Blessing Bags

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, even though there's no snow and we are running around in short sleeves and sunglasses.

Our sister missionaries put together a beautiful bulletin board in the mission office.

Sister Simpson brought  17 nativities from home and decorated the main area of the office.

And we've been listening to the Messiah and other Christmas music as we work.

A SHORT STORY:
At first, I had a difficult time listening to Christmas music in the mission office. It made me so homesick for my family that I had a hard time concentrating on my responsibilities. I was really in a quandary, because I didn't want to keep the other missionaries from enjoying the beautiful music of the season, but I was about ready to jump on a plane and return home to my kids and grandkids. I was missing them so much!

A tender mercy the next morning changed everything for me. I had gone to bed the night before with a prayer to know how to handle the homesickness the music was creating. The next morning, following some scripture study time, as I was getting ready to go back to the mission office, a clear thought popped into my head out of nowhere. "Instead of focusing on what you'll be missing at home this Christmas, let the music help you celebrate all the wonderful memories you have of Christmases with your family in years past." All of a sudden my whole focus changed. Wonderful feelings and memories of years past began to flood my mind and I was filled with gratitude for all those Christmas blessings and experiences I have already had that cannot be taken away from me. They're locked in my heart forever and I can recall them whenever I want. Since that early morning inspiration, I have loved listening to the Christmas music and letting it remind me of all the special times I've known.

NOW, ABOUT THE BLESSING BAGS:
Last week, President and Sister Golden invited the three Mission Office couples to dinner at their home on Monday evening. It was such a treat for us! Their home was warm and inviting, decorated beautifully for Christmas. We had a delicious dinner of soup, salad and rolls, then spent some time talking and getting to know each other better. We felt so special!

The very best part about the evening, though, was our service activity. Sister Simpson introduced us to blessing bags for the homeless, and helped us put some together.  Each of us had been assigned to come to the dinner with 25 packages of two different snack foods to contribute. We set them all out on a table and created an assembly line, putting one package of 8 different contributed foods into each bag. When we were finished, we each had 5 bags of food to put in our cars to distribute when we see homeless people on the street.

Because of the mild winter weather here, we see many homeless people almost every time we travel somewhere in our car. We have felt helpless as we've looking into their faces, not wanting to give them money that might be squandered on addictions. Since putting the bags together, we have had some touching experiences. Those to whom we have handed bags have opened them and exclaimed, "Food! Thank you! God Bless." It has been a heartwarming experience to say the least, and we are putting together more bags to continue to distribute as we travel around doing our housing inspections and other mission responsibilities. It may not be much, but it is something, and we are so glad to be able to make a small difference for someone who is suffering.

It turns out that there are many good ideas for blessing bags (particularly on Pinterest), but we had never heard of them before. Some of the items we included were water, granola bars, applesauce pouches, Ritz crackers with peanut butter, raisins, fruit snacks, trail mix, life savers, and a piece of chocolate. Other good ideas are tuna and cracker packs, peanuts, jerky sticks, instant oatmeal, drink mixes, etc.  Personal items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, a comb, Chapstick, hand sanitizer, a washcloth, etc., can also be included. There are many other good ideas on the internet, as well. And, instead of brown paper bags, everything can be put in a gallon size Ziploc bag that can be reused to carry personal belongings.

This is a project that we plan to continue during our mission, and hope to get our family involved in when we return to Utah. It's only one of many ways we can lift someone else's burdens, but it's a great place to begin.

--Pat--

The Needful Thing

Luke 10:40-42
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou are careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

So, I have a confession to make:  I tend to be a Martha. I come by it honestly. My mom was sick a good part of my growing up years. We didn't know what was causing her problems, but eventually she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and spent 30 years confined to a wheelchair with limited use of one hand. As the oldest child in the family, I learned to be responsible. I LIKE to be responsible! I enjoy serving and doing and making a difference in the world, but I often miss “the good part” while I’m busy checking off my To Do list. 

I've thought a lot about that over the years. Marys and Marthas both have a place in the world. There's a time for work and responsibility as well as a time for being fully in the moment, responding wholeheartedly to the people and events around you. I'm pretty sure that there's a Mary-Martha balance somewhere out there and I hope to find it someday.

I had a great object lesson this week that made me think once again about that Mary and Martha struggle. Thursday, we had an unbelievable amount of rainfall in Southern California. It triggered mudslides in Malibu and other areas recently hit by fires. It dumped enough water to turn the flood basins into rivers and fill many streets with water clear up to the curb. It just poured and poured all day long. 

