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.