Won't You Be Our Neighbor? (Patterson Style)

By their fruits ye shall know them!  

Happy Monday! We met our month mark last week.  Our kind and interested neighbor at home in Spencer Ward, then daughter number six, asked this week,  “What is it that you DO?”

 

The couple (in another area) returning home this month said that her training came in a literal blink of an eye.  No training.  Be creative!  She joined a quilting group.  Another couple near Yosemite National Park volunteers with reading in elementary schools.  They teach classes, visit members, encourage local leaders. 

  (In case you are interested, there are only about 225 knitting days until Christmas--and this was Tuesday!)

Upon our arrival, and throughout the past few weeks, our first priority was to greet and meet as many of the branch leaders and families as possible.  Interspersed, have been Sunday meetings, Thursday district meetings, invitation for dinners with a Relief Society president and the Branch President along with a three-zone meeting and new missionary training, where our mission president, President Brent Palmer shared some of the precious time he is carefully allocating upon the reorganization of three missions (Sacramento, Modesto, Fresno) to two missions (Sacramento, Fresno.)

Our house is located in the south western area of the Modesto mission.  Thus, California Fresno, with President Bart. P. MacKay, will be our assigned mission beginning July 2018.

Since focus for the past four weeks has been a Mister Rogers style event (“Won’t you Be my Neighbor?”) I will share a bit about some of our neighbors:

Around the little house where we hang our hats, through home-made bread, Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego (no sugar) cookies and muffins, we are meeting interesting, likeable families:

A director of surgical nursing. A server at a semi-local restaurant.

Electrician for Google and other hi-tech Bay area companies. 

An insurance provider to high risk motorcycle and race car drivers, a couple of workers at Fed-Ex and Amazon-like company (several large complexes of this sort here,) a few stay at home moms, one stay at home dad, hamburger plant manager, a city clerk at a Bay Area city (commuting daily three to four hours) concrete and construction manager and internet installer, trombone player—are a few neighbors we have met.

Also a nice "fix-it-guy," former emergency medical technician, who answered our question, "Do you have a mechanic you trust?" with

“Well, when I wake up in the morning, sometimes I don’t trust myself!”  (Joke translated:  I do all my car work!) 

In the Crows Landing Spanish branch we work to serve and support we are learning to know and appreciate:

The owner of a nut growing company, master of nursing student, dog groomer, handy man, driver of farm machinery, three tow truck drivers, a friendly cook’s helper, crop gathering assistants, repairer of swimming pools, painter, construction manager, mobile 3D mammogram technician, retired apartment manager, gas station attendant, dairy driver, worker and manager of our Church’s nearby Patterson West side wheat and alfalfa farm, and left offense select soccer player. 

In the process, as documented in last week’s letter, we have met rabbits, goats, ducks, dogs and kittens.

Who let the cat out of the bag?

Saturday, Val and I 

joined in Love Turlock, a neighboring city, to help groom Chatom Middle School playground.   

My favorite part was painting the fire hydrant bright…also feeling energy of young people sprucing up their campus.  

And Val, in addition to preparing a curb to paint, enjoyed career talk with a young future aerospace engineer.

                        

Last Tuesday, we scoured our city to gather ideas from nearby community and senior centers. 

Still wondering whether to sign up as readers on Dr. Seuss night, callers for Spanish bingo, or  swim instructors!  (What would YOU do?)

Received a go ahead to organize music instruction in Crows Landing Branch--challenging with rewards.  Laurene is holding a happy heart with caution.  Prayers invited to directly assemble and organize materials, minds and music!

Dad’s addition:

“Two highlights of last week:  we were given permission to leave the mission and attend our nephew Michael Sorensen’s, ordination and setting apart to serve as counselor in his new ward.  

So, I had the privilege of ordaining him a high priest.  We also were able to attend the Sacramento temple—beautiful, peaceful, a place we love to be and treasure!

Another miracle from Val:

"My tablet battery apparently died this week.  Is it worth a change?  Change can be good--also hard.  What does one expect after 5 years of use? The screen went black…. Charging did not work…. Reading online brought 2 ideas to the table… They did not work… So looking at YouTube--I can do this! And $17 and 5 days later… Wow! In our personal mail box….. a small package.  The next day I opened it and proceeded to remove and replace, with a very small screw driver, and quite a bit of difficulty, removing the battery connector, replacing the battery.  More difficulty replacing the connector….I tried it.   Ugh!  Nothing…. Maybe it is more than the battery?  But exercising more faith unto experimenting again…disconnect…then reconnect.  This time I tried it, before fully assembling the housing…it worked!  That was worth the effort, the time, the $17.  I learned once more:  If at first you don't succeed, TRY, TRY AGAIN.

(I hope Laurene shows the mug of Hitler, the cute cat, who we met at Ignacio’s house.)

Won't YOU be our neighbor???