O Remember, Remember!

Monday we drove out to a little cemetery on a hill in Big Oak Flat to honor Memorial Day.  And even though we have no one buried there, it felt good to listen to Roland Elliot play his annual rendition of taps and say a few words.

There are evidently even a couple of civil war soldiers buried in this little mountainside cemetery.  We were happy to have a time to remember once again my dad's sacrifices serving during WWII. 

Well, one of the sweetest experiences of our mission happened a week ago. 
The Pine Cone Singers presented three performances of "Showtime II".  I told Dennis he cleans up nicely!

By the time of the performances, my job as rehearsal pianist had ended, and I got to watch my favorite bass take his place in the thirty voice choir.  I enjoyed the whole experience down front, all three nights.  And it was pretty incredible. 

He cleaned up pretty well, too! 








Here's a panorama of the crowd at the last performance.   They always perform in the Evangelical Free Church, which is the only venue in town that can hold enough people.  It's very nice. 

Here's their 'performance accompanist', Jason, with his girlfriend and his parents.  He comes clear from Stockton to play for them.  He and Dennis have worked together several years.  He's a lovely young man (and a great pianist!).

This is Sandra, a key member of the group.  She's the one now moving back to Idaho to help care for a very tiny granddaughter (2 lb at birth).  Boy, are they going to miss her.  She reads, plays piano, carries the alto section! 

Here's another sweet moment from closing night:  it was Barbara and Paul's fiftieth wedding anniversary!  Yes, she was a child bride.  If you remember, she's also the person responsible for helping us land that 'miracle piano' in our home so I could even consider playing for the group. 

Now I wish I could explain to you what a beautiful, memorable experience came next.   At the cast party that followed, they gave 'tributes' to all the singers who were moving.  When they came to us, the president said the kindest things.  They gave us a beautiful bouquet and a handmade card containing individual messages from choir members. 

But my favorite gift is the signature necklace all ladies in the choir wear.  It has all white pearls, except the one black one in the center... for Dennis.  They had them specially made.   The fact that they wanted me to have one meant they considered me part of 'the family'. 

The rest of the evening was filled with hugs, laughter, and tears.   It was such a moving evening that I didn't take one picture.  Too personal.  It will be ours forever. 

And so, we say good-bye to another great mission experience.  But my great companion also made sure to hand out our home information (on the back of Articles of Faith Cards) to all our friends. 

Oh, and we also just said farewell to a fellow Senior couple, the Spaffords.  Here we were together at the Calaveras County Fair where Fred helped with the Family History booth.    Now they've headed back home to St. George.

And at a farewell dinner some weeks ago, Sister Spafford sincerely said the line you thought only young Elders and Sisters felt:  "This year has truly been the happiest of our entire life." 












And so, our mission days move on.   Sometimes it's helping with a 'Cinco de Mayo' activity at the Youth Center.

Sometimes it's making lunch for our wonderful 'lunch bunch' at the Little House.

And sometimes it's taking a young lady home from church, because she was the only one in her family that got up and got ready to attend.  We told her President Nelson also went to church alone.   She is absolutely golden. 

Well, we are continually blessed with new experiences and opportunities.  And we are so grateful.  We love our Savior, and we love all of you.   Here's to a happy summer for you all!

Serious? May already?

Well, I guess I should know by the beautiful almond trees on our weekly trip down to District meeting in Oakdale.

I love these trees.  And there are just perfect rows extending 'forever' in some areas.  I think California must provide about ninety percent of the world's almond supply!

Well, some sweet things have been happening here lately.  One of the sweetest concerns this young man...who turns out to be a relative of Fred's some eleven generations back!  Huh??  Well, this is briefly how that came to be:

Several weeks ago he came into the youth center with an old, mildewed and battered photo album he had discovered in a water-damaged attic.  He asked Fred if he'd like to see a book 'older than my grandfather'.

As they leafed through the pages, Fred found some names and dates and asked his young friend if he'd like to try to find them on Family Search.  The young man didn't recognize any of the pictures.  So they retired to the computers.

They found the woman's name right away, along with her pictured husband!  And just 'on a lark', Fred decided to hit the button saying 'view your relationship'. And "voila", it showed Fred Meese and the man in the book shared a common eleventh great grandfather!  

