January 1, 2018

Newport Beach Temple

Front of Temple

Papa Murphy Pizza!

Shore Cliffs Building where the

San Clemente Ward meets

January 1, 2018

Happy New Year!!  Our holiday week was pretty uneventful so this is going to be a very short blog.  It felt really strange to have our schedule disrupted because of the holidays.  We're excited for things to get back to normal this week.

We spent two very busy days at the main side Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.  There were numerous marines and sailors in need of financial assistance due to the holidays.  So, we were able to help them with Quick Assist Loans.  Brad was also able to provide budget assistance to several clients.  

Our second day at the FAM Thrift Store was fun.  We were able to change displays and get the shop ready for the new season.  Brad did a lot of cleaning!  The volunteers there are really nice and it is fun to work with them.

The highlight of the week was serving as the witness couple at the Newport Beach Temple.  There were only 6 patrons in the session we attended so they were glad we were there.  Newport Beach is a beautiful little temple.  There were several couples being sealed that day.  California is the perfect location for a December wedding.  After the session, since we were in Newport I received my Christmas gift of a Papa Murphy's Chicken Garlic Pizza.  I have been craving one for 8 months and since the closest shop is 45 miles away, I've learned to live without them.  But, I certainly enjoyed every bite of my "gift."  

We packed away our Christmas and had a nice walk on Saturday before I came down with a cold.  After a miserable night and some Cold-Eeze, I was feeling much better on Sunday.  

Our ward parking lot was practically empty on Sunday.  Apparently, there are a lot of people who travel during the holidays.  We did enjoy our last Sacrament Meeting at the San Clemente Ward They will now meet at 9 am so we won't be able to attend because we will be at the Basilone Branch. We will have to see if we can make it to the third hour after we finish up with the marines.  We will miss participating in Sacrament and Sunday School with the members of the ward. We have really been blessed by associating with them this year.

The marines are starting to return from their break.  We were able to deliver gifts to the Hernandez family on Sunday from the Richards' Christmas party.  It was so fun to chat with PFC Hernandez.  He is such a great young man.  We will miss him in the ward.  We also had to return a coat to PFC Molina that he left in our car so we got to hear about his Christmas with his dad.  We felt grateful that we could help him with his surprise.  

We are so thankful for the opportunity we have to be serving in the California, Irvine Mission and look forward to sharing our love of the Gospel with many marines and their families in 2018.