We went to the English Connect class at the Gary Drive
building. Sisters Woolley and Andrews were teaching. We had four young men in
the class. We discovered that all four of them speak Mixtec or another
dialect. They were from Oaxaca which is Mixtec or Guerrero which is nearby but
with a different dialect. I got to spend time with Alisa She is a
great-grandma with a desire to learn English. Good for all of them. It takes work to learn, How much
courage would it take to move to another country where no one knows your
language? They have to first learn enough Spanish to get work and then learn
English to improve their opportunities. These sisters are so friendly and
capable. It is wonderful how well they are able to connect with people and teach. Sister Andrews on the left reminds me of Lydia. She is as friendly and comfortable with people as Lydia is. Sister Woolley is the one with the gift of tongues. She speaks not only Spanish but Mixtec.
We drove to Camarillo and found a full Relief Society room.
Most of them I hadn’t seen before and some of the regulars were missing.
President and Sister Rodriguez were there. The Stake Presidency was there. One
is a native speaker. He took the lead and asked for a show of hands to show
support for a new branch and new leaders. The outgoing leader and his wife spoke
briefly and all of the incoming and the wife of the President. President
Rodriquez was asked to speak as well. He talked about the opportunity for this
new beginning. We now have a small branch that can grow into a strong tree. It
was a great meeting with lots of good men devoted to the right things and
willing to take the time and effort necessary to invite others to join us and
work together to build Zion.
The new President of the Branch is Pte, Parra. He and his
wife are impressive individuals. Brother Law is 1st counselor. He is a gringo
but went on a Spanish-speaking mission. (His wife doesn’t speak Spanish. Emily
said that she teaches in Primary and that can continue with the current
schedule.) Francisco Rivera is the second counselor. He is Jose’s (Talitha's husband) uncle and
bilingual. And we found out that he is an amazing artist. His wife taught the
class after the setting apart was finished for the three men of the Presidency of the Ponderosa Branch. He stood behind her as she taught
and filled the huge whiteboard with a large number of people of different
abilities and cultures. He started with a very elegant and beautiful couple and
filled in the width of the board with lots of individuals. The lesson was about
the worth of each and every one of the children of God. I loved watching him as
he seemingly effortlessly filled the board with individuals. It was a good way
to have the audience focused on the teacher and her subject. At the end, he
added Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ above and behind; looking lovingly down on all of their family members. Francisco Rivera is below.
7:00 Sacrament Meeting at the Gary building – We haven’t attended one of these and thought we should go and see how it works. I was surprised to see 30 people or more. There were the wives of the leaders and 4 sets of missionaries. But there were members and investigators. So happy to see people who don’t have Sunday day off from work and are willing to come after they leave work. They did have three short talks and we sang the hymns and of course the Sacrament. It was wonderful that there are people willing to come and people willing to provide the opportunity for them to participate in taking the Sacrament and learning more about the Gospel.
We went to the Soto’s home again for another FHE. They are
great. They invited Jorge and Stella Verano. We learned a
lot about each other. So interesting. She is from Uruguay and he is from
Colombia. They met in Hollywood and lived and worked in North Hollywood. He printed
newspapers for La Opinion and went from the old style to the new digital
methods in printing. He is a smart guy and spent a lot of years with them. It is the
largest Spanish-language newspaper in the USA and the second most read in LA.
(after the LA Times). Hermana Verano has been a stake RS President. They are
both really interesting people. They know the stake center that I grew up in
and where my father was Stake President. It is now a Spanish Stake and has been
for many years. Lewis was in charge of the lesson. He chose to play the video
of Elder Bednar explaining that we should not doubt inspiration from the Holy
Ghost. He tells the story of the 20 Marks he gave to Elder Packer when he and
his wife were traveling through East Germany. Sister Verano brought a lemon
bunt cake. It was delicious. They served it topped with strawberries and had
whipped cream available. They do Family Home Evening very well.
I needed help getting this blog going. David and Jenny stopped by after work and she fixed a few things and gave me confidence that I just need to make it happen. Thank you Jenny!
Emily met us at Presto Pasta in Ventura. It is very close to
her work and we really enjoyed our lunch. Emily and Lewis got Carbonara and I
had Puttanesca. I really enjoyed mine. I added vegetables. They loved theirs as
well. Emily is calm about her surgery tomorrow. Not looking forward to the
surgery and recovery but is grateful that it can rid her of the cancer. To my
surprise, Mary Morgan called me. I just talked with her for a few minutes and
will call her back. I am so glad that she called me. She had so many adverse
things happen that she has only been doing the necessary this year. She said it
was her turn to call me and she didn’t want to let it go forever. I’m glad she
wants to continue talking with me.
