Memorial Day in Pasa Robles

I did miss visiting cemeteries in Bear Lake this year, or having a family gathering.  Elder Mecham and I decided to head north and do some apartment inspections in one of the farthest areas of the mission, Pasa Robles.  By coincidence, that is where Al and Elaine Kreamer live.  So this was a great excuse to go see them!  Elaine is Grandpa George's daughter.  Al and Elaine are very lovely people.  The first time I met Elaine, I felt that we were "kindred spirits."  I'm not sure why, because we are quite different.  For instance, she has a sewing room that is totally awesome -- I know it is -- even though I wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do with all the cool stuff she has there (a big sewing room and two closets full of "stuff."  She also had a quilt out she is making that is amazing!  So many hours and hours of work! ~~  But you know how it is with some people, we just hit it off and I have always enjoyed Elaine's company, even though we see very little of each other. 

Al has battled cancer now for several years.  A couple of years ago, he had his bladder removed and a new one "built" for him. It was a long and painful road, but he fought hard and eventually received a clean bill of health.  Just a couple weeks ago, he learned he again has cancer -- a tumor on the back (or perhaps kidney) and in the liver.  He is awaiting radiation treatments and a liver biopsy.

Al and Elaine have a lovely home in Pasa Robles.

We had a very pleasant visit and they took us to lunch at a golf course.  It was a beautiful day.  We enjoyed our visit with each other as well as the delicious food.  We will definitely be getting back up there again, and we hope and pray they will be able to get down to Oxnard to visit after Al's treatments.  Please keep them in your prayers!  And put Al's name in the temple when you go.  Thanks!

We did inspect three apartments and visited with eight elders.  Elder Mecham was more interested in the needs of each apartment (such as couches, chairs, lamps, matresses, etc.) than in how clean they had them.  I must say, the elders had done a pretty good job of cleaning :)  It was fun to see them on their P day and listen to them interact with each other.  Great missionaires! 

Elders Marquez, Crapo, Wood, and Lifungula

Elder Lifungula and Elder Hallstrom

We thought we'd get back home by 6 p.m.  Wrong!  Holiday traffic was ridiculous past Santa Barbara.  It took us an hour and a half to go 18 miles.  Ah well, we had no deadlines -- opened the sun roof on Lucy, enjoyed the view of the ocean, and took it all in stride :)

Sad that my pictures aren't better :(

Strawberries and Flowers

We planned to go biking Saturday -- first Saturday we haven't had "stuff" going on that would interfere with a good bike ride.  Well, thanks a lot, Mother Nature, for sending the cold and the wind!  Thanks to you, we did not go biking today after all :(

Since we were gone so much last week with zone conferences, we didn't purchase any strawberries last Saturday.  So yesterday we couldn't wait to get some more.

I read online that this is the best way to store fresh strawberries -- in glass.  Don't wash or stem until ready to eat.  I will let you know how that works out.  In addition to these beauties, we ate a huge bowl last night and another one for breakfast.  This was half a flat or six cups full.  Mmm Mmm!

I also splurged and got some fresh flowers.  You can see them growing and being harvested in the fields nearby.  So they are really pretty reasonable.  I love them!  I always have a tough time deciding which ones to get, trying to figure out the ones that will last the longest.  I can tell you, not the gladiolas.  They were very disappointing.

Randy and I spoke in church today.  Everyone lived through it :)  This ward is great to have the entire program center around a topic.  First of all, both Randy and I were given the same topic to speak on (several weeks ago, I might add) -- "The Sabbath Day;" then we discovered that the youth speaker also had this same topic.  Additionally, each of the hymns today was also about the Sabbath.  The bishop says they try to always do this, and it works out well.  You have to have a bishopric that assigns talks well in advance, and then you have to have a music coordinator who puts the music with the topics.  Well done, Oxnard 2nd Ward!

Our ward mission leader was released today, Brother Skip Johnson.  I've mentioned him previously.  He is headed to Las Vegas on Tuesday to begin cancer treatments there for six months.  Serious business!  The cancer is in his bones now.  Sad.  They did not sustain anyone to this position.  Elder Mecham has been asked to attend ward council meetings and fill in as best he can until someone is called to this position.  Elder Mecham will also be teaching the Gospel Essentials class for three weeks.  Way to go Elder Mecham :) 

Sister Mecham, that's me, was asked to sub in Primary this week, CTR 7.  It was honestly a complete disaster! No one warned me that one of the kids has an attention problem and can easily get out of control.  Not the teacher nor any of the primary personnel or the mom, who sat right next to me for the opening song in Primary.  Then, about a third of the way through the lesson, if you could even begin to call it that, on the Holy Ghost, no less, I discover that it is the same lesson the kids had last week!  Seriously!  The teacher herself told me which lesson to prepare!  What a total waste!  Five kids, and once one was off the wall, which he was from the moment he got into the classroom, they all were.  The total Primary experience was interesting.  (And I've been so impressed with everything else in this ward, up until Primary.)  I'll leave it at that.

