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.