Elder and Sister Blue and us had planned to take a day trip Saturday, sort of to celebrate Father's Day. Even President Castro encouraged us to do some fun things together. We had a couple ideas of what we wanted to do. Then President Castro asked Elder Mecham to check out the vacant apartment in Morro Bay which the mission is paying for, because we have a lease on it. So guess where we went Saturday? Morro Bay! And since it was mission business, we took the mission truck. Long day in the truck, but we broke it up by stopping along the way to take care of other business. First we delivered a bicycle to Elder Clark - newly arrived Monday. He and his companion, Elder Eastman, serve in Santa Maria.
Then we needed to have Elder Simpson sign a check which he received because he got bumped on his flight to the mission on Monday. That's right. (That is another story in itself -- it made for a very crazy day as Elder Mecham and Elder Blue had to make two trips to the Santa Barbara Airport. It threw everything off schedule.) Anyway, the check is pretty hefty -- nearly $800. Elder Simpson signed it, and it will get deposited back into the church's travel funds. He and his companion and two other elders live in a four-some in Arroyo Grande. Here is their bedroom. Yikes! Hope they all get along :)
The pole lamp, seen at the extreme right, is being help up by the mattresses
Next stop -- San Luis Obispo. We had a package for Elder Kotab, which came UPS. We cannot, of course, forward those through US mail, so since we were passing through there anyway, we dropped it off. Elder Kotab and Elder Hardy were doing a "service project," so we stopped at the place they were serving. I did not take my camera in, but had I known where I was going, I surely would have. The elders were organizing shelves of food storage for a children's nursing home. LOTS of work! We were invited in to meet the children. What a touching, heart-wrenching, experience. One of the kids, Zander, was strapped in a little wheelchair which he could maneuver around himself. He was a cute little guy. Others were bedridden and extremely handicapped. The nurse said one of these, a boy 16, had giggled earlier because he had the hiccups. He could not talk. One little girl was strapped in a chair. She was blind, but as Elder Hardy walked by her and touched her face and talked to her, she smiled broadly. It was a clean place with bright and happy things about, and these children are being lovingly cared for. It was so amazing! You could feel their special spirits. I should like to have had more time to spend there and talk to these children.
Outside in the back there was a bird aviary. There were lots of parakeets, a cockateel, and a few other kinds of birds. That's the way to have birds. Outside, where you can enjoy their chirping and singing, and where they cannot make a mess all over your kitchen :) Again, so sad I didn't have my camera. We weren't there very long or I may have run and got it. When will I ever learn that I must always carry it with me?!
On to Morro Bay. It really is pretty there. The vacant apartment was built by convert members, Brother and Sister Valerie, as a missionary apartment. The Valeries live upstairs in a very lovely home which they remodeled. It was decorated so creatively and beautifully.
View from the Valerie's balcony
California Poppies (first I've seen since we got here)
The apartment is downstairs with its own entrance. It has been referred to as the "celestial kingdom" of missionary apartments. It is small, but very nice and completely furnished for missionaries, including towels, bedding, a walk-in closet, washer/dryer, dishwasher, study desks, marble counter tops, laminate floors, two sinks in the bathroom, appropriate pictures, and homey touches and wall hangings. Just so very nice. The missionaries were pulled out of Morro Bay about three months ago. It is such a resort town, that it was hard to find investigators that were there permanently, and there were other issues. Hopefully we will be able to put some missionaries back in.
One of about ten pictures I took.
Much nicer than our apartment.
I'm not complaining, just commenting.
No room for guests, though :)
Brother and Sister Valerie took us to lunch at Dorn's and we had the best fish and chips ever. Someday, when we have a full day to make the trip back up the coast to the Hearst Castle, they said they can get tickets for us. We definitely plan to do that sometime before the Blues go home!
Outside of Dorn's Restaurant
On the way home, we stopped at Solvang, a little Danish community. It is quite "touristy." But we enjoyed it anyway and had some great ice cream :) We were tired by this time and didn't stay too long. Another day it would be fun to browse the shops (and spend some money :)
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