   Today was Fast and Testimony Sunday which I love.  In the Marshallese Branch, another sweet miracle happened......one of the members who participate in my "Daily Dose" English class stood and courageously bore her testimony all in English.  Many of the Marshallese speak much better English than they think they do because of their shyness.  What a  joy to see her standing there, head held high, expressing her love of the Savior in almost perfect English.  I love teaching those classes and try to make it as fun as possible.  They all have a delightful sense of humor once they lose some of their timidness.  "Refrigerator" has been a real challenge to learn to speak correctly.  So this week I lined everyone up and appointed them "cheerleaders".  We made the word refrigerator into a cheer/chant and put in little dance moves to go with it and laughed ourselves to hysteria.  As they were leaving the church building, I saw them swaggering down the hallway doing the "Refrigerator Cheer".  It's one of those things that you had to have been there to appreciate the experience, but it has brought me many a smile in the past few days.  John and I are really getting into "a groove" in teaching this "Strengthening Marriage and Family" course.  We teach each session 3 times a week to 3 different groups.  It's always a little challenging to team teach with anyone but initially it seemed a big challenge to teach with our spouse considering that we both have very different teaching styles. I'm happy to report that we are surviving this experience very well and are developing a true appreciation of each other's way of thinking and presenting material. We  had a wonderful weekend last week in Walnut Creek for our grandson Sam's priesthood ordination into the Aaronic Priesthood. He is developing into a very fine young man who has a wonderful, unique sense of humor and is so veeeeery smart!  What made it even more special was our surprise from Denver.  I was playing with Bea and Simon and Amy (my daughter) came in and said, "Mom, I have 2 friends I want you to meet."  I looked up and there stood Josh holding Booker (almost 3).  I, of course, starting yelling (not really yelling yelling) and crying with joy.  Booker kept gripping his Dad and trying to get as far from me as possible. :)  I haven't seen him for over a year so he was probably wondering who is this crazy old woman?  Then Jessica, Josh's wife, came around  the corner with sweet little Eloise, 5 weeks old!  What a joyous time it was!!!  Life is good and we are blessed!  How grateful I am for my membership in His church and the many opportunities to serve that we have had.  The next 6 months will probably go faster than the last 12 did.  Much more to write but out of space.  Sure love ya!!!

     Good morning. Where has the last 12 months gone! I truly feel we are a part of the "stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands, and is rolling forth until it has filled the whole earth". (Daniel 2 and D & C 65: 2). The speed at which Sherrie and I are going forth in our responsibilities is amazing to us (as two "old people"). We are but a small granulated portion of that rolling stone but the exhilaration of being part of that movement brings much satisfaction to us. Six months ago I was saying that maybe we would only serve 12 months rather than the 18 months. We felt stymied in our efforts because in our perception we weren't doing much good. Lack of progress and response from the Marshallese people was our biggest frustration. But then we requested from the mission president that we be given more to do, he responded by giving us two additional wards or congregations to work with. Goodness, now we are busy and we love it! This past Tuesday night we held the first session of two different "Strengthening Marriage" classes that we will be teaching. The other class with the other group will be taught on Friday nights. This is something we really enjoy teaching and look forward to sharing our many years experience.
    We are also teaching several New Member lessons to people who have been baptized into the church in the last 12 months or so. Very enjoyable. They all come from such different walks of life and it is exciting to seem them grow in the gospel. Some of these new members bring on good challenges for us as they ask thought provoking questions about the gospel that cause us to search deep into the scriptures. One women is still holding onto her Pentecostal believes which provides for some interesting discussion. As we were visiting and teaching another young couple, we were so surprised to hear that the somewhat laidback and mild mannered wife is a fast pitch softball coach for young women. Ashley has been a semi-professional pitcher for several years. Back when she was pitching regularly her husband-to-be James was the only one who had the ability (and courage) to catch for her!! Thus the reason they began dating which eventually led to marriage.
    Last night the full time missionaries had asked Sherrie and I to go with them as they were having discussions with a single lady who is interested in the church. The evening progressed well and Sherrie and I felt we had contributed to the discussion. The woman said "You know I was ready to say to you tonight, to not come back anymore, but after tonight's discussion I've decided I want you to keep coming back". Then she asked us to step into her other room that like the rest of the house was somewhat cluttered with her entanglements of life, and there was a beautiful mahogany baby grand piano. The piano glistened like a diamond amongst the cobwebs and dust. She asked one of the Elders that she previously knew was an accomplished pianist, play a arousing number from the theme of the movie "Polar Express", and then the lady played a beautiful number of her own. The evening was magical and we hope it will continue with her in wanting to know more about the church.
   Well, today we finished two days of inspecting missionary apartments! 14 to be exact! Phew! Time for a rest. Some Elders or Sisters in some cases live in apartments while others live in members homes. From a low score of 0 to a high of 10, we gave evaluations from 0 to 9. Some have not been taught well by their moms! It is interesting also with the ones that live in member's homes, however good or not so good the homeowner keeps their home clean is exactly how the missionaries respond to keeping their bedroom and bathroom clean. But they are all great Elders and Sister missionaries.
    To close off this post, I give a couple of amusements! As I bike the greenways around here almost every early morning I have to use my horn almost all the time because the great abundance of Asian and Japanese decent citizens that take up the whole pathway as they chitter chatter away in their language. Then when I tweak my horn they scatter like a flock of ducklings until I get by. When I ride by a particular field each time there is a solitary Asian woman standing out in the middle of the field doing her Tai Chi. A refreshing sight.
    And finally, every time we have a Zone meeting where there are 15 to 60 young Elders around I challenge them all to doing my "Russian pushup" (lying flat on the floor, on my stomach, arms extended forward, and then proceed to do pushups from this position). They are so stymied as to why a 68 year old man can do something that they can't! It's a challenge they can' let go. Recently, I watched a West Point cadet/missionary and a big Tongan missionary finally do it.
    Got to go, love you all, John

