Cool Flora

When we went to meet with Shawntele last evening, she wasn't there but still at work.  We were supposed to meet the Traveling Elders there as well.  Both they and Shawntele thought the other was going to contact us to say we weren't meeting until 7:30 (rather than 5:30).  Oh well.  We made a drop-in visit to Brother Tonnies instead.  All worked out well. 

Here are some of the interesting plants at the complex where Shawntele lives.  Pictures do NOT do them justice.

The color of these flowers is so different.  But pretty!

This might be a yucca plant.  I don't know.  Note the huge blooms up top.

Exercise

That's what I'm not getting enough of -- exercise!  The weekend before this last one, we were both under the weather.  So this last Saturday -- a beautiful day, I might add -- we loaded up the bikes and drove half way to Ojai.  This ride is a bit strenuous (for us), but we were looking forward to it.  When we unloaded the bikes, we discovered Randy's had a very flat tire.  So, instead of a bike ride, we went for a car drive.  Hmm.  Didn't burn very many calories that day!  ~~  Randy took his bike in to get it fixed.  Last night he noticed it was flat again.  Gotta get that taken care of by next Saturday!!!   ~~

And evenings we have been driving to Ventura to meet with Shawntele.  No bike rides in the evenings for us.  But we are nevertheless managing to eat quite well.  Not a good combination. 

I have been walking in the mornings, but it will soon be too dark to go out in the mornings by myself in my neighborhood.

Help!

Supply Woes

You saw my complaint about our last order.  Well, here's the rest of the story.  So, I reordered all the non-Spanish items, yes, that would be all the English items, over the phone when I called to report that we only received 6 forms instead of 600. 

So yesterday that order arrived.  Guess what?  We had ordered 16 packages (1 case) of Word of Wisdom pamphlets. And on the shipping invoice that is what we were charged for.  Each package contains 25 pamphlets.  Well, in the box that arrived, we had 16 pamphlets.  Not packages -- pamphlets.  Someone had to rip open a package and count out 16 individual pamphlets.  When I called to report this, the first thing I heard on the other end of the telephone was a big sigh.  Then, "We'll get those shipped right out to you."  (Obviously frustrating at that end, too.)  I have to wonder who they have there filling these orders!?!  Sister Blue says when she returns home, she just might have to make a trip to the distribution center and see what the process is when they get these orders from the missions.   :)

The rest of the order was perfect. 

Talks

I think I mentioned that President Jones, our stake president in Ventura, challenged us to write a General Conference-quality talk, right?  Well, I had every intention of doing that, and then we were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on September 23rd -- and we were given a topic.  Wait a minute!  That assigned topic certainly isn't the one I had been thinking of to prepare my other talk -- the "big" talk!  So, now I need to prepare yet another talk!  I better get on it!  Because we are supposed to have it almost ready by General Conference, then listen carefully to see if we get further insights on our topic.  Sigh.  (No, I'm not ready yet.)  You're right -- I should be working on my talk instead of updating my blog.  Sigh again.

Elder Mecham and I both spoke on the topic of "General Conference" last Sunday.  We took up the entire allotted time and didn't really cross over into each other's talks.  Amazing.  My talk went okay and I felt pretty good about it.  I talked about President Monson's promises he gave in his opening remarks last Arpil at the beginning of General Conference and discussed ways we can be prepared to partake of the feast that will be laid before us October 6th and 7th.  Then I sang, "If I Listen With My Heart," which I felt went well with our topic.  My voice wasn't 100 percent, but it went okay.  (Today, Wednesday, I'm still coughing some.)  No, it wasn't my idea to speak and sing on the same day. 

