WEEKEND AT "HOME"

Since I brought a whole basketful of sewing/quilting projects with me, I decided I'd better stay home last weekend and work on them.  It felt good to piece a quilt top while listening to a book on tape.  Only problem is that the quilt top was a project I purchased here, and the UFO's are still in the basket.

I was also able to finish my mission/Fair Oaks chicken puzzle, with some help from Sister Thompson.  The first part of the puzzle was really hard; the middle part kinda fun, but the last of it was purely annoying.  I was down to fewer than 30 pieces of solid black background that didn't seem to fit anywhere.  I was considering flying either Jill or Chloe out to finish it, when Sister Thompson came to the rescue.

I Would Gather Thee

Today we received 27 new missionaries--the first batch of younger ones.  They arrived at the Mission Office around 11:00 a.m.  By 4:00 p.m. they'd been fed, photographed, interviewed, and trained.  We have their driving records and their medical records.  They have more information than they can possibly remember.  Elder Cherrington has devised such a detailed flowchart plan that, rather than being overwhelmed and overworked, we were almost bored.  They had been awake since 3:30, and they still had dinner at the Mission Home ahead of them before they could go to sleep...on mattresses placed on floors throughout the McKay House, where the Assistants and Office Elders live.  Because of the increased number of missionaries, the senior staff is no longer invited to those dinners, which is a relief to me.  It always made for a long day.  Tomorrow morning is my favorite day, when they receive their companions, their assignments, and their shiny new bikes, and are turned loose upon the world.  They may be young, but this group seems particularly sharp to me, even the elder I came upon who was leaning against a wall, nearly asleep.      

LOOKING HOMEWARD

Last Saturday I attended the Folsom Quilt Exhibit.  It was wonderful--exceeded my expectations.  One group had created wall quilts, each having a red ribbon running through it.  Then they hung the quilts in such a way that the ribbon connected them.  Pretty cool.

(Wish I could do as well aligning them as the quilt hangers did.  This picture won't move up.)

On Sunday I held my annual Chinese New Year party and invited the Cliftons, the Cherringtons, Pete and Alta Hart, and Sisters Porter and Thompson.  We ate potstickers and compared notes about our Chinese zodiac signs.  The next day at the office I found a beautiful potted orchid on my desk with a Curious George thank-you card from "Alta, the monkey."  Good people.  Nice evening.

I enjoy the names I input from the baptism records.  Today's favorite was Tonia Sunshine Day.  Doesn't it make you happy to know there are people in the world with that outlook?

My replacement will arrive April 8, a transfer week.  I'll train her for a few days, then start for home by the end of the week.  I read a long email today from my MTC companion who was sent to an Indian reservation to set up an RN program at the local college.  After 9 months, living alone on the reservation in a trailer, she is being called into the mission office to complete her mission.  The Church is abandoning the program because of lack of involvement and follow-through by the proposed recipients.  She's disappointed at her lack of success in what she was called to do, but wrote that the Lord knew best and she didn't regret her effort.

I feel somewhat the same way.  The mission has not been what I expected.  But though I'm not entirely satisfied with my performance, I don't regret the effort.  I've been tested.  I've grown some, learned some, and I think contributed some.  The Lord knows best.

KEEPIN' ON

Not much to report.  We're still gearing up for the end-of-month onslaught of new missionaries.  At a planning meeting on Monday we spent two hours working out new housing, new cars, etc., when suddenly the President said, "We need a lot more phones!"  I'm sure we still haven't thought of everything.  Two missionaries arrived yesterday and another will come on the 19th, so the total for the 26th is down to 30.  Normally the flight from Salt Lake gets them here around 1:30.  President asked to send them on an earlier flight.  Can you imagine trying to interview 30 missionaries in one afternoon and be able to make companion assignments to begin the next morning?

The mission was audited last weekend.  We passed with flying colors.  The auditor remarked that he couldn't estimate the cost of paying for all the administrative work that is done on a volunteer basis...but he knows the Church could never afford to pay it.  With the increase of the young missionaries, there will be need for many more senior missionaries.  That's a qualified plug for missionary service....make sure you take your own companion.

Speaking of seniors, in April we'll receive 4 single senior sisters under a new program designated as Ward/Auxiliary Support Missionaries.  Working with stake presidents, they will be assigned to specific wards, I suppose much like the innercity missions in Utah.  In other words, they're callin' in the Relief Society, big time.  One of the sisters is 75 years old and has served 7 previous missions.

I've taken on additional duties.  The new car czar doesn't want to deal with bicycles, so he gave the job to me.  I guess that makes me the "wheeler dealer."  I've been coordinating bike sales between departing and arriving missionaries.  I'm still spending time with Sister Langi, of the broken kneecap.  She's a lot of help to me in the office.

WHEW!

Why does everything happen all at once?  The week before last was slow and even boring.  Then there was so much going on this week that I had to miss some of it.

For example, my friend, Marsha Adaams, was visiting from Utah.  I couldn't even get away to have lunch with her because we were processing new missionaries.  On Wednesdays of transfer weeks we go to the Temple with departing missionaries, then dinner and testimony meetings--a  rather long day.  The next morning they all leave for home.  There is no good flight connection, however, for the Islanders.  So, I had a young Samoan companion for 48 hours while she waited for her flight.  I'm sure I'll repeat the experience next month when Sister Angimarau leaves.