                                       "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured"
                                                                              (Gordon B. Hinckley)

   

What a beautiful Sabbath day!  We started our day pretty early with a ward council meeting at the beautiful meeting house for Sacramento 1st and 2nd Wards.  This council meets every 2nd and 4th Sundays for about 90 minutes and is so beneficial to the ministering to the needs of the church members.  Each member of the council has different responsibilities so this is a time to coordinate activitities, address missionary needs and make sure that no one in the church "drops through the cracks" so to speak.  Both of these wards have dedicated bishops who give so much of their time and energy to serve the Lord with no pay, only blessings.  We are always in awe of the many services of love that are extended throughout these wards. It is such a privilege to serve with such good people!  We went to a Sacrament meeting (church) at 9:00 and then afterward jumped in the car and headed for the Marshallese Branch.  The young missionaries have been temporarily pulled from this branch for a while but the missionaries in the Tongan Ward are there to assist the branch if someone has a referrel or needs to be taught.  We have a new missionary in the Tongan Ward who was on a full ride scholarship at the University of Arizona, also playing football, and left the university to serve a mission.  What an outstanding young man he is!  Each member of my Sunday School class of teenagers has agreed to prepare a talk for Sacrament meeting.  Most of them have never spoken in public before so we have been spending time working with them on their talks.  A young sister gave an incredible talk this morning and I was so proud of her I thought I was going to pop my buttons.  Her mother was shocked.  She said she never thought her daughter could//would ever do such a good job.  Ahhh yes, the rising generation!  If we could clap and stomp our feet in church, John and I would have been doing so after Josie's talk. I had wall to wall teenagers in class today (visiting relatives) but the class was great. John had taken the Sacramental prayer and personalized it to the first person and when we read them together in class, substituting "I" for "we", etc., the whole class took it very seriously.  We always take the Sacrament to an elderly (85) couple each Sunday and then have a good visit.  He just found out he has cancer but was quite optimistic.  Yesterday we took a young couple to the temple for the first time to do baptisms.  This young man had converted to the gospel when he was 17 but had fallen away from the church.  He met and married a great gal who last November decided it was time she looked into the LDS Church.  Long story short....she was baptised last December and they are super strong in the church.  They are both excited about family history and took some of their family names for baptisms.  What a sweet spirit was there that day.  So blessed to be part of that experience.  We meet with them weekly for "new member' lessons and love their 4 and 6 year old kiddos.  Last Monday night John had a great experience in the Marshallese Branch.  A counselor in the Stake Presidency organized an evening of Family History and had all the senior missionaries and other members in the stake come with their laptops and they did a crash course in getting family names.  There were about 12-15 members from the branch there and they each got registered on Family Search and did several family names ready to do temple work for.  The next night they took their 47 family names and went to the temple and did a total of 100 baptisms.  Hopefully, this is just the "shot in the arm" that they needed to continue on with this great work in family history.  This is  a major step in the life of these branch members.  With the loss of our friend, Shela Reall, our hearts have been heavy this week.  She was an incredible woman and an example of righteousness to us all.  How privileged we were to have know her here on this earth and how grateful we are that we shall see her again.  I'm sure the Lord is keeping her so busy with all her knowledge and teaching experience to share.  What a comfort it is  to know the Plan of Salvation!  It doesn't take away the pain of losing a loved one but it certainly makes it bearable. Have a wonderful week full of opportunities to serve!!