Both our searchers were delighted at their discovery!    Fred has also now connected via email with the son of the lady in the album so they can send it to him.  Miracles, miracles.  

Here's another sweet occurrence:

You may remember this man.  We visit he and his mother quite regularly.
He has some pretty significant balance issues from a stroke two years ago.  After our last visit, where he could barely get up from his chair when we left, we talked on the way home:  "What Ron needs is a lifting chair!  But where in the world would we find one around here!" 

Well, the Lord provides.  Elder Meese said, "I'll call Bob Smith.  He seems to know sources for a lot of things."  Bob answered, and said (unbelievably) he was just about to place an ad to sell a lifting chair he had...in perfect condition!

The man at the left (coincidentally) showed up at Bob's just as they were transporting the chair to our car.  And the next day,  another wonderful less active member of the branch agreed to deliver the chair with Fred.  It has been a heaven sent blessing to Ron, and his Mom.

Last week's Youth Center assignment for us was to teach the kids about edible flowers.  So we brought a flat of nasturtiums and pansies.  We also cut some up in a salad, which was not a big seller.  But the treat below went over much better!  hahahaha

The previous week we made 'sky jello with fluffy clouds'.   All month we were honoring mother earth for 'Earth Day'.










Things are going well at the Book Nook on Saturdays.  I get the 'sitting job' in the corner, checking publication dates and pricing books.  I love working with Pat, who along with her husband, spent their childhood in Salt Lake.

Blaine's actually a member, although he hasn't attended since his teenage years.   He has now quit "hiding out" from us as he says and is very enjoyable to visit with in our Core and Balance class.




The Senior Couple up in Murphy's ends their mission at the end of May.  I had to put in this 'exit photo' I took with President and Sister Palmer because it made me chuckle... I took it at the Mexican restaurant where we had the Senior dinner last week, hence the unusual backdrop for missionaries!  hahahaha  They both shared beautiful testimonies with us saying this has been the best year of their lives (even SENIOR missionaries say that!)

Here's the best experience of this past week.  We welcomed Elder and Sister Johnson to our home for the weekend!  Maybe you remember that they served in Groveland before us, living in this home.  About half way through their service, Sister Johnson's cancer returned and they had to return home to the Huntsman Center where she has been in and out of the hospital over 100 days in the past year.

(The photo has Elder and Sister Johnson on the outsides and President Whitmer by Fred)

They said if she could regain her strength, they would love to come back to hug the people they loved...and had to leave so abruptly.  Well, Friday they came back.  She's weak, 60 lbs. lighter, but ready to go and in remission once again.  And they were delightful house guests.  How often do you get to talk at length with the missionaries who preceded you in the work?!    That calls for a Linger Longer after our meetings - which is exactly what happened. 

And so, good-bye for now from all our Spring friends, who have returned on our morning walks!  And by the way, there's no jacket needed this week on our daily morning trips.  It is gorgeous with a capital G, and we're hoping for these perfect temperatures and morning breezes to last several weeks!  (dreaming?)

Anyway, we send our love from beautiful Groveland.  The gospel is true and we are happy to minister in this part of the vineyard.

Pineapple Express?

Pineapple Express?  Sounds like a fun ride in a tropical theme park.  Two weeks ago I found out otherwise!  We experienced our first 'atmospheric River', the actual description for what constitutes the pineapple express.  The torrential rains came from the warm confines of Hawaii and made landfall here.  Below is our local 'Big Creek' as it normally looks:

Now I'll show you what it looked like after 8" of rain fell in about five hours.  No really, it's the same creek.

I don't remember ever seeing rain coming down that hard. And soon the streets of our sweet Groveland were running brown, with poor merchants scrambling to save what they could.

Large sinkholes appeared on several highways and many have been closed to travel 'indefinitely'.  The greatest blessing during this storm was that the dam at the base of 'the grade' held firm.  Had that broken, with all the other road closures, we're not sure how we would have been able to get down the mountain.


But the waters receded, and crews have been a daily presence cleaning debris and mud from culverts and ditches. And life, gratefully, proceeds here in Groveland!