But I felt pretty good about my talk.

Here are a couple of random pictures of our apartment, which we now call home.  I am still searching for a few specific things to make it a bit more homey.

Our little kitchen

Another angle -- from the living room into the kitchen

I can see that these are pretty lousy pictures. I will try again another time to get better pics and replace these.  Still working with my camera :)

Elder Mecham is at stake Priesthood meeting; the stake center is in Camarillo.  He picked up Elder Blue and they went together.  Now I am going to Skype my mother :)

Zone Conferences

We made it through our first week of zone conferences.  It was a crazy busy week.  Monday we had zones 4 and 10, those here in Oxnard, Ventura, and Camarillo.  That was held at the stake center in Ventura.  It was so fun to see the elders and sisters gather, hug, slap each other on the back, and visit prior to the meetings. The Blues and The Mechams would gather with the missionaries for opening song, prayer, and welcome, then we would exit and begin doing car inspections.  Sister Blue and I helped by recording each car's mileage and checking to make sure each car had the vital papers: car registration, insurance, accident and damage report forms, kiwi card.  Elder Mecham was in charge of getting tire pressures.  Elder Blue checked fluids: oil, antifreeze, and windshield cleaner.  Then Elder Blue would make an assessment as to which cars/companionships got 100 percent.  It was actually kind of fun.  Nice to spend some time outside.  On Monday and Thursday, Samuel, the Castro's 12 year old son, helped do the tire pressure checks.  He loves helping out with this, and Randy helped make him feel important.  He really does a great job!  He's only allowed to come help if Sister Castro is able to attend -- otherwise, he is home with her.  (He is home schooled by Sister Castro.)

Tuesday and Wednesday we were in Bakersfield for conferences.  Here's the car lineup, and a picture of our awesome APs, Elder Prete and Elder Udy.

We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express.  After our part was completed Tuesday, we took a load of furniture to the "pending" apartment for the new senior couple (The Harmers) coming in June.  I think I mentioned this furniture previously. After getting it cleaned, it really looked quite nice.  It is in good condition and will serve them well, I think.  Looks great on the truck, don't you think?  We almost tossed a coin to see who would ride on top in one of the chairs so we could compete with the Clampets :) haha.

While Elders Mecham and Blue were unloading furniture and taking care of some things in another apartment, Sister Blue and I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned in The Harmer's future apartment.  Previously, four elders had been living there and before that, I think it was where the previous mission president and his wife (The Murrays) stayed when they were in the Bakersfield area. There is still alot of food in the cupboards and stuff in the bathroom drawers and cupboards. Plus, the place needed a thorough cleaning.  Fun!  And it's not ready yet for occupants. The ZLs were supposedly going to organize a bunch of elders to go and scrub walls and see if there was any food they wanted. It was kind of strange -- seemed more like food the Murrays may have left rather than food elders would have bought and used.  Randy and Elder Blue will go back again Wednesday.  Old furniture needs to be moved out, carpets need to be cleaned, and who knows what else will still need to be done. (I feel another trip to Bakersfield for me coming up :)  I told Elder Mecham to be sure to tell the Harmers to plan on using a goodly amount of contact paper.  The cupboards are pretty old and need to be lined, that's for sure.

Thursday, conference was held in Simi Valley, about an hour's drive.  Friday we were in Lompoc, about an hour and a half out.  Beautiful country -- nice drive mostly by the Pacific Ocean.

Each day lunch was served by a ward or wards in that area.  We had some delicious lunches, and the sisters were all so sweet and pleased to serve the missionaries.  After we ate lunch and while we were still gathered in the cultural halls, Elder Blue handed out car "awards."  This go around, Elder Mecham and I were asked to introduce ourselves and bear our testimonies.  Then the ZLs would have the lunch sisters introduce themselves, and as a thank you, all the missionaries would stand and sing "Called to Serve" for them.  It was neat.  Some of the sisters would sing along, others would shed tears.  There was a time I could not sing this song without shedding tears myself, but I have overcome that and can sing it with zest :)  We enjoyed participating in the conferences and now know more what to prepare for and how to help next time around. 

