Time to Blog Again!

Wow!  I looked at when I last blogged, and it was Oct. 3!  So much has happened since then, and we have been incredibly busy.

We had a very pleasant Conference weekend.  Such a delight to be able to sit and listen, focusing on the messages with new eyes.  Sunday afternoon, we took a little drive down to Lake Murray and walked around, enjoying the view and the peace.

The next night, for the Senior Missionary Family Home Evening, we had a Halloween Bash.  For a bunch of old people, we had a lot of fun!!  

Feeling "Incredible"!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday that week, we did our usual "stuff" - taught class, met with the LDSSA officers, fed missionaries, prepared the Forum Luncheon, and did a music practice with Elder McCloy to tryout for the Mission President's Fireside.

The following week, Billy and his family came to visit.  They were here for a week, so we tried to free up as much time as possible to do things with them.  San Diego has so much to do - they went to the beach, Sea World, the Zoo, and Legoland.  We went to Sea World and Legoland with them.  So fun to see all of those cute kids!

And guess who we ran into at Sea World!  So fun to see familiar faces!  We love you, Danny and Connie!

Danny and Connie Porter

Saturday, Julianne and her family came to visit.  So we had 4 days that the family overlapped and were able to do things together.  We continued to juggle our Missionary duties.  Monday we covered 3 different classes for the Institute Director since he was out of town.  (Boy, we both love teaching!)

The kids were able to spend some time together, even when we couldn't be with them.

Kids "panning for gold at the Mormon Battalion (notice Grandpa helping!) 

Kids together at the beach

Billy flew home on Tuesday, and Julianne stayed until Saturday.  So we had 10 days of fun with Grandkids while we did our best to keep up with our work.  One of the best things we did was take them all with us to church at the YSA 2nd Ward.  We filled 2 rows, and certainly made it noisier than usual!  I was so happy that they got a chance to meet some of these amazing kids that we work with.

How they celebrate Halloween here!

We were able to go to the Zoo, Sea World, and Legoland with Julianne and her kids.  Ellie called our apartment "Nana's Little House", and we spent time just hanging out there, too.  They even attended a Tailgate Party that we had at the Institute Friday night.

At the zoo

But now we're back to full-time work.  Attended 7 hours of church on Sunday.  Wow, I love these kids.  I had no idea how much my testimony would grow by seeing how the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes their lives.  We love serving them and relish our time here.  Last night, we did a cooking class for FHE for the YSA 2nd Ward - so much fun!  Taught them 3 ingredient cooking:  Apples with fruit dip, French Bread Pizza, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies.

I've been thinking this past month about what in my life was the most important "skill set" that has prepared me for this mission.  Basically - everything!  Being a Mom (loving and nurturing these Young Adults), being a wife (working in conjunction with Priesthood authority), my job (teaching, quantity cooking, curriculum development, etc.), my church callings (reaching out to individuals, organizing activities, leadership).  My role here is so varied, but it feels like I have been preparing for it my whole life.  

I appreciate everyone's support.  Believe me, we feel the prayers.  I never knew I could work day and night like this, and still feel energized by bedtime.  Having family here has made me appreciate the sacrifice they are making to have us here.  I know they love their Grandparents, and miss them a lot. To remember why we are here, I bought a saying that I put up on our wall in our apartment:  Missionary - a person who leaves their family for a short time so that others can be with their families forever.  

Finally!

