January 29, 2018

Elder Halvorsen on P-day at

San Onofre Beach

Sister Halvorsen at the San Onofre Beach

Sea Glass on the plate Craig made

Elder Sanford and Elder Fambrough

Elder Pack with the new Elders

Michi Stephens

Alana and Lee Jolley

January 29, 2019

January is quickly coming to an end.  Seems like each week we get a little busier.  But, we love being busy.

Monday we got to FaceTime with Heidi and her terrific family.  Craig showed us a beautiful book case he has made for their home.  He is certainly becoming an expert craftsman.  The boys are growing so fast and everyone seems to love Wisconsin.  

The Dawsons invited us to dinner that night. Loved hearing more of their family history--such an amazing family.  We got to meet our new elders--Elder Sanford from Houston TX and Elder Fambrough from American Fork.  Elder Pack came with them to the dinner to show them around base.  All three were in the MTC together and will leave in 6 months.  At our weekly missionary correlation meeting, Bro. Lang gave us time to get to know a little more about our young elders and sisters.  They each have many talents that enable them to be successful missionaries.

Tuesday at FAM we got to do the initial sorting and were outside.  It was nice to enjoy the beautiful weather.  People are really generous with their donations here.  FAM uses the income from the donations to help the homeless.  Nancy is the new manager of the shop and we already see it becoming more organized under her leadership.

We got to train a new volunteer at the NMCRS on Wednesday.  Nick is a retired Master Sergeant.  He is a generous and kind man.  His background will be helpful as he assists the young marines.  We really enjoyed getting to know him.  We spent some time in the gym in the evening.

The Thrift Store is rocking.  This week they earned $3000.  (The store is only open 5 hours a week so this always amazes me.)

Friday after working at the San Onofre Office we took brownies to several families on base.  It is always fun chatting with them.  Some of the husbands will be leaving for a six-month deployment in June.  Marine wives are pretty amazing.

We spent our p-day at the beach this week.  The weather was gorgeous so we took a walk and looked for sea glass.  We decided to start a sea glass collection.  The pieces we found were very small but so pretty.  We each found a blue piece which was a jackpot.  They are hard to see among all of the dark rocks.  We got a text that evening from a marine who had just arrived on base and was asking for directions.  It's nice to know that our texts are providing a number that the marines can use to get help.  

Sunday I made breakfast enchiladas for the Branch.  They were a big hit and there were no leftovers.  We had a good group attend the morning services--several new recon marines who will be with us for a few months plus a family of five who were visiting from Arizona.  There was a regional conference on Sunday for all of the wards in the area so we missed seeing our friends at San Clemente but instead we got to visit with Boyd and his wonderful family.  They are always so busy and happy.  The girls are becoming such delightful young women. 

We had over 40 marines at our evening meeting.  We love that our numbers are becoming consistently higher.  Last night we had a church mouse scurrying back and forth behind the pulpit--right by the piano.  I was sure when I went to play the closing song he would be in my bag that was open on the floor.  I was so thankful to see him take off the other direction just before I returned to the piano.  I won't be leaving my bag on the floor in the future.  Never a dull moment.  

I've included two pictures of some of the people we serve with at the Basilone Branch.  Michi Stephens is the Branch President's wife.  She is from Okinawa and always has a big smile and hug for all of the marines.  Alana and Lee Jolley are stake missionaries.  They live in San Juan Capistrano.  Bro. Jolley introduced his wife to the gospel while they were in high school.  We love hearing their experiences and testimonies.  We work with some amazing people