Ventura First Ward

We are now attending the Ventura First Ward.  It is a small, friendly, diverse ward which meets in the stake center in Ventura.  We seem small in such a large building.  It takes us 20 to 30 minutes to get there, depending on the traffic. 

This ward is in a different stake than the one we had previously been attending.  So we get to see different missionaries.  It is actually the same ward the Assistants attend, and also the zone leaders for the Ventura Zone.  The zone leaders alternate between two wards. We also see the Castros occasionally - either between meetings, or, President attends Ventura First when he cannot make it to their assigned ward (which also meets in that building).

We have been asked to visit several part member and/or less active families.  We have begun to do that.  We have an appointment Friday to visit a family who is just coming back into activity. The mother, April, has lived a hard life.  She was addicted to drugs, had her children taken from her, served time in prison, and now is coming back to church.  Good for her!  And I think her husband has had a similar background.  In fact, it sounds like the children were theirs, not just hers.  They now have a little five year old daughter, which is the reason, April said, that she was able to get off drugs. The missionaries have been meeting with them and are excited to have us get acquainted, and the family seems to be happy about it too. 

Another family we've been asked to see has three daughters who were baptized a few years ago when they lived in Santa Paula.  Then they moved to Ventura and have not been active.  The youngest (now 14) was evidently interested a while back, so we will go see what we can find out.  The house Lucy (our GPS) took us to is itsy bitsy.  And if I am to understand it, there are six people living there?  Yikesers!  No one was there except a big dog out by the door the first time we went.  And the gate to the yard was locked.  After our bike ride Monday evening, we drove by again.  There was a car there and the door was open, but we were not dressed for making a visit.  We just wanted to see if someone really lived there, because from the outside (other than the dog) it did not look it!  Evidently the family situation there is far from ideal.  I actually called a previous mission couple (who live in Logan) who worked with this family a couple years back.  The senior elder said it was the weirdest family situation he had ever encountered.  He felt sorry for the girls. They were in the home a few times and tried to get the youngest to come out.  When I spoke with him it was before we had driven by the house or I would have asked about that.  At any rate, it sounds like we will have our work cut out for us :)

We have been asked to speak in church on the 23rd.  Which is the same day I have been asked to sing in church.  Good grief.  Get it all over in one day!  :)

So, the talks in sacrament meeting were interesting last Sunday.  Brother and Sister Winslow.  She is the YW president.  I don't know what his calling is, but when he spoke, we learned that he had been a coach at Ventura College, was investigated [for misappropriation of funds, we later read on the Internet], ended up getting convicted on three of seven felony counts, and served jail time.  Of course, it was in all the newspapers.  The investigation went on for several years.  It was tough on the family, as you can imagine.  Of course, he lost his job.  They lost their house.  His talk was on the solidity of family.  He said his family withstood the stress of this entire ordeal.  Their children were early teens and younger when all this began.  Now they are RMs, on a mission, or getting ready to go on a mission.  He said he was not ashamed of what happened and bore strong testimony of family togetherness.  He commented that when someone told him how lucky he was to have a good woman to stand by him through all of this, his reaction was, well, of course she would -- he never considered it would/could be any different.  They had made eternal covenants.  He said he didn't take her for granted, but just knew she would stand by him.  Like I said -- interesting.

Hello, Herby!

Burdens

It is with a heavy heart that I make this entry in my journal.  Yesterday two missionaries were released and returned home early.  Two zone leaders.  Two of the best.  We don't know any details, but we love them and are praying for them.  We hope and pray they will be surrounded by loving family and leaders who will help them to move forward in their lives.  Our Assistants were so quiet and serious -- they were in the office in the morning to use the computers to email home.  When the usually chatty and up-beat Elder Schiess was finished at the computer, he sat down in a chair to read scriptures while he waited for his companions.  He fell asleep.  We suspect they may have been up all night.  Sister Blue and I just told them how sorry we were, that we knew they were hurting and wished we could give them all hugs.  They solemnly thanked us.  ~~  How grateful we all are for Jesus Christ and the power of the Atonement to heal and make whole!

We had received a text from President Castro around 7:30 a.m. reporting that these two missionaries had been relieved of their zone leader duties.  I suspect the text went to their particular zone and to the office staff.  We had no idea how serious it was until we got to the office and saw the notice from Salt Lake that they had been released and the luggage receipts on Elder Mecham's desk.