I have been less than diligent in writing on this blog the last few weeks. I left it up to the capable hands of my wife to keep everyone informed. But I am sure that many of our avid readers (let's see, we have five children so maybe 7 total) have been waiting for a new post from me. So here goes.
We went to the San Diego YSA 2nd Ward today and really enjoyed their Testimony meeting. Testimony meetings here are really interesting. They often feature new members who have truly experienced a "mighty change" in their hearts and some who have returned after absences. The wonderful mixture of races and cultures is also refreshing. Each time we come away spiritually fed and don't mind that the meeting went 10-15 minutes longer than usual.
I have to say again how much we have enjoyed working with these YSAs. They are easy to love and feel close to. Whether it's teaching them, just talking with them or feeding them, we have a great time.
We had a couple of great missionary opportunities the last few days. On Friday the missionaries texted us wondering if we would be around the Institute at noon. We really had planned on doing P-day things but they were meeting with a young lady, Summer Vukovik, who was baptized in January but had stopped coming. She had told them she wanted to meet with them and they said the Bishop thought it would be great if we could be there. We decided that was more important than what we had planned so we went there at noon.  Summer had an interesting story. She said she had a good friend who was a member who had passed away and she knew he turned to the Church for his support. She decided to do the same with her pain of his passing. She contacted the missionaries and they began to teach her.  She gained a testimony and was set to be baptized.  She was staying with her parents and her father, a staunch Catholic, was against her baptism. He decided to lock her in her room so she would miss the baptism. She crawled out her window and went to the baptism, although a little late. She told us she recently was going through some more difficult situations and decided she needed to return.  She asked that the missionaries teach her again. The spirit was strong, but when the missionaries asked her to come to church on Sunday she was hesitant. She said her mother was visiting on weekends and it made it difficult to get away. I felt impresses to tell her that, while no longer a Bishop having that special power of discernment, I felt strongly that not only did she need the gospel in her lif, but the Ward needed her. She responds by saying "I guess I better come to church then."  And she did. My impressions were validated today as we met with the Ward Council and they talked about the need for some family history work in the Ward. Before going inactive, Summer was called as the family history consultant. She has a love for family history. It was wonderful to see her at church and see many of the YSAs welcome her.
The other experience is an example of my dear wife's closeness to the spirit. Several weeks ago we went to Fuddruckers to eat. The young lady working as the cashier noticed our nameplates and commented that her grandfather was a member and had worked on the Hawaii temple. We told her we worked with the Institute and YSAs and would have to talk to her again as there were people in line. Over the intervening weeks, Diana mentioned we needed to return and talk to her, but we didn't and I wasn't sure that it would be that fruitful. On Wednesday we had the ZLs over for dinner and Elder Baloaloa challenged us to talk with someone about the church. Diana thought immediately about this girl and we committed to going there to speak with her. On Friday we went there with the intent of approaching her. We saw that she was preparing some food and went to talk with her. She seemed very willing to talk with us and Diana asked if she would be willing to talk with the missionaries and she said she would. We told her we would be back on Saturday with them. When we returned on Saturday she said she had been looking for us and would try to take a break to talk with us. It was really busy and she didn't seem able to take a break. Diana went to talk with her and she asked her Manager who said they were too busy to have her break. She gave Diana her phone number and address and was willing to have the missionaries come see her. We will have to wait and see the outcome, but Diana was tuned into the spirit on that one. Melody is a single parent of a five year boy. We aren't sure whether she was baptized, but at least she seemed very interested to talk with the missionaries.
One thing I have learned through our time here is that you cannot tell a person's heart by looking at their outward appearance. There are many young people that I would never imagine that they would be interested in the gospel, but turn out to be ready to hear the message of the gospel. And the change in their life is shown by their appearance as they accept the gospel.  It's a good thing the Lord knows to look upon our hearts because I sure would miss some of his choice spirits.
Well I have said enough. If any of you reading this are approaching senior mission age, make sure that you put that on your bucket list. The opportunity to serve your Heavenly Father's children, to interact with other senior missionaries as well as the young missionaries is such a blessing that you don't want to miss it. After all what are you going to do with your time, golf?  Not even close!

Natalie's Visit!

Another baptism - we've been having one every Saturday!  Love it, love it!  The enthusiasm of the new converts is incredible - Richard's life changed totally - used to be in a gang, did just about everything you can think of that's contrary to the gospel.  Now he's on fire - bringing his friends to the missionaries to be taught.  And our YSA Ward is wonderful at fellowshipping.  I'm learning a lot from them.

Another Baptism - Richard

Sunday was a great day!  Natalie, Jeff, and McCoy arrived for a week's visit.  They stayed with us for 3 days (we borrowed a blowup mattress from our Senior Missionary friends and McCoy slept on our couch.) It was so much fun having them here.  We're pretty used to living together, so even though it was tight quarters, we loved it.  Got a chance to mix fun with our missionary work.

Natalie, Jeff, and McCoy are here!!  So excited!

Visit to the Mormon Battalion Visitor's  Center

Sunday night, we decided to go to the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center.  McCoy had a ball.  They have so many interactive activities, and it was a wonderful Sunday activity for us!  (Got a chance to see some of the Sister Missionaries and Senior Missionaries that we know, too.)

McCoy and Jeff at SeaWorld. Love his toothless smile!

Now it's time for fun!  Monday we went to Sea World with Natalie and family.  Saw everything, wore ourselves out (at least I did!)  It's still pretty hot here, so we did lots of sweating!

Elder McGuire at Coronado Beach

Tuesday morning, we went to Coronado Beach.  Beautiful!  Had so much fun playing in the water and sand.  Later that day, we went to the Institute to teach our class, but Natalie and her family stayed for awhile longer and came home burned to a crisp!!  This sun here is deceiving, especially around water!  Wednesday morning we went to the USS Midway with them, then they packed up and headed up to Lego land while we did "Institute duties" for the next couple of days.

Having fun at Legoland!

Friday was a day we could free up, so we headed north and spent the day at Lego land with Natalie. Cute place.  I think a 6 year old boy could play here for days.  There are Lego building stations and playgrounds everywhere.  McCoy wanted to do that rather than the rides.  This picture is us on a Lego boat, going around a little water area.

So, it's been kind of a playing week, along with an Institute duty week.  We're learning to love these kids here though, and starting to feel more involved in their lives.  They like to come into our office and just sit and chat for awhile, getting a little "counsel" along with it.  Their lives are complicated, with school, jobs, relationships, money, roommates, etc.  We're kind of old, but not too old to remember what it was like for both us and raising our children. We just keep praying that we can be of use to the people here!