This and That

Sister McGuire does such a great job on keeping everyone informed about what we are doing.  I'll just add a few insights from my side.  She mentioned how "old" it seems we are - however, don't the pictures show just how young we are getting by staying here!  Working with the young single adults keeps us at least acting young.  But then I realize my body isn't what it used to be and I have to wind back my expectations of what I can do. 
There are some great young men and women in this area who are strong and trying to do what is right.  Even more so, we are inspired by the young missionaries who take their callings seriously.  As I was looking out into the Institute parking lot this morning, I saw two of our Zone Leaders, Elders McCloy and Baloaloa talking with a young man sitting on a bench along the road.  They spent at least a half hour talking with him and he agreed to hear more of their message.  Upon leaving the Institute, I saw them out in the parking lot talking to another young man as he went to his car.  They are following the counsel of President Schmitt to open their mouths.  I wish I would have taken a picture of their faithfulness to illustrate to other missionaries that their duty is to preach and teach as directed by their mission president. 
We love our mission!  We get tired; maybe a little cranky now and again, but we love the calling that we have received to strengthen and to teach.  The Lord is teaching us a lot about how we can take direction and help others as we serve.  There is no small responsibility in our service to the Lord.  We learn and we grow.  And hopefully our service is acceptable to the Lord.  If there is one thing I have learned about service as a Senior Missionary it is that all of the assignments have one goal: to allow the missionaries the time to preach and teach more effectively.  We all participate in apartment inspections, car inspections and providing food to various missionary conferences.  What a blessing it is to support these fine young men and women.  Some of our senior missionaries are assigned to help struggling wards to become better.  What better effort can they have to share their years of experience in church service and yet realize that the local leaders have the keys and authority.  Those of you who are on the cusp of service, know how important it is to the strengthening of the church that you choose to serve. 

Week 5 - The Time is Flying By!

Elder McGuire at the Mormon Battalion

We feel very busy, which makes the time fly by!  Last Tuesday we had dinner at the Mission Home.  So fun - the new missionaries arrived from the MTC that day, and we had a chance to visit with many of them.  The "deer-in-the-headlights" look was very apparent, and we felt like the old experienced ones (in many ways!)  The next day we attended transfer meeting. The new missionaries were assigned to companions, and most of the companionships were changed around.  Now that we know many of the missionaries, we enjoyed seeing their excitement, and have loved getting to know some of the new missionaries we will be working with in the YSA Wards. 

Not a good picture of me (you can see the toll the humidity and heat takes on my hair.)  But this is Elder Schwab, one of the missionaries we've gotten to know well and had over to dinner several times.  He was transferred out of our area, and is actually due to be released in 6 weeks, so we probably won't see him again.  We're going to miss him. (We get very close to the one we have the opportunity to work with.)

At the Institute, we've been working with getting the LDSSA organized.  We now have a full set of officers, and are so excited to get going.  They have many good ideas to get the SDSU LDS students involved and visible.  It will also open the door for the missionaries to be able to spend time on campus talking to people.  

This is a picture of Elder McGuire visiting with Winston Sorhaitz, who transferred here from BYU to play soccer on SDSU's team.  He's agreed to serve as an officer for LDSSA, and the club is excited to support the LDS athletes we have attending school here.

Friday night we met with the other CES/YSA Senior Missionaries for dinner at the Tequila Factory in Old Town.  (Mexican food is pretty much the norm here!)

We look like a bunch of Old People!!

Our dinner entertainment!

Sunday's continue to be busy with a minimum of 7 hours of church meetings.  We attended the Ward Council for both YSA Wards this week, and as many of their meetings as we could fit in.  Bishop Goff (bishop of the YSA 2nd Ward) and his wife invited us for dinner later that day, which was such a nice treat!

