Acuzena

Happy belated Mother’s Day to our amazing mothers, aunts, daughters, and wife of our son!

At church Sunday, I met a beautiful young woman named Azucena, which I learned in Spanish means lily.  So here is an "azucena" for each of you (and for every sister, family or friend, who chooses to nurture.)

We are also celebrating a "Striking Sixteen" for our oldest grandson, and "Great to Be Eight" for another in the middle.  Congratulations...marking milestones.

 Apologies for last week. We had a mistaken idea of laundering, cleaning, baking whole wheat bread, catching up banking, and writing home.  But you have been moved back to front seat! 

Since we last chatted, our paths have crossed the doorsteps of some colorful characters

  

And springtime has sprung, 

inviting mourning dove songs to accompany early chapel visits. 

 

Seven senior couples gathered to wish well to a couple who has served in a little mountain village of just over 2,000 people.

                         Happy to get ideas from friends 
                    with a few more miles under their belt.  

Our Crows Landing Spanish branch president and his new wife 

kindly shared dinner in their beautiful home

 

and a beautiful woodcarving made from death masks cared for by his family (descendants of Samuel Smith, brother to Hyrum and Joseph)

Learning to look to see a heavenly hand each day...

 Grateful for beauty "all around" as we find love in homes of friends near and far. 

Happy Mother's Day...remembering 

Blessings to each of you!       

P.S. Lesson from Dad/Val: Case of the Misappropriated Toothbrush

Lesson for the week: I got up in getting myself ready,  in the dark of the bathroom, I grabbed a toothbrush to have clean teeth.  However it had a quite distinctive different taste….anxiously I now turned on the light only to find this was not MY TOOTHBRUSH, but the one that I had used to clean the gunk and grime out of a dirty window…yuk…YUK…hurry hurry…now what do I do…What would Jannette do?...oh yes vinegar…quick..quick..into the glass and..swish..swish…yuk²…quick...quick… clean water…ahhh!…better…there is still something further down the hatch… kind of Itchy..Scratchy…quick..quick round 2…more vinegar.. only this time…vinegar/2  (diluted with water) not quite so Yuk….traveling to church…I better pray… it would not be good to loose a missionary to a dirty toothbrush…the Missionary authorities would have a hard time explaining that to an 88 year old mother.     The lesson learned: Don’t keep your special cleaning equipment by your personal cleaning equipment…certain things can be confused!

Patterings in Patterson

Hello!

Celebrating WiFi. It took only 3 hours on the phone, and my sweet right hand helper doing his magic.  

Our current cell service connects to cell towers working to broadcast signal through a ten foot cement sound barrier in our back yard.  The sound barrier only marginally stops sound but is quite effective in stopping cell signals, so we stand in the mud room on one leg and pray, similar to like our young missionary friends in the mountains of Guatemala.  
Only they had a stick in the middle of a field, marked for good reception.  And we have water out of a tap and electric lights instead of solar panels! 

I hoped to share a summary of our last two weeks.  Val was hoping not to to "pass go" and go straight to Modesto.  But the Missionary Training Center was on our itinerary, so, after moving our own home's mudroom mountain, and doing our best to situate orange boxes so we WANT to come home again someday, we kissed our mothers and grandchildren a quick "adios," and headed early a week ago Monday morning to Provo.  

We were met by a young missionary from Britain going to Japan, then briefly unpacked and met in a great room with nearly 100 other couples  coming from various origins--from California to Georgia--headed everywhere else--from Wyoming trails, to Hawaii, Kenya, Norway, Paris, Moscow, or North Dakota.


  A good portion were returning to their own communities, with a significant percentage serving again.

We enjoyed breakfast with a couple who were preparing for a tenth mission.

A significant number of couples were slated to serve young single adults, which warms my heart.  

Younger missionaries, we heard, are divided into 39 branches preparing to serve in countries from Jordan to Israel to mainland China.  

I met sisters heading to Mongolia, the Philippines, and another smiling young woman from Beijing flying out to New York City;  four Elders going to India escorted us home one evening.  A favorite past time waiting for restroom turns was to examine name tags and guess which country, which language.

Really, the best part of the MTC, for us  (besides not worrying about meals, and having a variety of choices) was learning to teach and listen and study at the feet of very intuitive, loving young instructors.

We saw a video with Elder Bednar, describing our natural inclination (Mosiah 3:19) to be similar to Sesame Street's Cookie monster 
"I want COOKIE!"

"I want COOKIE NOW!"

But divine nature, (2 Peter 1:4) like Jesus from his cross asking John to watch over his mother is the opposite of Cookie Monster-- turning outward (rather than inward), rising up to think about others over ourselves when passing through a challenge.

Elder Bednar proposed such traits are to be strongly developed, strikingly displayed, consistently lived. We must accept the idea of God having such traits, learn about such characteristics, attributes, and perfections (I am beginning to understand why they are called mysteries--requiring concentrated efforts to embrace!) Finally, we must  see our own course working to fold such characteristics into our daily walk--know that our course is acceptable.  (See Lectures on Faith 3)  

I loved his pointing out in Ether 3, when stones were touched to give light, each stone was touched one by one.  The stones represent people we serve--uno por uno.  


