Double Blog

We believe that these past two weeks were among the busiest of our lives! Unbelievable, but soul-satisfying. The mission ended the year with over 420 baptisms, as the photos to the right show. We also ended the year with the arrival of 30 new elders and sisters, making our office tasks even greater and more numerous as we found companions, cars and apartments for all of them. On the 30th Gary got a phone call from the Vehicle Coordinator from the California Fresno Mission, who turned out to be David Mulholland, a long-time friend of Gary's from Farmington, Utah, who used to pick Gary's brain about Hugh Nibley quite often during the past 35 years. It helps to share vehicle information with a friend!
We've relieved a little of our stress by taking walks down the Santa Ana River in 75 degree temperatures, but while you Utahns may be envious, the weather here is a little boring. The principle of opposition in all things surely doesn't pertain to the weather! We also took a ride to 'unknown parts' with the Monney's last Saturday, stopping first at a $1 bookstore, where thousands of books are only a dollar apiece! Then we drove south on Jamboree all the way to the coast, even through the Balboa Island town, which is clearly a tourists' trap. We finished the adventure by eating sandwiches at Pacific Whey Cafe across from the Newport Beach Temple -- outdoors!
Sunday Gary was honored with an e-mail from Daniel Peterson, his friend and colleague at BYU, who wants him to contribute his testimony to MormonScholarsTestify.org, so Gary will be working on that 'missionary effort' during the coming weeks.
This past week has been just as busy as the week before. We had three zone conferences at three different buildings during three days, including all seven zones of our mission. At those conferences Gary and Elder Monney inspected and worked on 55 cars, doing everything from putting on new license plates to adding engine oil and air to tires. Gary also gave a 15-minute safety presentation each day, and at noon during lunch presented awards to the three cleanest cars in the mission. Wednesday he and Elder Monney had their longest day: 11 hours, because they had to rescue two sisters and two elders whose batteries had died on them.
Thursday night was Gary's first rehearsal with the Orange County Mormon Choir Organization, as this 200-voice choir prepared for the premiere performance of "Messiah in America" on March 31. He feels very honored to be one of the first to be singing this large oratorio, which is very exciting. (It reminds him of preparing to sing Handel's Messiah or Mendelssohn's Elijah.)
Friday night we took Sister Healey to Whole Foods market in Tustin for dinner and then did an endowment session in the temple.
And finally: we just returneed from two Hispanic baptisms in the Santa Ana stake center. We both plan on taking things a little slower this coming week. And enjoying it even more!

Christmas Day of baptisms & roasted pig, Tongan style

Who said we didn't have any children here in California for Christmas? Only 150 Elders and Sisters between the ages of 19 and 23 who were also away from home! Accordingly, President and Sister Watrous arranged 'a little Christmas' on Christmas Eve day for everyone. It actually began the evening before, as all of us office staff gathered at the Mission Home to assemble 150 sack lunches: ham and cheese sandwiches, oranges, chips, drinks and napkins. They also all received home-made Orange boxes containing home-made heart ornaments with "California Anaheim Mission" imprinted on them, plus a Christmas card with gingerbread shepherd's crook.
President Watrous also asked Signe and me to be on the program with him, so Gary sang the first two verses of "Silent Night" while Signe played a violin obbligato. Then the missionaries joined us on the third verse. This we did in four separate zone meetings throughout the mission: in Placentia, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Newport Beach. We both felt honored to participate in this manner.

Christmas morning we senior missionaries put on a Christmas breakfast for the four sister missionaries who also live in Portofino. They really appreciated it and serenaded us with "Silent Night" in parts.

At 3 in the afternoon we all attended a baptism in the Anaheim Stake Center, along with president and Sister Watrous. Tongan 11-year old twins (Kaolo and Filipo) were baptized, after havng been taught by the sister missionaries. We understood very little of the service, although we sang the Tongan hymns with gusto, pronouncing every vowel (as in Hawaiian). The baptism over, we were fairly dragged, almost against our own will, into the cultural hall where we were seated at the place of honor to participate in a Tongan feast and dance. The food was more than plentiful, and included several roasted pigs throughout the hall, including this one, where we had to extract the meat with our fingers! (Octopus, taro root, corned beef and shrimp were also in abundance.)

Then we escaped to the Mission Home down the street for dessert (from our earlier formal Christmas dinner) and for our "White Elephant" gift exchange. With us most of the evening was Sister Bobi Rush, who is a self-appointed missionary to the Persian people, which number about 30,000 people in Irvine. (Later she stopped by the office so that Gary could give her some copies of the Book of Mormon in Persian and Arabic, as well as some pamphlets.) The Christmas tree below was entirely decorated by the missionaries: all white, home-made ornaments, from cut-out stars to a well-made sheep made of a white sock and stuffing.
Although we missed our family this Christmas, it was made up for by 156 wonderful missionaries, office staff and president and his wife. We were also more involved in activities this Christmas than we ever have had. And although there was no snow, we made up for it with a weekend of baptisms, including a Hispanic one in Santa Ana we attended Sunday night, singing the hymns in Spanish this time!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas Lights and Carols

