We went to Winco and bought a lot of bananas. We are going
to make a lot of banana bread because we found a large supply of small aluminum
loaf pans in the back of a cupboard. People will be happy that we came if they like banana bread. We will have to wait a while. All of the bananas are pretty green. I
read the new Come Follow Me manual and we are keeping up on our BofM reading.
It was a very pleasant day. I also made a small flyer to advertise our English
Connect classes every Tuesday and Thursday in Camarillo. Lewis gave me a sketch
to copy and he left out Jesus Christ in the name of the church. Good thing he
has me proofread.
We went to the office to cut apart our flyers. We have copied a few of the pages of the English Connect lesson for the students who come tonight. We visited all of the laundromats in Camarillo and posted where we could. The one closest to Emily’s home was full of Spanish-speaking families. We talked to one man who introduced us to another one. They were excited about the opportunity to go to a free class. The man who owns the tiny grocery store on Glenn St said we could tape one of our little posters on his window. We couldn’t find Diego but we will look again. Juan Carlos did come to the class but he was the only one. Where are our newest friends at the laundromat? Maybe on Thursday, they will come. The missionaries were happy to have copies of the lessons. Carlos does pronounce English quite well. He wants to improve and takes good notes. I hope he will continue to come.
We got a call at about 8:00 AM asking if we could come and
help with the leadership meeting this morning in the Mission Office. We could
and we did. They had about 80 missionaries meeting at 10:00 and it included
lunch. Sister Nixon is the food person and she had purchased all of the food
and got up at 5:00 to begin baking the lasagna. She purchased lots of frozen
lasagna and baked them all and put them back in the oven to reheat before
serving. There was also a frozen combination of chicken, potatoes, broccoli,
and onion that she baked for any who are gluten-free. She also made three very
large bowls of salad. She usually makes two Ceaser Salads and one just lettuce.
She has tomatoes to add and lots of choices of dressing. She predicted that
they would eat all of the salad and she was right. Good for missionaries to eat
green leafy things. Lots of garlic bread and 10 purchased pies that just needed
to be thawed. She also had bananas, apples and oranges. They loved the food and
so did we. I skipped the lasagna and just ate salad and fruit. When cleaning up
I did indulge in a sliver of pecan pie. It tasted very good. I had some time
with just Sister Moon and we began to share about ourselves and family. I would
like to have more time with her. She is a person I would like to know better but we rarely have time together. Lewis sat at the reception desk so Sister Nixon could manage the lunch. Sister
Parry took over so Lewis could eat lunch. It was a pleasant day. The elders
went to Yayo’s home tonight instead of the sisters so we didn’t need to go.
Lewis has not been feeling well. Yesterday we did go walking and he made bread but he has a cold and needs to rest. I need to go to church by myself. After all, it isn’t a foreign country. I met with President Parra and the young missionaries before the meetings. They were asked to send Pte. Parra a message each week with the names of the people they are teaching along with something they care about, what lesson was most recently taught and maybe a suggestion of some service the branch could do for them. He wants all of the leaders involved with all of the people interested in the Gospel who might want to become a part of our Ponderosa Branch. He said they would create a new way to chat for this purpose. When I told him that Lewis was home because he was sick, he offered to bring someone and give him a blessing. I told him that we live in Oxnard. That didn’t slow him down. I thanked him but told him that it was just a cold and Lewis was not in need of a blessing for better health. We are invited to Ward Council next week at 10.15 AM. It was Fast Sunday and the members did fill the time. There were more people than usual which is good. Sister Zurcher was sustained as the new Primary president and her daughter-in-law as a counselor. The Sunday School class went well also. Talked with the missionaries about the 12-year-old daughter of Carlos. They said that they have been out of town but are back now. I had a chance to speak with Aldrich Zurcher and told him that the Ramirez family needed their four children to be added to Tools. Lourdes Sanchez, Yolanda, and her children Brian and (Priscilla) Amor were there also. Yolanda and Brian have a new business. They do mobile car washes. We need to call them and give it a try. Talked to Emily briefly after church. Emmett is now an ordained Teacher. He was set apart this morning.
Emily is a new Young Woman. Her class came to kidnap her & take her to breakfast.