This week is our Open House at the Institute.  We have a special theme and treats each day (so yes, I am cooking a lot.) Fortunately, we have a well stocked kitchen here and Elder McGuire provides good dishwashing labor! This is a picture from our first day - "Thanks for Popping In".  Today is "Chocolate Never Faileth", then we have "Aztec Spirit Day", "Dawn Patrol", and "When Life Hands You Lemons".  SDSU started classes this week, so students have been coming over, meeting us, signing up for classes and LDSSA, etc.  It's given us a chance to meet lots of the students.

This coming week is very busy since classes will be starting.  We're teaching the Pearl of Great Price class on Tuesday night.  We are also in charge of the meals for both the Seminary Training Meeting on Saturday (about 85 people), and the Missionary Leadership Conference on Wednesday (about 75 people.)  So, I continue to pray for strength and energy, and fortunately the Lord has been blessing me with both!

Week 4 in Beautiful San Diego!

It's about time to post again! We thought we'd do it on Sunday's, but they're so busy that we haven't had time. We're so grateful though to be busy and feel like there is work that we can contribute to doing.
To start with, I found out that my dear friend and work associate, Dr. Nora Nyland Kerr, is retiring and she and her husband received their mission call - to Oklahoma City CES! This is despite the plans and arrangements they had made to go to Croatia. All I can say is that I know the Lord is wanting desperately to rescue the youth of the church, and our work with Institute and Young Single Adult wards is vital. So, in thinking of Nora, I have to post my one and only picture of us together (and yes, it's old!)

Thank you, Christine Krstic, for this picture. Hard to believe you were my student once!

Our week was spent mainly at the Institute.  We started preparation on our course that we will be teaching - the Pearl of Great Price.  We also have been planning an Open House for next week. School begins at SDSU, so we expect a lot of kids coming over to the Institute to check it out.  We're planning on having themes each day, with food and a chance to meet us and the institute director (and hopefully get signed up for classes!) 

This week we did apartment inspections for the young Elders.  Transfers are due this week, so each of the Senior Couples has a route with several apartments that they need to inspect for cleanliness and safety.  We visited 5 apartments, some in some pretty "sketchy" areas of town.  (The apartments were pretty sketchy also!)  But it was so much fun to meet some more of the young Elders.  We took a plate of cookies to "ease the pain", but Elder McGuire and I make it pretty painless for them - we just enjoy it!

We try to spend as much time as we can with the YSA Wards, so that means going to FHE's with them, or other activities they're involved in.  The YSA 1st Ward members were in a softball tournament this week on Thursday night, so we went to that.  Elder McGuire and I are naturally quite gregarious, so we have a lot of fun mingling with these "kids".

We fed the missionaries again this week - the ones for the 1st Ward (the AP's) on Thursday, and the ones for the 2nd Ward (the Zone Leaders) on Monday.  It's fun for me, I like to cook and I like to have people to cook for.  We enjoy getting to know each of them better, and feel very close to them. One of the AP's, Elder McChesney, is leaving for home today, and we're really going to miss him!

One of the Zone Leaders, Elder McCloy, is from Farmington.  He sang a solo in church Sunday and I accompanied him.  It was really beautiful, he sang one of Elder McGuire's favorite songs, "I Heard Him Come".  It brought many tears to the audience. And I felt so grateful to be able to play the piano again!  They have no one in the 2nd Ward that can play, so I played for Sacrament Meeting.  Elder McGuire helped them set up the Sacrament.  It's fun to just dive in and help where we can. 

They were painting in our Institute Building, so we went to the San Diego Zoo for a few hours.  What a beautiful zoo!  It was hot, and we only stayed about 4 hours, but we got season passes so that we can return anytime we want to.

Sunday was a very special day.  Lei Ma was baptized.  There was a huge attendance there, even the Mission President came.  She's a very special girl, and is so happy about the gospel. We've spent a lot of time with her, and have really learned to love her.

We are very busy on Sundays.  We began this Sunday with music practice at 9:00, Church from 10:00 - 1:00, Linger Longer at 1:00 - 2:00, Church at the other Ward from 2:00 - 4:00, Baptism at 4:30 - 5:00, and Linger Longer at 5:00 - 6:00.  We got home at 6:15 and kind of crashed.  Didn't make it to the Mission President's Fireside at 7:00, hopefully we'll be able to do it next time!

