What a blessed Easter season

I'll begin with a gift, given to us by a cousin we barely knew...until we were called to this mission.  She lives in Sonora, which is now our weekly connection with 'civilization'!  And although we don't hold the same religious beliefs, we are enjoying a growing friendship and family connection.  She is an awesome artist and sculptor.  Thursday she gave us this handmade egg.  "I thought you might enjoy it since you celebrate Easter."  We will treasure it.

Last week we also attended an Easter vocal concert presented by a former pastor of our local Seventh Day Adventist church.  Our neighbor and his wife (members there) greeted us, sat next to us and introduced us to everyone around us.  I pondered how important that was in helping an outsider feel welcomed in an unfamiliar setting.  Note to self....

By the way, have I mentioned that there are no fewer than ten active denominations up here on the hill??  Catholic, Evangelical, Church of Christ, Baptist, you name it...they are here.   I was putting their names and numbers into the Little House resource book, and I mentioned to Paula (our director) that it must make for a very moral, religious atmosphere here.  She said it should, in theory, except that each congregation has a weekly attendance around twenty five and there are 4,000 homes in Pine Mountain Lake alone.  So maybe not so much in practice...   

Well, here was another lovely Easter experience Elder Meese found.  On one of our travels down the mountain last week, he noticed a sign on a fence out in a field:  "EASTER - HERE - 6:45 AM SUNDAY".  Well, he decided he needed to see what it was all about, so Sunday morning he was up at 5:30.   He agreed to let me be 'Martha' and prepare for our dinner guests who would arrive directly after our Easter services.  Well, here is what he found:  

According to Elder Meese, there were about seventy five brave souls who met the sunrise and listened to the music and brief sermons of the minister (in center, no hat).  They closed with two women - a vocalist and a cellist - singing "The Old Rugged Cross".   Another moment of Easter serendipity... 

Well, I have no picture for the best part of our Easter, meeting with our branch to take the sacrament, sing, listen and worship together in gratitude for the most important event the world has ever experienced.  There was such a beautiful spirit in all our meetings, and we were so grateful to know we have a Savior who loved us enough to complete the atonement.  Kirsten sang "Come, Thou Font Of Every Blessing"; the primary sang "Gethsemane", and one of the Burdick's lovely granddaughters played a flute solo of "I Wonder When He Comes Again".  The Daltons spoke entirely about Christ, just Jesus Christ,...and we were immersed in the Spirit.  

And then, good friends joined us at our house. 

Lori Dalton even made special 'Easter rolls' with a hollow center like the empty tomb!  (she said you bake a marshmallow into the center of the roll).  So clever!

Will presented a brief 'seder' after dinner, then we did a shortened version of Fred's program of Bible readings and hymns.  It was wonderful to be together and helped overcome the longing to be with family.  It was also very comforting to know our children were each having the same wonderful feelings about their Savior today.  

I have a few 'random' pictures from our week, too, that I'll pass along.  This is the FHE group from this month's gathering.  Anyone is welcome; they usually watch a church video (with popcorn), then talk over dessert.  So enjoyable.  

This next one is so funny - I can't tell you how many times we've passed this tree on our morning walks and never noticed this on it!  Somebody's got a great sense of humor...

And speaking of things I hadn't noticed... Fred was telling me about some Northern Californians wanting to form their own state. They evidently feel their values and opinions are overrun by politics of the 'big cities' and they want to return to more traditional values. Well, I've begun noticing their signs on our trips... 

And here's another thing you can't help but notice - everywhere!  Trees, fallen, cut down, chopped, being hauled, they're all over the mountain!  The other day, Fred and I took a walk down by a creek bed.  He stopped to note a dead tree and the 'hollow center', probably evidence of the ravaging bark beetle.  The tragedy just goes on and on up here.  

Well, I'm going to close with one of the most bizarre parking jobs I see every time we leave the house.  You can't really appreciate this delicate balance unless you could look cliff-side of this car and realize the drop off is about 30 feet.  I mean, talk about nowhere to park!   I just hope we never have a stiff wind.  

So for now, my walking friend and I say good by from Groveland and wish you all a wonderful week.  We love you.