Visit from Joneses

Last Monday Gary's oldest daughter Adina, her daughter Brittany, and friends Suzette and Lindsay arrived in Santa Ana and stayed in our spare room, leaving on a cruise this next morning from Long Beach. It was really good to see them and visit with them. They were gone until Friday. Thursday morning Adina's husband Matt arrived with Damon from LA International airport, picked up the van from where we left it at the mission office, and headed for Legoland. Later, Kyra joined them, having come down to Orange County with friends. Friday everyone was together again, and saw them briefly at noon before they headed south to San Diego and Carlsbad. Six of them stayed in our spare room and living room Friday and Saturday night. Saturday morning they all drove up to Six Flags Magic Mountain and arrived home late that night. Sunday morning they left for Utah just after we left for ward council meeting in our ward. So it's been a wonderful but busy week with them.

What else made it busy was three days of Zone Conferences for the six zones of 65 companionships we have. Gary was asked to talk about vehicle safety, specifically about being careful both on the freeways and other places where little traffic sometimes makes us not as alert. He told the elders and sisters that they all have a co-driver with them (the Holy Ghost), besides their companion, and how he was warned of accidents ahead of time by the Spirit -- twice. He gave his own example of almost being killed when a drunk driver hit him in 1963 while on his way back to college, and how the resulting back and head pains since then has constantly reminded him to be careful while driving. Hence, no traffic tickets in his 45 years of driving.

Last Sunday we attended a baptism in the Newport Beach Stake Center (next to the temple). There in the Singles Ward a young man by the name of Heraclio was baptized and showed much enthusiasm for this ordinance. Many of his friends were in attendance, and the elders were very pleased with the progress of this young man.

Also last Sunday we discovered that our Gospel Doctrine teacher, Chris Freeman, is part Hopi indian, part Chinese and part Causasian. His great grandmother was a Hopi who joined the church. If former prophet Wilford Woodruff is correct about saying that the Hopi Indians are a remnant of the Nephites, then here is a tribe which is surrounded by Lamanities (Navajos).

Yesterday was a very long Sunday because of our having to drive to our Orange chapel three times: once for ward council, the second time for sacrament meeting and the other meetings, and the third time (for Gary) to priesthood meeting in the evening. the Primary program in sacrament meeting was one of the best we've ever heard, and Gary taught the High Priest's group today, all about Joseph Smith being blessed to usher in the last dispensation and the restoration of all things. It was a lively discussion. Then in the evening he conducted the music in priesthood, along with a fine male organist (a rarity). A very fine quartet of men sang the music number, "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?" They were as good as any barbershop quartet he has ever heard.

Finally, we are glad that Gary's son Grant has joined the ranks of family members who are communicating with us via SKYPE. It is always a real joy to hear and see our children and grandchildren. It is such a wonderful new technology.

One of the most exotic flowers in the world is found in profusion in Orange county -- and is right now in bloom. It is called the Bird of Paradise. (It almost looks like a bird.)This one is just a few feet from our apartment door.

Our mission continues to be one challenge after another. This week we had two major ones, with 14 elders and 1 sister arriving from the Missionary Training Center in Provo on Tuesday. There's nothing like greeting these brand-new missionaries who are arriving here for a two-year stay and knowing that we have a stewardship for their welfare while they're here. Then on Friday we were remotely trained from Salt Lake on how to use the Internet Mission Office System, which will integrate more fully many of our tasks and make it much easier to keep track of missionaries, their districts, etc. This will entail a learning curve for all of us to overcome, but then the Lord will help us to be equal to the task.

California has done it again! Tuesday we received a letter from the Church's attorney's Kirtin, McConkie and McConkie, informing us that we had to register our cars in California! We were told when we arrived that we only needed to keep our cars registered in our home states, because we wouldn't be residents. Now we are told that our cars have to be registered, in spite of our not being residents. So, we spent the morning on Thursday and $447 getting new license and registration, and surrendering our Utah plates! We fared the best; Budges, who are leaving in just three weeks, had to pay a penalty for the whole time they have been here, plus the cost of the new license. The two sisters spent the entire day getting their cars smog tested and spending over $500 and $600 respectively getting their cars licensed. There was plenty of conversation about California's bankrupt state, not being notified before now (Elder Budge wrote the attorneys to that effect), but also counting our blessings that nothing worse happened, like being ticketed for not being properly registered, which would have been very expensive. Needless to say, the experience was a major distraction to our mission responsibilities.