Lewis is feeling the same but wants to go out. We did go for a walk. I had my mammogram. We both went and it went pretty quickly. It was uncomfortable, (especially one squeeze!) but it wasn’t a horrible ordeal like Nancy and Leiann experienced. We went to Winco and bought more produce, bulk stuff and toothpicks and a pan scrubber. Then we took mail for Sister Peterson to the mission office and got a letter that contained notice of a recall on our car. Lewis made an appointment to have "whatever it was" checked. We will go on Thursday. Lewis had his blood pressure taken at the Kaiser building. President Rodriguez called and asked us to take a missionary car to Lompoc. We picked it up at the Mission Office and I followed Lewis to Lompoc. We put gas in both cars. It is a beautiful drive. The weather was cool but it was sunny and clear. We could see the ocean some of the time. We both listened to the same story on our individual phones. The drive went well and the missionaries were very happy to receive it. Elder Nixon didn’t know what we were doing so he didn’t give us a card to drive. So, Lewis listened to all of the complaints and wondered if the car would stop functioning. Fortunately, it didn’t. It labeled Lewis an aggressive driver when his rear tire went over the slanted part of the driveway at the gas station. I continually reminded him that he was not authorized to drive the car. We didn't know about the unseen voice that monitors the driving of the missionaries. We stopped at Blaze Pizza because I like it. It was $25 for two pizzas. I did enjoy it. It was a very late lunch and I didn’t eat anything else after that. I haven’t lost any weight since we started our mission. I need to do better.
I had time to watch some videos about improving the family diet by avoiding the worst of the questionable chemicals that are added to almost all prepared things. Buy whole ingredients and learn easy ways to make meals for our families. Tiffany of Don’t Waste the Crumbs gives free content that is sometimes well worth the time. Keeping up with Book of Mormon, Duolingo, Come Follow Me, President Nelson’s book, “The Heart of the Matter” keeps me busy. Reviewed my talk for Sunday in Ponderosa. We went to English Connect and were delighted that we had four students. Three are new and family members. Juan Carlos was back. The quality of the teaching is not excellent but the students were engaged and left with more than they previously understood. We hope it continues to help people.
Rosie’s birthday is today. I had sent her an e-card and she
called. She has a job that is much more relaxing but it pays only ½ of her previous
salary. She is content so far. Lots of
snow and she is not enjoying that. We went back to the mission office to
explain the aggressive driver issue and copy more pages from the English
Connect lesson book. We also got a few fliers to pass out on our new list of
people to contact. The Ponderosa missionaries gave us names in the area book
that had been contacted. We will try to find them and see if they would like to
come to church and/or talk with the missionaries. I made a list we could read
and I’m working on new handouts. Lewis sounds so bad that he can’t talk to
people. I wouldn’t want to invite him in when he has a bad cold. We
went to my dental appointment. They discovered an infection under the tooth
that lost the filling. I will need two new crowns and I’m not sure what else. I
am falling apart apparently. Or maybe just gently rotting. We liked the dentist.
Things are so different. The assistant holds the X-ray machine in one hand and
there is a rod of light that is a camera that will put a photo on the screen immediately. I will go back when they have time to do all that work. Then we went to
Costco. We are out of frozen blueberries, tomatoes, tofu, and bouillon. Soup
and cornbread for dinner. Khristine sent us a text to let us know that she had
her tubes removed from her ears and she is feeling a bit better already. The
worst of the loudest noise is gone and they say it will take a whole month to
heal and assess the results. She is finally feeling like it might get better.
This has been so very hard for her. She couldn’t do any of the things (podcasts,
movies, visits with grandchildren, etc.) she enjoys in life during the last 13
weeks.
Lewis took the car in for a maintenance appointment and they
had to replace lots of liquids and check everything so it will cost us more
than $500. But we do need a car that works well. Hope they checked the supposed
recall problem. Lewis drilled a hole in the bottom of the pot in front of our
house and found that it had a plug. He pulled the plug. He planted the
poinsettia in the back of the pot. I did the flyer with the information about
time and place of the Ponderosa Branch. I watched a couple of videos by Alisia
Essig. She is down to earth and very helpful with how to eat well without using
up all of our money, time, and joy in life. We got a chance to talk with Leiann
and Cary. They were to call someone and talk about how to be more effective MLS
missionaries. They shared what they are learning and it was fun. This is their
last week and they will be in CA on the weekend. Our English Connect class was
great because two of the three that came last week returned. The third one was
working late. Juan Carlos had texted the missionaries that he had to work and
would be unable to come. But the best thing was a new woman, Marta. She has grown children and speaks English fairly well but wants to improve. She was
comfortable and talked with everyone. We showed all of them where the door was
that was closest to Sacrament Meetings on Sunday. Turns out that the RS
presidency was having a meeting in that room. Sister Parra and Sister Beach
both know her and it was great to feel that they had so much in common and were
so happy to be together. Hopefully, Marta will want to join us for everything and come to church in addition to the English class.
