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!