On Friday morning, Val was scheduled to fly into Sacramento where we would have lunch and some face time, then continue on to Clear Lake where she does decorating work.  The Salt Lake airport was closed for all but a few hours in the middle of the day.  By the time her plane arrived in Sacramento, it was too late for her to get to her final destination.  So, Val had a sleepover with us!  We spent most of the evening un- and re-packing Sister A's suitcases, which were 40+ pounds overweight.  I'm still finding discarded stuff:  in the trunk of my car, in my apartment, and in the office.  She was heartbroken at leaving her fur-lined leather boots here.  (Really?  In Samoa?)  She was also sad to leave behind the boxes of cookie mix she was taking to show how she had learned to bake.

Today we went downtown to the art museum to see the Norman Rockwell exhibition before it leaves next weekend.  It was wonderful.  I was pleasantly reminded how much of my life was portrayed in those paintings, from eating in a railroad dining car to welcoming home a soldier-hero.  I love how he showed life at the truest level, but with humor and optimism.

The rest of the museum was good, also.  This picture is for Ben:  an AK-47 and a grenade covered with blue and white porcelain.









It was a wild week, and I'm tired.  But the longest and my second-least-favorite month of the year is coming to a close.  And we had blue skies and sunshine again.  I'm OK with missing the extreme weather back home in Utah this year.

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS

It's lemon season here, and it reminds me of zucchini season in Utah.  You can't go anywhere without someone pushing a sack of lemons on you.  I'm almost used to seeing oranges and lemons growing on trees. I got acquainted with a new tree today, a bay leaf tree.  Of course I knew that they grew on trees; they are, after all, leaves, but I'd never seen a huge tree full of them.  The cute little Chilean woman who owned the tree cut me a big branch to take home:  some for cooking, some to keep ants out of Sister D's domain, and some to keep moths out of closets.  She tells me that the tree would grow in Utah.  If so, why doesn't anybody have one?

It's 65 degrees today!  The second day in a row with clear blue skies, sunshine, and warmth.  Hard to remember that at the first of the week we were freezing.  The older I get, the more aware I am of how therapeutic sunshine is.  There is truly sunshine in my soul today.

The mission cowboy, from Moroni, Utah, had a birthday today.  He leaves for home next Thursday, so I was surprised to see a birthday "fat box" arrive at the office yesterday.  I can't imagine him wanting to stuff anything else in his suitcases; rather, they all leave stuff behind at the last minute.  It's "mail fast" week, so I'm not forwarding any mail until after transfers.  So I decided to take his package to him.  It's P-day and the sun was shining, so I drove up to Shingle Springs, then on to Placerville.  Those who've been to visit me know that Placerville is also called "Hangtown," but I'd never spent much time there.  Today I visited a very graphic historic site:

I also found a great little used book shop, and I'm well set for the remainder of my mission.  I read 99 books in 2012, the same number as in 2011.  (I have to write them down so I don't read the same ones over and over again.)  I haven't been sleeping well lately, so I've already read 9 in 2013.  If you want any recommendations, you'll have to ask me right after I finish one; otherwise, I can't remember.  But if I have total recall in the next life, imagine how smart I'll be!

MORE BIRDS

I have denied myself cute birdhouses all these years because I resented birds and didn't want to be hypocritical.  They ate the chicken feed and pooped all over the yard tools in the barn; they ate ALL the cherries off my trees and pooped all over the driveway.  So I find it odd how taken with birds I am here in California.

The latest sighting is of a pelican!  Right in my apartment complex, on the very top of a huge tree.  Seriously, right on top of the tree.  It makes me wonder how many things I don't notice at home in the busyness of life.

The mission got off to a rocky start this year.  There were four automobile accidents in the first week of January.  Yesterday a bike/car accident was phoned in.  The Church keeps their fleet in pristine condition, so every little bump and scrape is attended to, and it's costly.

Last night I got to help caravan a family of 10 to the Temple for a tour.  Elders Walker and Haufano had invited an investigator and her 9 children (5 of her own and 4 of her brother's, who is incarcerated).  They arranged for a ward member with a van for most of the kids, and I drove the mom and two youngest children.  The elders had even arranged for car seats for the little ones.  (I don't know why that surprises me.)  It was cold and the kids were rambunctious, but what a sweet experience.  The kids were smart and absolutely beautiful.  The mom is my new hero.  She's set a date to be baptized on the 22nd of this month.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's been cold here--really cold.  In the low 30's, which feels a lot colder than 30 does in Utah.  I sit in the reception area of the mission office, and the door is constantly being opened and closed.  Often, missionaries will open the door and lean outside to talk on their cell phones.  I'm beginning to understand why my predecessor shot rubber bands at them (the missionaries).

The count is in.  The California Sacramento Mission baptized 696 people in 2012; or as President Lewis puts it, the equivalent of two wards.

Pete Hart, Mr. BYU, has been bringing all his unwanted Christmas gifts to the office.  At first it was just candy and sweets.  Yesterday it was a pair of new leather gloves and a hat.  He's wonderful to these missionaries.

On New Year's Day we went on a walking tour of Sacramento.  It was really cold, but we saw parts of the city we hadn't seen before, including blue trees.  President and Sister Lewis went with us, and it was a nice, if cold, day.