If you look carefully you will see Cary and Leiann in front of this painting
I reviewed and changed my talk for Sunday. Lewis wanted extra
time in the El Camino Real Ward but we are the only speakers so saving time is
not a problem.
Our excursion to Camarillo was a big success. Happily, we
found all 4 of the investigators at the Villa Palazzo. We verified that someone
there had been seeing the missionaries. We were able to talk to two women who
have been to church and plan on continuing when they return from Mexico. They
are leaving on Sunday and will be gone for a couple of weeks. They also
expressed interest in attending the English class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Another was a mother whose son had some interest. She said she would talk with
him and allow him to attend church if he wanted to do so. Another apartment did
not have the person we were looking for but the girl we talked to said that
several in their apartment might find that very helpful. We gave her our
handout with all of the information. Another was the wife of our person of
interest. She didn’t know about his interest in our church so we will have to
find and ask him when he is at home. The final apartment was a father. His son
was at home. We left information so the father could contact the missionaries
if he wished to. We will let the missionaries and Presidente Parra know of our
findings. We went to one house and didn’t find the person listed but talked
with another resident there and they might be interested in learning English.
We left lots of information and invitations. It was too dark to finish the
list. We will go back tomorrow. We treated ourselves with Baja and Jeri was
very happy to have a burrito. Lewis got a bowl and it was easier to eat.
No leaves but fruit on the branches. Spikey things on the trunk. Interesting tree.
Went to Camarillo to continue our quest to find all the people on the list we were given. We are slowly making contacts so we can find out if they still live there. The people at one address gave us a different address for the member that we were looking for. We will keep trying to track people down.
We had Branch Council this Sunday morning at 10:15. Historic Event
with all of the major leaders in place. President Parra opened with lots of
enthusiasm that we were making history. He said that the notes and the names of
all present will be recorded as the beginning of the Ponderosa Branch.
I love his enthusiasm and how appreciative he is of everything that each person
contributes to the Branch. He is an excellent leader. He told us as
missionaries that they would do everything they could to support the mission
efforts to invite more to join us and reactivate those who are members but are
not currently involved. We had President Law on the
screen, (he is still in Utah), President Rivera, his wife is the YW president but she wasn’t there,
the Elder’s Q President, the RS President, the Primary President, the young
missionaries, us, and a clerk from the Stake to explain how the attendance will
be done electronically. In each meeting, the person in charge checks each
individual who in is in attendance. Every three months the ward reports to the
stake and they send the info to SL. That determines how much money each unit
will receive the next year. I think this includes activities so even those who
are not members can be counted. We are big on investigators in our branch right
now. We want and need more people.
It was our week to speak. They called us last night to say that they would have a youth speaker as well. But it was too late to shorten my talk. It was President River’s son. He is putting in his papers to go on a mission when school is out. He did a good job of explaining his motivations and bearing his testimony. I was worried about the time but I gave my whole talk. I couldn’t just drop some of it and have it still flow and make sense. Lewis went up and I thought our time was over. I worried during his whole talk about the time but I didn’t want to turn around and look at the clock. Lewis did a great job. He began with the scripture that says that every blessing is based on our obedience to the law that permits the blessing. He told his story of painting mailboxes. He used some of his tithing money to buy something he wanted and the next day no one would accept his offer to paint their mailbox. He thought about the situation and that night promised Heavenly Father in prayer that if he would help him get more work, he would pay tithing faithfully all of his life. And he has and we have been blessed. He also explained that how it works is not just how much money comes in but blessings that your car will last an extra year, you are granted health, and problems are resolved. The Lord wants to bless us but we must do our part. President Parra stood up and commented on each of the talks and amplified them. It was a good meeting. There was a good turnout. I was happy to see Carlos and Vianey and all four of their children. They are not in tools yet but Aldrich will fix that. We talked after church with Julia Zurcher. She recommended that we try to visit with Sister Bertha. I told her about Anna who was born in Portugal and lived in Spain before she moved here. She did go and visit her. She declined to come back to church right now but she will continue to talk with her. I talked with Sister Parra. She and I are going to visit Maria Gonzales on Wednesday. I left her home thinking she needed a friend. We are praying for Khristine. She has been suffering from hearing problems. She is hearing so very many painful sounds at full volume. She cannot sleep well and must have it quiet The doctor put tubes in her ears in an effort to help.