Here's a happier thought.  The Pine Cone performers are making progress toward their May performances.  Look at these wonderful puppets Shirley Horn is creating for a novelty number:

She's an amazing talent.  Every one is completely different.

By the way, she's standing in the EV Free Church where we are now practicing after the community center flooded.

Here's Fred's, made with two socks to accommodate his eight eyes, the puppet's, not Fred's!  Love it.











And here is our President Shirley Brasesco with her 'friend'.  I am becoming so fond of all these people.   Shirley has a great voice .... and she's a tenor.

I've decided to try to bring a gospel truth into conversations whenever possible.
Dennis is easy to talk religion with.  He's on the staff of the Catholic Church in Merced.


We share a common concern for the humanity of people toward one another and a love of the Savior.  Many different beliefs, to be sure, but an underlying realization of the importance of religious freedom and acceptance of all people.










The other day I had a brief time to talk with Sandra (on the left below).  She's the backbone of the Altos, but she (and her mother) are moving to Idaho in June where her  granddaughter was recently born at less than 2 lbs.   Arabelle is now up to 4 1/2 lbs, and Sandra is 

moving there to care for her.

It's such an emotional decision, but we talked about having faith in the Savior to move ahead one day at a time.  We've met some great, unselfish and Christlike people here.

By the way, you'll remember Barbara Klahn on the right, who provided the miracle connection that brought us our piano.

I took this picture at a fundraiser for the Little House where they asked me to be photographer.  I had a great quiet moment as I snapped these realizing how many good friends we now have here.

Linelle Marshall with her partner Bob.  She sings beautifully, plays violin and piano, helps conduct Pine Cone rehearsals, and volunteers all around town.   She says music is her life.  And I just love her.









Below are Denise, Paula and Luci - our 'bosses' at the Little House.  'Southside Connections' is the umbrella company that sponsors all the programs there.

The other day Denise surprised me by asking me about the big event in our church - getting a new prophet.  Fred and I had a chance to talk with her for a minute about how that comes about.   I also got to briefly talk with Luci about it and answer some questions about priesthood and Church leadership.

By the way, Paula actually has an LDS nephew that is on a mission!











On Easter morning Fred talked me into attending an inter-faith sunrise service with him at the Pine Mountain Lutheran church.  It was a very nice gathering of about 25.  And there again, it was nice to be greeted by so many people we knew.

A lovely prelude to the historic Conference that was about to convene.

Here was our little gathering at our chapel Sunday morning. (the rest watched from the comfort of their own homes!) We watched together and joined sixteen million other members in raising our hands to sustain a prophet of God.

What a thrilling Conference.  And just when we thought there could not be one more major announcement - we found we will have a temple in our own city!  Words cannot express what this day did to lift our spirits and strengthen our resolve to follow our Savior.

Well, here's a sweet picture from today to close.  Emma and Bailey, eager to help make Spring birds nests.  We also tried some with Chinese noodles and melted chocolate!  It worked great.

So from all of us in Groveland, we hope your Spring is blossoming and your spirits are high!  We love you all.

We "Marched Fourth"...again

Elder Meese was reminding me that it was just over five years ago, March 4 2013, that we 'marched forth' on our initial mission to England.  How time flies!  So in honor of March, here's a snap of my distinguished companion as only the Youth Center can make him look:

Yes, it's been a month of Irish activities, treats and games as only Jennah can put them together.  Here's another of her requests to us - "Next week could you make mini-shepherds pies for the kids?"  She gets too many Pinterest bugs!

It turned out pretty fun, though.  I made the little pie crusts ahead (and meat sauce and mashed potatoes), then we formed an assembly line with meat, peas, corn, potatoes, and a little cheese.


Then into the oven, where I hope all the germs were annihilated!  Anyway, the kids loved them.

Here's Trinity and Caleb with another of Jennah's (healthy) March treats:
rainbow shish-kabobs.

Elder Meese and I love working with Jennah.  She works so hard to make the Youth Center a welcoming place for young people.  It's done a complete turn around from a few years ago when some very lax administrators here unfortunately allowed drugs, alcohol and crude behavior to take hold on the grounds.

It takes such a lot of effort to turn a reputation like that around, but Jennah has been persistent in enforcing a great code of behavior.  And we're seeing more trust growing in the community.