We were invited to find a brand new copy of the Book of Mormon (again "one by one") to mark in a search of a personal quest--something we are trying to learn--to work to embody the character of Christ.  I started.  On the title page alone, I found three good reminders:  One, to remember "the great things the Lord hath done".  

For me, it was rearranging our 141 boxes from mishmash menagerie state to a horseshoe shape (with help from neighbor DeEtte, Maria, and others, thank you!) to facilitate future finding of family history, crafts, and useful items (already accessed by amazing son in law!)    
 
Second, to be reminded of the "covenants of the Lord."  William and siblings six and younger, understand that covenant means promise...and God is trustworthy.  I can count on Him.  

Third, "the convincing" of religious and nonreligious, that Jesus is the Anointed, the Savior.  So grateful to have reminders that we don't have to do everything on our own.  That, "in his strength [we] can do all things" (Alma 26:12)

Finding the miracles:  
Our first big miracle was having Amber and twins 
  
arrive at our home while we were in the missionary training center.  All the packing we did was more to get ready for the girls, which diminished difficulty of departing.  

So much more fun, preparing for visitors in all the wrapping up, 

 
 

            rather than getting ready to skidaddle










A second came with son in law Zach graduating last Thursday with a Bachelors of Science as a Licensed Practical Nurse, something he has studied and worked at, the whole family has pitched in to accommodate, and we have looked forward before leaving for Honduras in 2013.  Hooray!



Third, has been encouragement on every side from family, neighbors, friends. Thank you, one by one!


Fourth, after a thirteen hour drive

                  
and a meal in Modesto with a kind senior couple from Idaho who will stay a few months extra in the mission transition, we arrived to a beautiful apartment, nicely cleaned, decorated with temple pictures,
 
                           
frames of Christ and quotes and children in every room and young missionaries passing by who found us pulling in and unpacked us!  

Something we had expected, as the office couple helped alert us to, would be a need to employ a laundromat for cleaning.  I decided I would try to find a used washer on Craig's list or a yard sale, to save time and convenience.  

When we visited our realtor's office to sign required tenant papers, I mentioned such a hope to our realtor's supervisor, Naomi, as our helper was currently out of the office.  Naomi called her daughter, Rachel, who kindly drove her extra washer and dryer to our home late last week. Rachel had sold the washer on Craig's list earlier, but a woman purchasing the washer had forgotten to turn on the water and had found the machine not functioning. 


Rachel was glad for extra room and to have no more angry texts. We are glad for hundreds of hours and dollars to have been saved. Since Val expertly changed a cable on the dryer to meet current code, we have washed four loads.  Life is good. We are grateful.  







Fifth, after a fulfilling zone conference on Wednesday where we met President and Sister Palmer and half of the missionaries (Sorry Kathy, your son is in the other half!) I requested that we stop briefly to find the Turlock Costco.  Three bags of nuts, carrots, spices, and grapes later, I left the outside doors with Val, having our receipt marked, then chatting with a kind Relief Society President from Ceres (nearby city) who had greeted me in line earlier.  We chatted. Went home. Napped.  Found a Latin market after dinner.  I went to help pay and...

Oh no.  "Where is my wallet?!!  
Nothing in the car.
Nothing at home.

(Costco????)  Yikes.

A frantic call found a kind voice wanting description-- Cream color.  Long straps.  Pause...

Wonder of wonders.  The woman held in her hands a cream colored wallet.  It was retrieved from the parking lot.  


The entrance lady let me know that this type of thing is not guaranteed.  Her husband with seven hundred of a tax return in his wallet stood up at a nearby bowling alley, not realizing it had dropped.  His wallet was never found.  

Everyone has a story.  The security guard said mine was his third incident.  Another had occurred with a contractor, leaving 10,000 in cash in a satchel, also in the parking lot.  It was turned in.  The contractor asked to give a reward--but it was not allowed.  Val and I have said many prayers of thanks...extremely grateful to not be chasing identity and replacing handfuls of cards.  

We learned at our district meeting that God is not slack, but a rewarder of good things.  Hoping that an honest "cart chaser" (or whoever found the lost) has good things ahead! 

We are learning our area, our duty. 

Our first service invitation was to help at a pinewood derby.  Look at the referee!  English and Spanish congregations combine with youth lessons and activities.

Our next invitation was to a district meeting, where Spanish speaking missionaries, even ones with just a few months have proficient gifts with language.  

Young minds, eager hearts!

We attended Crows Landing 2nd Branch this Sunday--forty eight people attending. So happy to be sending this by computer rather than phone (as we research reception...so grateful to have WiFi!) 

Maybe this includes cell phone reception :)

Grateful to be on your good thoughts and prayer list!  Happy beginning to May!  

Blessings to you each. 

Love, Laurene and Val (in Patterson pattering...)