Darn, tomorrow it will be 74 degrees and no snow in sight! Believe it or not we did have a real brief spit of snow pellets last week. It lasted a few seconds but it left the natives in awe. I've seen pictures and heard descriptions from our kids back home of what ole man winter has been like there. Eric said he was in a total whiteout in Columbia and couldn't see a car length in front of him. He said it matched the whiteouts in Canada he had been through when he was on his mission.
      Last week I started teaching a Missionary Preparation class for six young adults in our branch. I think I will call it "Reality Class 101" as I teach these young adults what they need to do to prepare themselves to serve the Lord. One of many changes will be getting up at 6:00 am and not slowing down until 10:00 pm at night which presently isn't in their vocabularly. When I asked them to put away their cell phones and told them they won't have personal cell phones on their missions to text, they had a momentary look of panic! But they'll get over that shock too.  I'm excited to see the changes that will be going on in their lives over these next 10 weeks of classes.
     We are always surprised when people, particularly non-members respond with kindness to us when they see our missionary badges. Friendly waves from neighbors in our apartment complex are nice. We have been getting our car tweeked and fed with vitamins (oil change) at a local Jiffy Lube, and the manager who is not a member of our church, but has a nephew serving a mission presently, always gives us a 15% discount each time. We are touched by his kindness. Now if I just find a gas station manager that will give us a discount on the $4.29/gallon gas we are paying!
     Just this week we got a call from a member of the church, but not in our Branch, who was referred to us by D.I. (Deseret Industries) where she has worked and received training. She is originally from Japan, and now lives across the street from us raising her two children, while she scrapes out a living and goes to college at the same time. Sherrie is helping her through the term papers that she is putting together for class. We are glad we can help her in some little way so that she can be successful in live and provide for her family.
     In closing for this week, I want to tell you how thankful that I am here with my eternal companion, Sherrie. We are learning and growing so much while we are here on our mission. Our growth here makes us realize how much more there is for all of us to do in helping others in this world.
     Neal A. Maxwell once said "as we all strive to develop more Christlike virtues we must all realize we are 'on the way to perfection' rather than thinking we are already in the arrival lounge".

Until next time,

John

February 12, 2013    This is suppose to be a cold and rainy month but so far it's been a little cool but very little rain.  Mind you, I am not complaining!  I just know that the state really counts on rain during this season to keep everything from drying up the rest of the year.  Eric and Tracie will be flying in late Friday and returning Monday a.m. so we are sure hoping for great weather.  We are so excited to see them.  We spent Friday and Saturday with Amy and family celebrating the twinners birthdays as well as John's.  Alph is our California doctor and we went early hoping that he could get an x-ray of John's hip that has been causing him so much trouble at night.  He wrote him a script for physical therapy and John had his 1st appointment today and was really impressed. When he went into the office there was a big, British bulldog walking around the office while drooling profusely.  (Californians LOVE dogs!)  John asked if that was going to be his therapist and the receptionist replied, "Of course, when his drool lands on patients it has magical healing power!" John, of course, started petting the dog like crazy.  I'm very proud of him for not giving into the temptation to rub his saliva covered hand onto his hip right there in the office.:)  Our weeks usually are about the same as far as activities go.  As we've said previously, it is our responsibility to teach "new member" lessons to those who are newly baptised.  We are working with 2 young, 10 year olds, a boy and a girl, who are so bright.  I must admit, that at times, we become discouraged while working with the adults and wonder if we are making any difference in their lives.  Then we have the privilege of "reteaching" gospel principles to children like these two, and we are quickly reminded that we are affecting the rising generation and that the Lord has great hope and trust in them to follow gospel teachings. The home we went to tonight has gotten quite full!  A brother and his sizable family have moved in indefinitely with the family that we are teaching.  The new family are not members of the church so we hope there will be opportunities in the future to visit with them.   As we were walking up the walkway the children in the home were looking out the window and when they saw us starting yelling, "Grandma and Elderly Downs are here!"  Ahhh, the innocence of children to keep one so humble.  John asked them how old they thought he was and they said, "Hmmmm, 50?"  And we of course, said, "How I wish!"  When we told them our age they couldn't believe it.  They said that in the islands, folks usually die between 50 and 60.  Our big push with unemployment has fizzled.  We worked a lot of hours with 4 folks who we thought had the most potential, with lots of encouragement and guidance, to no avail.  So many of our members do not have phones and so we have to go to their homes and hope that they will be there if we want to talk to them.  Gas has just hit $4.05 here so we really try to organize our visits in geographical units to make the wisest use of our time and our gas.  We have a zone conference this Thursday all day and have been asked to help inspect the missionaries' cars.  Althought neither of us are mechanical, we are pretty good at spotting neglect or abuse of cars.  That knowledge comes from raising 7 teenage drivers. :)  My Sunday School class had their first totally obnoxious Sunday last week.  It was like an undercurrent of wild energy was running through everyone's veins.  The lesson was on the importance of education, temporally and spiritually, and I wanted so badly to get them to think about it and really "get it".  Finally, I said, "O.K., I've had it!  I can't believe I actually asked to teach this class and that I willingly spent several hours preparing the material!"  The class went dead silent.  One of the rowdiest kids said, "Sorry, Sis. Downs, we'll be better next week."  So there is hope, I think. :) The scriptures tell us that "the glory of God is intelligence" and so we continue to learn and grow and hope that we gain wisdom along the way with new found intelligence.  Have a great week!  Since this is the week to show our "love",  see how many times this week you can show your love to anyone you see.  Love ya!!