Since we left early Friday, the Blues brought donuts and milk to eat on the drive up.  We arrived earlier than we expected and waited in the parking lot. No one else had shown up, when a local van arrived.  We got out to go inside, since the man in the van had keys to the building.  He said he was pretty sure his wife was serving lunch for the zone conference, but that it was being held in a different church building across town :)  Since we were there early, it was not a problem.  We had 15 cars to inspect Friday.

In addition to conferences, we headed back to the office on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to take care of mail and any other important matters.  They were long days, but good ones. 

On Thursday, we had signed up to feed the elders (not realizing it would coincide with zone conferences).  Needless to say, we took the elders out for dinner that night.  I'll cook for them some other time for sure.  Oh, and after dinner out, we had our weekly date night at the laundromat :)  What more could a girl ask for?

P Day :)

When will I ever learn, I'm wondering, to take more pictures!  I wish I'd thought to take a before and after picture.  We bought a couch today.  Our "before" couch was pathetic.  I have to say, we appreciate the Curtises and all they left behind for us -- most of which was great; however, the couch was definitely not great.  We heard they actually picked it up off the street somewhere where it had been left for garbage pickup.  It was too low to sit with comfort, especially for Randy, and once you got down it was hard to get up.  It was a nasty dirty tannish color.  To make matters worse, although it was intended to make them better, after we'd had it few days, they brought over a quilt with pillow shams to act as a couch cover, which I'm sure they had washed up so they'd be nice and clean.  While it didn't look bad as a quilt, it was ridiculous on the couch!  You'd sit and the quilt would shift and move and come untucked, so you'd readjust and retuck every time you sat down.  Well, it's gone now, thankfully.  I will take a picture of the "after" sometime soon and add to this post.  We finally decided the remaining 17 months with the "before" was more than we wanted to deal with.  We shopped for a futon, but this leather couch is what we ended up with for pretty much the same price as a futon.  Nice :)

This evening we attended a baptism in the Spanish Ward which "our" elders invited us to.  Two ladies were baptized -- looked like a mother and daughter (not sure).  While we didn't understand hardly any of the words that were spoken, the Spirit was unmistakable!  Such a sweet feeling was present!  The Relief Society president welcomed the sisters into their ward, the bishop talked about the temple and gave them temple pictres (listen to me --as if I really know what they said -- but I'm pretty sure that's what went down :)  And what was so cool -- all the missionaries in the zone that were able, came and offered support.  There were 10 elders, 2 sisters, and 2 senior couples, making a total of 16 missionaries at the service.  This was Elder Buckmiller's first baptism -- he was nervous and super excited!  (Elder Buckmiller reminds me very much of our nephew Adam -- kinda hyper, plus he looks a lot like Adam, I think, with a huge, great smile.  And his companion, Elder Kidd, reminds me of Matthew Barker :)   --  The font partition was closed after the baptism, but then one of the ZL's got up to bear his testimony and reopened it.  Sister Blue explained to me that President Castro wants the font visible at these baptisms to keep everyone focused for the rest of the service on the ordinance that has taken place.

A couple weeks ago, Randy and I ran into a senior couple (not currently missionaries) who introduced themselves to us as we were going to lunch and they were leaving -- The Hamiltons from Colorado -- served in southern Chile, returning a year ago, and now have been assisting in one of the wards in Oxnard.  They were at the baptism -- Brother Hamilton conducted the service and Sister Hamilton played the piano.  We visited after the service -- Sister Hamilton was hoping I could take over her keyboarding class that she teaches in 6th ward, because they are going back to Colorado next month.  She has 12 students.  I have five I am already teaching in the 1st Ward.  But I do not think I can handle another class.  I am barely handling my 5 students as it is.  She agreed that her stake president will need to find someone else to take over for her.  Someday I will express my frustrations about this keyboarding class which I took over for Sister Curtis when she left.  But not now.

And yes, I cleaned our apartment on this, our P Day.  So we are set for another week.

Don't Drink the Water

I should mention the Sissons. Super nice people. Brother Allyn Sisson is the second counselor in the bishopric and Sister Trish Sisson is in the YW presidency. Super nice people. We went to dinner at their place two consecutive Sundays.  The first we had leftovers from the tri-ward luau (delicious), and Sister Linda Foster was there as well.  The second was on Mother's Day, and we had a turkey feast. Brother Sisson has cancer -- a slow growing kind.   He had very serious stomach surgery, and it was then they discovered the cancer.