I put this link out on facebook and email, but it really is such a great site which contains other helpful links. Just in case anyone is interested.  Wish I'd had this kind of help when I was raising my kids :)

http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/2012/03/general-conference-activity-notebook.html

Elder Mecham gave an awesome talk about the history of conferences - it was so interesting.  He shared a  personal experience he remembered from when Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke at our stake conference in Pocatello when Elder Mecham was in the stake presidency.  At a dinner between Saturday sessions, Elder Oaks had a few minutes and said he would answer any questions.  Someone asked him if the apostles and others were given topics for their talks at General Conference.  He said they were not.  They rely completely upon inspiration.  Then he said he often has impressions come to him as to what he should speak on for the next General Conference as he is sitting quietly in General Conference.  Elder Mecham commented that none of us has any idea what is going to be happening in the world six months from now, but Heavenly Father knows, and he sees that his chosen leaders are inspired to give us the counsel we will need at that time.  What a testimony of our Heavenly Father's love for us, his children!

Not Yet --

I've been out on Craig's List trying to find us another apartment.  We actually really like our townhouse apartment, but the neighborhood is less than desirable.  We have some neighbors who are not only very loud, but they fight a lot.  I have heard the "f" word more these last couple weeks than the rest of my entire life.  I'm tired of it, so I've been seriously searching for another apartment. Plus, we are now attending church in Ventura in addition to meeting with an investigator nearly every day up there, so we are really putting the miles on our car.  Although it's not far away -- probably about 10 miles -- all that going back and forth surely does add up.  Besides, the mission does want us to eventually (before we leave in a year) get an apartment that's all on one level.  And I'm holding out for a washer and dryer -- at least hookups within the apartment.  I honestly don't care about a dishwasher, but a washer and dryer -- ah, that would be so nice!

Yesterday I thought I'd found the perfect apartment. It advertised as having a garage, washer and dryer, and a dishwasher, located in a quiet neighborhood.  I was excited!  The pictures online made it look desirable.  But alas, the owner would not set up/work with a corporate account, which is what we have to do -- the church pays for the apartment, not the actual occupants.  The realtor was all for it but could not convince the owner to do it.  So we figure there must be something even better out there for us, right?  The realtor said she will keep us in mind and call if anything fitting our needs becomes available, because she has rented to the church before and thinks it's a good set up for a rental.  She says she often gets 30-day-notice calls the first of the month. 

Thankfully, last night was a quiet night in our neighborhood. 

Charles C.

Oh, did I mention that Elder Scadlock, one of the new elders that Elder Mecham and I picked up at LAX a couple weeks ago, is related to me?  He is a descendant of Charles C. Rich too!  He is from the sixth wife, Harriet Sargent.  We also have an Elder Rich in our mission who is also from the sixth wife.  Our family comes from his third wife, Mary Ann Phelps.  Elder Scadlock is from Utah and Elder Rich is from Mississippi. 

I wonder how many descendants Charles C. now has? 

Office Happenings

Monday is a blur.  I was taking cold meds and was admittedly in a fog.  No more meds since then, and I feel a TON better.  (Thank you, Heavenly Father, for a quick recovery!)  Now just an annoying cough. 

Tuesday we received emails informing of 14 new missionaries!  Wow - That's the most received on one day that's come in since I've been here.  Yay - work to do!  Boo - the church application we use did not include their pictures - which we really need! First time that has happened!  Anyway, we are waiting for them to get that glitch fixed.  Of course, we have been able to get many things done.

One missionary from Rochester, New York, one from Arizona, and one from Florida.  Several from Idaho and Utah.  Some coming in November, some in January and a couple in February.  We LOVE getting new missionaries!  (One new elder is from Ammon, Idaho, and Elder Mecham's chiropractor, Dr. Mayo, knows him.  Dr. Mayo has been a bishop in Ammon.  We emailed and asked him if he knew the elder.  He emailed back, "Of course I know him!  There are only 10 people in Ammon - how could I NOT know him?"  Haha!

