August 27, 2018

Reese, Gwen and Tige

sending Love to Podge

We all missed having him in Utah

Gwen was my shadow

Tate #7 QB

Nicole, Ivey, Scott and Beau

at Tate's Football Game

Tige, Kaden and Eric 

at Kaden's Soccer Game

August 27, 2018

From the pictures above you can tell this was an unusual week.  Let me explain....

Monday, August 20, we got a call from Matt Boucher's parents who we had met on Sunday evening.  They asked if they could drop by our apartment on their way home to Las Vegas.  They had some canned peaches they had forgotten to give Matt and asked if we would make a special delivery to him.  Bro. Boucher is in the army so we had a great time chatting with them.  The golden bottles of peaches I'm sure will lift Matt's spirits next Sunday.  That evening we attended a senior couples FHE.  However, because of sickness and mission responsibilities only four couples were in attendance.  It was a pot luck dinner.  Luckily I had made some spinach pinwheels that ended up being the main course.  We also had fruit and two kinds of cookies.  Although the physical meal was meager, we were spiritually fed by Elder Burtonshaw who led a discussion about Jesus the Christ.

After getting more bad news about the cost of building a house from our second builder, we decided I would fly to Utah on Thursday to see a house we had found online.  President Clark gave me his blessing and we booked a flight on Jet Blue.  Had a great day serving at FAM.  Always come home exhausted but happy that we were able to serve.

Wednesday I taught two female MPs the Budget for Baby course.  They were outstanding young women.  I admire the young men and women who serve in the marines.  I met another new volunteer--Jazmin.  What an interesting woman she is.  She is serving as a surrogate mother for a couple in China.  She will deliver their twins in approximately two weeks.  When she had a few minutes of down time at NMCR she was pursuing applications from foreign exchange students from Switzerland and Egypt to select the student who will live with their family for the school year.  Jazmin's husband is from the Dominican Republic.  They met in Guam where she was a sailor and he was a marine.  Wow, talk about a person with international ties.  It was fascinating talking with her.  I got to work with Carolyn in the afternoon.  When I explained that I was flying to Utah the next day, we looked at houses together.  During that conversation I was able to teach her about food storage and large Latter-day Saint families.  Volunteering gives us so many opportunities to share our testimony about our families and important gospel topics.  

It was wonderful seeing Chelsey pull over to the curb at the Salt Lake Airport on Thursday.  I thought she would just be there with her girls but Tige and Kaden surprised me too.  (They didn't mind getting out of a school a little early to pick up grandma.)  Oh, what a treat to give them all a big hug.  The flight from the Long Beach Airport was so quick--much better than a 10-hour drive.  That evening I had the chance to watch Tige's football practice, swing Gwen, read with Tige and play Barbies with Reese--all the things a Grandmother loves to do.  Eric prepared a fabulous dinner while Chelsey and I did the football run.  After the kids were in bed, we laughed and talked until late at night.  My sweet companion had sent me a loving note--it was so strange not having him with me.  Gwen was especially displeased that her Podge did not get off of the plane.  But, she was my shadow for the weekend.  Loved playing with that precious little girl.

Friday Chelsey and Gwen escorted me to Woodland Hills to check out a house on Eagle Nest.  It was a gorgeous house on a magnificent piece of land--close to perfect.  I made an offer and the owner/agent accepted it.  We spent several hours making all of the arrangements.  Gwen was such a trooper.  After we finished up at Woodland Hills, we stopped by Grandpa's apartment in Provo.  Grandpa is looking fabulous.  It was so wonderful to be able to give him a big hug and get one of his precious kisses.  Denise and David were there with dad so we had a fun time visiting with them.  On our way to the Title Company to drop off the earnest money, we started thinking about the long drive to Woodland Hills.  It would take Boyd and Cathy almost two hours to travel to the new house.  It would be a huge sacrifice for them to drive that far to attend regular family dinners.  We talked and decided it would be best to delay making a final decision on the house until we had time to thoroughly discuss the purchase and pray about our decision.  We arrived back at Chelsey's house at 3:30 just as Cathy, Emma, Dylan and Aspen arrived for a visit.  We had so much fun chatting with them for a few hours--what amazing young women!! Can't believe how grown up they all are.  We enjoyed pizza, ice cream sundaes and some fantastic company that evening.