Sister Nixon called and asked that we take charge of the mission office phone. The Nixons and Parrys were taking a free day. President Rodriguez and his wife took someone to the airport and he came to the office when they returned. Sis Rodriguez has had COViD. She was very sick but has recovered from that but still needs extra rest. The Russells are both here. They always have a great deal to do. And their work is the sensitive and important stuff. They always work longer than the others and sometimes into the night and weekends. They deserve a lot of credit for the amount and quality of their work. Brother Russell is creating a handbook. He had three days of training with the previous Finance man but that was totally insufficient. Hopefully, future people will be better prepared in the MTC. He was the only finance person and didn't get much training. This mission is like a major business and it needs to be running constantly. I spent some time creating Emergency Bags. Every new missionary gets one and is to keep it in his apartment wherever he goes. It contains an emergency blanket, rain poncho, toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, deodorant, cleaning wipes, drinking water, gloves, masks, ibuprofen, antibiotics pills, and bandages. They also get a big bag with a mattress cover, a blanket, a quilt,a pillow and sheets that they take with them each time they move. We had a Subway sandwich for lunch and got to eat with the Russells and President Rodriguez. They brought their lunches. Some packages came in. Some missionaries came to get packages. I did some of my computer stuff but not a lot.
We went to Camarillo and found three more inactive families. Two exist and we talked with them and/or their family members. The other one no longer lives at that address. Carman Fernandes was very friendly. She is sometimes unable to get around but wants to come to church. Yay! Her son and his family are not interested at this time. They built an apartment on part of the second floor of their home for her. The ceiling goes all the way up to the peaked roof and she has a small but very complete living quarters. She can get up and down the stairs so I guess she is in pretty good health at this moment. She showed us her Book of Mormon which was given to her by the sister missionary who taught her. She was baptized in 2002. She seems to have fallen away but she knows Veronica and Julia so maybe she can become an active part of the Branch again.
I finally did weed through
my copies of the Morris Directories and got all of the latest info on one,
added Josh and Catalina's new address, and sent it to all of our kids. I also reminded them of the Women’s Conference and Lava Hot Springs Family Reunion this
summer. Hope they all can go. David helped Lewis solve a computer problem and since we are all now in good health, we set up a new dinner appointment for next
Monday.
Went to Camarillo to go with Edler Hogges (who is a Type1 diabetic.) and someone we haven’t met since they were doing splits. We talked with an older lady Irma, who has several health challenges. She was attentive and interested. They gave a very short lesson about the Plan of Salvation and he will text her a link so she can access more information. They made an appointment for tomorrow. Then we had lunch with Emily at the Urban Café in Ventura. They have sandwiches, salads, and soups. I enjoyed my salad very much. It is one of Emily’s favorites. My salad had lots of greens, chickpeas, and roasted cubes of sweet potato. And it had a hunk of bread that was really good. I was slower and full so Lewis ate the rest.
We went back to Camarillo, to Emily’s house. She took me to Simi Valley for a
Sisters Dinner. Kathy texted that she wasn’t feeling well so she stayed home.
We had Chris, Jeanine, Mindy, Gracie, Emily and me. We went to Bamboo Café
which serves Vietnamese food. I had a Bahn Mi sandwich because I had seen that word
around town and was curious. I liked it and it only cost $8. All of the food
looked delicious. We enjoyed catching up. It is their Beach House this year and
they are excited. Mindy’s arm is mending. She can go back to work. She works at
a dental office two days a week and for Bruce whenever he needs her help.
Jeanine said she is working fewer hours now so that is good. Chris seems to be
happy in her smaller home and all of the improvements are now in place. She is
working on getting rid of things that she no longer needs. We all need to
reduce our clutter. It is so great to be able to spend a little time with my sisters! Lewis went to the English Connect class at 7:00 and we got
back not much later than he returned. It was a long day and a good one.
