Week End

Friday night we did not get a very good night's rest.  There was some sort of hullabaloo going on in the neighborhood.  At first I think it may just have been partiers, and I'm pretty sure our "quiet" neighbors were involved.   I don't know when it all started, but we awoke around two o'clock to all the noise.  It kept escalating until some of them were outside yelling (fighting) at the top of their lungs.  Around three o'clock someone must have called the police.  I saw a patrol car drive up the street after things had quieted down.  About that time I saw a girl come out of our neighbor's apartment (not our neighbor) wrapped in a blanket, looking up the street. Not being used to that sort of excitement, I was upset enough I couldn't go back to sleep, so I read for an hour or so.  Then I slept much later than I should have.

Saturday morning we attended a baptism with the Spanish Ward - it was a lady that Sister Romero and Sister Johnson taught.  Counting Elder and Sister Blue and Elder Mecham and me, there were 14 missionaries in attendance.  Pretty awesome support for the sister missionaries and the sister being baptized.

I played the piano for prelude and the hymns.  (I am also playing every week in Relief Society these days.)  I guess I need to borrow a hymn book and practice on the keyboard I have downstairs in the kitchen.  No it isn't set up but packed in its zipper case.  But if I am going to be playing, I best do some practicing, aye?  Interesting - I have not sung at all since I came here.  (Well, of course I sing with the congregation.)  I guess the Lord wants to use my musical abilities in other ways, so I better improve them :)

After the baptism, the Blues and we went to lunch at the Pho Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant that someone had told us was really good.  They were right -- it was really good!  We will definitely be returning there sometime. 

We returned home and did some house cleaning - then went for our weekly bike ride.  This time instead of the ocean path, we rode from Ventura toward Ojai (pronounced "oh hi").  In the car, it's about 11-12 miles.  We haven't gone the full distance yet, but it is a very nice bike trail, and we enjoyed our ride of about an hour and a half.   The pictures I uploaded from our bike ride do not do the scenery justice.  There are flowering vines all along the way, oil rigs, and where we turned around there was a nice little park.  We may actually drive to the park next time and ride our bikes from there.  And I'm thinking I need to buy a little cooler so we can take a picnic lunch.  It was very shady and pretty there.  Nice!

Elder Garrett was transferred last Monday.  Elder Seumanu had to return home to Samoa due to medical issues, so Elder Garrett became the new companion for Seumanu's companion, Elder Jorgensen.  Elder Garrett had been here in Oxnard for six months, so he was ready for a change.  When he learned he was going to be transferred, he came into the office to say goodbye. ( I think he had four hours to get packed and ready to go, then the APs picked him up and took him up the coast to his new assignment.)  I just wanted to give him a big hug, but of course, that is not allowed.  We sure love him and know he will do well wherever he is.  So our three-some is now a regular two-some, and Elder McCracken is a senior companion.  Love the missionaries!!  I never knew Elder Seumanu, but I understand he was a very good missionary and of course did not want to go home.  We are hoping he may be able to return when his medical issues are taken care of.  President Castro said they tried every way they could think to keep him here for treatments, but it was not to be.  (And we have no idea what his medical issues are, but we hope he can go forward with his life and that this will not get him down.)

Today Elder Mecham ended up teaching the Gospel Essentials class.  Our teacher, Brother Swingler, was gone with the scouts to scout camp (yes, apparently they are gone on a Sunday and have services there).  Brother Swingler is also the ward mission leader.  I would have thought he would have arranged for a substitute, but no one showed up.  At any rate, Randy taught and did a great job, even though he hadn't read the lesson.  He just stood up there presented a marvelous lesson and the spirit was very strong. 

Then we drove around the neighborhoods the other side of Victoria Avenue around the channels.  I hope to get some pictures to add here too -- some pretty ritzy homes, and the backyards are the channels, so they each have a dock and a boat!