Saturday I rose early and drove to Nephi to watch Tate's football game.  It was so fun visiting with Scott, Ivey, Beau, Hazel and Nicole in the stands.  Tate  was the QB and played a great game but they lost on the last play.  Because it was such an exciting game, I couldn't leave early.  I  met Chelsey in Pleasant Grove minutes before a scheduled appointment to tour another house.  Chelsey was so great to accompany me on all of these tours.  This house was next to a pond that would be really fun for some fishing adventures.  We visited one more home in Alpine before we headed back to Eric's house.  The owners of the home were home and we had a fun time talking with them.  We took a brief break for lunch and I called Elder Halvorsen to discuss the houses we had visited that day.  Then we were off to Kaden's soccer game (which the won 5-2).  I love soccer and really enjoyed watching with Tige and Eric.  As soon as the game was over, the boys took me to the airport.  Ninety minutes later I was reunited with my favorite companion and we were headed back to San Clemente.  It was a wild weekend but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Sunday, it was back to reality.  I got up early and made Cranberry Chicken for our marine dinner.  Elder Halvorsen and I fasted to know how to proceed with our housing options.  it was a tender mercy when I explained our situation to Cindy Lundquist.  Her in-laws live 1 hour and 45 minutes away from them.  She told us how difficult it had been as they aged and were unable to drive the long distance to be with family and how it had strained their family relationships.  What an answer to our prayers.  We knew cancelling our contract on the Woodland Hills house was the correct decision.  What a blessing to receive the guidance we were seeking.  

Our meetings Sunday were terrific. Freda Weber spoke about why we do what we do--the importance of our testimony.  Bro. Olsen, our stake high councilman challenged the marines to let their light shine.  At the fireside Con Weber (Cal's twin brother) shared with the marines that nothing is impossible.  They can do more than they think they can.  Con is a powerful speaker.  We are certainly missing Charlie Company--again we only had 14 marines at our fireside.  Hoping to inspire the marines to bring their friends to our meetings.  

In the afternoon, we got to hear about Craig and Owen's camping/canoeing trip to the Boundary Lakes in Minnesota near the Canadian border.  What a fabulous adventure they had.  Owen will never forget spending that time with his dad.  We loved hearing all about it.  So thankful that as senior missionaries we can communicate with our family while we are serving in the California, Irvine Mission.

August 20, 2018

John and Charlene Kapololu 

at August 14 Graduation

Atim Aru and Kapololus

Atim Aru with Elder an Sister Halvorsen

Chandler Selk at Graduation

Seth Villagomez at Graduation

August 16 Cake Cutting

Painting hanging in the Caruso Chapel

August 20, 2018

Monday, August 13, Gwen turned 3.  She is such an energetic little doll.  It was fun to talk with her.  We love her so much.  We drove to the NMCRS Thrift Store for me to participate in cashier training.  They had several officials from Headquarters in town because Camp Pendleton has been selected to be the first thrift store to install a card reader. (I know we are pretty behind the times.)  It was nice having our local NMCRS personnel introduce me and explain that we are serving as missionaries and volunteering in three of their offices.  Headquarters was quite impressed at how many hours we serve and the variety of roles we play.  So thankful that we have the opportunity to work with the NMCRS.  

After the training we bought some goodies at the commissary.  On our way home we delivered goodies when we stopped to cheer up Bro. Varwig who had recently totaled his jeep.  We also said goodbye to the Nasfells who moved to Virginia on Wednesday.  We have learned to love this family and look forward to following their adventures on Facebook in the future.

Elder and Sister Kapololu drove up from San Diego for Atim Aru's graduation on August 14.  Aru had some medical issues at MCRD and the Kapololus cared for him while he was recovering and delivered him to SOI.  He is an outstanding young man.  Chandler Selk and Seth Villagomez were also part of Charlie Company who graduated that day.  These men were always so faithful in administering the sacrament at SOI.  We will really miss all of them.

Cal Weber returned from his fishing trip to Mexico and brought back some Wahoo for all of the senior couples.  We picked up ours from him on Tuesday night and ate our first Wahoo meal on Wednesday.  What a treat!

Wednesday was one of those crazy days you hope comes to an end.  I got to teach Budget for Baby because the teacher didn't show up--that was fun.  Things went downhill after that.  Marines made so many errors on their paperwork that required correction after the fact.  That was the first time I had made so many errors--the day couldn't end soon enough.  I did get to work with a new volunteer that day.  Kelly is a marine spouse and it was fun getting to know her.

