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!

The photo you see above is of the Orange Stake Center, where our ward meets at 1 p.m. Today we spoke in sacrament meeting, sharing our time with the Ward Mission leader. We must have done a good job, for the congregation was raptly attentive to our remarks. The ward organist even told us they were the finest talks she had heard in a long time! And Signe played her signature violin piece, "Meditation from Thais" as the musical number. Afterwards, many ward members were effusive with praise for our talks and the music and welcomed us to the ward. We love the reception we've received. After the three meetings, we attended our first ward "Linger Longer," which is only done on fifth Sundays. The theme was salads: very fitting since the temperature outside was 99 and fueling the 20,000 acre fire in the Angeles National Forest north of L.A. (The smoke above L.A. reminds us of the Mt. St. Helens eruption years ago.) Sad. 2300 homes have been evacuated.

It's been an extremely busy week, with four missionaries going home on Monday and fourteen new ones arriving on Tuesday. Unfortunately, one of the departing elders left his former vehicle at the new missionaries' apartment in Costa Mesa in a NO PARKING area, so the car was towed. Elder Budge and I had to drive down to Costa Mesa to retrieve it from the impoundment yard and pay $234.

Tuesday night we had dinner at the Hometown Buffet in Costa Mesa and ended up sitting right next to an LDS family of three generations who were giving their daughter/ grand-daughter a send-off to BYU. They even have a relative, Dora, who works in the BYU library. (If any of you librarians are reading this, please tell Dora: I forget her last name.)

Wednesday Gary began training two new office elders: a different Elder Lee from Korea and an Elder Chandler. He trained them on Housing spreadsheets, which are absolutely necessary since we now have 51 apartments and 5 member homes to keep track of. Signe is learning how to be Secretary to the President, since a new office couple who may arrive in October will fill her Financial Secretary role. In the evening all six of the office staff had our monthly staff dinner out: at Chili Pepper Mexican restaurant, the same place we took Mike and Ginny to the week before. (It will be one of our favorite places.)

Friday we both tried to get caught up with Vehicles, Housing and Finances. Then just after 4 Gary got an e-mail from President Watrous wanting him to order 15 twin mattresses to be delivered on Monday. Somehow Gary got that all done before 5 p.m.

Saturday Gary increased his swimming lengths to 18, up from 4 in the beginning -- using three different swimming strokes. He's feeling stronger now and getting some muscle around the middle. After doing laundry we went to the Segerstrom Hall box office in Costa Mesa to get tickets for the Midori concert in September. This is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to hear one of the three best violinists in the world. The we went shopping at Sam's Club in Irvine across from the two 300-foot long dirigible hangars of 1930s vintage. Later, as we were getting settled around the computer to watch the new (and great) LDS film "Forever Strong" on Netflix, Elders Lee and Chandler rang our doorbell, thinking that ours was the residence of a less-active member. (I had actually seen some unforwarded mail sent to this person.) But it was a funny coincidence to close the evening.

Chili Peppers and Baptisms

What an incredible week! We've just returned from the first baptism we've attended: a Spanish-speaking one in Costa Mesa. Fourteen-year old Karen Guzman was baptized by Elder Zamora, but she was also taught by Elders Sharp, Keeler, Sua and Montague. (Signe took the photo for the mission's records.) We enjoyed singing the hymns in Spanish, and Elders Matthias and Keeler interpreted the rest of the service for us. The Spirit was there in abundance. This was one of 18 baptisms this weekend! In church earlier, Gary was asked by the bishopric to play the piano for priesthood every Sunday now -- just like he has for most of the 40 years of his membership in the Church.
Monday Gary's brother Mike and his wife Ginny came to the Mission Office to pick us up for lunch at Polly's in Orange. They are in town because their daughter Caroline was just hired by the Children's Hospital of Orange County two miles from us. We had fun with them and help them get settled in our spare bedroom for the next three nights. (The same place where any of you are welcome to stay if you come to Disneyland or any other reason.) Tuesday night they went with us and the other office staff to Tustin's excellent outdoor performance of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes." It was a very fun evening, punctuated by 30 jets flying over us on their way to landing at John Wayne airport.
Wednesday Mike and Ginny spent some time with other relatives and went swimming in our pool. In the evening the four of us went to the very colorful and inexpensive Chili Pepper Mexican Restaurant in Orange. The food was very good! Thursday morning Mike and Ginny headed south to San Diego.
In the afternoon ... well, can you imagine four elders, including Gary (with white shirts and ties) marching down the aisles in Wal-Mart with one cart apiece filled with three vacuum cleaners, three microwaves, six wastebaskets, six mops and two lamps? It must have been quiet a sight to strangers! They had to buy some basic household supplies for some new apartments the mission has acquired for the growing number of new missionaries that are coming to the mission.
In the evening Gary went with the elders to visit a less-active sister. Signe was home to receive a SKYPE message from Jacob with the happy news that Rebecca Grace Hale was born (7 pounds 7 ounces). We also found out that Signe's niece Michelle Deus West had moved to Anaheim Hills (in our mission). So with our granddaughter Keely moving here next week, we have family here!

On Saturday Gary was doing his exercises in the pool and then had a 'missionary moment' in the spa -- and possibly new friends. Ezekiel and Meredith came out to get some sun and were very friendly -- and had just moved into the complex. When they found out that Gary was a missionary, they announced that they too were believers and went to a non-denominational church. We hope to see them again -- and often. Then, in the evening, we invited Elder and Sister Budge, plus the senior sister missionaries, to watch "Anything Goes" in our apartment: the 1956 version with Bing Crosby and Mitzie Gaynor. We had a wonderful time together! We can easily understand how missionaries miss the people they serve with.