Around noon, we were working in the mission office when about six dripping wet elders walked in. I was knee-deep in generating a list of apartments Don and I would inspect the next day, trying to establish a route that wouldn't have us backtracking all over the mission to find them. I stopped to greet the elders and help them find some cleaning supplies and household items they had come in for, then went right back to my work. 

Sisters Simpson and Rhine "chose the good part." One of the elder's suit coats was absolutely drenched. Sister Simpson took it from him and dried it on a chair next to her space heater. Both sisters cooked up a plan to make hot chocolate for the elders with some paper cups and dry hot chocolate packets they found in the office. After heating a pan of water in the kitchen, they were passing yummy hot chocolate out to the grateful elders within minutes. They had recognized unspoken needs and gone to work. Later that afternoon, when Don and I had to go out in the downpour, Sister Rhine took off her warm boots and absolutely insisted I wear them. Despite my repeated "Oh, I'll be just fine," she wouldn't let me walk out the door without them. We traded shoes. They were a perfect fit and boy, was I ever grateful once we got outside!

I have studied "the pure love of Christ” for a many years, trying to establish a Mary-Martha balance in my life. These good sisters (along with many other dear friends throughout my life) showed me again last week what the pure love of Christ really is. It is turning our hearts to our Savior and doing what He would do in the same circumstance. It is healing and helping and lifting and loving others as He did when He walked the earth. It is taking the time to really see the needs of those around us. It is being humble, kind, gentle, and willing to bear one another's burdens. I'm grateful for the example of the sweet senior missionaries in our office, along with President and Sister Golden who reach out in love to everyone in the mission. I see their examples all the time. And, how grateful I am for Jesus Christ, who lived His life as our perfect example. He truly is the way, the truth, and the life.

Not only can we follow our Savior's own example, we can accept His gift of love to us. Moroni invited us to "pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love which he has bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ."  (Moroni 7:48)

Last Sunday night, Dec. 2nd, President Nelson said in his address during the First Presidency Devotional on Temple Square, that the first gift the Savior gives us is the gift of love: "First, Jesus Christ gives the unlimited capacity to love. That includes the capacity to love the unlovable and those who not only do not love you but presently persecute and despitefully use you. With the Savior's help, we can learn to love as He loved. It may require a change of heart - most certainly a softening of our hearts - as we are tutored by the Savior how to really take care of each other. My dear brothers and sisters, we can truly  minister in the Lord's way as we accept His gift of love."                          President Russell M. Nelson

That's my goal this Christmas season....

- Pat -

Learning The Drill

Missions generally operate in six week increments called "transfers."  Missionaries may be transferred from one zone or district in the mission to another at the end of each six week period. Arriving and departing missionaries are on the same schedule. All the work of the mission revolves around these six week schedules.

We thought this past week would be a little less busy than the two previous ones because transfers and Zone Conference were over for another six weeks, but we immediately found ourselves knee-deep in apartment inspections (something I must truthfully say I wasn't looking forward to). One of our responsibilities as mission housing coordinators is to go into 8-10 apartments of young elder or sister companionships once a month and inspect the apartments to assure that they are being well taken care of. We don't inspect each of the 52 apartments in the mission, but we see many different apartments each month. The Zone Leaders are then responsible for inspecting all the ones that we aren't able to visit.

Even though we have loved our missions responsibilities so far, I faced last week with some trepidation. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about going in unannounced to check up on the missionaries (it kinda felt like "breaking and entering" to me), but my concerns were soon put to rest. Some of the companionships happened to be at home preparing lunch when we showed up, so it was really fun to get to know them better, as well as learning more about where they're from and what their assignments are. We are gaining such admiration for these young men and women. Along with traditional ward and branch assignments, we have companionships in our mission serving in Spanish, Korean, Tongan, Samoan, Young Single Adult, and deaf branches.

The reason for the inspection visits, which take place in every mission throughout the world, is that the Church is anxious to make sure that apartments are safe, that there are no repair issues or unaddressed problems with each apartment, that the smoke/CO2 detectors are checked and properly functioning every month, and that the missionaries are taking time to keep things reasonably clean and organized. Some struggle with the latter responsibility, and some don't. Many of the apartments we checked were being kept in very good condition, and we were impressed! Some needed suggestions for improvement. We also enjoyed helping the missionaries by fixing wobbly chairs and tables, repairing broken sliders on drawers, replacing a couple of smoke detectors that had passed their life expectancy, helping with a minor ant issue, and fixing a couple of lamps. 😊

Our inspections gave us the opportunity to get out and enjoy the amazing weather, as well as to walk through some pretty nicely landscaped apartment complexes. Most rental companies here create and maintain beautifully landscaped settings with brooks and water features surrounded by wonderful indigenous plants and flowers. We really enjoyed visiting these peaceful surroundings as we searched for the right apartments! I'm already looking forward to next month's inspections.