Here's a delightful 'upswing' in our mission.  A couple of weeks ago, the Elders and Sisters actually received smart phones!  And they are totally re-energized by the capabilities these open up to aid the work!

It's as though they've suddenly been given the chance to do proselyting "in their native tongue"!

Of course there are tons of safeguards they have to follow with them, but I've seen some beautiful and inspiring posts already from Elders.

Interesting point - their phones are android.  I guess it's not only a cost issue but the fact that you can't 'tether' Iphones for the way companions need to use them.   (Boy, did Apple miss out there!)



Speaking of missionaries, we still have a great district of ten.  Elder Powell is a wonderfully dedicated District Leader; he even calls us every Sunday evening to see how we're doing.  Did I mention Elder Miller is now a zone leader in the other half of the mission?  Great missionaries.

I have decided to try to take a new type of cookie every week to share.  These were 'iced oatmeal'.  I did 'mint crinkles' for St. Patrick's.

I used to give each missionary a little bag of cookies after the meeting, but I decided one of the main purposes is to allow them to stay and visit with each other over a cookie for a short time before diving back into the work.  At every transfer, Elder Meese also springs for a pizza luncheon for all of us before our meeting, which is a great time.

How about a couple of Family History milestones.  The man below is Paul.  He was adopted and has been trying to locate his biological family for some time.  Five years ago he took a DNA test, which started him on a really convoluted path that you wouldn't believe!  It ended by finding he was switched as a baby in the hospital. 

Last month he finally discovered his birth family!!  And although his mother has passed away, he has a brother...and a sister!!


This is also one of those spooky stories where the brothers have so much in common, even though they've never met.  They look alike, they both have back problems, love racing cars, and have similar strange earlobe markings!

They have plans to meet, along with their wives, in a few weeks.  Unbelievable...






And speaking of family history, and not-so-distant-history, have I mentioned I have a cousin right here in our mission?

There are only four cousins (counting me) on my dad's side.  Three of us are in Utah, and Dian is a Californian!  So we've hardly known much of each other...until our mission.  We now enjoy getting together with her every chance we get.  It's like discovering someone brand new, but better because she's family!  Here she is with a fan chart Fred worked up for her. 

Sunday Dian and her good friend Anne made the trip up the Grade to share an afternoon of salad, family history and dominoes with us.  It was a delightful time!  Fred and Anne worked on her FamilySearch account for a while, which gave Dian and I some time to share memories, thoughts and impressions about our childhoods.  

Hey, we had a wonderful surprise two weeks ago!  The little lady we've been visiting that has pancreatic cancer and a prognosis of only a few months...  Well, she walked into church, by herself!  Now, unless you lived up here you wouldn't know what a monumental effort that is.  It's 40 minutes of winding mountain road!   

Just when you tell yourself not to get your hopes up about people coming, a sweet and tender mercy like this happens, and renews your faith.  Way to go, Betty! 

Before I close, let me just show you a couple of our favorite people again.  

Dennis.  I've decided our Pine Cone Performer rehearsals have become one of my week's highlights.  I love his continual lessons in theory, expression, breathing, counting, etc. as we move through the music.  It feels like he pretty much trusts me as an accompanist by now, and Tuesdays are a great experience.

   

They now have two keyboards put up in our rehearsal hall; I play the accompaniment and Linelle plucks out the parts people need.  It seems to work well. Our performances are in the middle of May, which will come all too fast for the eighteen pieces they're trying to master! 

Okay, last picture.  We love this man.  Judge Boyack is our high counselor.  But he is more a member of the Branch than not.  He's there most weeks, interacting with members and supporting every good thought in the Branch.  As I may have said before, he's that wonderful combination of very smart and very humble and enjoyable. 

Last week we were in Sonora for church (our building's heat went out).  Brother Boyack came in and sat by us briefly.  Then he spotted his son and excused himself to be by him.   As he sat down, his son greeted him excitedly, then put his arm around his back on the pew.  I thought to myself, "that's how I thought his relationship would be with his children." 

So for now, farewell from the acres of almond groves we pass each week.  My mouth is already beginning to water for some hickory smoked.  Fred is waiting for fresh jalepeño almonds!  We love you all.