                                                                                                 February 5, 2013    

 Hello friends and family. Still no flu here so maybe we can beat it all with Spring coming on. As Sherrie mentioned in her last entry, we went to a VegFest which means Vegeterian Festival. No we aren't becoming vegetarians, but we tasted some great samples of food that day. Sherrie is such a great cook so anything we liked there she can duplicate here in our apartment I'm sure. We've sure developed a liking for Kale Chips. So thin and delicate and they melt in your mouth!
      I think that we've mentioned to you about our scripture studies that we have with some of the members in their homes. It is so satisfying to see how people respond to reading the scriptures and how it changes their whole outlook on life. One couple who are "as old as Sherrie and I" are standing at the door waiting for us as we come twice a week to their home. We love being with them. Another sister we have been reading with stated how much her family is changing and responding to the increase of the Spirit in their home. They come to church all the time now and their 19 year old daughter is considering going on a mission.
     In regard to missions, I am about ready to start teaching a class on Sunday called "Missionary Preparation class". It will be a great opportunity for young adults who are of missionary age to study and discuss what is required of an individual who is considering going on a mission. In our small congregation there are six young adults who will start attending the class. It will be a great experience for me as well as them. Sherrie will be in her classroom next to me teaching the eight to ten teenagers that come to her class each Sunday. I admire her so much for doing this. I think I will stick to the young adult age.
     In a few days (Feb 10th) I'm coming up on my 68th birthday. That seems so surreal to me. That means in two more years we will be 70! And in three more years we will have been married 50 years! I'm so thankful that other than a few aches and pains, I'm still healthy. It gets pretty funny though to see Sherrie and I passing each other in the night, as we play the game "Who's turn is it to not sleep tonight!" That gets old real fast.
     This weekend we'll travel to celebrate birthdays at Amy's house (mine and the twinners) and then next weekend Eric and Tracie are flying out to be with us. Can't wait!
    We love you all. Thanks for your prayers and support.

Elder John

"We should not complain about our own life's not being a rose garden when we remember who wore the crown of thorns."
                                       Neal A. Maxwell

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!

December 17, 2012

       Hello everyone. Merry Christmas from rainy Sacramento. Last night was our Christmas Devotional that we had worked so hard on with the Marshallese and Fijian members. It went well. To see our laid back, somewhat timid members get up in front and recite in English "The Christmas Guest" by Helen Stiener Rice was a beautiful site. Sister Downs loving way of cracking the wipe over the past few weeks paid off. Now this week we are taking our gifts of the Savior (different framed pictures of the Savior) to all those we have been working with. Today for the first time we were able to locate and get in to see a family that has been less active for several years due to hurt feelings. They have invited us back for a Family Home Evening night, which they say they have missed very much. So hopefully in our return visits we can help rejuvinate the spirit of the Lord in their home again.
      Recently we were challenged by Elder Porter of the Seventy, who came to our mission, to think about some very spiritual thoughts and directions in our lives. 1. What are we doing now in our lives that is spiritually different than what we were doing before our mission? 2. Where does our commitment lie for this period of time that we are on our mission?  3. Are we assisting the Lord or is He assisting us? 4. What kind of Christlike attributes do we have in our lives?
       Powerful questions that will take all the rest of our mission to think on and put into action. One of the best scriptures that seems to relate to these questions is found in D & C 84:88 "And whoso recieveth you, there will I be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up".
      Here in the Sacramento Mission our Mission President Lewis had projected a goal of the mission having a little over 700 baptisms of people who would come unto Christ through the restored gospel in 2012. Presently the mission is at 670 baptisms and counting! What a truely wonderful White Christmas it has become for these people who have found the gift of eternal life through the Savior.
May we all reflect on that gift that He has given us and in some small way determine what we can give Him in return.

Elder John