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 -