Early Saturday morning, we were able to drive one of our elders to LAX (LA International Airport) for an early morning flight to Incheon, South Korea. He is an admirable young man who has served in this mission for nearly two years, but has been called home by his government to fulfill a mandatory military assignment, so his mission was shortened by two months. As we traveled with him, we really enjoyed talking to him and getting his perspective on his mission and the work that he will do when he returns home - even if it did mean getting up at 3:30 a.m. to have him at the airport by about 5 a.m.!

Since LAX is only 20 minutes from the Los Angeles Temple, and since it was our day off, as soon as we said goodbye to the elder at airport security, we headed back to our car and made the trip to the temple in time for the 6:30 a.m. session. We arrived while it was still dark, but walked out of the temple to the sight of a beautiful blue sky and warm weather. It was a wonderful morning!

Los Angeles Temple

December 1st, 2018

We are beginning to settle in and are feeling more at home. We are much more familiar with all the myriads of Southern California freeways now that we have been here for a few weeks. We still use GPS to get somewhere we haven't been before, but we can navigate Anaheim pretty well now without it. We definitely know what time of day to avoid the I-5, the 405, and the 22, as well as how to steer clear of Disneyland traffic!

We are feeling so blessed and grateful to have this opportunity to serve.

--Pat--

Blessings

There's nothing quite like removing yourself from your normal daily activities and taking a broad look at your life to remind you of all the blessings and tender mercies you've been taking for granted. Such is our experience this past month.
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We are having a great adventure as senior missionaries in the California Anaheim Mission. This  Thanksgiving, we feel blessed to be serving with President and Sister Golden, two senior couples from the mission office, and some of the finest young elders and sister missionaries in the world. The young elders and sisters give us such hope for the future. By and large, they know their Savior, Jesus Christ, they know how to work, and they know how to serve others. They try to make the world a better place. Some of the sweetest memories we have of our other missions are the times we spent with the young elders and sisters (especially our wonderful sister missionaries in London) and watching them blossom and grow into competent, loving, contributing young people who have now become competent, loving, contributing husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and friends.

As we celebrated Thanksgiving Thursday with a few of the missionaries, each one of us at the table expressed gratitude for our many, varied blessings. So much of what we enjoy, we often take for granted. Hearing others express appreciation was a welcome reminder.

This week, we have been remembering what we are most grateful for...

• Our daughters, sons-in-law, and each grandchild. We consider all of them our greatest blessings - and we sure miss them!   

• Our good health. We never take it for granted.
• Encouraging notes and words from good friends at home and abroad. (And a huge thanks to our ward members - and ministering sisters - at home who have been so kind to remember us. That's a new experience for us!!)

Our gratitude wall

Our ward has already sent us the most wonderful Christmas banner
with personal greetings! How cool is that?!

• An inspiring day-long Zone Conference where young missionaries taught and motivated us and trainers from Salt Lake explained how to improve our lives through goal planning & scheduling.

Zone Conference instruction

Sister Golden's presentation at Zone Conference

• Our firm knowledge and witness that there is a God and we have a Savior, His Son, Jesus Christ, who knows how to comfort us in trials and lift us out of the habits/mistakes that hold us back and keep us from being all that they know we can be.
• Freedom - and all those who have fought for it
• A home to live in - or at this moment, a snug little 3rd floor apartment
• Palm trees outside our bedroom window 

• The sun and the sea!'

• Running water, food to eat, and clothing
• The internet - we've been without it more than we've had it for the past 3 weeks and we are keenly aware of  how much our world now depends on it - especially living away from home
• Life itself
• Love.  American author, Willa Cather, once said, "Where there is great love, there are miracles."
• I'm grateful for daily miracles.

   -- Pat --

How To Build a Nest in 7 Days or Less - Part 3

It's still true!  We've tested the theory three times now. Back in August 2011, after we arrived in Washington, D.C., I wrote, "...while traveling in many different countries, I've noticed a fascinating phenomenon. No matter how strange the new surroundings are, after about one week in a [new] place, life begins to take on a sense of normalcy.... Experiences and circumstances that seem so peculiar and unusual during the first few days begin to seem completely ordinary much sooner than you'd expect."