President Castro's weekly email message to all the missionaries was several great quotes on not gossipping - time it was sent out? -- the middle of the night!  We constantly pray for him and the burdens he carries in his great responsibility as mission president.  We love him.  And his wonderful family.

The Castro's daughter and family from back East are due to arrive this week -- two little ones, one of which is just a little baby.  And where are the Castros living right now?  In a hotel!  They are having major plumbing problems -- rotten pipes and much digging, repair work, and restoration to be done.  They may not get back into the Mission Home for a couple of weeks.  And the kids just started school.  And Joseph leaves in a couple weeks for his mission.  Trials!  Physical and spiritual -

This 'n' That

Tuesday, August 21

Feeling especially blessed today to be serving here! 

Just a comment or two about our wonderful Assistants to the President. They are such special missionaries.  We now attend the same ward as they do.  Sunday we were in the Gospel Essential class, which has just started over in the manual.  So our lesson was about God, who He is, His attributes, and we moved on to include that we are His children.  Some of the comments got to be way out in left field. The teachers are both converts of not too long, with little teaching experience.  The APs really "reigned in" the discussion by pointing out the essentials and bearing heartfelt testimony.  And they did it in such a loving, non-judgmental way.  I must learn to be less judgmental!

Elder Mecham and I attended the Ward Council meeting Sunday and have been given the names of several less active and/or part-member families to visit.  Interestingly, one of them is the Relief Society president's husband.  She is hoping someone can reach/touch him.  Hoping to get out this evening for a visit or two; however, Elder Mecham and Elder Blue are in a meeting with President Castro and it is now 5:40, so it may not happen tonight after all :) 

Update:  Sister Blue and I finally left at 6 p.m.  I took her home, and by the time I drove back to our apartment, the front door was open and I could hear the TV.  Apparently if we had waited another three minutes, our husbands would have been done with their meeting.  Of course, we had been contemplating leaving for about an hour -- when we finally decided to leave . . . !

Usually we all four go in for a meeting, but President discussed some things with Sister Blue and me before our husbands arrived back at the office from an appointment, so we weren't included today.  Unfortunately, I am all caught up on my work.  Fortunately, that gives me a few minutes to spend time on my journal :)

We have attended our new ward twice now.  It is a nice ward -- looks very small in the huge chapel where they meet.  In between these two meetings was the Ventura Stake Conference.  Nice meetings.  We are especially impressed with the Stake President.  He is amazing!  His discussion about references of the Abrahamic Covenant in the Book of Mormon was . . . amazing!  Perhaps Randy will let me include the notes he took.  He really enjoys this type of thing, so I know he took good notes.  This talk was given Saturday night.  On Sunday, President Jones (that's his name) gave us (and everyone in the stake) an assignment.  We are to ponder about a topic -- perhaps something we have questions about or something that troubles us or just something we would like to know more about -- and then we are to prepare a talk on that topic.  Not just any run-of-the-mill talk, but a General Conference worthy talk! We are to study, make notes, and draft it, but then wait until after General Conference to polish it.  As we listen to General Conference, we are to carefully listen and glean things pertaining to our topic.  Then we are to complete our 20-or-so-minute talk.  Wow!  I guess I better decide what my topic will be!

Changing subjects drastically -- we still see Herby quite frequently!  It brightens my day whenever I see him :)

Wednesday, August 22

Elder Mecham and I did make a couple of visits last evening.  Unfortunately, both households were having dinner when we arrived, which was after 7 o'clock.  Both indicated that we could return some other time.  Brother Tonnies visited with us for quite a while at the door.  We will go back :)

Awaiting mail delivery at the office.  Wednesday is usually a pretty big mail day.  Other than than, not much happening for ME today.  Elder Mecham, on the other hand, is going to be very busy.  On top of all his other responsibilities, he has to find four new apartments up the coast - asap.  Fun for him! 

Mail came, and it was NOT a big mail day at all.  It could be a long afternoon :)

Cheri took this picture of the Gonzales Church, where our office is located.  I thought it was a good pic:

I thought this was a cool picture.  This is what happens every Zone Leader Council - all the missionaries want pictures of themselves as a group.  Can't blame them for that.  Elder Mecham got a picture of the picture takers, Elder Blue and the Castro family.

