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!!