1st Haircut Week

Yes it was the week of our first haircuts. There was a Sports Clips right down from where Sister McGuire was getting her hair done. Best thing about it: there was a Chick-fil-A right down the street! So now we look just fabulous.
One of the real blessings of being Senior Missionaries is the opportunity to become acquainted with the young missionaries. We each have a list of missionary apartments that we have to inspect every six weeks. As we go to perform that inspection we can visit with them a little and make suggestions on how to keep their place a little more clean.  (Of course all of them are spotless, after all they 18-21 years old). Naturally their attitudes and mind sets are somewhat different, but all of them are trying hard to do what they have been called to do.
We are lucky to have the Assistants to the President in one of our wards and Zone Leaders in the other. These young men are some of the best in the mission and have fun to get to know better. We get to feed them every other week and this is a highlight of each week. One of the Assistants, Elder McChesney pictured below, is on his way home to Highland, Utah as I write this. As many seem to realize as they are out here a while, he could have worked a little harder in High School and regrets it now. He hopes we'll see him in either a BYU football uniform or possibly a Weber State one in the next year or so.

We are trying to get in some of the sights here in San Diego, so we took off for the San Diego Zoo on a day they were painting the Institute.  It has really changed from years ago when we went there (either that or my memory is as poor as I think it is).  It was a beautiful day and we got around to maybe a third of the zoo.  

Sister McGuire fending off the vicious predator at the Zoo.

It is a really beautiful place - this is the fern walk.

It is nice to be able to take the time to see some of the beauties of the area.  Since we expect many children and grandchildren to come down, it certainly won't be the last time.

We sat down with the Institute Director, Brother Mackay, to plan for the coming semester at the Institute.  We will be planning to teach the Pearl of Great Price on Tuesday nights and supporting him in any teaching that he does during the week.  He will try to teach all of the other classes, but we will wait and see how many students sign up for the classes.  We have been working on finalizing the LDSSA organization, but still have some work to do.  We hope to get it done as soon as possible after school begins. It is an involved process but we should be able to finish it soon. In the meantime, we have been talking to everyone we can about signing up for Institute.  One of the difficulties is finding what members are currently enrolled in SDSU.  Some come to hide, some come and are clueless as to the Institute being here and some are actually excited about the Institute.  We hope our efforts will help make the Institute a destination for most LDS students.  

Our Sundays are really busy.  We began last Sunday at 9 with Diana playing for Elder McCloy to sing in church.  We then went to both wards and ended up with a baptismal service for Lei Ma.  Sister McGuire will post a picture of Lei.  Both wards were well attended as was the baptism.  By 6 pm we finally rolled into the apartment.  We considered going to the President's Fireside (they are wonderful), but after sitting down we couldn't bring ourselves to get up for two more hours, so we missed out.  

We had a fun opportunity to have dinner with four other Senior Couples: the Tanners, Richardsons, Barlows, and Monks.  It was a fun night, but we were envious of Tanners' apartment.  Compared to ours, it was really nice.  They had started out in our apartment, but the freeway noise was unbearable for Elder Tanner and he couldn't sleep.  Should I make a similar claim?  Actually it is isn't so bad with the fan going and we have been able to sleep just fine.

Week 3 - Sister McGuire

Simple dinner in our simple little apartment! Life is good!

Another week in beautiful San Diego.  We're loving it here, and are beginning to feel like it's really home.

We had a busy week.  Of course Sundays are very busy - since we work with 2 YSA wards, we try to attend all of their Sunday meetings we can, including Ward Council.  So that means church from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.  (We usually eat a pb&j sandwich in the car as we're driving between meetings.)  Last Sunday the 2nd ward had a "break the fast" luncheon after church.  The wards usually do either that or a "linger longer" with refreshments.  They really enjoy some mingling time together, and food always facilitates that.  So, I've been trying to make something to contribute - this past week I took a 7 Layer Dip with tortilla chips.

