October 23, 2017

A replica of the Mission at

San Juan Capistrano

A fun P-day with

Elder and Sister Shelstad

Inside the cathedral

Remains of the chapel after

an earthquake in 1812

The old chapel

Sister Halvorsen and the bells

Elder Halvorsen with the bells

A courtyard--so pretty

A fun day

October 23, 2017

Last Monday we met our friends, the Shelstads,  for a p-day at the Mission of San Juan Capistrano.  The Shelstads welcomed us to our mission and helped us unload our car.  We wanted to visit the mission and decided to wait until the temperatures cooled off instead of going during the summer.  So, the day we finally met for our excursion, we had record-breaking heat of 95 degrees.  The Shelstads finish up their mission in November so it was our last chance to spend the day with them.  We did have fun, even though it was extremely hot.  The grounds of the mission are beautiful.  It was also fun to find out the stories connected to the names of the streets and towns in our area.  Pico (the major street we travel every day) is named after a Spanish governor of the area.  He actually sold the mission to his brother-in-law for $710 (it was valued at $55,000).  Apparently, politicians haven't changed much over the years.  Forester Ranch is named after the brother-in-law.  We spent several hours wandering the grounds and then went to lunch at Hapa J's.  (The Elders tell us this is one of the favorite missionary restaurants).  We ate "man fries"--a concoction of fries, pulled pork, onions, cheese and BBQ sauce.  One serving fed all four of us--with leftovers.  I'd really like to see the Elder who can eat the entire dish.  

Tuesday after graduation we took our Elders to lunch.  They are a fun companionship--Elder Haycock and Elder Pack.  They are working with two marines who are preparing for baptism.  We are  praying they continue to progress.  I made pumpkin cookies in the afternoon and we took them to a family that evening--the Coleman's.  Sister Coleman is facing some major health issues but she was so optimistic.  They have some darling boys that reminded us of our grandsons who we miss so much.  They are athletic, smart and charming.  We are going to try to be fill-in grandparents for them while they are here.  At the end of our visit, Brad mentioned that he had been in the medical service corps in the Air Force.  They said that Sis. Coleman's cousin was in medical school with the Air Force.  When we compared notes, we discovered he is Robby Sorenson's (our nephew's) best friend and study buddy in medical school in San Antonio.  It is such a small world.

Our work at the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society went better this week. The Budget for Baby class was small but fun and I'm improving my cashier skills at the Thrift Store.  This week we had a General's wife donate evening gowns for the Marine Ball.  The gowns still had their tags on for $250-$500.  We sold them for $10 each.  The marine wives who bought them were so appreciative and giddy with excitement.  It was a fun day to be at the register and see all of their big smiles. 

The Cake Cutting at MCRD was enjoyable.  We were able to meet four marines and their very large families.  It's neat that grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters come with the marine's parents to celebrate their graduation.  After the cutting, we enjoyed dinner with three senior couples.  It's always one of our favorite activities of the week.

Friday I met Sister Lundquist to pick up some of her family names for the marines to use when we went to the temple on Saturday.  I discovered my texts to the marines work much better when I'm texting from the Albertson's parking lot down the street.  A nice discovery.  I received a text from Sister Terry, my Relief Society President in Draper, concerning the Hammer Family.  Frank had surgery and was recovering and Sue's brother had been in a terrible car accident.  I felt so blessed to be able to communicate with Sue and give her my love and support.  Visiting Teaching binds our hearts with love.  We do love this family and pray they will be blessed throughout this trial.

Saturday was a disappointing day.  We had three marines scheduled to go to San Diego with us to the temple.  We were going to meet the Sattleys and Kapololus there to attend the session with us.  When we were in the car and on the way to pick them up, we got a message that their liberty had been cancelled and they couldn't go off of base.  We later found out a piece of equipment was missing and no one could leave until they were able to recover it.  So disappointing because these men graduate next week and this was probably their last chance for a temple trip.  We were also scheduled to meet with the Hutchins from Draper that evening and they needed to cancel because of sickness.  Our exciting day came to a screeching halt.  We did get in a nice hike but we were certainly disappointed that our other plans fell through.  

Sunday I started getting sick again.  I'm praying it won't get as bad as it has been in the past.  We did have some great Sunday meetings which helped.  Some of the talks centered around reading the Book of Mormon, building our faith on the rock (our Savior), personal conversion and prayer.  At our evening fireside we met an outstanding marine who is interested in the church who has ties to Holladay, Utah--where I grew up.  He was delightful.  We found out one of the couples serving in the Branch has been released.  We are really going to miss Phil and Dianne Woolley but they have been serving the marines for five years so I guess it is time for them to have a new challenge.  How we have grown to love them.