We are all happy and jealous of the Evans family's Hawaii vacation
I had fun with several articles and videos about the Book of
Mormon. We went to my dental appointment and it took an hour and a half to take
off two of my crowns and dig out all of the damage in the teeth. It was not
comfortable but the dentist was gentle and I am grateful that he took care of
it. I would not enjoy life as much as I do without teeth. We go back in Feb for
my crowns, and x-rays and cleanings for both of us. I felt very blessed because
I was coughing badly when the assistant was trying to take X-rays. I prayed
that I could hold still and not cough when the dentist was drilling and that
blessing was granted. It could have been very frustrating and perhaps
dangerous. I was going to visit one of the ladies we found recently but Sister
Para who volunteered to go with me, is making dinner for a family in the branch
so we will go on Friday. We also have appointments to go to the temple on
Friday with Leiann and Cary. That will be a good day. We also went to visit
with Yayo. We learned from Leiann and Cary that Kyrsten was poked in the ear accidently by one of her children. She is in a lot of pain. It took a while to get accurate information about her injury. It seems now that it will take a while to heal but she should have no lasting harm and heal completely.
We made several visits and found out that a member had moved
to Simi Valley. We were able to get her address and pass it on to the clerk. The Camarillo English Connect started slow with just Marta
who is so very nice. We learned that she is a member - just inactive. The
counselors to the Elder’s Quorum came into our class and joined in. Brother Rangel
and Brother Coral might continue. They do not speak English well. It was a
pleasant evening. Not sure where our missing students were. The Thursday night
sports evening had a special event. The members bought Books of Mormon and gave
them to all the non-members. I was told that it was a great experience for everyone involved. The non-members appreciated it and were
happy that their friends had shared something that they cared deeply about. How
wonderful if they will choose to read the book.
We left home at 8:45 and went to the temple to meet Leiann
and Cary for the 10:30 session. We were very early but that is OK. Lewis bought
some garment tops. We enjoyed going to the temple with them. Margaret (my
brother David’s first wife) was there and we were able to speak with her a
little bit. Afterward, we went to Tito’s. That is a Snyder monument. We find it
bland but I enjoyed my burrito. A lot of driving for Lewis but it was a good
day and the people we did the work for, now have a chance to accept the
covenants. I met Sister Parra at Maria Gonzales. She did not invite us in
because she had company. She was receptive. Azu brought a vase of beautiful
roses from her garden and I had some handouts. She said she is too old to make
any changes but she was pleased that we came to talk with her. Maybe someone
else will find her again. Very nice older lady but not receptive at the moment.
I was so grateful for Azu. She understood every response and I did not. Azu is
so generous of her time. She works full-time as an accountant and is both
intelligent and loving.
Brother and Sister Gonzales spoke in church today and a young woman I
think is Veronica's daughter. We had a good Sunday School lesson. The teacher was a
man and his wife who served as missionaries in the group a year ago. It was fun to see them
connect with the people they knew. And he did a good class with his Spanish. We
went to a missionary meeting with Pte. Parra and Pte Law. Yay, Brother Law is back and
healthy. Nice to have him in person. He was part of meetings before via Zoom.
We also met afterward with the RS and EQ to talk about the people we have visited
in the last couple of weeks. Several have moved and we had info about most of
the rest. Pte. Parra is very good about working with the missionaries. He wants
us to block out Friday evenings and he and his wife will go with us to visit someone
every week. The leaders all go every Wednesday to visit with investigators and
new members. We did have several new (to me anyway) people in Sacrament Meeting
today. Yay!
David, Jenny and Andrew came for dinner and we had a fun
time. Lewis made bread after I cleaned the kitchen. So I had to clean again, but it is worth it. We had stir-fry with orange
tofu, Costco Spring Rolls, a fruit salad, and banana splits for dessert. We
played a new card game that Jenny taught us. Jenny said she appreciated the new
Morris Directory and added the new family members to her game on the phone. She
will remember everyone’s names at the Family Réunion I’ll bet. She will do better than Lewis and probably me at remembering names.
Went to the office to help Sister Nixon with her job of
making emergency bags and bedding bags for the new incoming missionaries. And
they have to recycle the same things from the departing missionaries.
Everything must be inspected, the fabric things washed, return the things that
can be recycled, and make up new bags. It is a lot of stuff and she could use
some help. We were also able to go to lunch with Emily. We went to Toppers in
Ventura and happily ate a big salad and a small pizza. So great to have time to
talk and relax before we all go back to work. The mission office took an hour
off as well for their lunches.
We went to Camarillo to be with the elders when they visited
with an older woman. Her family said she was not home. So, we stopped at Costco
and bought some produce, nuts, and frozen fruit. We worked on the information
we have and the questions that still need to be answered about the people who have
been to church in the past. It is a big job to get all of the records complete and accurate.