Hello

      I've been trying to think of the best words to describe how we feel after having a long exciting, productive, spiritual day. Previously Sherrie mentioned that we are now serving in three units (or congregations) of our church here in Sacramento. Sometimes on a typical Sunday we can start meeting with church leaders and members in ward council meetings at 7 am and then continue on with attendance at other meetings and worship services in the three units until 6 pm in the evening. One description is to say "we have a euphoric feeling of spiritual contentment as we drop to our knees in prayer at the end of the day". I certainly don't mean that in a bragging way, but there is nothing more satisfying than to be able to help people along the roads of life. Some are strong and well established in their spiritual life, some are just beginning their walk with the Savior, while others are struggling to get back on the path after having gone astray for a while.We wouldn't want our mission to be any other way. It is very satisfying to us.
     Two of these congregations have a lot of "older members" like Sherrie and I, and the Bishop of one of these units asked Sherrie and I to speak last Sunday on the great rewards and benefits of serving the Lord as senior missionaries. It was so funny to look out over the congregation as we spoke to see the mixed reactions of the members. Some were smiling and nudging each other as if saying "that's what we need to do!", yet there were others who are not smiling, meaning they are not quite ready to leave their home comforts of life. We enjoyed speaking but the part we didn't like was the clip art description in the bulletin of an older couple serving a mission. Stooped over, with canes, shuffling along! We don't look that way! Yet! As we concluded speaking the Bishop in the other congregation which shares the same building stopped us in the hallway and asked if we do an encore in their service tomorrow and speak on the same subject. I wonder how their "older members" will respond?
    We took a break at the beginning of this week and drove to Independence Oregon to visit with dear friends, Rod and Carole Gabel, that used to live next to us in Chatham Illinois and who have shared  many of life's experiences with us. That was 30 years ago, but meeting with them this week was like we were never away from them. The four of us helped each other remember many of our past experiences in Illinois and new experiences of the present. Some of you reading this blog who lived in that Chatham and Springfield Illinois era can relate to such past experiences when I mention pizza projects, raising sweet onions and corn to sell, sorting electrical connectors, building a new chapel, Scout trips, Rod and Carole living in a barn, and many more good times. The four of us unitedly said that some of those experiences of the past were difficult, required a lot of hard work, but at the same time they brought of us all closer to each other and with the Lord.
    Well I'm ready to sign off. As Sherrie and I think of all the dear friends we have made over the years I can relate to a couple of quotes.

"A friend is a possession we earn, not a gift".  Marvin J. Ashton

"Be the kind of friend who makes it easier for others to obey the commandments when they are with you".  Robert D. Hales

Love ya,

Elder John

How time flies.....

Happy belated 4th of July!  How blessed we feel to be living in this great country.  We went to a little community parade on the fourth that has been going on for years.  Everyone is always so friendly here in our area.  I still get goose bumps when the flag bearers go by carrying our beautiful flag.  I remember when I was a little girl sitting on the curb with my family and when the flags would come by my dad would grab my elbow and say, "Stand up, that's our flag coming by."  It didn't matter if there were 50 flags in the parade, we stood up and put our hands over our hearts for each one.  I love to read in the Book of Mormon about Nephi's vision of the discovery and colonizing of America.  (1 Nephi, chapter 13).   It makes me appreciate even greater the role that God has played in giving us this promised land and all the blessings that go with living in this land.  We have just arrived home this evening and had a wonderful, and extremely busy day doing the Lord's work.  We are so happy with the additional responsibilities that we have been given to work with two other units of the church.  They are both English speaking wards so the communication barrier is not in existence.  After a person is baptized into the church, we visit with them and give them "new member" lessons.  This basically is a review of what they have learned from the younger missionaries but we present it a little differently.  When you are first learning about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it is often overwhelming.  That's where we come in. :)  It's so important to understand the doctrine of the faith that you have just been baptized into so we take this opportunity to clarify anything that they might not understand and do more in depth scripture study with them.  It has been a very spiritually satisfying week!  Today was Fast and Testimony Sunday when members have an opportunity to stand and bear their testimonies of the things of which they know are true in the gospel.  We have fasted for about 24 hours to try to become more spiritually  in tune and then those who want to bear testimony.  In my English classes we have been working with learning how to testify of the Savior and his teachings in English.  We had a very special experience this morning.  We have a 70 year old brother who really struggles with English and I reminded him this morning before church of my challenge to bear their testimony, even just 2 sentences, in English first and then switch to Marshallese.  I promised him that the Holy Ghost would give him the courage and the power to express himself in the English language if he so desired.  This good and noble man was filled with the spirit and expressed himself beautifully for several sentences in English of his great love for the Savior and for the Book of Mormon.  The spirit was so strong and John and I were so moved.  We visited with an American family tonight who the wife just joined the church in December and her husband had been a member since he was 17 years old but had never been very active in the church.  We had a wonderful visit with them this evening  and are taking them to the temple next Saturday to do the baptisms for their parents and other family members.  She listens to the Book of Mormon while she is getting ready for her day each day and is very knowledgeable about the gospel.  What a delight it was to be with her and her family.  I know the Lord has great blessings in store for this lovely family.  Melissa and her family were here last week for 2 days and we had a wonderful visit!  We had the 4 kids for a sleepover while Mom and Dad went out to celebrate their anniversary.  Little Owen, 15 months, is faster than the speed of light.  It was great to be with them.  We are so very blessed that several of our children have been able to come and visit.  I just finished an incredible article that I wanted to share with you.  Please go to www.lds.org/ensign/print/2012 /08/standing-together-for-the-cause-of-Christ?lang=eng&clang=eng. It is by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and was given to a group of national Christian leaders in 2011.  How important it is for those of us who love God to stand together for the cause of Christ and against the forces of sin!  We have a busy week ahead of us and we are glad!  Hope all is well with each of you who are special to us!!

 

Sherrie's busy at the moment so I will blog even though it is her turn. We just had one of our daughters (Heather, and her daughters Katie and Allie) come visit us for a few days. We spent time with her and the girls as well as with Amy and family who are in Walnut Creek, 80 minutes away. We road tripped to the beach and the aquarium at Monterey Bay. Great fun.