Sister Foster is a trained opera singer.  She has been so kind and friendly from the first time we attended church.  We learned that her husband died three months ago from a fast growing cancer. He had been the second counselor in the bishopric.

We also learned that both Brother Skip Johnson (the ward mission leader and former bishop of this ward) and his wife, Julie, have cancer. Julie has been dealing with hers for many years. Someone told us Skip has only 6 months to live. He seems healthy, but evidently that is not so.  The Johnsons invited us to their house for ice cream our first Sunday here.  Lovely people.

The Spicers, Susan and Ted.  We see them every week.  Susan wheels Ted into sacrament meeting in a wheelchair.  She is so attentive to him and treats him lovingly.  We learned that Ted used to run 20 miles a day.  He became very ill and almost died, then he had a stroke.  She sat at his bedside and read to him, held his hand, discussed gospel lessons  -- would go out into the hall and cry, then return and "carry on."  Ted, who was not given a chance to survive, is now walking with a cane - and Susan's help.  It has been sweet to observe them.

Many health issues in the small Oxnard 2nd Ward, with which we have been so impressed.

Monday night we attended an "Empty Nesters" family home evening.  All of the above people except the Sissons were in attendance -- plus several others (including Sister Braxton, mentioned in previous post), and we were told there are usually more.  It was great fun.  First, a potluck dinner (and it was mighty fine), then a Book of Mormon trivia game.  Fun!  They do this once a month, although the activity varies. 

Did I mention that we really love this ward?

Busy Week

Tuesday, Sister Blue and I were invited to attend the Sisters' Conference, and it worked out that we could.  Elder Mecham and Elder Blue spent the day in Bakersfield, so ordinarilly one of us would have had to be in the office to sign for deliveries and answer phones; however, the APs, in preparation for Zone Conferences next week, needed to be using computers in our office, so it worked out perfectly.  They "covered" the office, and we attended the conference.  Tuesday was a slow office day.  The rest of the week has been anything but!  The APs had bookmarks for us to laminate and cut, numerous boxes of supplies for the zones came in and had to be opened and shelved, we had staff meeting on Friday (that's what I call it), the never-ending mail duties (which I enjoy doing), plus various other things.  Nothing too extraordinary - just kept us hopping all week :)  I LIKE it that way!

Our amazing APs, Elder Braeden Udy and Elder Michael Prete.  This isn't a great picture, but they are definitely great missionaries! 

A couple of weeks ago, the sisters in "our" zone (the one right here in Oxnard) informed us that they had been told by their zone leaders that they could not come into the office any more.  They have district meetings in the building, and would usually come in through the office, say hi, see if they had any mail.  We all loved having them and the elders drop in from time to time -- gave us a chance to get to know them.  Evidently President heard this was disruptive, plus he wants his missionaries to be productive and not "hanging out" in the mission office, so something was said to the APs, then down to the ZLs, and all of a sudden, we had no missionaries dropping by the office -- none.  We were so sad, so brought this up in our staff meeting last week, and made it clear that the missionaries don't hang out -- just come shake hands and visit for a minute (and partake of treats we set out :).  President said this was a misunderstanding and that it was okay for them to stop by the office.  However, another week went by -- still not one missionary has been in the office, so we talked about it again at meeting this Friday.  Sister Castro, who attends this meeting when she can, suggested that President clear up this misunderstanding right away.  She is so cute with him. Sister Blue and I are happy to have an advocate in Sister Castro :)

Last evening, we had dinner at Sister Penelope Braxton's place.  She is a single sister -- wanted to feed the elders, but has to have others present to do so.  We happily agreed to be those "others."  We put her address in our GPS, and luckily left early enough that Lucy's wrong directions didn't make us too late.  After we called Sis. Braxton and made our way back to where she lives, we discovered she lives close enough to us, we easily could have walked it :)  Sis. Braxton is an interesting lady and a very good cook!  She had homemade egg rolls, stir-fried veggies, rice, bbq pork, fruit salad, rolls, and homemade banana cream pie.  The elders, both big boys, enjoyed it greatly, as did we.  Sis. Braxton deals with seizures and is unable to work.  Well over a year ago, she was crossing the street and hit by a car.  Her injuries included a broken hip and pelvis and ribs, and she still suffers from those. She has a 21 year old daughter who opted not to be at dinner with the missionaries because she wants nothing to do with the church and figured her mother was trying to "trick" her. 