English Connect – We went to join the class and found the Elders instead of the Hermanas with only one student. Sisters Woolley
and Andrews peeked in and asked me to come with them. They were teaching
Edwardo in another room and needed a chaperone. Turned out that he had been
asked to prepare a talk for Sacrament Meeting and they were trying to help him
understand how to put together a talk. He was given 15 minutes. Lewis and I
only got 8 minutes each for which I am grateful. So together they decided that
it would be good to begin by telling everyone some things about his life and
family so people would get to know him better. Then he was going to tell a
personal story about his conversion. He decided to choose a doctrine he
treasures and would describe his understanding. Then he would issue an
invitation to the congregation and promise them blessings if they accepted his
invitation and acted on it. He has a strong desire to be a missionary himself
and so they taught him their pattern of invitations. I’m sure it will be a
great talk. I need to work on mine. Lewis
has written his talk, of course. He doesn’t understand how to procrastinate. I am a
master.
Emily told us not to go to the hospital. Edgar would be there. He let us know when the surgery began. He also knew when
the first surgeon was finished and all was well. The second surgeon would do
the rest of what needed to be done today. He had a long morning.
After our walk and breakfast, we went to the Family History
Library in Ventura. It has a Family Search sign. It is large and spacious and
the two women there were wonderful. We went because Lewis had seen on Just
Serve that they needed volunteers to work on a scanning project. Turns out that
the woman who has been in charge for years has just been released. She said
there was a big box of FH papers that had been sitting tucked away for years.
Salt Lake will no longer accept materials from individuals. This box was
brought by a member long ago. She found it in an old house and she had no
knowledge of the people mentioned in the papers. We took a letter out and found
it had been written in 1941 and mentioned several people. Lewis was being his
crusty old self and was not enthused about the worth of the box which would not
be a short project. The woman was great with Lewis and challenged him to see if
he could find anyone by that name in Family Search. She sat down with us. There
was no one else who needed help. We spent two hours and found the man we
started with along with two wives and three marriages. She helped us find a
way to begin a new tree that does not contain any additional people. Lewis
entered the data we found on census records, marriage records, divorce records, and Eric’s death which was by suicide. This must be an interesting story. He
married one woman twice and the divorce papers said it was because of “cruel
and inhumane treatment.” We got it started, learned a lot about finding records
and maybe we will have time to go back and find some more clues. The woman (I
should have asked her name but I probably wouldn’t have remembered it.) said
that now that she is not the person in charge, she will have time to work
on this family. We don’t know who they belong to yet but there will be names
and temple ordinances that can be done for some of these individuals beginning
now.
Edgar said that both surgeries went well and he needed to
wait until Emily woke up before he could visit her. When he could go to her
room he was happy to find her in good spirits and feeling no pain and no
nausea. He let us know and we went to the hospital to see her. I had been
communicating with the sisters all day and relayed Edgar’s texts. It was so
wonderful to see Emily sitting up in bed and saying that she felt just fine.
I’m sure that she was still under the meds for the surgery but at least she is
in good shape right now. She is happy and surprised that she just has one
incision and thrilled that she doesn’t have to endure the nausea she
experienced the last two times. They said she would stay overnight. I sent a
photo to the sisters and then Emily sent them a more flattering one. She looks
great!
We had a visit with Yayo and the Hermanas Woolley and
Andrews. I could hear and understand him outside because it was quiet. He
always comes out to welcome his guests and we arrived before the sisters. But
inside he has several fans blowing and I can’t hear him. Lewis is completely
out of the loop. He has parakeets that make noise as well. But we enjoy the
visits. He is a remarkable man who has undergone incredible medical feats. He
was run over by a car and his brain was badly damaged. Years later he had a
heart transplant. But he is living independently and having a real life.
Amazing.
More texts and Marco Polos. Even the Pettingill kids are
concerned and still sending love and prayers.
Emily did go home mid-day. She texted that she was going to
take a nap. I texted right back and asked her if she wanted us to come after
her nap or come and hang out with the kids.
We went to visit mid-afternoon. She had awakened and was
feeling fine. She has a lot of drainage to dump. She doesn’t feel normal but is
not plagued with pain. She must remind herself to not use her left arm. We
talked in her bedroom. Later Ella bought a book that she needed to finish soon for school.
We took turns reading. I was enjoying the book. I’ll have to follow up and find
out what happens to the boy and his little sister who are the only survivors of
a wagon train heading for Oregon and was attacked by Indians. People stopped by
to bring things. The first was a beautiful vase of flowers made by one of the
Jenkins girls. Iris and Aired brought soup. Then two women from the ward also
brought meals. The bountiful blessings were pouring in. And the food is good.
The casserole went into the freezer. They have eaten it before and like it. It
is a lasagna that uses strips of zucchini instead of noodles for a lasagna.
Perfect for gluten-free people like Emmett. We had some soup with the family
and they had they also had another beautifully packaged dinner. There were
separate brown paper containers with several individual boxes of vegetables and
one of steak strips. I don’t know what else. I didn’t see all of the items.
Evan was impressed.
We went to the chapel and intended to join the English
class. Lots of members came for a meeting but we didn’t see the
missionaries. No one was there last week. Maybe they know there are no students
tonight. We went home.
