Happy Memorial Day!

Downtown Groveland welcomes you on the first holiday weekend of the summer!

And although you can barely tell from this picture, there was a steady stream of cars today heading back, mostly to the valley and Bay area.  You had to keep your eyes open as you drove this weekend watching for sauntering pedestrians on our pine mountain roads.

Yesterday Elder Meese and I were in some great church meetings with our branch.  Wonderful high council speakers, and 52 people in attendance!!  No, our less active members didn't suddenly get inspired to attend.  They were tourists, here for the holiday!  It was so wonderful to have them; like our president told us, 'You only get the most dedicated that come to church on vacation'.  Of course a couple of their kids were less than thrilled about getting dressed to be here, but it was still great to have them among us.

And after church?  Well, no one wants to visit on a holiday weekend, and most are with family.   So....

You cut up watermelon and pull up the Memorial Day 'Music And The Spoken Word'!

In the evening, we also watched 'Saints and Soldiers' and remembered my wonderful father, whose story so closely aligned with it.  He really did serve a mission in Germany.  Then, after he was married with one little girl, he was drafted into the army and sent back to Germany to fight in WW II.  How did these men go through this experience and still come home to be loving husbands and fathers and faithful members of the church?   I am so grateful.





And to celebrate today?  Elder Meese once again found an event for us:

This is Rolund Elliot, a veteran of the Korean War.  He conducted a brief flag ceremony at the local cemetery after which he played Taps on his old trumpet while another man lowered the flag to half mast.

He then stayed and spun tales of this area.  According to Rolund, the Gold Rush did make some people rich, but it wasn't the prospectors.  It was all the business owners that supplied them with their needs in these little towns!




Speaking of 'finding gold', Elder Meese seems to be good at it!  The other day, he wanted to stop and knock on the door of a little house on Main Street.  He was trying to get information about the lot next to them (he's still thinking of erecting a Nativity this Christmas).  I wasn't keen at all on bothering them, but I eventually walked up there with him.  And found... this man in his 'museum' behind his home!

He spent a lifetime driving truck; in his off-seasons he began building (by hand) replicas of every truck he'd driven.  It's hard to believe when you see these.

Here is one of the most meaningful events of the week.   Fred has a good Baptist friend who now lives in Texas.  They used to discuss religion on a regular basis, and their friendship still endures.  In the past two years, Bill has taken up painting.  Fred sent him some money and said he'd very much like to have one of his water colors, whatever Bill chose.  This week a package arrived with a beautiful letter which said he had painted something he felt Fred would appreciate a lot more.

He had enclosed the poem,

"Morning has broken like the first morning. Blackbird has spoken like the first bird. Praise for the singing; praise for the morning. Praise for them springing fresh from the world."
 
It is a treasure.



Here is another great shot - Fred with 'Jo'.

I love this little lady; we do 'Core and Balance' together at the Little House.  Fred has introduced her to Family Search and has now tied her into several generations of her family!  Others are also showing an interest....

Okay, what do you do for a poor Elder who has run out of funds before the end of the month? You can't bail him out; he's got to learn to budget!  Right?  But you CAN take pizza rolls to District Meeting instead of the usual cookies.  If they each get a pan, it's okay.  Right?  Elder Meese humored me on this one and agreed to 'aid and abet'.   I know.  Last time.

Well, I'll close by saying we are still finding new people to meet with and having some wonderful experiences with branch members.  The community seems to be accepting these unusual badge-wearing people with more warmth all the time (although several still confuse us with Seventh Day Adventists).  But we are grateful to be in this lovely area.  So Happy Memorial Day from us, and from Tom, a new acquaintance from this morning and a veteran who served in Viet Nam.

The worth of 'one'

We found out last Friday how much effort one girl is worth.  Our sweet Youth Center Director, Jennah, wanted to hold a 'high tea' for the girls in honor of Mothers Day.  She asked if I could make some strawberry-basil scones for the table.  (Strawberry-basil scones??)  Well, it worked!

So we gathered up our scones, strawberries and whipped cream to take to the Youth Center.  And this is what we saw:

Jennah had made this wonderful setting for the occasion.  There were one older girl and two boys hanging there for a time, but they weren't really into the 'tea' idea, so soon Fred and I and Jennah were pretty much alone.  You can never tell if and when the kids will decide to come by the center.  I was feeling bad for all Jennah's work, until... in slipped this young lady, ready for the party.







She was so adorable.  We had sandwiches, scones, and drinks.  And later she made glittered Mothers Day cards.
I told Jennah, "All your work and planning was totally worth it."

So many other good things have happened in the past few days.  Here are some highlights:

El Capitan!  And also a big mountain in the background.  We made our first trip into Yosemite. Our mission friends from the office, the Cornells, came up for the weekend and we took everyone's advice and went up at the crack of dawn on Monday. It was perfect timing and just an awesome experience. By the time we were ready to leave, you could hardly pull your car into the stream of tourists!




One of the most inspiring sights was Yosemite Falls.  In this picture we were in the constant spray of mist with the thundering sound of the falls behind us. I know, it looks like we're in front of a blue screen, huh.

Okay, here's an hilarious side note from our trip.  Fred wanted to stop by this highway restaurant for breakfast because people raved about their baked goods.  What we didn't know until too late is that they're closed on Mondays.  But you have to love this sign on the porch of the restaurant:

The owner just repositions one letter when his shop is ready for business!  Brilliant.