Ordering missionary supplies from SLC can sometimes be frustrating.  Sister Blue has had her share of frustrations previously.  So I've made up an order form that I fill out and fax.  Last shipment, we got everything as ordered.  No problem.  Today (Thursday) we received one box of our order, not too unusual to receive only one box -- the others we figured would be here tomorrow.  Oddly, only Spanish items were in the box.  Again -- just figured everything else would arrive soon.  However, we had ordered 6 pkgs (600) Progress Records in Spanish.  And that's exactly how I had it on the order form -- 6 pkgs (600).  In our shipment were 6 single forms.   Hmmm, I wonder what mission anywhere in the world would send in an order of only 6 solitary forms.  I WAS just going to wait until the rest of our order arrived to see if they made the same mistake for the English Progress Records and also the Teaching Records, of which we also ordered 600.  But I decided to call and check.  I'm glad I did, because I learned that NONE of the English language supplies made it into our order.  Yikes!  Now, mind you, the order I send has everything neatly arranged in a table, English items first with Spanish items in the next column, all with appropriate stock numbers.  All on one page.  This is because they have really messed up on the orders in the past, so I wanted it to be as crystal clear as possible.  I'm still dumbfounded -- SIX single solitary forms!  Crazy, huh?  It would be interesting to see what the process is at the other end.   

Shawntele

Last Tuesday (when Ryan and Lisa were here), we got a call from the traveling elders.  They are working with Shawntele, an investigator.  They asked if we could attend a meeting with them and her that evening.  Of course, we said yes - after all, we ARE on a mission and we are here to do whatever we can!  So we went, while Ry and Lisa packed up for their trip home.

Shawntele has had all the discussions over a period of quite some time.  She is now working at overcoming one last habit - smoking!  She wants very badly to quit - so that is more than half the battle right there.  Today (Sunday) everyone was hoping it was going to be her first day to be cigarette free!  Go Shawntele!  She's had several days now with just one cigarette, so she is making progress.  She has already overcome several other addicting habits, including cocaine and heroine (she's been clean for three years!) - she has to now take this last leap of faith and "let go" and let the Atonement work in her. 

Well, we ended up meeting with her (because the traveling elders were going to be traveling) Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday she had a conflict, and Saturday we were sick - and the elders were back.  They said their meeting Saturday went super good.  Her 13 year old daughter was there, and Shawntele was actually teaching her daughter how to pray!  Awesome.  We are hoping to have a double baptism of mother and daughter in four weeks.  Shawntele has to be smoke free for three weeks before she can be baptized.

Mornings are hard for her - she craves a cigarette when she first wakes up, so I have been calling her each morning to encourage her.  (She never answers, but I leave her a little pep-talk message.)  

She has commented how interesting it is that, now she's investigating the "Mormon" church, she has had long lost "friends" come to her, telling her how concerned they are about her eternal salvation.  Where were they when she really needed them and her salvation really was in jeopardy?!

The traveling elders are going to be gone again this week (Mon - Thurs), so we will be meeting with her during the week.  And evidently Shawntele does not feel comfortable going to Relief Society (for whatever reason), so now, coming to the weekly meetings with us, will be a random R.S. sister.  Not sure how this is going to work, but I guess we'll see.  Looks like both Shawntele and I will become acquainted with these sisters.  One thing I do know, our Relief Society attendance is very small. 

So -- we have a daily meeting with Shawntele, plus a couple other visits we will be making this week in our ward.  They have really put us to work!  Hopefully we can make a difference in some lives  :-)

(My head's a little foggy due to the cold medicine I'm taking.  I hope this isn't too rambly and makes sense :)

Summer Colds and Joseph

I HATE summer colds.  Both Elder Mecham and I have been whammied with a nasty cold/flu/sinus bug!  Yuck.  He actually went to the office Thursday and Friday with his (I don't know how he functioned).  It hit me Friday evening. 

So today, we got ready for church and both attended Ventura 2nd Ward, where President and Sister Castro's son, Joseph, was speaking prior to his mission departure Wednesday.  He gave a wonderful talk and already has a powerful testimony of the restoration and Joseph Smith and his Savior.  Glad we could make it.  We have watched Joseph as he's helped at the Mission Home for various events and his sweet and kind spirit.  He will be an awesome missionary!

But then, Elder Mecham drove me home and I've been in bed all afternoon (until I decided I was awake enough to get some blogging done :)

Tomorrow will be another day - I'm sure I will feel much better tomorrow :)

So frustrating to not be able to even sing the hymns in the meeting, let alone attend choir practice (it would have been for the first time) and sing with them today in our ward.  Sigh.  Next week.