Well, it's happening again, but it sure doesn't pertain to negotiating traffic....  We figured this time would be easier than the last two missions because we've spent a lot of time in Southern California over the years and we thought we knew our way around. Well, maybe we were a little too confident?! Now that we've been here a couple of weeks, we've discovered that there are a lot more freeways than we realized (not one of them without twists and turns), and we are also very UNfamiliar with all the surface streets in Anaheim and surrounding cities. We've taken wrong turns nearly every day, even with our GPS. As of this Friday, though, we can find our way easily to the mission office without the GPS. (Big sense of accomplishment here.) And finally, just today, we were able to navigate our way to our investigator's house and then to church and back without the GPS. Hooray for us!

The Gateway Apartments in Anaheim

Thankfully, our "nest" has been an easier transition. We were able to move into our permanent apartment at The Gateway this past Tuesday and we are feeling quite at home here already. We live in a very nice (albeit huge) 1500-apartment housing complex just 2 miles from the entrance to Disneyland.  Our apartment is small, with just one bedroom and a combination kitchen-living area, but just right for us. We park our car in a 7-story parking structure. At least all the palm trees and flowers in the well-landscaped common areas make it seem like a beautiful garden - which is a little less overwhelming.

Hibiscus, Plumeria, Bird of Paradise, and Bougainvellea
are all blooming in Southern Califormia right now.

Our apartment complex is right across the street from Angel Stadium.

We're pretty well unpacked (it doesn't take long to unpack what you can transport in your car), and we have now found most everything we brought with us. We've located the nearest Costco (where gas is mercifully a whopping $.40/gallon cheaper than the corner gas stations), a couple of grocery stores, Walmart, Walgreens, Home Depot, The Dollar Store, and Hobby Lobby. I think we'll be just fine!

On Thursday this week, President Golden asked us to take a young elder to a doctor's appointment at the UCLA Medical Center near Brentwood (close to Beverly Hills). That was a treat!  Because I grew up near LAX, I know that area very well, so it was easy to navigate those particular freeways. It was a beautiful day - clear and sunny and oh, so warm. As we drove, we could see the Goodyear Blimp located alongside the 405 in Torrance, the planes coming in at LAX, the Los Angeles Temple (just east of Santa Monica), as well as the "Hollywood" sign on Santa Monica mountains. We enjoyed spending the day with the stellar young elder we transported, and it was a great opportunity to get out and see some new sights (even if the rush hour  traffic did add well over an hour to our return commute.)

Friday evening after we finished at the Mission Office, we drove to the Newport Beach Temple for an endowment session with our good friends, the Gerritsens, then went to dinner together:  a great way to end transfers week in the mission office!

The Newport Beach Temple

Saturday afternoon, we had our second meeting with our cute young investigator, Jackie. We taught about the mission of the Holy Ghost and had a wonderful experience. Afterward, we attended the ward Thanksgiving dinner and service project together. Jackie had a great time with both the English and Spanish-speaking members. So did we!

It'll be a couple of days until we've been in our new apartment for a whole week, but we are feeling quite at home in our new "nest."  After zone conferences Tuesday and Wednesday this week, we'll be looking forward to some turkey and a day off on Thursday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

   -- Pat --

Mission Office 101

What a week this has been!  New and challenging experiences every day - and we have loved it!

Monday morning, November 5th, we left St. George bright and early and arrived in Anaheim in time to make our pre-arranged lunch appointment with President and Sister Golden, our wonderful new mission president and his wife. They made us feel so welcome and let us know they had been anxiously awaiting our arrival. As we had heard before, they verified that there is a shortage of senior missionary couples. They were concerned that they would not have the third couple they need to run the mission office. That would have meant double duty for one of the other office couples. We know we are here because we are greatly needed!

We're here!

The California Anaheim Mission Office

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday included 8 hour "firehose" days of training on how to manage all the apartments and housing in the mission. Here's what we're learning:  signing leases for missionary apartments, organizing furniture for new move-ins, meeting with leasing office managers in various apartment complexes, creating housing lists and documents for the mission, purchasing cleaning supplies for missionary apartments, inspecting missionary apartments, renewing one year leases and sending the info to Salt Lake, closing apartments no longer needed, texting companionships about issues, installing smoke & CO2 alarms in apartments, and planning for future needs.

