Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Working hard for the Infantes
Elder Pack worked really hard to get the Infantes advanced in the Priesthood, their Patriarchal Blessings, their own endowments at the Fresno temple and sealed for time and all eternity! Bro.Infante is eighty years old. He has been a member for about three years. His wife was baptized a few months before him. They now have all the blessings to keep them strong in the gospel. We are grateful we were able to see this take place before our mission ended!
Our zone missionaries at the Temple with Pres. and Sis. Clark
We loved our new Mission President and his wife immediately.
Pres. and Sis. Clark
Pres. and Sis. Clark
Pictures of our newest members
Here are pictures of our newest members
Noemy with Elders Kulbeth and Davis
Olivia Guzman with Adrian and Vida
Sergio Manzo: good friends with Ramon Rodrigues
Ramon Rodrigues: So strong in the gospel. Already gave the talk at Sergio's baptism.
All the children love Elder Pack including the Chavez children at their baptisms.
Roberto and Rafaela Chavez with children
Noemy with Elders Kulbeth and Davis
Olivia Guzman with Adrian and Vida
Sergio Manzo: good friends with Ramon Rodrigues
Ramon Rodrigues: So strong in the gospel. Already gave the talk at Sergio's baptism.
All the children love Elder Pack including the Chavez children at their baptisms.
Roberto and Rafaela Chavez with children
El Fin
Oh yeah. For my last Sunday in our Spanish branch I was able to get up and talk in Spanish without notes for fifteen minutes. Obviously the Lord helped me because I still couldn't understand much after church when everyone came up to give Glen and I farewell hugs. Of course that could have been because I was sobbing.
There have been a lot of "lasts".
The whole zone threw us a surprise good-bye party after our zone meeting. It was with balloons and cake that they made themselves. I will sure miss associating with the young Elders and Sister missionaries. We loved them.
We took a last trip with the Malhums to San Francisco and then the next day to the Oakland Temple. Glen really wanted to see the Temple before we went home. I wanted to see what I could remember from 50 years ago when Uncle Louis was working on the temple. Not much. But we have really enjoyed the time we have spent with the other Senior Missionary couple, the Malhums. Today was our last luncheon together after district meetings. Hopefully we will see them again after their mission here is over.
Packing up has been very unpleasant. We have one pile of mission boxes that will go to some other Senior Missionary couple somewhere, along with the furniture. Then we have one huge pile we are going to try to cram into our car. And then we have another pile of things to distribute to the branch members because there is no way it is all going to be able cram into our car.
We have been doing all this around our missionary work. They haven't called anyone as the new Relief Society president so I passed everything along to my counselors. They haven't called anyone to replace Glen as Ex. Sec. so he is trying to tie everything up to hold them for awhile.
Plus he had the Spanish speaking Patriarch come up from Fresno and give blessings to five of our members. And he pushed himself really hard to get Pastor Infante (80 years old) and his wife Rafaela to the temple for their own endowments and to be sealed together afterwards. Most of the members of the branch with recommends attended.
It has been amazing to see how much help we get from the Lord when we are on His errand. We have loved being missionaries. It has been serious work. And it has paid serious rewards. We see much that could still be done. But we have no regrets because we worked every second to fulfill His purpose in sending us to the California Fresno mission.
There have been a lot of "lasts".
The whole zone threw us a surprise good-bye party after our zone meeting. It was with balloons and cake that they made themselves. I will sure miss associating with the young Elders and Sister missionaries. We loved them.
We took a last trip with the Malhums to San Francisco and then the next day to the Oakland Temple. Glen really wanted to see the Temple before we went home. I wanted to see what I could remember from 50 years ago when Uncle Louis was working on the temple. Not much. But we have really enjoyed the time we have spent with the other Senior Missionary couple, the Malhums. Today was our last luncheon together after district meetings. Hopefully we will see them again after their mission here is over.
Packing up has been very unpleasant. We have one pile of mission boxes that will go to some other Senior Missionary couple somewhere, along with the furniture. Then we have one huge pile we are going to try to cram into our car. And then we have another pile of things to distribute to the branch members because there is no way it is all going to be able cram into our car.
We have been doing all this around our missionary work. They haven't called anyone as the new Relief Society president so I passed everything along to my counselors. They haven't called anyone to replace Glen as Ex. Sec. so he is trying to tie everything up to hold them for awhile.