Special quotes we heard from the grandkids include: From 3 year old Bea as we were trying to wipe her dirty hands "That's da-gusting" she said as she was trying to describe how disgusting it is. To watch Katie age 4 as she tells a story with all of the grandiose ways that a typical 4 year old talks with hands, arms, eyes and emotions. To hear Simon tell a complete story with a binkie still in his mouth. In about ten days Melissa and her family will be coming to visit a few days. We are so grateful that mission rules for us "older missionaries" are more flexible in allowing family to come visit.

Today we started with some new assignments. In addition to still working with the Marshallese branch on Sundays from 11 am - 3 pm as well as Wednesday nights, we will now also be working with the Sacramento 1st and 2nd wards. One of these wards starts at 9 am in the morning so we will attend there until we leave to go over to the Marshallese branch. Then we will be making visits to these two wards members during the week and evenings. In the one ward there are older members that live in 15 different retirement centers. I think I've already seen Sherrie digging out her old "Activity Director" hat because she will love going into the retirement centers to visit. In this  particular ward the Bishop has asked younger families to "adopt a grandparent" that lives in the retirement centers that can't get around or may need a ride to church. It works out well for everyone.

I mentioned previously that we now have two sets of senior sister missionaries living in the same apartment complex as us. I am the district leader over them and Sherrie. That's five women against one man. Oh well, some guys are just lucky. At least I get in the last word all the time (Yes, Sisters, whatever you say!!).

Another effort I'm doing is genealogy when I have time. As I was using  familysearch.org  (this is a free website for anyone to go to) to do some research, I clicked on my family tree to see what research has been completed whether by me or by unknown or distant relatives. I found a line branching off from one of my immediate lines that someone else has done. The line goes all the way back to 400 AD and includes Kings, Queens, Counts and Countesses, Dukes, Earls, etc. How exciting! I'm checking to see if any money or crown jewels are being held back for the right descendent (ME!!) to come forth and claim. Ha!!

"When fleeing a scene of temptation, do not leave a forwarding address." (Jeffrey R. Holland)

Take care,

John

Hello from 100 degree Sacramento

Where did the nice spring weather go. But our hearts go out to those in Missouri, Oklahoma and other places where the severe storms have been occurring. Here in our apartment it is rather humorous to see two "old" missionaries going back and forth about what the temperature should be in our apartment. We take turns sneaking up to the thermostat and adjusting it to our liking.  Oh well, after 47 years we are used to the give and take I guess.

 Part of our assignments include going to another stake in north Sacramento to seek out the lost sheep there. Yesterday we had a list fifteen names to find. The results were quite varied. Some people have been gone for over two years. Others live in gated communities or secured building so we can't see anyone there. At one household the gentlemen of the house spoke only Modovi? (Indian) language and our hand signs and his limited English didn't mesh too well. Rather humorous I'd say. At another apartment complex the woman buzzed us in but as soon as we identified herself she covered her ears and ran away while yelling "You made me cry and I don't want it anymore!". The last visit of the day was quite the menagerie of mixed marriages, different adults, children, and pets but they said they held their Family Home Evenings on a regular basis and loved contact from the church members. We went away from there shaking our heads.

I think we mentioned previously that I'm a District Leader for "Senior" missionaries. The President just informed us that we will have two more sister missionaries coming in this weekend, and they are literally sisters to each other. The one has never married and taught for 30 years at BYU and the other is a widow. They have always dreamed of serving a mission together, so now there will be six of us seniors and we all live here in the same apartment complex. That will be fun. In these next few weeks we have various children and grandchildren coming to see us so that will be exciting. We are on the downside of our mission now and have so much more to do, so I guess I'll sign off and get to work.

My quote of the week: "We don't pray because we're worthy. We pray because we need help. We don't take the sacrament because we are perfect, but because we are willing to be perfected. We don't go to the temple because we made it, but because God is make us better there. We are not earning treasure in heaven, but learning to treasure heavenly things." (Brad Wilsox)

Love you all,

John

Long time since posting......