We went to Emily’s house at about noon. She is still feeling well. She took one ibuprofen last night before sleeping but hasn’t taken anything for pain today. Evan is in school but the two younger kids didn’t have school all week. It is conference week for the teachers or something. We read a lot more of Ella’s story about King David and Queen of Sheba. Lots more difficulties on their journey to catch up with their parents. I need to find out tomorrow how it all turns out. Edgar brought home some Persian food. I had some rice with green herbs in it. Very good. We also ate some of the vegetables from last night. I ate a molasses cookie Emily had and it was delicious. Lewis ate several. Evan is impatiently waiting for his truck. He went halves with his parents and is having it painted. Emmett is working on Scout merit badges and will participate in selling poinsettias this Christmas. Sounds like half of the proceeds go to charitable organizations and he gets to keep ½ of the cost as well. We did the laundry and the dishes. Tomorrow is Emily’s birthday.
At 7:00 we went to the baptism of Bonito Ortega Solano. We
have seen him at church and at the English class. I was impressed by how many
people came to the baptism. There were more than 25 people there and Elvis was
there as well. I have been worried that I haven’t seen him in two weeks. Good
talks and a tender welcome from the Elder’s Quorum president. Edwardo was there
and we offered to take time to do baptisms at the temple when he had a day off.
We will have to figure out when it is open.
Saturday, October 28, 2023
Lovely Marco Polo from Christie and all the girls wished Emily a Happy Birthday. We went to Walmart on the way to Emily’s. We bought an angel cake and fresh strawberries. Emily has whipped cream and requested that for her birthday. Lewis needed hair gel and I wanted to find Soy Curls but no luck there. Lewis needed apple fritters as well.
We had a pleasant day with Emily and her family. Ella, Emily, and I read a lot of Matilda by Roald Dahl. Ella caught me up on the conclusion of the previous book. I was glad to hear that it ended happily.
Sister Soto sent us this text: Good Morning Elder and Sister Pettingill,
I just wanted to thank you for your support in attending the FHEs in our home.
Know that because of your celestial sweet spirits, you are making a difference
in our lives. I just wanted to share this from Sister Verano. “Thank you for
inviting us, my husband was really happy and enjoyed it very much, he said he
felt true friendship and not pressuring or judging because of his different
thinking of church right now. He felt he could be himself. I think it’s a
beginning to a big change of heart!! Thank you.” So kind of Sister Soto to care
for her fellow ward members and we are grateful to learn more about these great
people.
We went to the El Camino Real ward. The speakers were young people from the ward who participated in the Worldwide 24-hour Testimony Meeting that President Nelson and the YM and YW organized. At 7:00 in their time zone all around the world, YM and YW participated in sharing their testimonies. Also, Edwardo spoke and did a very good job. The second hour was on disaster preparation. It sounds more dramatic in Spanish than Emergency preparation. Lots of comments and some people are definitely on board and willing to help others to understand and do what is recommended by the church and the government. Since we believe in the Second Coming we should be actively preparing for that and it includes being prepared for natural disasters and lots of out-of-the-norm challenges.
The Ponderosa Branch had all of the Presidency sitting in
front except from Brother Law. One of their grandchildren is in a hospital in
Utah and is very sick. President Parra had provided a microphone that made it
much easier to hear. The Mackays - Jennifer (Petit) and her husband spoke and
they gave excellent talks! She talked about having a testimony of the church as
well as of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She talked about all the ways that
participating in church and knowing, loving, and serving our fellow church
members is essential and beneficial to all of us. Her husband talked about his
testimony. He said that as a little boy he felt that the songs in Primary were
true. His parents taught him well. When he asked if the BofM was true he got
the message that you already know it is true. But when he asked if Heavenly
Father is really there and what do You think of me, he got a response that let
him know that the Holy Ghost was involved and Heavenly Father loved him
individually. Pte. Parra did the translating and did it very well. We all need
to take those steps and feel the reassuring answers. Sunday School was taught
by Brother Zurcher. He always does a good job and people are willing to comment
and share their perspectives. I met a woman who is a friend of Sister Parra. I
think they are neighbors. She was converted about 10 years ago and has an
interest in learning Spanish. She attends the Santa Rosa ward and plans on
coming to visit. Remember her name - it is Sarah. The attendance was up with
several young ladies I hadn’t seen before. I hope it gets larger and larger. Lewis
asked if the membership of the branch had been compiled yet. He said that it
will take some more time. We stopped at Emily’s and she said that she was still
feeling good and didn’t need anything yet.
I wasn’t feeling great. The Santa Annas are blowing. It woke
me up a couple of times during the night and tried to blow us over when we were
outside. Probably allergies. We listened to Talking Scripture. I worked on my
journal and wrote things that I didn’t save properly. Drat! Wrote it again. Together we made a
big vegetable soup. We went to bed early.
We were in Camarillo when the wards had their Halloween Trunk or Treat. It is a big draw here and the Arellano kids enjoyed the evening. Evan decorated his truck and it was popular. This is what they looked like at the end of the evening:
Did you recognize Evan in the above photo?
We went to the Gary building to sub for the missionaries. They have an earlier curfew because of Halloween. We were there but we were alone except for the Spanish ward temple and family history leader. He was stood up also. Halloween and all the candy must have been the dominating thoughts for those who usually come to English class or to the FH center.
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