We purchased a gel mattress topper last night.  It is comfortable, but we will be grateful when the odor of it dissapates in a few days (at least it is supposed to do that - hopefully it will).  I was actually awakened by the beeping of Randy's phone, which needed to be charged.  I got up and plugged in his mission phone, but the beeping continued.  It was his personal cell, which he really never uses.  Needless to say, I am wide awake now and figured I may as well be productively using this "gift" of time :)

Sisters' Conference

May 15 was a special day for Sister Blue and me.  We were invited and got to attend the Sisters' Conference, held in the same building our office is in.  It was an all-day affair for the sister missionaries in the mission.  It was wonderful, and the spirit was there in abundance.  I have to say, the more I am in the presence of President and Sister Castro, the more I admire, respect, and love them.  It is evident that they are called of God to lead this mission!  They are so humble and yet such dynamic leaders.  I am also impressed by the great sister missionaries in this mission.  They are awesome :) 

So . . . following will be some of the things that impressed me during the day.

President Castro:  We can prepare a talk or a lesson, but most importantly, we must prepare ourselves.  He shared how he sees Sister Castro prepare herself as she studies and kneels in prayer and expressed his love for her, his eternal companion.

Sister Castro:  We need to learn to recognize the Lord's tender mercies for what they are, realizing they are not just coincidences or good luck.  She shared her feelings (and shed some tears) of becoming a grandmother for the second time.  "And, " she said, "I am not there.  But I am here."  [It is a sacrifice for her to be here, but she is so loving, caring, and kind - a blessing to President and to all the missionaries.]

So I reflected upon some of the Lord's tender mercies to me lately.  I have had a couple of strange pains.  I don't deal with pain very well -- not like Randy does.  I'm a wimp.  The pain was pretty severe -- one time in my back, and more recently in my hip area.  Both times, while it was indeed intense and kept me awake in the night, in a matter of three to four days, it subsided and then completely went away.  I consider that a great blessing from Heavenly Father. 

President:  He described how Emma's Smith's baptism was not a peaceful, lovely occasion (something I did not know).  It was disrupted by a small mob who mocked the ordinance and threw rocks at them.  Shortly after this experience, the Prophet received the revelation, now section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants for Emma, which is summed up in verse three: "...Thou are an elect lady, whom I have called."  This was the theme of the sisters' conference.  President reminded us that "many are called, but few are chosen (elected)."  He said each sister, in a unique way, beyond being called, has been "elected" to serve here in this mission and has a special contribution to make.  The sisters are a source of strength and inspiration in the mission.

In the afternoon, President presented a workshop on meditation, which is different than pondering.  When we ponder, we are actively engaged.  When we meditate, we allow our minds to be still and the thoughts and ideas to flow in. I intend to try out this new-learned concept -- it does not have to take a long time, and it can be a source of inspiration. 

Sister Castro's workshop was on having balance in our lives and taking care of our bodies.  She has such a sweet way about her.

Sometimes we are so worried about offending people that in the process we fail to save them.  (I forget whom was quoted here, but so dynamic!)

(I will finish my notes on the conference later.  For now, I am going to move on and try to get caught up with this journal :)

Singin' The Blues

Well, not really singin, but Workin' [with] The Blues :)  Here they are -- Elder George and Sister Marva Blue.  They are a lovely couple!  They are from Clearfield and are actually in the same stake as Mauri and Gary and Mother and George.  Their daughter, Tonya McBride, is in the Stake Primary presidency, so Mauri knows her, somewhat, and with Mauri's new calling in the Primary they will get to know each other better.  Small world!

Elder Blue is the fleet coordinator, Elder Mecham the finance manager, and they work together on apartments.  Sister Blue is training me on various responsibilities.  She knows and can do everything, and I am learning. We do have specific assignments, but we help each other as needed. The Blues are awesome, and we love serving with them in the office and also getting together just for fun (when we have time).  We are in the same stake, so we even see each other at some church functions.

Cinco de Mayo ?

Oh dear, I’m getting way behind! How does this happen?! We HAVE been quite busy, and here it is a week since I last updated.