I had a lovely blog written last week to make up for the 2 weeks missed and when I "published" it, it simply disappeared!  I truly believe that computers hate me.  This seldom happens to John!  This is major celebration week...we had supper twice with American families!  We have a missionary couple who are serving a service mission for the church.  They still work, live in their own homes, but are called to assist a struggling unit of the church.  Bro. Wade is the clerk, asst. scout master, and "whatever' else if needed.  Sis. Wade is the Young Women's president and is outstanding.  They are two of the finest folks we have ever met.  They shared their family with us today in celebrating her 58th birthday.  Ahhhh, so long ago....58. :)  The other couple, the Ramsdens had us over Friday evening.  He has just been called to our branch to assist with some long term goal setting for members of our branch.  We work short term goals and he works long term goals.  Since "goals" is a relatively unknown word in the world we currently live in this will be a very interesting journey in teaching the art of setting goals.  I am confident that The Lord wants this done so he has promised to help us find a way to do this and He always keeps his part of the bargain.  Now we just have to spend some time on our knees finding out how he wants us to accomplish this daunting task.  Tomorrow is Memorial Day and it seems strange not to be in our ward's Memorial Day picnic.  We have not missed it for years and have always enjoyed the good food and great fellowship.  We will probably visit a nearby cemetery and pay our respects to those who have done so much for us.  Last night we had the privilege of going to a concert by the Salvation Army New York Staff Band.  It was not only  a musical feast but a spiritual one as well.  It was all brass and percussion instruments and their skill and talent were incredible.  Their testimony of the Savior through word and music was an inspiration to us.  How blessed we were last night to meet many others who, although our doctrines differ, feel the need to witness of the Savior's great Atonement and invite others to come unto Him.  When good Christians unite, there is nothing that can stop goodness from prevailing.  The only thing missing was Cantorum singing along with this marvelous band!  Last week we had the wonderful opportunity to be with our good friends Carol and Greg Abbott who were in CA visiting their son.  What a joy it was to be with them!!  Good friends are hard to come by and we cherish those that we have. It was a little hard to wave them good by. We don't have much "new" news about our mission.  We are hanging in there and have days that we feel like we have accomplished alot and other days when no one keeps their appointments or comes to their doors that we go,  "Mmmmmm, this is an interesting experience."  :)  I'm getting ready to teach a class in Relief Society (the women's organization) on how to cook beans.  Everyone here eats LOTS of meat and have never cooked beans before.  Anyone wanting to send a case or two of Beano?  We have been to several farmer's markets that we LOVE!  The asparagus season is almost over and we are so sad.  Melissa, our daughter, found a really interesting story that really tells a lot about the Marshallese in the U.S. which I would encourage you to check out.  www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/US/for-marshall-islanders-hopes-and-troubles-in-arkansas.html.  We get a new quote every day from an app called LDS Quotes that we really enjoy.  Just wanted to share a good one with you by Brad Wilcox from his book "Continuous Conversion".  "We don't pray because we're worthy.  We pray because we need help.  We don't take the sacrament because we are perfect, but because we are willing to be perfected.  We don't go to the temple  because we've made it, but because God is making us better there.  We are not earning a treasure in heaven, but learning to treasure heavenly things."    Have a wonderful week and remember those who gave their lives so that we might have freedom.

Hello friends. It's May 5 already. Where is time going so fast. Not wanting our friends back home to feel bad but the farmer's markets are in full swing here. Yesterday we got some beautiful fresh bing cherries, kale, strawberries, broccoli, sweet onions, and more, all organic of course! They had three colors of cauliflower but it looked too good to eat. It's still hard to imagine that in California we are in the middle of the produce mecca of the United States. Someone has to do it! We hope none of our friends are being affected too much by all the rain back home. Sounds like the ole Mississippi River is going wild again. Sherrie and I are starting to teach new members lessons to a young lady who was recently baptized. We have her over after church, teach a lesson and give her a great Chief Sherrie meal. Today it was Salmon with all the trimmings. We are so glad we have this privilege to teach people more about the gospel and answer all the questions they might have. It also sounds like the Elders have another young lady ready for baptism in two weeks so we will be doing double duty. Last week our dear Mission President announced that in our mission there are now 220 young elders and sisters along with 22 of us senior missionaries. Every first Monday night of the month the senior missionaries are invited over to President and Sister Lewis' home for Family Home Evening. It's starting to get crowded in their home when we all arrive with our canes, crutches and wheelchairs! Just joking, everyone is in good shape and eager to serve the Lord in this area of the vineyard. I've become friends with a brother in the church here who puts together and maintains all of the bicycles for the missionaries.  He's been pretty busy lately with all the new missionaries coming in. Of course he is helping maintain my bike also! I'm always amazed as I watch people from all walks of life and from many different religions who go out of their way to help others. That's the Christian thing to do of course but in today's busy world I would sometimes expect to see it less. Two Saturday's ago was a big annual "Helping Hands" project at which hundreds of our church members along with many other faiths worked together to clean up four different parks in Sacramento. It was amazing to see the difference and end results. As Neal A.  Maxwell once said "We should all carry jumper and tow cables not only in our cars, but also in our hearts, by which means we can send the needed boost or charge of encouragement or the added momentum to our mortal neighbors".

