New Assignments and Sisters

WE LOVE THE YOUNG MISSIONARIES!!

Elder Jones and Elder Haws, Zone 4's ZLs

Our current APs, Elders Prete, Cary, and Schiess

Sister Romero and Sister Johnson

We took the Sisters to lunch on Friday and enjoyed a nice visit with them.  Sadly, we got a call from President Castro Sunday night asking us to take Sister Johnson to the airport the following morning.  She was returning home with some medical issues.  We picked her up at 4:30 a.m. and drove to the Santa Barbara Airport.  Although we did not ask, on the way she told us she has bad headaches.  In fact, she was surprised she was approved to serve.  In the MTC, she ran out of Excedrin, which she used to manage her headaches and was unable to get Excedrin there.  Since then she has not been able to get them under control.  She was in good spirits when we left her.  She is a bit older and more mature than some.  Sad to see her go.  She was instrumental in two baptisms in "our" zone., and her Spanish was coming along nicely.  Hopefully she will be able to return in a while, but I would not be surprised if she decides not to.

Sister Romero is from Honduras.  She is a sweetheart.  She has been in this area most of the time we have. 

Returning Home

Sister Tippetts, one of our traveling sisters.  Sister Randall.

Sister Tippetts, Sister Randall, Elder Bashein, Elder Udy, Elder Griffin,

Elder Lyons, Elder Christensen

Elder and Sister Blue with Elder Udy

We will miss Elder Udy.

He was a great AP!

He played the piano at many meetings and had a nice touch

One of our ZLs, Elder Griffin

Elders Udy, Lyons, Griffin, Bashein, Christensen

Sisters Randall, Tippetts

Friends in Oxnard 2nd Ward

Mara Jansens and her daughter.  Mara had brain surgery shortly after we arrived here.  She is doing very well.  We found out last Sunday that she is moving to Texas.  She is a convert and just recently "got her life together."  We have appreciated her insight into facets of the gospel.

Jasmine McHenry.  We sang "Called To Serve" together.  She is one of the best teachers I have ever known.  She teaches with the Spirit and is so insightful.

Sister Katherine Cjianovich with her daughter, Jas.

Sister Cjianovich is a wonderful Relief Society President! 

Logan, Tammy and Samantha Sweet. 

(We need to go to their house to get the whole family)

David Katayama.  Convert of 2 years (or so). 

He loves the missionaries :)

SWEET Day!

Transfer day today.  What a sweet day it was!  The farewell testimony meeting at the Mission Home tonight was especially special.  The spirit was very tangible.  Loving these experiences!

P-Day. Elders in "our" zone. Day before transfers.

ZONE 4.  P-Day. Next day, all but two companionships were changed. (Sisters are the only ones in real P-Day attire.)  They gathered to write in journals before transfers. 
LOVE these elders and sisters!!!
Back row: Elders Rapier, Snelson, Hawley, Warren, Stratton, Wenz, McCracken, Rich,
Sisters Johnson and Romero
Front row: Elders Bernards, Crandall, Lentz, Buckmiller, Haws, Kidd

After transfer meeting on Tuesday.

New Assignment

Since the Oxnard 4th Ward was "assimilated" into the Oxnard 2nd, both the Blues and we have been assigned to this ward.  It has been fun, but will not last.  The Blues will stay in the Oxnard 2nd Ward, and Elder Mecham and I have been asked to attend the Ventura 1st Ward.  Today was probably our last Sunday in Oxnard.  Bishop Sweet was not happy to hear this.  And his sweet wife (pun is just there, what can I do about it?), Tammy, was really sad. I told her that Elder and Sister Blue are wonderful, and she said, "But he doesn't play the flute and make brownies."  Randy had given their son, Landon, some tips on how to play his flute.  Landon is very gifted and already plays the viola and cello and is now learning the flute.  When we went to their house for dinner a couple weeks ago, I took brownies and Randy helped Landon.  Just as we are adjusting to the new 2nd ward and getting close to some of them, we will be off to make new friends - again. We are looking forward to it.  It will all be good.  But we will miss the lovely people we have enjoyed in 2nd ward :) 

This is Sister Kathy Richards.  We have been giving her a ride to church every Sunday lately.  She is a convert of 7 years and a widow.  In some ways she reminds me of Grandma Dora, although you can see that she isn't as old as Grandma.  Due to health issues, she had to give up driving, and giving up that independence was really hard on her.  I remember how hard it was on Grandma, too.  Kathy has a great sense of humor and is a lovely person.  She is educated (another similarity to Grandma).  She has a daughter who is a Methodist minister in Los Angeles.  I am going to miss Sister Richards.

I learned today that Jasmine McHenry is the daughter to our Relief Society President, Katherine Cvijanovich.  I was stunned.  We had no idea whatsoever.  We had seen Jas's kids with the Cvijanoviches and just assumed they were very nice neighbors to be helping out with the kids.  Both these ladies are incredible and I love them both!  Katherine is Hawaiian, and I'm not sure of what ethnicity Jas's father was, but I think she mentioned that he was Serbian.  At any rate, she doesn't look like her mother.  By the way, Called to Serve went very well today in church :)

Saturday afternoon we attended two baptism services.  One was for the daughter of one of "my" keyboarding students.  She is eleven years old.  The room was packed! The other was a family (minus the father) - a mother with twin ten year old sons and an eight year old daughter.  Sweet!