Clam Chowder

You all probably know how much Randy and I have enjoyed drinking buttermilk over the last several years.  Cream of Weber made the best drinking buttermilk ever - we loved it!  Alas, COW sold out to Dairy Gold, and we were no longer able to find tasty buttermilk!  Dairy Gold buttermilk was just not very good.  Sad day in Pocatello!  Well, Randy eventually found that he could tolerate Albertson's buttermilk and bought it from time to time.  He has trouble assimilating calcium into his body and suffers from leg cramps when his calcium is low.  He has found that if he drinks buttermilk, which is much higher in calcium than regular milk or other dairy products, then it takes care of his muscle cramps.  Soooo, after we got settled in Oxnard, we set out to find a tolerable buttermilk.  Yes, they have Albertson's here.  No, the buttermilk was not the same as in Idaho.  It was downright nasty! We checked many different stores to no avail.  Then one day we were in Smart 'n' Final for the first time and discovered they had a brand we had not tried yet.  And hurray! - finally a brand Randy could drink -- still not very good, mind you, but tolerable.  (I don't drink it - oh how I miss COW!) 

We were out of buttermilk, and one day when we were in Smart 'n' Final for some other stuff, we remembered we needed to get some more.  Oh, did I mention that the price of buttermilk at Smart 'n' Final was much more "tolerable," also, than any other we'd found.  So while we were there, we stalked up!  We got two half gallons!  We placed it on the belt along with the other items we had found, took it home, removed it from the grocery bag, and placed it in the frig.  Before long Randy poured himself a nice big glass of it.  After a big swig, he realized something was not quite right!

I suspect that the picture has given a big clue as to what the problem was!  Yup -- we had just come home with a whole gallon of Half & Half, which, by the way, was much more expensive than the buttermilk!  Now in defense of our error, you can quickly see just how easily anyone could mistake one for the other, right?  RIGHT???  Who knew you could even GET Half & Half in half gallon size!!  Right?  When we went back to Smart 'n' Final to get the real deal, there were no half gallons that day of Half & Half.  I'm not even kidding! 

We have laughed and laughed about this!  AND we made some delicious clam chowder and had the Blues over for dinner! 

(I still have half a gallon of Half & Half in my frig!)  What's YOUR favorite recipe using Half & Half?  Please let me know asap -- and please keep in mind that we do not have an ice cream maker here -

Elders Mecham

We were a bit surprised to learn that there were two young Elder Mechams in our mission.  We had zone conferences this past week and these two young missionaries happen to now be serving in the same zone.  Picture time!  Here are the three amigos :)

:) :) Elder Mecham, Elder Mecham, and Elder Mecham :) :)

Bet you can guess which one I like the best and think is the handsomest

I enjoyed our time at zone conferences. We don't actually attend the meetings, except at the very beginning -- we go in for the opening song and prayer, then we are excused to go do car inspections.  We got them done in record time this go around because not only have we got a system down, but this time we had the Castro children helping out. While Elder Blue is checking car fluids, Elder Mecham and Sam are checking tire pressures.  Sister Blue and I get the mileage, check to make sure each car has the necessary documents, then check to make sure blinkers, headlights, brake and back-up lights are all working. Hanna helped with that. 

We are impressed with the Castro kids!  They have been well trained.  After we completed our outside duties in HOT Bakersfield and had gone inside, we asked the ladies setting up for the luncheon if they needed help.  No, they said they had it covered.  Well, the Castro kids followed the sister down the hall, saying, "Well, we're going to help them anyway."  And they did!  They are great kids!  They don't always attend all the zone conferences, but because it is summer and they are out of school, the whole family was there every day.  Joseph will be leaving for his own mission next month.  He played prelude for most of the meetings this week - he plays the piano beautifully.  I know his family will miss that wonderful music (along with many other things) when he is gone.  He is a such a great young man!

The luncheons each day were so delicious, with the ward and stake sisters so eager and willing to serve the missionaries.  Each day after everyone has eaten, the zone leaders have all those who have helped with the luncheon to come into the cultural hall and introduce themselves and tell if they have anyone in their family who has served or is serving a mission.  I was so touched as some of these sisters told how they were converts and of how much they loved the missionaries. Then, as a thank you to the "lunch ladies," all the missionaries stand, put on their suit coats (which they take off to eat), and sing "Called to Serve."  You know how I love to sing!  But I found myself singing very softly so I could soak in the Spirit as the elders and sisters sing this song with gusto!  It was a special experience!