Monday night we had our monthly FHE with all of the Senior Missionaries.  We met at the Mormon Battalion, and had a fascinating presentation by an LDS Neurosurgeon from one of the wards.  The Senior Missionaries are all such wonderful people.  They each sacrifice so much to come and do this work, but are so committed.  It's great to be part of these "covenant people."

Our Institute Director was out of town all week, attending a regional conference.  We were able to view some of the meetings via Internet, and they were so inspiring.  The Brethren really want us to "up our game" with these Young Adults.  They are such a special generation, and the church is losing them rapidly.  Our challenge is set, and we feel a great responsibility to be just a piece of this great effort.

Because our director was out of town, we taught the Institute class Wednesday night.  It was on Isaiah 38-43.  The class is one that the Director is developing himself, so we were left on our own to devise a lesson plan.  It gave us a great opportunity to implement some of the teaching techniques that we learned at the MTC and from the Handbook.  About 40 attended the class.  We loved it, and had a great time teaching.  Can't wait until fall classes start!  Afterwards, the kids hung out, played in the game room, and just visited.  One girl, Lupe, missed class for work, but came over afterwards and asked Elder McGuire to give her a blessing regarding a job interview the next day.  It feels so good to know that we are beginning to serve a purpose in their lives.

We did our first apartment inspection for the Elders in our mission.  Transfers are due soon, so all of the apartments have to be inspected. Each Senior Couple has a route.  We have 4 more to do this week. (I took a plate of cookies to sooth the stress for them!)

Friday we went to the temple and did sealings for some family names.  I still can't believe what a beautiful temple this is - the sealing rooms are GORGEOUS!  In our spare time, I've been working on family history, and have gone a little crazy with clearing and printing names.  So, I've transferred a bunch of them to Kristina.  Emma and Jacob can do the baptisms and confirmations for us.

Friday we went to a little Mexican restaurant for dinner, La Torta.  It was so good, and there was so much food for so little money!

Saturday was our high point.  We had a baptism!  It was a sister that I had befriended the first week (she was sitting alone at Relief Society, and I sat by her and talked with her),  Her name is Kat (Katherine), and she is the girlfriend of a young man in the ward, Nic.  He is a recent convert himself.  Her family is very strong Catholic, and her father was very much against her baptism.  But she took courage, and acted on it.  Sunday they did her confirmation. Next Sunday we have another baptism right after church - Lei Ma.

This Monday we went to FHE at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park.  The activities are fun to go to, and such a good chance to mingle.  I quite enjoyed the organ music, but Elder McGuire got bored fairly quickly!

One of the things we have been doing at the Institute is to get the LDSSA going.  Apparently, they had it here at one time, but it was dropped.  So, that necessitates getting the paperwork completed that is required for a campus club, working on bylaws, finding officers, etc.  (My experience with getting the Student Dietetic Association set up at BYU is paying off!)  We've had contact with some wonderful students who are willing to be officers.

By next week, we will have a better idea regarding what we will be teaching and be responsible for in the fall.