Thursday night we took Elder and Sister Budge with us to the Newport Beach Temple for an endowment session. There we coincidentally ran into our oldest grand-daughter Keely, who was there for the same session. A new friend of Gary's, Nathan Solesbee, was also in the session. He is the owner of Solesbee Autocraft, where the mission takes its damaged cars for repair.

Saturday afternoon Keely and her roommate McKenna came over so that Signe could give McKenna a massage. McKenna was very appreciative for the relief she got for her shoulder. While Signe massaged, Gary had a wonderful chat and update on the family with Keely. Again, it is so good to have her nearby -- our token family member on the mission.

In the evening we had dinner with six other office workers at the sisters' apartment. It very nearly rivaled any Thanksgiving dinner, and afterwards we played three rounds of Mexican Train dominoes.

Sunday in church Signe was invited to play her violin again, Gary was asked to lead the music in stake priesthood meeting next Sunday, we were invited to dinner and a concert by the Bragg's in the ward, and Gary was asked to teach the lesson on Joseph Smith in priesthood next Sunday. So we really feel more and more a part of this ward! Then we attended a baptism in the Newport Beach Stake Center for a young adult man from the South Coast Young Adult Ward, who was quite overcome by his baptism -- thanking all of us for our part and even giving Gary a big embrazo! The elders who taught this young man were incredible!

Despite the many wonderful and inspiring messages given at conference this weekend, we are sure that this will be known as the "Warm Fuzzies" conference! (Michael's, watch out!) In fact, the sisters are going to set up a jar in the mission office for the same purpose. Gary also enjoyed the"Nine Boy Choir" story of Elder Choi, as well as all of the remarks of Elder Uchtdorf. What a man of God! And then there was Elder Holland's strong testimony of the Book of Mormon! We had the senior sisters come over both days to watch with us while we streamed the proceedings over the Internet onto our computer. And in Saturday evening Gary went with Elder Budge to the Garden Grove Stake Center to watch priesthood, where they had four additional rooms wired for sound and translators for the Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Tongan wards and branches.

Friday night the six of us had hoped to go to Downtown Disney to listen to an incredible violinist, Drew Tretick. But we chose the night of the Disney Trick or Treat, one of the busiest nights all year. The traffic was horrendous, and we couldn't get near him. So we settled for watching the special fireworks from the parking garage and visiting with two enthusiastic LDS families who happened to see us there -- both of whom had sons on missions. Disneyland had three separate shows of fireworks, all of them absolutely amazing! It was hard to watch all of them at once, and one launching area was so close to us that we heard the "whoosh" of each rocket as it was launched. This will likely be our last outing with the Budges, who leave November 5.

We have never appreciated our 140 missionaries more than we did this week. They've become like family to us, even more so because of the tsunami in Samoa. One of our elders lost his entire village, but fortunately not his family. A sister who had just gone home from our mission called from Samoa to give us details.

After conference we walked down the street with Sister Skinner to the park on Flower St. The houses are modest but beautiful, and the trees, cacti, jacarandi, and many flowers are in great profusion, even this late in the year. Moreover, this evening was the farthest Gary has walked since his back surgery 2 1/2 years ago. We're grateful that swimming has strengthened him.

And in the morning we prepare to receive 15 new missionaries and help 7 to leave for home! Pray for us and the mission.

Once-in-a-lifetime Concert and a Sweet baptism

The above photo is of Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, where we were fortunate to hear the world-renowned violinist Midori play with the Pacific Symphony Thursday night, under the direction of Carl St. Clair. It was a stunning performance in every respect and is probably the best concert either of us have ever attended. The Pacific Symphony (88 players) is the largest orchestra formed in the United States in the past 40 years and is only 30 years old. The acoustics of the hall were brilliant -- even the pianissimos were clear as a bell! Midori played the Tchaikovsky violin concerto, which Signe had played years ago as a young student. The program ended with the moving and powerful first symphony by Johannes Brahms.