We were thankful Thursday turned out to be spectacular.  Using the new electronic equipment at the Thrift Store made reconciling the sales a snap.  We had six marines at cake cutting.  We really enjoyed talking with the Budge family from Michigan.  After our seniors dinner at Cafe Rio, we went to the San Diego Temple where we were able to complete ordinances for two of Brad's ancestors.  We did baptism, confirmation and initiatory work.  It had been years since I was baptized. It was a very special evening.

Our day at the San Onofre NMCRS office was much like Wednesday.  We saw so many marines who were in big financial trouble.  It was hard because we just couldn't help some of them.  That is always discouraging for us.

We were excited to receive updates on Tige and Tate's first football games of the season.  Makes us anxious to be able to actually be sitting in the stands when they play next year.  They both won and had fun playing which is the most important part.  We had a very quiet day that ended with a nice hike.  Elder Halvorsen realized it had been exactly one year since our first Dawson musical (Emma and Spencer were in Beauty and the Beast on August 18, 2017)  They are now in Okinawa and we are enjoying reading about their activities on Facebook but we sure miss them.

You could definitely tell that Charlie Company had graduated this week.  We had three marines at our morning services and 14 at our fireside.  We are praying more valiant marines arrive this week to take Charlie's place.  Bro. Jolley taught us about prophets in the morning and Bro. Richards instructed us on how to search for truth in the evening.  The messages were wonderful. Elder Halvorsen met the artist who painted the kneeling marine hanging at the Caruso Chapel (see above).  Danny Saenz is a retired marine who has great faith in Jesus Christ.  He uses his talents to share a message of faith.  The Marblehead Ward provided dinner for us Sunday night.  They brought BBQ ribs that were amazing!!  They always go the extra mile.  We all enjoyed that meal. Elder Pack and Elder McMillan rode with us to the fireside because they had locked their keys in their car--kind of humorous if it isn't your car.  Hope they don't have to pay a locksmith.  Enjoyed visiting with Grant's wonderful family.  They are always busy doing interesting activities.  Susie and Kate had just returned from Girl's Camp and everyone was excited for the upcoming school year to begin.

August 13, 2017

Elders Pack and McMillan attend

Pendleton Training with Elder Halvorsen

Carlsbad Missionaries at the conclusion

of Base Training

August 9 Cake Cutting

Marine Shafer's Birthday (2nd from the left)

Becker, Boucher and Bradley

Temple Trip--August 11

Elder Halvorsen, Spencer Bradley

Matthew Boucher

August 14,  2017

Our schedule was crazy on August 13 so today I'm catching up with the blog.  

Due to a scheduled base training session on Tuesday, August 7, we worked at FAM on Monday afternoon.  Our first assignment was to go with a warehouse worker to pick up a large dining room table.  We drove to a gorgeous home close to the beach and were asked to load the table on the FAM truck.  (Apparently we look younger than we are!)  Lucky for us the homeowner was willing to help carry the table.  It was heavy.  When we got it to the store we had to rearrange furniture in the shop to make room for the table.  We were pretty tired by the time we finished our 3 hours of hard labor.  Luckily the Langs had invited us to dinner at their home with the Elders and Brianna.  Mike and Sharon Denning also joined us for a wonderful Italian meal.  Afterwards, the Elders taught Brianna about patriarchal blessings. Brianna certainly is a special young lady.  So thankful she chose to be baptized and is progressing so well.  Kaden called us to let us know that Duke had been injured--29 stitches--he looked pretty miserable.  Hoping he recovers quickly.  We received a second bid for our house in Midway--unfortunately it was higher than the first.  So, we are now on Plan B searching for homes and property.

Met a wonderful couple from Austin, Texas at graduation on Tuesday.  They were Christians and were very interested in learning about our mission.  It was fun talking with them.  The Elders rode with us to Oceanside to attend a volunteer training for Camp Pendleton.  Elder and Sister Sattley were there with a number of missionaries from the Carlsbad Mission.  President and Sister Clark also attended.  Training was required for the missionaries to receive a pass to volunteer on base.  I'm so thankful we have our retired ID cards--it makes life so much easier.  After the training we took the Elders to Panera Bread for dinner.  We enjoyed our time with them.

I had a rough night on Tuesday night.  The renters in the apartment above us must have been getting ready for a trip or something.  They were doing laundry at 3:30 am.  Then the dog was running wild about 4:15 am.  They jumped in the shower at 5 am.  Felt like they were up all night.  They are usually very quiet but I was exhausted when I got up.  I was also restless because of our future housing situation.  We asked Eric and Chelsey to check out a house in Pleasant Grove that looked great online.  The day at NMCRS was so long--I think because I was so tired.