Standing next to a Model A Ford with Santa inside, you would never guess that an hour earlier Gary had experienced one of the more triumphant moments of his life. Friday night we

went with the other four senior missionaries to our Orange Third ward Christmas party. We had no more than sat down when Peggy Davis, the organizer of the enter -tainment, came to our table and asked if any of us could fill in as Shepherd in a live nativity scene. Well, Gary stuck his neck out, raised his hand and said that he would, even though he had only heard the piece of music once. So after practicing the number with the accompanist four times, he gathered on stage with the rest of 'almost-authentically-dressed' scene to sing "You Were Not There in Bethlehem" from Michael McLean's "The Forgotten Carols." For having just learned the piece tonight, he turned out to be one of the best singers and wowed the ward members! (Peggy was effusive with praise that he would volunteer for such a task.) After doing so well, Gary felt a confidence in his faith since he had prayed for divine assistance -- and received it! Gary also felt honored to share the stage with two young girls whose voices were perfectly angelic and near professional: Maddy and Katie Davis, originally from Springville.

After Gary's performance and the finishing of his Christmas dinner and dessert, we all left to go see some Christmas lights, including the one below in Orange. Full of thousands of lights, animations, a train, and a host and hostess Santa Claus and wife handing out candy canes and wishing Merry Christmas, this was easily the most spectacular home Christmas decorations we have ever seen!

Our days of the week were filled to the brim with duties too numerous to mention. Saturday was our 22nd anniversary, so we drove to the hills of east Orange and ended up having our anniversary dinner at Marie Callendar's, served by an LDS girl, whom we saw in church the next day! Earlier we did the riverwalk along the Santa Ana River -- 80 degrees!

We should also mention that Thursday night Gary auditioned for a tenor spot in the Orange County Mormon Chorus and Orchestra. Everything went well, including a comment of "very nice" from the composer of the new oratorio "Messiah in America" after Gary sang the high tenor line of "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercies." (Gary will find out by the end of the year whether he made it into the choir.)

Finally, Signe accompanied the ward choir in two numbers of our Christmas program: "Away in a Manger" and "Silent Night." It was awesome! Then we attended a baptism in Anaheim Hills two hours later -- the same building where Signe's niece Michelle West attends church. We both feel that we have participated more in Christmas celebrations this year than at any time in our lives: and we feel very blessed and humbled by it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!

Crystal Cathedral and Jon's Visit

To continue our full Christmas season away from our family: Signe's brother Jon and his wife arrived at our apartment at 3:30 on Saturday. Because of the rain we decided to visit the South Coast Plaza, one of the largest malls in the world. It was the most Holiday decorated mall we have ever been in and was a mall-walkers delight! The huge tree depicted below was one of many throughout the mall, which also featured live choirs and Santa's train for children. We felt like we were in one of the many Christmas movies which show beautiful malls.

Jon and Tracy drove down from their home in Bel Air. Jon is in the solar power business, while Tracy is a singer who goes on tours. (Check out on of her songs on YouTube Tracy Lyons.) We had a wonderful time, finishing the evening in the Rainforest Cafe, which was not one of the quietest places you would ever want to eat in, but the food was good.

Thursday night we had tickets to the Glory of Christmas pageant in the fabulous Crystal Cathedral just ten minutes away from us. It was a full-sized Christmas story from Luke, with live animals, including a donkey and three camels. It was a spectacular (if loud) production, with as many as seven angels 'flying' around, either announcing the child to Mary or singing praises at the birth in Bethlehem.

Dancing was also plentiful, and several local opera stars and actors played the parts. The pageant plays twice daily from December 3 to January 3. The cathedral's tower, can be seen as far away as Orange where our ward is located. Pictured below is the cathedral's immense organ. The whole place is an architectural wonder.

The missionaries continue to have great success. It's been a busy week in the office, and the many Christmas packages from parents have begun to fill the office space, waiting for the zone leaders to distribute them. Gary received the happy message from Elmore Toyota Friday afternoon that four new 2010 Corollas were awaiting us at the dealership. Now we won't have so many elders on bikes!

Finally, we can't leave without telling you about our spending 20 minutes in the hot-tub Friday night -- in the rain! It was fun and especially relaxing after another very busy week.

A Walk and a Christmas Celebration

Sunday night was the Orange Stake's 18th annual Community Christmas Celebration in our stake center's cultural hall. The focus was on 413 nativity scenes from all over the world -- from all kinds of media, including old CDs, metal and Legos, from very simple to very ornate -- and expensive. Friday night we were part of the security team to protect a few tables from wandering hands and to answer questions. It was estimated that over half of the people coming to these three nights were not LDS.

Then on Sunday night we both performed in the best stake choir we've ever sung in (or heard), where we put on a full hour's concert of Christmas music, accompanied by organ, piano, harp, saw!!, two young but very talented girls singing, and by Signe on her violin (Beautiful Savior and Silent Night). It was an evening to remember.
Sunday morning we went on an hour-long walk down the dry Santa Ana River bed foot and bike trail, adjoining the Riverview Golf Course. The intoxicating fragrances from the eucalyptus trees and Bougainvillea flowers were with us most of the way, wanting us to repeat the walk as soon as we can.