Some of the best news?  These two people.  No, they're not related.  He is friends with her family, and he brought her here for some medical treatment.  Such a nice lady - she's LDS, and she speaks Moldavian! (She actually understands quite a bit of English)  Anyway, she wanted to come to church Sunday, so he asked if it would be all right if he attended, too.  (Do you think?!)  So we are beginning to meet with this wonderful man to share beliefs and answer his questions.  Blessings.

Now, have you heard of the marvelous jumping frog of Calaveras County? The record frog jump is 21 feet, 5 3/4 inches! One jump!!!!
Well, the annual Fair commemorating Mark Twain's famous frog was held this week in Frog Town, and we were there...thanks to Elder Meese, who is always ready to be in the middle of everything!

Jean Oliver (Dynamo) headed the church's Family History booth there, and Elder Meese signed us up to join her for four hours passing out booklets and inviting people to get on Family Search and add their 'stories' for future generations.  It was surprising how many people were interested in it! There was also another helper who would sit down at the computer and get right into it with them! She helped a man that was "sort of" interested find evidence that his Grandmother was a holocaust victim.

And in a booth across the room?  A man and wife selling their 'Button The Mouse' books!  How could the MouseMom resist that?  She's the author, he's the illustrator. And I loved that they had several Christian-based lessons the mice learned in each adventure.  A rare find in today's culture.

Well, how many more good things could I tell about?!  But I will stop for now. And so, from both of us and our friends along our path, "Bye for now".

We love you all!

More Bright Moments...

Elder Meese had a great happening last week when he attended the monthly meeting with Groveland's genealogical society at the library.  One lady was having trouble finding her ancestors in Sonora.  He told her if she'd fill out what she knew in this booklet, he'd be glad to help her next meeting.  

But the coolest thing happened next, when he introduced the people there to "thefhguide.com", a new training resource for FamilySearch. Before Elder Meese left the library, one man came up to thank him for the tip, from which he had just found three documents on people he'd been searching for in Italy!!

I think next month's gathering will be even more exciting!




It's difficult to share all the wonderful things that happen each week on a mission, but here are a few 'bright moments' I captured in photos:

One of our zone leaders.  He's so wonderful.  Prepared, spiritual, humble... I have loved every zone training we've attended.  I learn so much. Before this last training they asked us each to ponder when it was that we gained our witness that the Book of Mormon was truly the word of God.  I will remember the experiences and honest feelings shared during that meeting for a long, long time.

At the end of the meeting, they gave us each a new  Book of Mormon and an' invitation' from President Palmer to read it in the next three months, highlighting every title or name of the Savior in one color, every direct quote from the Savior in a second color, and every reference to missionary work in a third.  I hate to admit it, but I've been using digital scriptures so long it was quite a transition.  But it's also strangely enjoyable to be on paper for a while.  I can feel it's going to be a testimony-building experience!

Speaking of gaining testimonies, Brother and Sister Boyack (remember him, our high councilor) spoke in church.  She told of her conversion as a teenager.  When her friend suggested they attend a service with the Reverend Moon, she said, "I just had a wonderful feeling when my family visited temple square at the end of our vacation.  I think I'm going to look into that religion instead."
The telephone rang it was the missionaries, following up on a referral from her visit in Salt Lake signed on their trip.   Coincidental timing?  

Her testimony is wonderful.  We loved listening to both of them!

We had the greatest family 'happen by' our branch this Sunday.  Like the President said, 'Only the faithful seek out a branch when they're vacationing', and they were golden.  Their twin sons passed the sacrament for us, and several people mentioned in their testimonies after what a blessing it was to have deacons pass the sacrament to them! That hasn't happened in a long time. The introduction of wonderful youth just energizes a congregation.  I have a feeling we'll get to see many as the summer moves in!

This weekend we also had a chance to be with the other senior couples in our mission.   The Palmers invited us to the mission home for dinner.

The two couples in the center serve in the office.  Yup, we're the only couple 'in the field' in our mission.   But  we hear rumors that another couple may be arriving next month!

Anyway, President and Sister Palmer fixed us some delightful Mexican food for Cinco de Mayo (even though our Spanish-speaking missionaries said it's mostly an American holiday).

Hey, you want to see an adorable couple?  This is Scarlett (left) and Rhett.  They are therapy dogs that train at the Little House where we volunteer.  They train them to be taken to the local elementary school, where young students read to them!  Yup, they are trained to sit and listen intently while the children read books to them, one on one.  They said it really helps the children improve their reading, and the dogs love it.

This was an experiment for next Friday's volunteer time at the Youth Center.  Our director, Jennah, wants to try to hold a 'tea' for the girls because of the upcoming Mothers Day.  And she asked me to try making strawberry-basil scones!  (Hey, she gave me the Pinterest pages; what could go wrong?!)  Anyway, this is our first test scone about to pop into the oven.  It actually turned out semi-decent!  By next Friday, we should have it down!  I think Jennah's so wonderful for wanting to make a special celebration for these young girls.


We make a lot of trips down the hill to 'the city', and do you remember the white blossomed trees a few blogs ago?  Well, this is what those trees look like now:

Evidently they're almond trees!  I hear our area is famous for its almonds.  We've also been told that the trees only last perhaps 30+ years, after which they rip them out and begin again with small ones....like below.   Okay, sort of a lame picture.  We're always just flying by these fields!  But I hope you can expand it.

Well, that's it for this week.  We are very happy because more and more opportunities to serve keep opening up.   We feel more and more at home in the community and we feel the Lord's guidance wherever we go.  And also, where can you take morning walks where the 'deer and the turkeys roam'!  Love you all.