Have a great week,

Elder John

John reminded me today that I didn't blog last week so 'tis that time again to reflect and record.  What's that old saying, "Be careful what you pray for, you might get it."  We prayed that we might be busier and our prayers were answered.  We are happy because we are busier now and we feel that we are accomplishing more (hopefully, that is.)  I'll start from today and go backwards. :)  Sundays are our very busiest day.  We are at the church by 10:00 and don't arrive back home until around 3:30 or 4:00 p.m.  Today we went early to test our translating equipment and of course several of them did not work.  No rhyme or reason....just didn't work!  Since there was no Marshallese speaker today, we were really concerned that our Marshallese members would get nothing out of the service.  We were the 2 speakers today and we had really worked hard and prayed about what we should speak on that would edify the members. Then we realized the woman who had committed to translate was a no-show.  It did cross my mind that this would be an opportune moment for the gift of tongues to kick in! :)  We talked someone into translating at the last minute so we tried to talk slowly so that our English could be translated more easily.  Most of you know that I do not speak slowly so this in itself was a challenge.  I spoke on the topic of the importance of learning and John spoke on our commitment to the gospel.  We hurry off the stand to quickly shake as many hands as we can, particularly if they are less active members, before we head off to teach Sunday School. I love my Sunday School class but ache for one of the young men.  He is 17 years old and each year he has just been moved on to the next grade in school and no one seems to address his learning disabilities.  He does not speak good Marshallese, nor reads it; nor does he speak, read, or write much English.  His one sister and two brothers are in my class as well and each of them have reading difficulties.  Thus, a new project comes on the scene for Elder and Sister Downs!  One of the administrators in the school district here is aware of this family and their education struggles.  She is determined to help all four of these kids. She is working on new IEP's for each child and we are going to mentor them and see if we can assist with some one on one tutoring.  Back to Sunday, after all three meetings John works with members who are receiving church assistance and I teach a "Daily Dose" English class.  Our English class is so much fun.  I could teach "Daily Dose" all day but 50 minutes of teenagers just about does me in!  The Marshallese are very funny and have a delightful sense of humor.  Today I took words out of the scriptures and we pronounced them and discussed their meanings.  After class one brother was walking down the hallway saying to one and all, "Behold, I am here.  Hearken, hear my English!  I am good, good, good!"  Yesterday, we, and about 1100 other members and non members in this part of Sacramento participated in "Mormon Helping Hands Day".  It was an awesome day.  I was so proud of the members in our branch.  They were there on time and worked like crazy for 4 straight hours.  The LDS Church organizes  these events throughout the U.S., maybe the world, and does major service projects.  Our assignment was to completely overhaul a big city park.  It had playground areas, baseball fields and soccer fields.  They were all in disrepair and when we left it looked like an entirely new park.  Tuesday was my birthday and on Monday night we got free tickets to the Sacramento River Cats, a minor league of the Oakland A's baseball team.  A friend of Amy's is LDS and a player and offered to get us free tickets.  We took 9 kids and had a great time.  That was our token baseball game for the next 5 years.  John talked the "garbage detail" into coming to us and leading all the folks around us in singing Happy Birthday to me.  Such fun!  We took the kids for an ice cream cone at McDonald's to celebrate my birthday and everyone sang to me again in McDonalds.  The next day, my actual BD, we went to a home for scripture study and I walk in and this sweet sister starts singing Happy BD to me in Marshallese.  By the way, there are 7 verses to that song in Marshallese!  Great birthday!  John bought me new glasses for my BD and now I look 5-10 years younger!  Just wanted to leave with a quote from my talk this morning.  Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley stated: "You have the potential to become anything to which you set your mind.  You have a mind and a body and a spirit.  With these three working together, you can walk the high road that leads to achievement and happiness. But this requires effort and sacrifice and faith."  Good goal for us all.  Sure love ya!

      Hello again. We've had a great past two weeks! Been busy! One of the most important was to witness the baptism of one of our grandsons, Oliver Wise. Since we just live 90 minutes from his family we were able to go there and be a part of his baptism. Sherrie and I sang a duet entitled "Where Love Is", his mother Amy and other Grandpa gave talks and his Daddy, Alph baptized him, and then Sophie his sister gave the closing prayer. Then those of us there that hold the Melchizedek Priesthood placed our hands upon his head for him to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. A very special event. For those you who are our non-member friends, our faith believes that children don't need to be baptized until the age of accountability. From latter-day revelation, we know that little children are redeemed through the mercy of Jesus Christ. The Lord said, "They cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me" (D & C 29: 46-47) which means age eight. Prior to that age they are taught the principles of becoming a member through the churches program for the children which is called Primary. In these Sunday classes they are taught about the importance of baptism and of the covenants and promises they will make with God. That we will take upon the name of Jesus Christ, keep His commandments, and serve Him to the end. Oliver was so ready for this special day. For the last 30 days he has kept asking his parents "How many more days until I am to be baptized??"
     Last week Sherrie and I received two new companions!! Two senior sisters have been assigned to our area of the mission and are living in the same apartment complex as us. The four of us have now become our own District (No it's not an old people's district!) They both have energy that matches or exceeds us. They will principally be working in two wards or congregations in the northern part of the city and Sherrie and I will be assisting them as our time permits. Sherrie and I went to these areas last Thursday to seek out some recent move-ins of the church. They either hid when they saw us coming or weren't home because we went zero for ten! So we will go back in the evening when they might be home from work. We went to one apartment complex seeking one of the members and found the entire population were all Hmong's who all originated in Southeast Asia. What was unique was they have turned every available yard and ground space into gardens! Such productivity!! I'm not sure I like the order but one of the managers said the order of priorities of those that live there is first their gardens, then their cars, and finally their children. Hmmmmmm!
     Contrast that Hmong energy to the Marshallese members in our branch who due to cultural differences don't maintain gardens and aren't highly energized to find employment. Well today a step toward improving that has occurred. I had previously suggested several questions of accountability that the Branch President might use when members come to him for food or welfare assistance, such as are you seeking employment? are you attending English classes? do you know how to use public transportation? and do you have a family budget? The Stake President has helped us create such a questionnaire and with his approval we will now start implementing it. This will be a wonderful tool to help the members become more self-sufficient and less dependent upon the Church as well as the state and federal welfare system. We are excited to be a part of this. Sherrie and I will start going into the member's homes this week to help implement the program.
    As Gordon B. Hinckley once said "We must feel the need to emphasize with greater clarity the obligation for members of the Church to become more independent and self-reliant, to increase personal and family responsibility, to cultivate spiritual growth, and to be more fully involved in Christian service".  Then on a lighter but poignant note Brigham Young once said back in the 1800"s "Men and women need to pay more attention to the principles of economy in living . . . but some-times they want to have somebody feed them, and then some will not be satisfied, unless we baked plum puddings, and roasted beef for them, and then feed them while they were lounging in big easy chairs; and still perhaps they would think that they were ill treated, if we did not chew the meat for them".
      Well, I'm excited for this newfound energy and redirection that we now have in teaching these wonderful members. I know that the Lord has played a big part in this focus and direction. And I know with the Lord's help a change and redirection will start to occur here.