The evening before we were settling down for the night when Gary's colleague office elder, Elder Budge, called to ask him to come to the office to wait for a tow truck to bring one of our Toyotas in. It seems that the elder from New Zealand had pumped diesel into the car! This will be an expensive repair job. Monday we will have to go to the shop to pick it -- and pay the bill. Earlier in the day Gary was with the Office Elders in Wal-Mart to buy cleaning supplies for four apartments. Down the aisle rolled a middle-aged Black woman in a wheelchair. After exclaiming "Mormon missionaries!" she stopped and asked Gary to pray for her. She reached for his hand and meant "Right now!" So he bowed his head and offered a silent prayer on her behalf. Then she thanked him and rolled on down the aisle. This took Gary by such complete surprise that he realized we must be willing to act with the Spirit on a moment's notice. Who knows what kind of influence this act was on the poor woman, who was obviously in pain.

Friday evening we were about to leave for the dollar movie at the Picture Show when Jed called. Our trucker son had parked his big rig outside of the mission, so he was picked up by our granddaughter Keely and brought to Santa Ana, where we enjoyed the evening at Chili Pepper, our favorite Mexican restaurant. Then they came over to our apartment to hang out for awhile. It gives us a real boost to our morale to see members of our family occasionally.

Saturday morning Signe rehearsed for the first time with the Orange County Mormon Orchestra in a stake center near the Pacific coast. She plays well enough that she was asked to be stand partner with the concertmaster. Wonderful Christmas music for a concert with the Choir on December 2. Then she went with the senior sisters for the Relief Society conference of the Church. It was preceded by a luncheon, where each table was decorated differently. Signe's was at a table decorated by an English lady with her tea service. All of the sisters were asked to come to the event dressed up with hats and gloves!

Today we sang "Though Deepening Trials" in sacrament meeting, followed by a wonderful lesson on the Martin Handcart company and the trials we go through. Then at 5 we attended a Spanish-speaking baptism for Diego Gonzalo Perez, the young man you see above with his parents and Elders Osborn and Cruz. We may not have understood most of the words in the service, but we certainly felt the spirit behind the talks that were given. And we sang the Spanish hymns with gusto! This meeting indelibly placed in our hearts the sentiment that indeed these are the days of the Lamanite, with their love for the Savior, the family, and the Book of Mormon. We have always felt comfortable in their midst and look forward to the next opportunity to be with them.

Miraculous conversion story

The highlight of the week was a baptism President Watrous sent us to in Newport Beach. Brother and Sister Hans Weig visited sacrament meeting six weeks ago at the Harbor Hills ward. They fell in love with the church, and here they are all smiles, with their four darling children under the age of 8. Hans will get to baptize them some day. They are such a good family. We talked them both afterwards and asked if we could be invited to their sealing in the temple. This couple is what the Gospel is all about: in many ways.

Last night we went to the temple with nine other members of the ward to do sealings in the Newport Beach Temple. They were all the family names of Brother Redman and his wife. We were able to perform sealings of couples and daughters to parents. Then after Gary served as a witness next to the sealer, he was proxy for about ten sons being sealed to their parents. A most happy evening with the Redmans, our Bishop, and his counselor and his wife. We feel even more the sense of belonging to this ward.

Tuesday Elder Budge and Gary had a little excitement in the office, but they kept quiet about it around the sisters. A young man came to the door asking for a drink of water. Elder Budge asked about him, and the man said he was an escaped prisoner from the drug rehab center. After the man left, somewhat incoherently, Elder Budge called the Santa Ana police and described the man, as only a retired policeman could do. He didn't want any of the many children walking home from school right then to be molested by this 'druggie.' The sisters, including Signe, had no idea this had happened.

Monday Gary received an e-mail from BYU Studies. Just before getting the call to Anaheim, he had been writing a book review of George Weigel's Against the Grain, a book assessing the current status of the Roman Catholic Church, with several matters that squared with Mormonism. Jim Summerhays of BYU Studies was now asking Gary to give a final proof of the review so that it could be published in the next issue. (Gary had thought the review was a lost cause.)

All is well in California Zion. We are amazed at the testimonies of the ward members, those who spoke at the baptism, and the wonderful spirit in the sealing room of the temple. We are indeed blessed!

Ten baptisms and a party

Week 14 began with a holiday -- Labor Day. We used it as a day for shopping, especially for fruit for the famous fruit salad plate Signe would create for the party this evening. Every year President Skaggs (a member of the missionary presidency) has the Mission President and the office staff over for an evening pot-luck party with some of his family. The food was great, and the conversations with Presidents Watrous and Skaggs, and with Elder Budge, we interesting and fun-filled. From right to left are President Skaggs, President Watrous, Sister Watrous, Signe, Gary, Sister Healey, Sister Skinner, Sister Budge and Elder Budge. It was a perfect evening, with perfect weather in their lush backyard.