Elder & Sister Miyamoto with Elder Carpenter, inspecting a new apartment.

Thursday night we attended a going-away party for the Miyamotos, the couple we are replacing in the mission office.

Pres. & Sister Golden, the Rhines, the Simpsons, and the Miyamotos

Saturday morning it was our privilege to meet Jackie, a sweet young woman who is being taught by the Miyamotos. We are excited to get to know her better and continue to teach her.

Elder & Sister Miyamoto teaching Jackie

Saturday afternoon we were ready for a break! Our long-time friends, the Gerritsens, happened to be in Anaheim on vacation and joined us for a drive down to our favorite Crystal Cove State Park. It was a beautiful day for a drive - warm and sunny. We caught ourselves wondering what the temperature at home might be.

Crystal Cove State Park with the Gerritsens

Sunday morning we met up with more dear friends, the Bishops, to take them to church with us. It was our first week in the Anaheim 4th Ward and everyone was so friendly! The Bishop and his wife met us at the door. The children who participated in the Primary presentation did a great job and were so well prepared! Along with our Mission Office responsibilities, we will have the opportunity to be Member and Leadership Support to our new ward.

During our church meetings, we met several new families from Utah and Idaho who were visiting "Mickey Mouse's Ward." Turns out that ours is the closest ward to all the hotels around Disneyland, so if you're coming down this way, come visit the ward!

Sunday afternoon with the Bishops

Now it is Monday again, and we are officially on our own in our new mission office responsibilities. Elder and Sister Miyamoto return to Hawaii very early tomorrow morning. We are sad and a little

Aloha, Elder & Sister Miyamoto!

tentative as we say good-bye to them and strike out on our own. They have done a wonderful work and are greatly loved around here. We hope to be able to fill their shoes. All in all, we feel very blessed to be part of the gathering in this area during the next several months.

- Pat -

Here We Go Again!

California, here we come! Right back where we started from. We're happy to now be on our way.  Usually we go to California for a vacation break. This trip will be different -- much longer, and more rewarding. 

We enjoyed our week at the MTC. It is a beautiful campus with over 2000 earnest young men and women and about 100 senior missionaries during any given week. We learned so much in such a short time, and we grew to love the wonderful young returned missionaries who taught us how to listen to, love and serve others -- something that has the potential to change the world. There is such a great spirit there -- powerful motivation to learn, grow, and serve.

The Missionary Training Center

Provo, Utah   

My cousin who is a member of the Seventy, Elder Matthew Carpenter, and his wife Michelle, spoke at the MTC devotional while we were there, counseling all missionaries to nurture their companions and be united in their service.  This is great counsel to both the young missionaries and to senior couples. Pat and I have learned that the Spirit can only be present when we are united. This is a goal we will be working on during our mission and for the rest of our lives.

As we leave this weekend, one word keeps coming to mind, and that word is "sacrifice." It's not that I think we are making a great sacrifice to serve. After all, we know the territory pretty well, and we won't be gone that long. But I do know that focus, dedication, and sacrifice are required if we want to serve well. I like the following quotes on this topic:

There can be no true worship without sacrifice, and there can be no true sacrifice without a cause. The cause that earns our love and priority is the cause of Jesus Christ.   -- Pres. Russell M. Nelson

If we are to walk in the steps of the Savior, we cannot do it without personal sacrifice and sincere involvement.  It is rarely convenient; but love extends beyond  convenience for those who have conditioned themselves to look for opportunities to serve.    --  J. Richard Clarke

We have loved our full-time missionary service before, and we welcome new and invigorating opportunities to lift others and help them feel the love of the Savior. We are not just heading south for the winter. We want to make a difference in peoples' lives.

We have traveled a lot and enjoyed seeing much of the world. We love to meet people.  But honestly, we prefer to meet new people and see the world through the eyes of missionary service.  We are ready to trade our frequent vacation trips to LA in search of "pixie dust" for a longer stay, so that we can seek to bring people to Christ.  I am happy to give up my easy chair and remote and put CNN, Fox, and the ups and downs of the market -- as well those of the Cougars, Utes, and Jazz -- on hold, in exchange for the inner peace and joy that comes from serving the Lord and building His kingdom.  We don't know yet why we have been called to serve in Anaheim, but we expect to find out.  We feel very blessed and are thankful for the opportunity to put service to others ahead of other interests for the next several months.   

    - Don -