PIONEER DAY

Celebrated Pioneer Day, California style.  I was pretty impressed at the ward party which included square dancing, horseshoes, butter churning, etc.  When we sang "Carry On" in sacrament meeting today I got pretty emotional about the deserts and mountains and all.  Revisiting all the hardships of the pioneers makes me less sympathetic to the missionaries who, for example, complain that their remotes don't work and they have to open their car doors by inserting their keys.  There are some good missionaries here and some great things being accomplished, but there's also some entitlement issues, which I believe to be rampant in the  younger generation.  Showing my age, aren't I?

After encouragement from home and from here, I had my hair colored to give it enough body to wear it short and spiky.  It's blonder than I had imagined, but as Ben always says, "It'll grow back."  In the meantime, it's my California look.

Here's another job opportunity that I never knew about.  You can serve a part-time service mission inspecting missionaries' apartments!  The missionary couples here do some of the inspections, but others are done by people in the stake.  The work is ongoing and somewhat scary, but the job may appeal to some...

I've been reflecting on my missionary experience so far.  I don't think I've had much impact on others; rather, most of what I think I'm accomplishing is in self-awareness.  Hopefully, self-improvement will be next.  I'm in a position to view closely the attributes of many people--both good and bad.  I have new role models now, as well as reminders about the traits to try to eliminate.  It's a blessing.