A Month Gone

It is hard to believe that we are already a month out on our mission.  Although we have only been in San Diego for three weeks.  Sister McGuire has all the photos so I will leave that all up to her, but I will try to give my perspective on what is going on here.  As we have talked with other missionaries and local members, it is apparent that the Church within the city of San Diego is struggling a little.  Older members are staying and there is little infusion of younger people due to the high cost of living.  This was evidenced last night as we went to a fireside that one of our wards held with the Poway YSAs.  They had a good number of youth that came down, but we were not as well attended even though the meeting was in Balboa Park.  There seems to be a vibrancy in the outlying areas that is not evident here in the city.
That being said, there is a desire on the part of the Institute to revitalize this area for the students coming to SDSU.  The LDSSA lapsed last year and we are trying to restart it so that there is a good presence on campus for the church.  We have located some active and enthusiastic students, some of whom are athletes, to get a new start.  It is our hope that we can have the Mormon students become actively involved in supporting University activities and become a noticeable presence  on campus.  We are further hopeful that this will encourage many to come to the Institute and participate in classes here.  The next few weeks will tell how successful we are.
One of the joys of the mission thus far is getting to know the YSAs better.  They are fun to be around and it is great to learn about them and their goals.  An interesting thing that we have noticed after going to church for several weeks is that new faces are there every week.  We don't know why that happens, but it is certainly a fixture of the each of the wards.  We find 10-15 new faces that we have to meet.  There always is a core group that are regularly there, but there are the new faces that seem to rotate around.  Maybe after we have been here for several months it won't seem like that is occurring due to our knowing them better.
It seems like everything we go do is within 10-20 minutes of our apartment.  The temple is the furthest away, but most other sites that we seek out are 10-15 minutes travel.  The two wards and the Institute are both within about 10 minutes, so it is really easy to get around.  This is especially good since we have to go to both wards on Sunday.  We are usually at church for about 7 hours each Sunday.
This past Saturday we have the first baptism that we have been involved in occur.  Of course, our involvement was only fellowshipping, but we felt a part of it and the joy it is in this sister's life.  Kathryn Baird was baptized by her boyfriend Nic Gonzalez.  It was great to watch this fairly new convert perform his first baptism.  He wants to go on a mission and so he may have many more!  This Sunday we will see Lei Ma, a Chinese young lady, get baptized.  We have been very lucky to have several conversations with her and see the joy that she is experiencing.  Shortly before we came two South Korean sisters were baptized and so you can see it is very cosmopolitan here in San Diego.
Well this is more than I usually can write in any one sitting, so I will leave it to my wife to fill in all of the many other things she is feeling and noting.  It is a wonderful experience for us to be here and feel that we are being helpful to the Lord in His work.  We hope that this continues and we become better at it.

Week Two in Sunny San Diego!

Erica - This one is for you! Picture taken in the early morning while we're out walking!

Our place only has 3 rooms (including the bathroom), but it does have a pool!  Elder McGuire tried it out one day this week.  Senior Missionaries have very few rules! 

And Elder McGuire's golf clubs arrived (Thanks Natalie!)  I don't know if he'll get to use them, but due to lack of storage space, they are now a living room decoration!

Best thing this week!!  Picture taken at FHE on La Jolla Beach.  This is taken with an investigator that we have gotten very close to - Lei Ma.  She is from China, and has been here as a student.  Her planned baptism date is August 16, right after church. She is a real sweetheart who is totally committed to the gospel plan. The enthusiasm of new converts is so exciting to us!

The other great thing was going to the temple on Friday morning.  We did an endowment session.  I had the privilege of  taking my cousin's name - Ray and Myra Ward's daughter, Raylene.  I never knew her, but after having a strong impression one day that I needed to look up her brother's name (who had passed away when I was a teenager), I discovered that she had passed away a year ago, and had no living family to do her work. (The rest of the family had their work done years ago.) Now it's completed, except for sealing to her parents, which I will do next temple visit.  It's so wonderful to be able to go once a week.

We have been spending most of our time at the Institute, working on class prep and studying more of the Teaching Handbook.  We will be teaching the class on Isaiah this Wednesday night while the Institute Director is out of town.  We also went to lunch on Friday with the other Senior Missionaries that are involved with YSA or Institute.  It was great to get together and share ideas.  Apparently, we will meet once a month.

We also had missionaries over twice for dinner: the missionaries assigned to the YSA 1st Ward, and the ones assigned to YSA 2nd Ward.  It was fun, and we felt like it was a nice service for them. Working with YSA Wards, they rarely get dinner invitations.  We're hoping to do that at least twice a month for each companionship.

And Friday, after the temple and lunch with the Senior Missionaries, we decided to go to Sea World.  (The Institute was closed because the carpets were being cleaned.) There are a few benefits to being in San Diego!  Other than that, we did laundry Friday night (at the laundromat), and house cleaning (which takes about an hour due to our small living quarters!)