Plus he had the Spanish speaking Patriarch come up from Fresno and give blessings to five of our members. And he pushed himself really hard to get Pastor Infante (80 years old) and his wife Rafaela to the temple for their own endowments and to be sealed together afterwards. Most of the members of the branch with recommends attended.
It has been amazing to see how much help we get from the Lord when we are on His errand. We have loved being missionaries. It has been serious work. And it has paid serious rewards. We see much that could still be done. But we have no regrets because we worked every second to fulfill His purpose in sending us to the California Fresno mission.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Ready or Not
We are on the last days of our mission. That is a bitter-sweet thought. Of course we are looking forward to returning to our family and friends and home. But there is still so much that the Spanish Branch here needs help with. We will serve to the very last minute and leave the rest to the Lord.
When we think of the amazing experiences that we have had, the big baptisms are not what comes to mind first. Instead, we think about the four men recently ordained Elders. We think about working with an inspired LDS Employment Specialist. We remember the Sacrament being passed by three little old men for the first time. The spirit was really strong then. We think about the new members being baptized in the temple for their deceased family members and the old members doing the work for their families and being sealed to their deceased parents. We remember the little man sitting there dressed up in his new Goodwill suit and tie waiting for the missionaries to come and teach him the missionary lessons each week. We think of the Relief Society sisters working together to make 400 tamales for the Christmas dinner. And bringing them their first dances at the socials.
We are especially thankful to be a part of people catching the vision of God's plan for them. Just showing them what is offered in the scriptures makes their eyes sparkle. Hearing the plan of the restoration and the plan of salvation really makes a difference to them. Having a goal of getting to the temple gives their lives new purpose.
We learned to pull as a perfect team with the revolving four young missionaries assigned to our Branch. They gave legs and enthusiasm to our simple wisdom. We truly loved working with the other missionaries in this mission, both the young and the Seniors. We fed them at Zone parties, after meetings, and a hundred dinners. We loved them.
In the few days we have left, we have lined up the members to receive Patriarchal Blessings from a Spanish speaking Patriarch from another stake. We will take an 80 year old couple to be sealed in the temple. And we will invite every single struggling member and investigator to "come unto Christ".
What a blessing it is to go on a mission as a Senior Couple. Your biggest achievement is learning to live and work together 24/7. Your biggest growth is studying the gospel together. Your biggest joy is seeing conversion in the lives of the people you teach.
Ready or not we are leaving one area of service and moving on to another. We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve with the Spanish speaking people, and others, in the California, Fresno Mission.
When we think of the amazing experiences that we have had, the big baptisms are not what comes to mind first. Instead, we think about the four men recently ordained Elders. We think about working with an inspired LDS Employment Specialist. We remember the Sacrament being passed by three little old men for the first time. The spirit was really strong then. We think about the new members being baptized in the temple for their deceased family members and the old members doing the work for their families and being sealed to their deceased parents. We remember the little man sitting there dressed up in his new Goodwill suit and tie waiting for the missionaries to come and teach him the missionary lessons each week. We think of the Relief Society sisters working together to make 400 tamales for the Christmas dinner. And bringing them their first dances at the socials.
We are especially thankful to be a part of people catching the vision of God's plan for them. Just showing them what is offered in the scriptures makes their eyes sparkle. Hearing the plan of the restoration and the plan of salvation really makes a difference to them. Having a goal of getting to the temple gives their lives new purpose.
We learned to pull as a perfect team with the revolving four young missionaries assigned to our Branch. They gave legs and enthusiasm to our simple wisdom. We truly loved working with the other missionaries in this mission, both the young and the Seniors. We fed them at Zone parties, after meetings, and a hundred dinners. We loved them.
In the few days we have left, we have lined up the members to receive Patriarchal Blessings from a Spanish speaking Patriarch from another stake. We will take an 80 year old couple to be sealed in the temple. And we will invite every single struggling member and investigator to "come unto Christ".
What a blessing it is to go on a mission as a Senior Couple. Your biggest achievement is learning to live and work together 24/7. Your biggest growth is studying the gospel together. Your biggest joy is seeing conversion in the lives of the people you teach.
Ready or not we are leaving one area of service and moving on to another. We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve with the Spanish speaking people, and others, in the California, Fresno Mission.
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