Missionaries had a big thrill

The man responsible for turning over 10 Malibu's to us is named Dan, with a pen name of Dante. An ex-Marine, he writes poetry and has an unusual pet -- a bearded dragon. (Google it!) During our second to last trip down to Costa Mesa to pick up one of the brand-new cars you see below in the Mission Office parking lot, Gary had just signed the papers for the ninth car when he noticed a self-published book of poetry on Dan's office desk entitled "Situation Life." He offered it to me, along with a CD with Power Point presentations of his poetry. On our next trip down to pick up car #10 I presented him with a Book of Mormon and asked to take a picture of him with his critter. He and Gary became e-mail buddies, and he made personalized Valentine cards for Gary to give to each of the senior sisters husbands to give to their wives. It was very sweet of him.

Speaking of the senior sisters, another part of the thrill the elders received on Thursday (besides seeing all those new cars) was the visit of BYU former coach, Lavell Edwards. He is Sister Healey's brother, and he was in town to give a talk somewhere, and surprised her by stopping by to say hello. When the elders saw him, they nearly jumped out of their skins (our Korean elder said "He's one of my heros!). Anyway, it was a picture-taking moment and Brother Edwards was very gracious to us all. He even told Gary that when he was on a mission in New York City with his wife a few years ago, he had to drive a Ford Pinto with 58,000 miles on it, not one of the nice cars we have!

Last Saturday evening we had our own thrill! Our chiropractor, Dr. Arthur Francis, who is also president of the Anaheim Hills Stake, invited us and the mission president's wife to a benefit dinner at the Anaheim Hills Stake Center. There were 1200 Mormons and Methodists there for the annual fundraiser for the Anaheim Interfaith Shelter Halcyon. A silent auction was held and a wonderful prime rib dinner was served. We were then entertained by the Musical Theatre Academy of Orange County with selections from their production of "Hello Dolly!" The three of us had front-row tables in the huge cultural hall, and especially enjoyed the pure and beautiful vocal talents of Hailey Tweter, who embraced the Gospel last August. It was a great feeling to be mingling and sharing commonalities with fellow Christians for a common cause and with true friendship.

And speaking of Dr. Francis: Signe was honored by him last week when he recommended her massage talents to our mission president's wife, Sister Watrous. Signe has been able to help her feel much better. While she was massaging Sister Watrous, Gary was able to sit down with President Watrous and chat with him freely for over an hour and a half. It was a good to see the President relax (we're certain that he doesn't get much relaxing time). It also cemented even further our friendship with this fine couple.

Overhead the Moon is Beaming! (Sigmund Romberg)

January marked the beginning of a new Chinese branch in Irvine -- and the mission's first Chinese baptism! Gary has even had to order an entire case of Chinese copies of the Book of Mormon.

The week has been relatively quiet, although the mission was notified that we had ten additional 2010 Chevy Malibu's to pick up from the dealership in Costa Mesa, 17 miles away. Signe even drove Gary and Elder Monney down to pick up two so that we can get all the new cars to the Mission Office before next week's transfer -- and before the rain on Friday! Gary is in his glory driving these new Malibu's, which are nearly the perfect car, having received many awards. (It was designed and engineered by a BYU graduate.)
Sunday found us more involved in missionary work than we have to this point. John McClintock, a sweet man about our age, has been investigating the church for at least six months but has postponed his baptism because of family pressures. We took him under our wing Sunday in Gospel Doctrine and Priesthood classes, where he even participated by asking questions. He and Gary talked quite a bit, especially about the family pressures Gary experienced when he embraced the Gospel -- and losing friends, culture, his former church and career possibilities because he knew for a certainty that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. After our meetings we volunteered to take John home because he had asked us to help unburden his two orange trees in the backyard. We came away from his home with two cloth bags full of oranges, some the size of grapefruit. These will make the elders and sisters very happy.