I spent hours trying to register for Women’s Conference. I
even had a person at BYU who offered to do it for me. The end result was that
there are 7 charges pending at the bank and BYU doesn’t see my registration.
The bank balance is not what it should be. Hope it is cleared before more
charges hit the bank. It turns out that both Khristine and Jennifer will be at
the graduation of Nathan and I’m not sure who for Khristine. Susan is unable to
go so 4 daughters, Sue Nelson, and I will fit in a dorm room. We went to the
mission office to copy the pages for English Connect students and then went to Camarillo
to visit with three families who were happy to receive bread and were friendly.
Elder Gray is sick so Lewis taught the English Connect class. We had four
students, Xochitl, Jose with his cousin Carena, and
Marta. They are all eager to learn and are getting more comfortable now with each
other. At the end of class, Carena (who works at Topper's Pizza) bought in a big
delicious pizza that was still warm and shared it with all of us. It was the wrong time for the
missionaries to miss class. We had fun chatting and eating together. So kind of
her. We told Marta that we would be coming tomorrow with Sister Parra to visit
with her.
Lewis went to the office for mail and got some things at
Winco. Jeri watched a free class from BYU Jan Martin that is part of the
Inspire offering from BYU that gives access to past events for a monthly or
yearly fee. I would love to watch/listen to them all but I won’t live that
long. I am typing up all of our visits and keeping track of the information we
collect. I spent an hour learning about Substack. Very interesting as a content
creator or a way to find things you are interested in. It is free. (If you
charge readers, you must give 10% to Substack.) If you do not charge you have
access to create in many ways, like, blog, email, podcast, and maybe more.
We went with Sister Parra to visit with Marta. We were there
for 2 hours and it was delightful, except for Lewis because he cannot hear well
enough to get all the dialogue. Marta and Azu had fun remembering their
favorite places in Mexico. They both love Campeche and say it is a divine place
to visit or live. It is in the far south of Mexico. We learned about Marta’s four
sons. I think there is a daughter also that lives in Mexico. Marta loves to
talk and Azu could relate perfectly. In the end, we did get to family history
and Azu found her mother and her father on Family Search. We must follow up on
that! Azu brought her a pie and I’m sure that her sons will like that. They are
big and strong. She is a diabetic and injects insulin daily.
Dan (our son and not the grandson) is coming to attend classes from Wella and he will meet us at Emily’s house tomorrow evening. We assembled all of the items we will need to take to Emily’s house. She is cooking a tri-tip for all of us. I read a very interesting booklet about the Isaiah map, written by a BYU professor. I need to spend time with it during the Isaiah chapters for Come Follow Me. It will help me better understand the geography and the history.
We went to the Ward Council Meeting at 10:15. It was a good
meeting. Veronica came in with her arm in a sling stabilized by a wrap around
her waist. She and her husband were moving something tall and heavy. He went to
get a drill to remove the doors to lighten the weight. She tried to shift it
and the top part fell on her. She has a bit of a dent in her forward and can
barely walk but she still has a smile. She said nothing was broken. She cleans
houses for people all week. I don’t know how she can do that this week. Hope it works out
well. Her husband is usually out of town but he was there Sunday. I hope he is here for a while. Sister Avila broke her wrist and is in a stiff-sleeved brace to
support her healing. She had a fall several weeks ago and didn’t land well. So many
things can go wrong. The meeting went well and everyone reported their
activities and plans. We were all asked to continue after church to finish the
list of changes that need to be confirmed and changed in our membership
records.
One of the two speakers was the youngest of the Zurcher family. His name is Lev and I haven’t seen him before. He goes to the YSA ward. I was so very impressed with his talk. It was important and clearly explained. Charleen Bushman came in early and I sat with her. She wanted to support the Zurcher family and had invited the two women who are her house cleaners to come to church today. She has invited them often but thought they might really come today. But they didn’t. Lev had given her his phone so she could read his talk and know what he was saying. I helped her by moving it as he spoke. We both were very impressed with his message. Lev agreed to send each of us a copy of his talk. I have it in Evernote. Azu Parra gave the Relief Society lesson and we had some good discussions. We were studying President Nelson’s "Think Celestial" talk. The service missionary Sister Marz was there to hear Brother Zurcher’s talk. She translated for Sister Maddox so she didn’t miss out. She is trying to learn the language. Lewis told me later that he learned that Brother John Maddox and his wife have been called to be Mission Leaders in Costa Rica this year. Wow! Good for them.