Highlights: Elder Mecham and Elder Blue made it to LAX and back with no significant problems :) Meanwhile, back at the office, Sister Blue and I were preparing for Zone Leaders’ Council (or is it Counsel) [ZLC]. Actually, most of that preparation was done Friday and Monday, as we filled orders for each zone – given to us by the Zone Leaders. Oh, the gospel materials that are distributed! Amazing! Numerous cases of Books of Mormon (or is it Book of Mormons?), various other standard works, pamphlets, pictures, pass-along cards, just boxes of all kinds of "goodies" - we line the hallway with these boxes, along with recent packages which came in the mail and other miscellaneous stuff (such as fans, vacuums, garbage cans) which the ZLs pick up on ZLC day (that was yesterday, and now our hallway is naked :) It was so fun to meet some of these superb missionaries, that heretofore I had either only spoken to on the phone or merely seen their names as mail came through the office for them or on lists of the zones. Great elders!

Then last night I taught my third keyboarding class. Have I previously mentioned that this is just a bit frustrating? I have only five students, but have yet to have them all attend a class. Last night I came to the conclusion that the 10 year old, at this point, really should NOT be taking this course. She is way behind the others, and she just doesn’t seem to get it at all. One of the ladies is also quite far behind, but she is learning – just so busy she doesn’t get her practicing in. The other three are doing good, but the ones that are behind are holding them back. Not sure what to do at this point. Sister Hulme, one of the sister missionaries, comes and assists. She taught piano lessons prior to her mission. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without her! But I’m sure I’ll find out, because I’m guessing she will be transferred before long :( Of course, I came in to the middle of this course, which was begun by Sister Curtis. I agreed to finish teaching the course, but had no idea how tricky it was going to be. Yikes!

Saturday we attended a Tri-Ward Luau, which was a very amazing event, the purpose of which was to raise funds for Girls’ Camp. The dinner was lovely, and the auction was amazing! They had over 70 desserts to auction - most were done as a silent auction, but not all.  Elder Mecham has agreed to let me put some of his journal into the blog, so I will let him explain more about this! I DO have a couple of pictures to put in, though. We had some great hula entertainment as well :)

(Lame, but it proves we were there :)

Elder Mecham:

The area we live in, Port Hueneme, has been referred to as Little Mexico. There are a lot of Hispanics in the area and this Saturday was May 5^th, or Cinco de Mayo which is always a big event in the Mexican culture. At our church building they had a big three ward gathering and since it was Cinco de Mayo of course we had a Hawaiian luau. Go figure. But it was interesting. They held an auction to raise funds for girls’ camp. You know, the kind where you bring something and then bid on it and pay a high price to take it back home. Well, this thing was insane. People were bidding against each other and paying ridiculous prices for almost everything. For example, and this really takes the cake, (yes it was intended) Bishop Sweet started bidding on the last cake, and it was a mighty fine cake. The bidding went up, and back and forth and he finally got it for $135.00! There’s no use going back and checking the location of the decimal point. I got it right. Like I said, it was a fantastic cake – round, about ten inches across and maybe six or seven inches high. Beautiful! But there ain’t no cake worth $135.00. I think I’d choke on it if I tried eating it.

Out With the Old and In With the New

Today was a very sweet day! We got to go to our first transfer meeting. It was so neat! Last evening we met the six new incoming missionaries to our mission – three sisters and three elders – at the mission home, where we all had dinner, and they had some paperwork to fill out. Today, they received training prior to transfer meeting. Then at 10 o’clock the chapel was filled with the elders and sisters who were either being transferred or were the new companions of those being transferred. President Castro explained that this is a revelatory process, and that he spends a lot of time in studying areas, situations, etc., and in fasting and prayer as these decisions are made. He told us what a sweet experience it was for him when he interviewed each of the new missionaries and had it confirmed that the trainers they were assigned to were the exact ones the Lord wanted them to have. Love President Castro! And Sister Castro! They are exceptional servants of our Heavenly Father.

I learned, by error, that in the future whenever I attend a meeting where President and Sister Castro are speaking, I must have pen and paper, because I surely wish I’d had them today. They spoke both at transfer meeting, and then again this evening at the mission home for the farewell meeting for those who are returning home tomorrow. Their messages were so good, and the Spirit and Love felt and shared was abundant and sweet. Each of those who are leaving their missions tomorrow bore testimony. It was just a great day!

President had some great advice for those returning home, things to help them remain strong and to go on with life now. He commented that if in five years they are still saying that their mission years were the best in their life, then that would not be a good thing – that the best years should always be the most recent ones. We must progress and be happy always.

Elder Blue is picking up Elder Mecham tomorrow morning at 4:30 or so, and they are then picking up two sisters and one elder to take them LAX. Then the APs will take the other four a little later. Sister Tuipulotu (affectionately called Sister "T"), who is returning to Tonga, doesn’t fly out until after 9 p.m., but Sister Hatch leaves around 10 a.m.