We end the week with gratitude for the miracle of our beautiful tall Blue Spruce in the front yard falling in such a way that it only destroyed one shingle and a little soffitting on our Springville house. Unheard of 80 mph winds in Springville. It could have been much worse!

... and endeth!

Remember the photos we took last week of the dry Santa Ana River bed? Well, here's what it looked like last Friday -- and still today. Tornado warnings, hurricane-force winds, waterspouts, flooding, and power outages. What will tomorrow's storm bring? We watched the storms roll in both by looking out the windows and by checking the coastal radar and satellite shots on Wundermap.com. (Great site!) Being without power in the mission office on Thursday for 45 minutes was interesting, but we weathered the storm! (Ha, ha!) But the storm also took its toll on our house in Springville. An 80 mph wind knocked one of our pine trees over onto the house. (We'll send photos when we get them.)

Saturday was as un-stormy as the five days preceding it. Absolutely beautiful, especially on the drive from the Dover chapel (and OCMCO rehearsal) to the temple via Jamboree Blvd. in Newport Beach. It was a perfect day for temple tours, and while Signe helped prepare the punch and cookies, Gary set up the projector in the chapel and acted as gopher. Over 120 people showed up, many of them non-members -- including 16 Vietnamese, 6 Tongans and 20 Primary children. It was a great afternoon, but very tiring for both of us.

Gary had a four-hour rehearsal from 9 to 1. It was tiring and rigorus but also spiritually exhilarating and emotionally moving to be part of a professional choir for the first time in his life. The big treat was having the composer of the music field questions from the 200-voice choir as we took a break. Many times the music came from his own training and experience, but there were other tims (he related) when he looked up into heaven and exclaimed, "Thank you for that!"

Signe's rehearsal was 2 1/2 hours with the orchestra but equally demanding. This is some of the most difficult music we have sung and played. But the end result will be very rewarding.

This weekend there were 13 baptisms. We attended one in Anaheim Hills and were afterwards visited by Gary's brother Mike and his wife Ginny, with whom we also had dinner at El Torito Tuesday night. They are visiting their daughter Caroline again, who lives very close to us. We both rested well from a very hectic week, and Monday brings another busy day, with Gary having to process two 2010 Chevrolet Malibu's which he picked up at the dealer's on Friday.

The Big Rain Event Cometh

We've just returned from the Samoan baptism of Aiava Simona Tuifagu in the Garden Grove stake center, which is actually in Little Saigon, the Vietnamese business district. We understood very little of what was said, but we felt the spirit in abundance, especially with the exuberant singing of the Samoan hymns. Sisters Cook and Barlow taught the good brother on the left, who was baptized by the other brother, who was wearing a lava-lava. The pagoda-like building to the left is a Vietnamese hospital, right next door to the stake center.

We are awaiting what Southern California forecasters are calling "the biggest weather event in recent memory." When we left for the baptism at 2:30 it was not raining, so we took two photos of the dry river bed of the Santa Ana River, just a block from our apartment. In next week's blog we hope to take photos of the same area with the river swollen with rain water and run-off from snow in the mountains to the north. There will probably be flooding in some areas, and we have already seen people sand-bagging around their homes.

It has been a normal week, with nothing out of the ordinary except for the following miraculous story. Gary and Elder Monney drove to the northernmost part of the mission in Brea to rescue two elders whose gas cap broke and who weren't able to insert the gas nozzle the night before. The elders told us that that minor mishap required them to do some contacting by walking around the neighborhood instead of driving. They happened upon a man standing at a bus-stop crying and were bold enough to ask him what was wrong. The man replied that his wife had just died and that he was going home to get on his knees to find out what Church could best help him deal with his grief. He was surprised that these elders came out of nowhere to help him -- real messengers or angels.

Our granddaughter Emma Clark is getting ready to be married in the Draper Utah Temple to her sweetheart Matt over the weekend. While we will miss being there to witness their happy day, we are witnesses of the many blessings we are receiving while we are here on this mission.

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!