Above is a picture of Brad's work area when we got to the Thrift Store on Thursday.  He always has plenty of items to be tested waiting for him when we arrive.  We were able to purchase some marine boots for Scott and Beau at the Thrift Store.  They had a large number in stock so we were able to buy them--that was exciting.

There was a huge crowd at the MCRD Cake Cutting.  There was a large number of returned missionaries in this group so they are a little more mature.  Marine Shafer was the oldest--he turned 25 on August 9 so we were able to actually celebrate his birthday.  The marines seemed to have a great connection.  We will be excited to have them arrive at SOI.  After the ceremony we went with the senior missionaries to Cafe Rio.  At the conclusion of our meal, Jean Columbus introduced herself to us.  She was a retired Viet Nam vet (about 60) who was recovering from knee surgery. She had a walker and was carrying her bible.  She talked non-stop.  Such an interesting woman who was anxious to hear about the gospel.  Elder Kapololu called in a referral on her.  She was so enthusiastic--the missionaries should have fun teaching her.

Friday Eric and Chelsey went to see a house for us in Pleasant Grove.  Just verified to us that you really can't make a decision about a house from pictures.  We were glad they went to see it,  The backyard had a steep slope which would have made grass cutting miserable.  There were tons of trees which would have required a lot of raking and it faced north so our shoveling would have continued--all reasons to continue looking.  Not sure we want that much work in retirement.  We had a great time at Concrete Beach with Charlie Company.  They have been such a terrific group.  We were busy at the San Onofre Office and made a quick dash home for dinner before heading to the Dove's wedding reception where we helped in the kitchen until 9:30 pm.  The reception was held at the Boud's home which provided a spectacular setting.  They had a darling donut wall that Elder Halvorsen kept stocked with donuts all night.  We made sure there was always food on the buffet table.  We were exhausted at the end of the evening but enjoyed helping this terrific family.

Jumped up early on Saturday to pick up three marines for a trip to the San Diego Temple.  Broderick Becker's family raises bees.  He told us all about bee keeping as we drove to San Diego--so interesting. When we arrived at the temple in the Sprinter, we couldn't find a parking place the vehicle would fit in.  So, Elder Halvorsen dropped us off and parked on the street. Unfortunately after our session, we came back to a ticket.  We hadn't realized Bro. Richard's registration tags had expire--augh! Other than that, we had a fantastic time with the men.  Becker visited the Mormon Battalion Museum with the Kapololu's while we were able to do an endowment session with Matthew Boucher and Spencer Bradley.  We all met at the California Pizza Kitchen for lunch before heading home.

We had a small turnout at church on Sunday--3 in the morning and 23 in the evening.  The attendance is always low the Sunday before ITB graduation.  We are certainly going to miss Charlie Company.  They have been so loyal.  The Lundquists were the speakers on Sunday.  Cindy taught about Elijah and miracles in the morning.  Vic taught about being true to God, family and the Corps in the evening.  Both meetings were wonderful.  We picked up Bradley and took him to the fireside.  Pres. Stephens and Elder Halvorsen met with Chaplain Brown before our evening meeting.  They were impressed with her dedicated service and sincere concern for the marines.

August 6, 2018

Senior couples at Mimi's

Foster's Farewell

Brad's Thrift Store Work Area

SOI

August 6, 2018

It's been a rather quiet week.  Monday we were able to meet all of the senior missionaries at Mimi's in Irvine to say farewell to Elder and Sister Foster.  The Fosters have served as Self-Reliance Missionaries for 12 months.  The program is now running smoothly and they will be returning to their home in Denver, Colorado.  It has been wonderful serving with them. We sat next to the Nygrens which is always fun.  Elder Halvorsen and Sister Nygren discovered they are 5th cousins through the Jolley line.  Halvorsens will be the next farewell dinner--amazing.  

Monday Heidi and Craig also celebrated their tenth anniversary. Grant and Susie's anniversary was on August 1.  So thankful they are part of our family.  They are such great couples.  We love them.

The server was down at the NMCRS on Wednesday  We needed to call other offices for loan approval which made our process much more time consuming.  It was also VERY hot so I had trouble staying awake when we weren't serving customers.