Elder Mecham got a call last night from some elders whose apartment was broken into while they were at a supper appointment.  So far, all they have noticed missing is a $40 watch and some teeny speakers. (But then, how many valuables do missionaries have in the first place?!)  It just makes me angry that the elders get targeted for such things.  Someone took off a screen and went in through an open window.  There was a similar break in up in Bakersfield not long ago.  I think the issue of making sure to leave the apartment more secure will be a topic for all the missionaries very soon.  A small dowel in the window could take care of this.  Just want our missionaries to be safe!  Elder Mecham pointed out that some people see these young missionaries who are always dressed nice in a suit and tie and have a car, and they think they must have money.  Wrong!  Only what will fit into a couple of suitcases, right?

Almonds and Strawberries

I cannot believe how fast the time is flying by.  Each week comes and goes so quickly it is almost unreal.  Highlights of this past week include:

Tuesday evening we had dinner at Jasmine McHenry's.  Elder McCracken and Elder Stratton were there too.  We learned that she does have a current husband.  He is not a member, but it is a man she has known for many years.  He works on an island and is gone all week.  The father of her children, to whom she was married in the temple, "made some other choices."  Not an easy situation, especially for the kids.  We had a nice dinner and visit.

Sister McHenry organizes a "Musical Sunday" every so often.  We have one tomorrow.  The theme this time is missionary work.  For one of the musical numbers she and I are going to sing "Called To Serve" acapella. She asked me to do this when we were at dinner Tuesday night, so before we left her house, we ran through one verse of it and that was the extent of our practicing. Yikes - hope it will be okay.  We certainly wouldn't want to over-rehearse - haha.  sister McHenry has a beautiful voice and I love to hear her sing.  (I think we sounded pretty good together :)

Wednesday the Blues and we went to Bakersfield and Delano.  It has been scorching hot there, but we picked a great day to go -- only in the 80s and very nice.  Elder Mecham and Elder Blue needed to check on a new apartment that four elders are living in and try to find another, so that there will only be two elder per apartment.  We found some really nice looking apartments and for a great price too; however, they were government housing and the Church cannot rent those.  Darn.  So no immediate fix for the four elders sharing.  Actually their apartment is good sized, BUT only one bathroom.  Not an ideal situation for sure.  So the apartment hunt in Delano goes on.

Between Delano and Bakersfield there is a HUGE almond farm owned and basically run by the church.  We stopped there and had a tour of the facility by one of the head guys.  I had no idea the of the process from the tree to the grocery store!  Holy cow - no wonder they are so pricey!  It was so interesting.  When the nuts are ready, they are dropped from the tree by shakers, which gently shake the tree.  The nuts fall and are left to completely dry.  After three or four days, they are swept into long piles between the trees and then gathered onto trucks.  (I would like to see that process).  They are dumped and then conveyed to several cleaning racks.  The hulls are mechanically removed, then the nuts are screened for any imperfections.  These nuts, which are in the shell (like you buy at Christmas time and shell yourself) are shipped overseas to many countries - they like  them in the shell.  The rest of the almonds then go through more processing where the shells are cracked and discarded and the kernel is kept, sorted, and eventually boxed in 50 pound boxes.  Bajillions of almonds!  Right now the almond trees are almost ready to be harvested - in about three weeks.  I would love to go watch!  I wish we would have asked how many acres there are on the farm -- because it goes for miles and miles.  We bought one 50 pound box of almonds to share with the Blues! $100.  Not kidding - what a deal!  And they are so fresh and good!

Then we met the new senior couple serving in Bakersfield (member and leadership support), the Harmers.  They are from Meridian, Idaho.  We met them at the Mexicali Restaurant in Bakersfield.  Very nice couple who jumped right in to help with apartment inspections in the three Bakersfield zones.  Elder Harmer is retired military - was an audiologist.  We will see them again next month at the zone conferences in Bakersfield.

Nice day for sure, but it had a sad ending.  Our APs were in a car accident.  Luckily no one was hurt, and that is for sure the important thing!  Unfortunately Elder Prete was driving and because the damage to the car was extensive (at least $8000), he will no longer be able to drive for the rest of his mission.  He is taking this pretty hard, poor guy!  He is questioning his worthiness to continue as an AP.  He is such  a great missionary!  President wants him to continue, and hopefully Elder Prete will be able to set this accident aside and continue doing the great work he has been doing as President's assistant.  Elder Udy goes home next Wednesday - too bad he wasn't the driver. We love our APs!  Of course, these are the only two we've had since we arrived in April, and they are awesome!  President Castro will text us tomorrow night around 10:30 to inform us who will replace Elder Udy.

The last few weeks they have been preparing acres and acres to be planted with strawberries.  It has been interesting to watch.  You cannot believe how many times they go over the ground with various equipment.  Just when you think they must be done, you see them going over it again.  Then they lay out watering pipes and water it really good, then remove the watering pipes. Then they make deep furrows with a flat surface between.  White plastic is  laid on top of the long flat rows.  Much of the land has been left at this point for several weeks; I'm not sure why unless they get all the little starts at the same time.  Then a machine comes along and pokes holes in the plastic.  The strawberries are hand planted in each of the little holes in the plastic.  Then the water pipes are laid again to water them.  When we first arrived here, the white plastic was completely covered with strawberry plants, and the pickers were in the fields every day.  Now the workers help with all this other process.  I'll keep an eye on how long it takes the plants to get to the producing stage again.  We drive by these fields every day on our way to the office.

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!