And to be there for Shawntele and her daughter.  I haven't forgotten that I promised more on Shawntele.

Apartment Carpets

Regarding carpets, I have to tell this little story. Lots of the carpets in the mission need to be cleaned. They have had missionaries living in those apartments for many years, with NO carpet cleaning. The mission used to own some carpet cleaners. Don't know how old they were, but they just didn't do the job. Agreed -- some missionaries don't know how to clean up a spill, either :(

We were inspecting a four-man apartment in Simi Valley a while back, and the carpet was just gross. (Elder Mecham said I should see a couple of others in the mission - Egad! How could they have been worse?!) The elders in this place in Simi said they had been over the carpet three times with the mission cleaner -- they really had tried. Well, Elder Mecham has hired a professional carpet cleaner to clean carpets in the mission. Yay! Of course, the mission cannot afford to have them all cleaned at once, but will spread it out over time. The place in Simi was high on the list and was cleaned. One of the elders from that apartment happened to call the office about some other matter, and I asked him how the carpet was. His reply? "The quality of my life has increased exponentially since the carpet was cleaned!" I told him the quality of my life had also increased exponentially just knowing their carpet had been cleaned!  Seriously - it has!!

Oh, and the four-man is now a two-man -- two of the elders are in a newly found apartment. The mission is moving in that direction - (doing away with four-man apartments). Elder Mecham is in the process of getting two new apartments up the coast and has already "split up" three four-man apartments. Go Elder Mecham!  [More lining up and moving fridges and furniture :]

Traveling Missionaries

Last transfer, we had only one departing missionary, Sister Pontavietongo (middle).  She stayed the night prior to her departure with the traveling sisters, Sister Lillywhite and Sister Melendez.  This picture was taken at one of the dinner tables at the church, where the departing missionaries enjoyed a ham dinner fixed by Sister Blue and me. We don't aways do this (twice now since my arrival), but have been asked to do it again next departure.  Since we've done ham dinners both times, we will probably switch up the menu next time :)

Our mission has one set of traveling sisters -- they can travel anywhere in the mission and do exchanges with the other sisters, as is seen necessary.

Between the last two transfers, President had Elder Mecham arrange for an additional apartment in Ventura.  We thought that it would be for the zone leaders (who were moving out of a member's home, anyway).  We were surprised to learn that, no, it was to be for two Traveling/Training Elders - newly created positions in the mission.  They, too, can travel around the mission as necessary.  So far, they have been gone a lot, doing exchanges, and helping with the training of new zone leaders (we had a lot of new ZLs this transfer).   The zone leaders were moved into an empty apartment we had.  We had the carpet professionally cleaned (SOOO needed).  When they moved in, they cleaned that apartment up until it was spotless!  They were proud of it, and we were proud of them :)

Visit of Ryan's Family

I am way behind - good grief - where does the time get off to ?  We had our first house guests since we arrived to California five months ago.  We were very excited to have Ryan and Lisa, Rebecca, Caroline, and Kennedy come stay for a few days.  We enjoyed their visit immensely!  They arrived late Friday night - actually early Saturday morning, around 1 a.m.  After a rather short night's rest, Randy took the girls to the car wash and returned with a box of donuts from one of the many local donut shops.  Later that morning and into the afternoon we walked the promenade in Ventura.  It was very breezy.  We walked out onto the pier, played at the playground, and  experienced an outdoor market with multiple booths of wares and food.  It was fun to look, but we didn't buy anything.  Lots of people!  We walked and walked and walked and walked :)  Then we enjoyed dinner at Yolanda's (a great Mexican restaurant).  Where was my camera?  In the car!  Dang!

Sunday Ryan's family went for a walk at the channels while Randy and I did Sunday morning things and dinner prep.  Church was interesting - especially Gospel Doctrine class, where we were introduced to Shawntele (more on her later).  Kennedy fell asleep on the drive to church and slept through the entire block.  We drove to the mission cross overlooking Ventura - a great view. 

Cool tree in our church parking lot!

 

Dinner was Santa Fe Chicken (the recipe is on the family recipe blog), which turned out super good!  (Thanks for the idea, Tawn.)  Everyone loved it. 