       Love you all. Take care.

                Elder John

April 3, 2013 Sister Downs writing here. It's hard to believe we are starting the 8th month of our mission!  The weather is beginning to warm up already and I think we can say that it was actually hot today.  We are trying really hard to remember to bring our water bottles when we go out visiting.  We have gone through a lot of water bottles and have finally found a brand that stays cool all day.  It's called a "bubba" and works great.  We had a wonderful Easter holiday!  This is the first time since the Wises' have moved to CA that we have got to celebrate Easter with them.  Our mission would be extremely more challenging if we didn't get to see their family every 4-6 weeks.  Saturday night we went to the Oakland Temple grounds (which is called Temple Hill) where Amy's stake center is located and had the privilege of listening to an incredible Easter oratorio called "The Lamb of God", composed by Rob Gardner from Mesa, AZ.  There are not words to express the beauty of the music and the power of the spirit that was present.  It was performed by an interfaith choir and orchestra that do many  joint projects in the area.  It was also presented at a cathedral in Oakland as well as San Francisco.  The music touched my spirit so deeply.  I wanted to run to the stage, put on the right dress and sing my heart out with them.  The Easter message is such a message of hope, love and sacrifice.  As a mother, I cannot imagine Mary's pain at seeing her son so mistreated and abused.  I remember when our oldest son would be mocked because of his handicap how it would pain me and I could only hope and pray that those experiences would make him a stronger person.  I do believe that he did become stronger because of those experiences. We participated in a wonderful Sacrament meeting in Amy's ward with great talks and beautiful music.  We took our DVD of the church's "Lamb of God" and watched it with the older kids to help them understand Easter in a more meaningful way.  Of course the Easter Bunny did come and we also has great fun coloring eggs.  Sophie and cousin Emma made a darling Easter cake that we really enjoyed eating. How grateful I am to know of the great sacrifice that our Savior made for me and to understand the power of the Atonement.  The Atonement is one of those doctrines that you understand more and more as you grow spiritually.  In my Sunday School class we have been spending a whole month studying each of the various doctrines that we believe.  It was the Plan of Salvation, the Godhead, and we just finished the Atonement.  Most of my students have been members of the church for less than 3 years so my challenge has been to simplify these doctrines enough for them to get a good understanding and yet teach them how to apply these to their lives.  I only had 2 people come to my "Daily Dose" class tonight but we had a wonderful time.  This is a husband and wife who I have mentioned before.  I love them dearly.  The wife went to an English speaking high school in the Marshall Islands so has a good grasp on basic English.  The husband really struggles but tries harder than anyone I know.  We didn't do the regular lesson but pulled out scriptures and started reading, stopping to pronounce hard words and talk about what the words mean.  There was no one else in the room so the husband was not afraid of making mistakes.  It was a pure delight!!  If I accomplish nothing more than helping this good man feel confident in the English language so that he can become a leader within the church, I will feel that I have been richly blessed and my time well spent.  But, even if he doesn't progress as I hope, it will still be time well spent!!!!!  I am going to try hard to maintain that sweet spirit that I felt at the oratorio and be more consistent in remembering what the Savior has done for us all.