I mentioned that Bakersfield was hot - 108 Tuesday and 106 Wednesday - yup "baker"sfield - a fitting name:)  But the missionaries LOVE serving there, because the people there are, on a whole, poorer and more receptive to the gospel.  Elder Garrett, who served in Bakersfield before serving in Oxnard, said, "Yeah, send me to Bakersfield.  Yeah, in the summer and in a bike area.  I LOVE Bakersfield.  Bring it on!"  (He was not transferred back there - yet - but further up the coast, where he continues to be an awesome missionary.) 

It was fun to see the missionaries who used to serve in Oxnard and have since been transferred.  As we get to see these elders and sisters more than the others, we get quite attached to them.  And as our most of our zone got transferred last time, it was great to see them in their new respective zones! 

Appreciated !

I came to the office Monday morning and found this note attached to my computer screen: 

Dear Sister Mecham,
Thank you for bringing a slice of sunshine to the office every day!  Your cheery attitude always boosts our spirits!  We are so grateful for you being here.  You have such a strong spirit of love & caring and we thank our lucky stars that we get to serve with you!
Love, The Assistants

These young men are wonderful missionaries!  Here they are:
Elder Schiess, Elder Cary, and Elder Prete.  Love them!

Piano Recital

This evening (Thursday, August 9) was the recital for my little keyboard class.  I took over this class from Sister Curtis (I'm pretty sure I have commented on this previously) and regrettably grumbled a bit at how I felt things were going.  I can honestly say I felt so proud of each class member as she/he performed tonight.  Each has progressed a lot since April.  I have grown quite fond of them.  I am hoping to be done with the class by Thanksgiving, though.  We shall see.  Here is a picture of each after they played their hymn(s).  We then visited and had blond brownies :)

Jocelynn

Sister Labinpuno

Brother Dunham

Sister Dunham

The audience :)



A Long Overdue Visit

Yesterday (Wednesday, August 8) my cousin Cheri Andrus came to visit us.  Cheri is my mother's sister's daughter (Aunt Marion).  We tried to remember when the last time we saw each other was, and neither of us could.  It's been many years.  Cheri and Brent returned just about one year ago from serving a mission in Rwanda.  They were the only missionaries in Rwanda!  Their experiences there are so fascinating.  The Church is growing fast in Africa.  The people are hungry for what the gospel offers.

Cheri and Brent were in our general area on business and came to Oxnard and we had lunch together.  It was so enjoyable.  They are very missionary oriented and we had such a nice visit.  When I was growing up, Cheri would come to visit in Paris with Aunt Marion and Grandpa Naisbitt.  I LOVED it when they came.  She and I played many games of Clue - just the two of us. Crazy, huh? 

Well, she looked great -- too thin -- but good.  She has braces to fix her bite, which was messed up due to a mouthpiece she wore to prevent her from grinding her teeth at night.  Not fun.  Brent said she'd lost weight  - she says because she doesn't want to have to clean her braces after snacking.  Hmmm, maybe I need to get braces and I'd quit snacking?  (No, thanks - I'll figure out some other way :)

We had lunch at Yolanda's

Cheri said they may be in this area again for business before we return home.  If so, they will stop by.  That would be so great! 

Presidential Saturday

Yesterday and today it rained here.  Rained!  A rare occurrence.  By this afternoon, it was beautiful and warm, with blue skies. 

We traveled with Elder and Sister Blue today to Fillmore, then to Simi Valley, taking items to elders in each place.  The elders in Fillmore needed a carpet shampooer and a language book.  An elder in Simi needed a blood pressure cuff.  His companion, Elder Snelson, whom I think I mentioned previously, had a terrible accident when he fell playing Frisbee golf and hit his jaw on a cement curbing.  He is having problems with his jaw and will be having surgery next week.  He called it "minor surgery," but it didn't sound fun.  They will put him under and clean out an area in his jaw.  Hopefully it will heal well and do the trick.  He just wants to be doing missionary work, and he is a good missionary.
 

Zone Leaders in Simi, Elder Brodie and Elder Gates

  We then spent some time at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley -- very impressive.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  I must admit, it made me long to again have a president of this caliber as our nation's leader.  Maybe in November?

I always thought President Reagan was a bigger man

Air Force One

Preparing to Board

View from the Library

Reagan Memorial

 
Elder Mecham and Elder Blue have been moving a lot of furniture this week, enough that we didn't do a bike ride this evening.  Maybe Monday.