Monday we went to breakfast at Mrs. Olsen's Coffee Hut, touted as one of the best places in the country to eat breakfast.  It was fantastic!  It is very popular, so we were lucky to get right in. 

Tri-tip Quesadilla

Breakfast Burrito

We visited the office, then spent the day at Oxnard State Park.  It was a lovely day.  We had the beach to ourselves, pretty much, and the breeze was perfect for flying kites.

I asked Kennedy if she was making a sand angel.  "No - Kennedy!"  Me: It's beautiful."  Kennedy: Do YOU want to try it Grandma?  You will LOVE it!"

Ryan and Rebecca riding the waves

We literally flew kites for hours!

 

Concentrated effort to untangle some extra kite string -

turned into this later on :(  Owie!

(I had to plead to get a picture of this)

Tuesday Elder Mecham had some office duties to attend to, but he and I joined the others at Hobson County Park - up the coast a short ways, and played on the beach some more.  You can't come to Oxnard and not experience the great salad bar and pizza at Topper's.  The kids especially liked the amazing soda dispenser, where you have multiple flavors and numerous options of sodas to drink. 

One evening, Kennedy told her grandpa that she was going to buy him some glasses at the library and paint them black for him, so he could see in the dark :)  She was delightful and good in spite of not getting her regular naps.

We spent each evening playing games. We were sad to say good bye Wednesday morning, but so grateful that they were able to come and spend time with us! 

Arriving Missionaries

Today (Monday, September 3rd) we get in-coming missionaries. Thirteen of them! We got a call from the airlines this morning saying there "was a significant" delay. So we don't know exactly when they will be getting in. So much for having things planned out specifically :) Who knows just how things will go today.

Okay - it is now Tuesday night. When trying to reroute our 13 missionaries, we were told their airline (Frontier) could not get them all here to Santa Barbara until Wednesday. NOT an option, as we have transfer meeting Tuesday.  They ended up flying Southwest into LAX . In two legs.   Elder Mecham and Elder Blue brought 11 of them in around 4 p.m. (to Ventura), then Elder Mecham and I returned almost immediately to collect the other 2 elders. We arrived back to Ventura around 9:40 p.m.

 



This is the happy group Tuesday morning prior to their Orientation Meeting

 

Awaiting the arrival of the APs with a key to the stake center



 

Moving the luggage into the Stake Center

 

I have a couple more pictures to post, but I just wanted to say that transfer meeting is the best!  It was such a spiritual meeting -- just wish I could bottle it to open and "taste" on a regular basis.  It is not possible to write that sort of feeling down.  It was just an awesome meeting, and I am ever amazed at President and Sister Castro and their sensitivity to the Spirit and ability to teach and inspire.  Loved it!

 

This evening, Sister Blue and I prepared the meal for the departing missionaries.  It turned out good.   (Ham, scalloped potatoes, rolls, peas, corn, salad)  Then we had a wonderful testimony meeting with the departing six elders and one sister.   Great meeting! 

 

Elder Mecham and Elder Blue will transport them to LAX tomorrow morning.  Again, President Castro gave an inspiring message to these departing missionaries.  Again, the Spirit was so very tangible. 

 

Great experiences.  Great day.  Long couple of days.  Very tired.  Going to bed now :)   More later . . . .

Quote of the Week

From President Castro:

“Everybody in this life has their challenges and difficulties. That is part of our mortal test. The reason for some of these trials cannot be readily understood except on the basis of faith and hope because there is often a larger purpose which we do not always understand. Peace comes through hope.”

                          (President James E. Faust, Ensign, Nov. 1999, 59)

“My message to you today, my brothers and sisters, is simply this: the Lord is in control. He knows the end from the beginning. He has given us adequate instruction that, if followed, will see us safely through any crisis. His purposes will be fulfilled, and someday we will understand the eternal reasons for all of these events. Therefore, today we must be careful to not overreact, nor should we be caught up in extreme preparations; but what we must do is keep the commandments of God and never lose hope!”

                          (Elder M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, Nov. 1992, 31)