Elder Halvorsen took a picture of his area of the Thrift Store.  He always leaves his area so neat and orderly.  Next week we'll have to take a picture of how it looks when he arrives.  There is quite a difference.  They are very lucky to have him testing the electronics.  He gets so much done during his shift.  

There was no cake cutting on Thursday so we were thankful we were going to the ARP meeting.  We have learned so much from these meetings.  One of those in attendance summarized the first three steps of the 12-step program.  1) Honesty (Admit you can't do it yourself).  2)  Hope (Believe that God can do it.) 3) Trust (Let God do it.)  I loved that.  Another brother said instead of Trusting in God's "Will" he decided to do it God's "Way".  He wrote all of the things he had tried to do to overcome his addiction.  Then he crossed it all out (that was his way).  Then he decided to pray for guidance in doing it God's way.  He started down a path he had never imagined.  He found many of his new strategies in attacking his addictive behaviors.  Elder Halvorsen and I discussed how we can follow God's way in solving our personal challenges.  

Friday Brad had two very difficult cases at the San Onofre Office.  It is so sad to see marines who are in trouble because of making poor choices.  I'm sure the counsel and assistance Elder Halvorsen provided will benefit these men.  Donna, our director, confided in us some personal health struggles she is currently facing in her family.  We love her and pray their family will be blessed.  We felt we were at the right place to give her the support she needed that day.

Saturday was a busy day for Elder Halvorsen.  He finished a talk he was preparing for Sunday.  (He was the designated back-up speaker for a marine who was scheduled to speak).  He also completed the monthly report we send to the Church Office about our service.  These reports are very time consuming and he has done a fantastic job on them.  That is one thing he won't miss after we leave and I have been very grateful that he has completed this task so faithfully.  

We had a small group at our Fast and Testimony Meeting but the Spirit was there in abundance.  One marine who faced military discipline for being in the wrong place was found innocent.  He shared in his testimony how this experience had taught him patience and confirmed that if we trust in the Lord we will be blessed.  We were so thankful to hear how it had turned out for him.  Elder Halvorsen shared his testimony regarding faith and hope.  The general theme of the meeting was we don't always recognize the Lord's hand during our trials but afterwards we can see the Lord has been there with us with his outstretched arms to encircle us with his love and guidance.  In the afternoon, I made Alta's famous cheesecake for our evening meeting.  As always, my pans were empty when I came home.  People love that dessert.  

We had 48 marines attend the fireside.  Marine Aru was our  speaker.  He is an amazing young man.  He grew up in Sudan as a Catholic.  Their family went to see the Pope who was visiting the country even though the government had told them not to.  Marines were there to guard the Pope but when their family was attacked because they had attended the gathering, the marines went the extra mile and rescued them. He was so thankful for their help he decided he wanted to be a marine when he grew up. They left Sudan and lived in a refugee camp in Egypt and later were allowed to immigrate to the US.  He came not knowing any English and it was a struggle.  They lived in poor areas and were surrounded by gangs and bad influences.  He finally came to the realization that he had to break out of the bad environment.  The next day he met two missionaries.  He joined the church but his family was not happy with him and kicked him out.  He lived with his "white" family and gained a strong testimony of the gospel.  His desire was to serve a mission but his parents would not support him.  He had a track scholarship and they felt he should use it.  So, to please them he went to Weber State and ran track and graduated.  After doing that, he again set out to serve a mission.  He was called to serve in Washington D.C.  He shared some wonderful experiences he had there.  After completing his mission, he set out to achieve his childhood goal of becoming a marine.  He is 29 years old and will graduate on August 14.  He serves as an outstanding example to the young marines in his company.  He challenged the marines in attendance to read The Book of Mormon and ask God if it is true. It was a powerful testimony and I'm sure he touched the hearts of those who heard it.  Elder and Sister Sattley and Elder and Sister Kapololu attended the meeting.  They all love Atim and we are so proud of the amazing marine he has become since walking on the yellow footprints.  It has been a joy to see everything he has accomplished.

We had a couple from Provo attend the fireside-the Arvigs.  They have been at the beach this week.  They were excited to meet someone related to Gail Halvorsen.  We were excited that they are the aunt and uncle of Jayde and Grayson Lee (a military family living in the San Clemente Ward that we love).  They have just completed an MLS mission in the Dominican Republic.  He was a retired army reservist whose last assignment was serving in the embassy in Ethiopia and he helped negotiate the peace treaty between Sudan and Ethiopia.  So, they could relate to Aru's talk.  We enjoyed getting to know them.