The rest of the week fairly whizzed by, moreso than some other weeks. President Watrous asked both of us to monitor phone use by the elders, and Gary spent most of the week setting up utilities for new apartments and helping Elder Wong make decisions on which apartments. Gary also spent much of Friday auditing gas receipts on the church's PaymentNet, something he also did while at BYU.
Saturday we were asked to attend a baptism in Costa Mesa: to be with the elders and to take the adjoining photograph. It was one of the most spiritual baptisms we've ever attended. Ellyne Denker was positively beaming when she emerged from the font, and then we witnessed something neither of us had ever seen before. While Ellyne was changing, the congregation was invited to make comments. Two of them were a non-member relative and a non-member friend (wearing a cross). They were very supportive of Ellyne's baptism, since her joining the Church had clearly changed her attitude about many things. Bishop Watkins then welcomed her to the ward and said some loving things that would make even the most calloused non-member interested in our beliefs. A young Elder Reidhead, from Springville, also gave a short talk about the importance of missionary work. A great afternoon in all ways, especially since it added to deeply to our own testimonies of the Gospel!

Sunday was a long day: ward council, the three-hour block, and choir rehearsal. But we remember we are involved in the Lord's work. We've tried to call our 'charge' Jessica, but she hasn't answered her phone. We continue to pray for her.

First week in September

Meet our oldest grandchild Keely and her two roommates Tiffany (left) and McKenna (middle). They had us over for Sunday dinner yesterday, and we hope to get together at least once a month. Finding their apartment in Irvine was yet another experience in exploring Orange County and traveling on these massive freeways, some of which are 16 lanes of traffic -- and still crowded.
The dinner ended a different sort of Fast and Testimony day for us. A new friend named Jessica (40-something years old) met us to go to church for the first time in 13 years. She's had some very upsetting things happen in her life, and we were asked by President Watrous to help her with her faith. Jessica, in fact, wants us to teach her as if she were a non-member investigating the church. (She has German, Polish and French background.) We first met her last Thursday night at our apartment, since that was most comfortable for her. It was an emotional evening, with my giving her a 'father's blessing' at the end. We asked her to consider us family. She's grafeful.

Once again the huge California fires have begun again. The Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest has burned over 90 structures and has forced thousands to evacuate their homes. We can smell and taste the air with its ashes, and many of you in Utah have complained about the smoke from this fire of 267 square miles fouling the air of Utah. When we left the mission office at 5 on Monday, this is what it looked like. It reminded us both of the Mt. Saint Helens volcanic eruption some years ago. The clouds are from the superheated air from the fire. One fire bomber, a World War II vintage Martin Mars, dropped 7500 pounds of retardant to keep the fire from burning Mt. Wilson Observatory and the nearby TV transmitters. (Gary had visited that mountain back in 1960.)

Meanwhile, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were our three zone conferences. (Since we've gotten here they've added another zone to the existing 5.) While the elders and sisters were inside getting all-day instruction from the Mission Presidency and Sister Watrous, Elder Budge and I were out in the hot parking lots all three days checking fluid levels, tires, interiors, and unreported damage for the 53 Toyota Corollas, Chevy Malibus, Mazda 3s, Dodge Caravans, and one Chevy Silverado pick-up the mission owns. Then we had to decide on which three cars (each of the three days) were so clean that they deserved cleanliness awards, what we call the Silver Purpose awards. (Gold Purpose is for missionary work, Silver Purpose is for cleanliness. Top award each day is a metal statue of a Porpoise engraved with the name of the mission.) Being on his feet for so long all three days really bothered Gary's back, so he needs to cut down on this activity in the future. His forte was putting together a Power Point slide show of 38 baptisms from the last transfer. President really appreciated that.

Finally, Saturday was the fourth Newport Beach Temple tours we are in charge of. We had almost 100 people show up for the two sessions, and we had bought the perfect amount of cookies and punch. Gary trained our new office elders, Chandler and Lee, how to set up and run the DVD projector in the chapel. Whew, what a busy week! The work never ends!