We went back to the meeting but Victoria left early and so we
did too because we needed to make dinner for Dan and the Arellanos. They were
making assignments for everyone to visit someone to ensure the record. They said that we were not assigned anyone else this week because of our written report. We are making
progress but there is still a way to go.
We made mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, miso green beans,
green salad, and ice cream. We forgot to take the dessert. But, I had forgotten
that Dan is sensitive to milk so he shouldn’t eat it anyway. We didn’t get home
at the usual time. We did it all quickly and got to Emily’s at about 4:00. Dan
arrived not much later. We had fun conversations. He got on the phone with
Debbie. She is a beautiful woman that Dan loves. He has been talking with her for years now and has visited several times. They got serious about a future together during his Christmas visit. We look forward to getting to know
her better. She is an amazing artist and a strong member of the church. She has
two children at home and 3 that are young adults. The Arellano kids went to a member's home to watch the worldwide broadcast about "Being a
disciple of Jesus Christ" for all of the youth. It was a very pleasant evening.
Thank you for coming Dan and thank you to Emily and Edgar, who are amazing
hosts. We all feel comfortable in your home.
These are three of Dan's recent paintings. His artistic skills are broad.
Started the day trying to fix my registration with Women’s Conference. It hasn’t been resolved yet. We are going back and forth by email with a supervisor. I also sent Veronica the BYU Women’s Conference theme video. It has no dialog so no translation is needed. And the theme is 2 Nephi 4:34: “O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever.”
Lewis was bored and I wanted to see the
area you can see coming down the grade from Newbury Park on the right. We went a long way on
Santa Rosa Road. It is beautiful with lots of lovely new homes on the hills.
There are still many fields of vegetables and orchards of fruit. It was a beautiful drive. We put more
English Connect flyers in the laundromats in Camarillo as well.
I spent the morning on the phone with BYU. I have registered 10 times now without success. They are talking with the accountant now to get it figured out. We went to Costco and bought two big boxes of chicken pies. We visited with Cristina Avila. We spoke for probably half an hour and learned more about her family. Her hand is still painful but it has been confirmed that it is not broken. She will have to be patient for a while until it can heal completely. We learned that with the help of Nathan Martin it took them 14 years to get the OK to move to the USA. They have been here for 5 years now. They have a printing business that they operate out of the garage. One son is in Utah at school. Two boys are at church all the time. She said she has a granddaughter. She also talked about a daughter. Not sure how all that comes together. Her sister is Maritza who married Nathan Martin who was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was a policeman. She is now living in Utah.
We also tried to visit Veronica. She was due home but delayed. A friend who is currently living with her and working in her business was there and we talked with her for a while. Veronica later sent me a photo of the chicken pot pies in the oven and thanked us for saving her time. She was actually working today so she is blessed that she is capable of doing that.
We went to the dentist and they got my temporary teeth removed and put the crowns in place. $1400. Yikes! In addition, he says I need complete X-rays and probably more work done. We remembered the time wrong but we got there with enough time to have the work done. Next, we spent time in the mission office helping Sister Nixon with orders from the missionaries for books, pamphlets, and hand-out cards. It did go more quickly with our help. We also changed out the emergency bags that were turned in a few days ago so they are ready to be reassigned next transfer.
The best thing of the day was that I am now registered for Women’s Conference. It took an hour but I also have the confirmation email. Now, Sue, Leiann, Christie, Nancy, and Emily can register and we can all have long discussions all together in one of the bedrooms in our dorm. And we will go to classes also. I read a wonderful booklet/talk titled, "Standing as a Witness" by Sheri Dew. It is something I want to read many times. I have it in Evernote.
We had a good visit with Tomas Macias. He has a female friend Sandra with him. They are newly in a nice house and still waiting to buy a table and chairs. He is young, handsome with some English but limited. His girlfriend does not yet speak English. They are both from the same city in Mexico. He has a landscaping business and is surviving. It seems he hasn’t been to church recently. He was baptized maybe 4 years ago.
We went to visit with the sisters. Yayo does not have his electric
chair repaired but he is walking every day and getting stronger. He says he
walks to 5th Street and back every day. That is impressive. We read
the scriptures and discussed them as usual. He is a wise man with a lot of personality.
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