January 27, 2013

This is Sister Downs' week to share experiences.  I am sitting here with my first Marshallese gift sitting a top my head.  It is a band of flowers  (artificial since it is winter here) that encircles my head like a halo.  Whatever it is called, it makes me feel warm, fuzzy and loved.  It was given to me by a sister who has thrived in our "Daily Dose" class.  Honestly, she probably knew all the English before she came to class but just didn't have the courage to speak out.  We give LOTS of praise, recognition, and encouragement in our little class.  This sweet sister is a cancer survivor but she has had a lot of pain return to her leg where her cancer was before and I am deeply concerned that it has returned.  She has no insurance or money so she won't go to the doctor.  She faithfully studies her scriptures several hours a day.  She puts her Marshallese scriptures right beside her English scriptures, attempts to read in English first and then if she gets stuck, refers to her Marshallese scriptures.  Her love of the scriptures is incredible.  There are two brothers in the church who we know would be wonderful leaders within the church if they could just speak better English.  They both try very hard and we meet with them 2 times a week for an hour each, on a one on one basis, and they are doing soooo much better.  We are also using a wonderful teaching aid called "Teach Ye My Words".  It is to be used with folks who have "some" English command but are still very basic in their use of the English language.  It starts out with a very simple scripture statement, i.e. I am God the Father.  Then you hear it, read it, write it and then think about what it means to you. I love to use it to teach!  As we wrote last week, we have been putting forth a big "push" for employment here with 5 of our members who we thought had the most potential to find employment.  Have you ever pushed a car that was stuck in the snow or ice?  You go forward a few inches, then the car slides back.  We've kind of felt that way with the employment challenge this week.  Just when we think we have one problem licked, another one pops up that nobody  thought was going to be an issue.  We are learning a new language of passports, I-94's, citizenship papers, birth certificates, photo ID, immigration and DMV offices!  Nothing surprises us anymore!  :)  We had a wonderful baptism yesterday which has resulted in a family becoming active in the church again.  Happy day!!  Great blessings!  We did two fun things this week-end....went to a show called the Vespertine Circus and then went to a "VegFest".  We are definitely widening our entertainment horizans in our advancing years.  :)  Our children will be so proud!!  Life is good, we are blessed and are grateful for the opportunities that we are having to grow and learn and hopefully, to become more like the Savior.  Have a wonderful week with lots of opportunities to grow and learn! 

A new year, a new direction

     Good evening family and friends. Our Sabbath is winding down so it's a good time to let you know how we are doing. I know it's colder in Missouri than here but this 50 degree weather is still pretty chilly. Amy says it never has been this cold this time of year here in northern California. Oh well, grin and bear it. I know that our family and friends in Missouri and elsewhere are probably saying "Poor Baby"!
     This new year has been a good opportunity for us to go in a little different direction with the Branch here. First of all many of the members are unemployed and have been for a long time thanks to easy to access state and federal welfare programs. When anyone is in this situation for a long time the motivation to better themselves and become more independent and thus become good leaders in the church and community goes away. Don't get me wrong, they are great people but lacking in motivation. So with the help of the Branch President we picked five unemployed members of the Branch with the most potential of getting a job and thus bettering themselves in many ways. And for the next several weeks, with the Lord's help, we are doing heavy duty "one on ones" with them. Last week we took them to the wonderful job training program that Deseret Industries (a program within our Church) offers to people. D.I. helps them develop great resumes, does mock job interviews with them, gives them a big list of businesses that are hiring, shows them how to fill out applications, and requires them to "return and report" each week. Sherrie and I are meeting with these members individually twice a week to motivate, and lovingly push and prod them to do better, and to get jobs. Already we have seen their spirit and desires perk up. After a few weeks we will move on to five more people and do the same thing. Those of you that know "Drill Sergeant Sherrie" when it comes to motivating people, a lot can get done in a short time.
     All of us have felt this way, but isn't it amazing how the Lord can take all of us, regardless of our beliefs and religion affiliations and place us in situations where we can help people the most. He fine tunes us by giving us responsibilities and allows us to learn by our mistakes. By going through the ups and downs of life we become stronger and better able to respond to the needs of others around us. It was once said "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care". And it was Neal A. Maxwell that said "God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability".
     We are well here, and love serving the Lord.

John

January 12, 2013  We are back on the internet!  Hurray!  It's been almost a month since we have been able to blog so it is good to sit down again and rethink our last 3 weeks plus and highlight events and share with loved ones.  We had a wonderful 4 days with Amy and family over Christmas.  We are so grateful that they are close enough to share time with, especially on holidays.  We got to speak/skype with each of our other children and families and it was so wonderful to hear/see them all!  I get really "weepy" at Christmastime, not quite sure why, and there are MANY homeless people here in Sacramento so a few tears were shed in their behalf.  We are often torn between giving them a few dollars, throwing them in our car and bringing them home for a good shower and food, OR pulling the car over and sharing the gospel's message with them.  One just wants to reach down and lift them up to a better standard of living and it is so frustrating to do nothing.  We just try to concentrate even harder on finding ways to motivate our own little group of Marshallese. Each 4-5 weeks we visit every home in our Marshallese Branch.  We still have a few that have never been at home when we visit, but as a whole, we are able to make contact with each member, one or more times, during that period of time.  We still have our 2x per week "Daily Dose" (English speaking class) at the church and do it also in 1 or 2 homes.  It is such a fun class.  As I have said before, I don't know if they come because we have so much fun or because they really want to learn English.  The children, of course, speak English quite well and the older Marshallese speak  from "a little" to "a lot" of English.  We have one brother that we love so much and is highly respected among the Marshallese that would be a great leader within the branch but English is such a struggle for him.  He has to be better in English in order to lead because all the training that he would receive would be in English.  The Book of Mormon has been translated into Marshallese so many members who are wanting to improve their English will study the scriptures side by side, one in English and one in Marshallese, and if they don't understand the English, they read it in Marshallese.  We go to several members homes, weekly, to read scriptures with them.  In one home, a sister wants to read in English but wants us to make a list as she reads of those words that she does not pronounce correctly.  Then we spend time helping with the pronunciation and meaning of those particular words.  Actually, I don't know who benefits the most from our one on one scripture studies with the members.  When you have to REALLY concentrate on every word and know that you may need to explain it's meaning, it adds a whole new depth to the phrase "pondering the scriptures."  "Elder John" has done some great work in teaching leadership and organizational skills to the leaders in our branch.  I have volunteered to teach the teenage Sunday School class.  Last Sunday I had 14 teenagers ranging between 12 and 18.  That's usually the most that there will ever be and it is usually around 9 kiddos which is a little more managable.  Most of them did not have their own scriptures but we looked around and found scriptures for every student for this Sunday that they will be happy to have for their very own.  Most of the students do not have many "things" of their own so I hope this will encourage them.  Always opportunities to grow here!  I'll leave you with a quote that has become one of my favorites: "Live,
think, breathe, act and speak with love."  (author unknown)  May we all learn to love more!