What a feeling of well-being, as you can tell by this shot of Gary.

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Last week Signe played in the most gorgeous concert hall of her life: the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. (Google it on the Web for some photos.) It was an absolutely thrilling performance in every way. With their model the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, the Orange County Mormon Chorus and Orchestra sang and played almost as well -- and with a wonderful addition: several choirs from 4 through 18 years old, all of these performers taught by the Stewart brothers, Brett and Brandon. March 31 the chorus and orchestra are performing here the premiere performance of MESSIAH IN AMERICA, composed by Brett Stewart, who is shaping up to be the next Mac Wilberg of the Church. Gary is so thrilled and enamored of all of this that he will audition for the chorus on December 17. One of the most remarkable things about this Christmas concert, however, was that the two brothers bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the divinity of the Savior to this audience of many non-LDS people.

There had been two performances, the earliest art 5:30. While Gary was waiting at home to take Sister Skinner and Sister Healey to the 8 p.m. performance, our daughter Judith called to tell us that James Wiley Everett had been born that afternoon at 3:19, adding yet another grandchild to the family. When an exhausted, but very satisfied Signe finished her two performances, she was elated to receive the great news from Gary.

Watson Drugstore on Orange Square has been there since 1899 -- and the inside of it is like a trip to the past. We ate their Friday night on the way to the Christmas Celebration. As we went to the cash register to pay the bill, the proprietor asked to see the check. As he was doing so I fished out my credit card. To our amazement, he then said that our meal was his treat! He must have seen our name tags, but he was so busy we didn't have a chance to ask what ward he was from! (Maybe next time!)

Much to be Thankful for

Thanskgiving Day, 2009! Here we are, altogether as office staff at the President's home on this special day. (At the end of the table is a special couple the Watrouses befriended last year. President Watrous is the one standing.) We needed this day of relaxation, after working so hard.
Thanksgiving Day actually began with us spending a couple of hours at the office. All week we have come into the office at 7, leaving at 5. (In order to catch up, we even went to the office on Saturday, and Gary went Sunday morning to the office to clear up an accident between two elders and a 16-year old boy on a bike.)

So after a couple of hours in the office on T-day, we drove to Anaheim Hills, on the easternmost side of the mission, to the home of Signe's niece Michelle West. She and her husband, three boys, Michelle's sister Jenny and her parents Don and Carol Peterson, as well as a friend and her three children, were all guests at their wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. We ate our full and had a wonderful conversation to boot! Michelle's husband Scott works for Dreyer's ice cream, so he had all kinds of information about Signe's favorite ice cream, Haagen Dasz.

Sunday was our ward's missionary Sunday. Signe was off the hook, as far as speaking or singing were concerned, but Gary had been asked to sing a duet with our ward mission leader, Gordon Jensen. It so happens that their voices were remarkably similar, and many ward members complimented them. If you are familiar with "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercies," you will know that for Gary to sing the high tenor part is unusual, since he normally sings low bass. But he felt comfortable with it. (Maybe it's the sea level altitude.)

Eighteen New Missionaries

Our new senior couple, Elder and Sister Monney, are standing in front of the 'baptism board,' with photos of over 300 baptisms that have taken place this year -- already 25% more than the mission had last year. Sunday night we took the Monney's to a baptism in the Placentia First ward, where Lorena Flores was baptized. It was an amazing service, with an opening prayer by an ex-Catholic and testimonies by an ex-Muslim and an ex-Buddhist. Bishop Rooney then told us that his ward was very diverse: 15 cultures are represented, with 30 languages (including missionaries who had gone out from this ward).

The Monney's have come at an interesting time. Their first day in the office was transfer day, with many missionaries coming in and out of the office, switching their area cellphones and cars, picking up supplies, etc. It was a noisy whirlwind of activity. It settled down in the evening with a dinner at the Watrouses for the two departing sister missionaries: one who was going home to Australia and the other to Minnesota.
Then on Tuesday we had orientation for 18 new missionaries, including one who is related to Edwin Benson, and another who is a friend of Gary's former student from BYU and living back east. They were a happy bunch of missionaries, all eager and willing to get to work.
Thursday night we were invited by President Skaggs of the mission presidency to provide the music for a missionary training meeting in our stake center. So Signe led the music while Gary played the piano. It was a wonderful meeting, including some training about what to do in case of an earthquake (which are quite frequent down here).
Saturday morning we played catch-up in the office, after doing laundry. Then we picked up the Monney's so that they could see what the Newport Beach Temple tours were like and could take care of this wonderful experience every other month next year. We had 65 English-speaking and 45 Spanish-speaking people show up. There was nothing left of the 26 dozen cookies we had purchased for the afternoon. By 6 we had cleaned up, and then we took the Monney's to Costco in Tustin and Sam's Club in Irvine so that we could buy some food. In between these two places we ate a light dinner at a Whole Foods store, each of us choosing exactly what we wanted to eat.
And so, another week has passed us by all too quickly!