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.