     Elder Downs here! Another fast week. Funny how people gage how fast time is going. Mine is how fast I seem to be filling up my seven day pill box with my vitamins and a few prescripts! Weird, I know. Also hard to believe that next Sunday is Easter. Sherrie and I both have Sunday School classes that we teach, Sherrie has all of the teenagers 12 through 17, mine is the Missionary Preparation class of 4 - 7 students depending on the day. We both have been teaching to our "students" about the Savior, his Crucifixion and Resurrection and what His atonement has done for us all. Or let me say, we are teaching as we can best understand what the Savior did for us. It is so hard to wrap our arms around what He really did for us. As Neal A. Maxwell once said "Jesus did not find pleasure in hanging on the cross; joy came after duty and agony. He went to Gethsemane and Golgatha out of a sense of supreme service, not because it would meet his needs. He fulfilled all things by giving all in that remarkable and special act of service. He descended below all--taking more than all of us put together have taken--before being lifted up".
    That makes our little sacrifice of time in our lives to serve a mission quite minimal, but knowing we are doing it for Him is reassuring to us.
    Last night the big missionary fireside/party occurred that we and the young Elder Missionaries had been planning. As with any such fireside you hope for the moon as far as how many will attend. Could have been better, but we had a handful of non-members attend and two handfuls of less active people that came. Food was first, then the fireside in the chapel and then back to desserts and Marshallese dancing! Those Marshallese sure know how to have a good time and eat! I think we mentioned in a previous blog that we had been working with a man and his large three generation family who have been less active in the church for about three years. Two Sundays ago he and his extended family of  thirty showed up to attend our worship service. They filled up a third of the chapel!! Some of his family again came last night and some were there today also. So maybe we can get them turned around after all.
    I want to end tonight by saying that these past few weeks have been a little trying for us. Missing the family, not having as much success as we would like here, missing family, missing family, but reading about the Savior always brings it back into proper perspective. Elder Bednar in his book entitled Act In Doctrine spoke about striving to develop a more Christlike character in our lives. He spoke how the Savior in his moment of anguish upon the cross was not concerned as much for himself as he was for those around him. Likewise Elder Bednar gave examples of people he personally knows who have displayed the capacity that while they were in their own moment of despair, they were still able to recognize and appropriately minister to other people who were experiencing the very same challenge or adversity that was most immediately and forcefully pressing upon themselves at that moment in time.
    I guess when we all lean on the scripture of "line upon line, precept upon precept" we will in the process of time increasingly be able to reach outward when the natural tendency is for us to turn inward.
     Have a good week my friends and family.

Elder John

March 17, 2013  So much for trying to blog every week!  :)  I didn't realize it had been so long when John reminded me tonight that it was still my turn to blog.  We had gone to our mission president and asked for additional work and lo and behold, our wish was granted.  Here in our little Marshallese Branch of the church we can almost visit everyone in the branch within a 10-16 day period.  We are still holding our English classes, "Daily Dose", 2 times a week but our attendance has dwindled.  We read/teach English in 3 or 4 other members homes on a weekly basis as well.  We did finally find an inactive family, had a wonderful visit, and they promised to come to church.  Well, last week they didn't show and we were really disappointed.  But, today they came with their WHOLE family which consisted of about 6 grown children and their families!  The pews really filled up fast when they all came into the church!  We will be visiting them this week and hope to establish a relationship with them and nurture them along into activity.  The church has a new program called the Women's Auxiliary Specialist.  These are qualified single sisters who desire to consecrate their all to the Lord by serving a full-time mission.  It is very similar to our calling but they will be serving under the auspices of the mission president but work closely with the stake president, stake Relief Society president, and ward Relief Society presidents.  They will be living in our apartment complex so we will be happy to have fellow missionaries close by to fellowship with in our off hours.  John and I will be dividing our time between the Marshallese Branch and 2 other wards.  Our primary responsibility in the other wards will be to visit less-active single sisters.  It's still kind of "a work in progress" but we are excited about the possibilities to serve in different ways.  Our Sunday's are always pretty full so we are ready to collapse when we get home late in the afternoon.  John definitely had a full plate today.  He spoke in Sacrament meeting, taught the Missionary Preparation Class and then taught priesthood.   I just struggled along with my class of teenagers in trying to convince them that the Atonement is really, really important.  We then had a meeting with several folks from the Stake and D.I. about the employment struggles that members are having.  While we were in that meeting there was a knock on the door and one of the brethren asked if any of us had a white car.  I was very relieved to remember that ours was beige.  Evidently, two teenagers got hold of some car keys and decided to take the car for a little drive.  Unfortunately, the one behind the wheel had NEVER had his hands on a steering wheel before.  He accelerated, jumped the curb, turned the wheel to keep from hitting the church and crashed into another car.  No one was hurt, thank goodness, and we were so blessed that there were no children playing on the sidewalk.  John had been having a lot of trouble with one of his hips but our dear son-in-law, Dr. Alph, gave him a RX for physical therapy and it has really helped.  Still brings him a little distress at night but is much better.  John was at P.T. last week and a man and woman shuffled out of the therapy rooms with some difficulty.  When he went into the therapist he said he hoped he would not be that way when he was their age.  She smiled and quietly said, "You are older than they are!"  We feel so blessed to  have our health, with just the regular aches and pains, and are able to go about the Lord's work.  I am reading an excellent book on receiving personal revelation entitled "Hearing the Voice of the Lord" by Gerald N. Lund.  John and I often find ourselves in situations that we just don't know what to do or to say to motivate and uplift the saints that we serve.  We are trying to learn how to receive, recognize and then respond to the voice of the Lord.  Spencer W. Kimball said the following:  "The blessing of revelation is one that all should seek for.  Righteous men and women find that they have the spirit of revelation to direct their families and to aid them in their other responsibilities.  But...we must seek to qualify for such revelation by setting our lives in order."  So the challenge is on to us all.......to set our lives in order.  Not easy....but definitely possible!