We had a good last week of May, with lots of opportunities to teach. We love it when we get to do that. We think we will be able to see several of our mid-singles go to the temple in the next few months. The Oakland Temple is closed until August, but after that, we have one guy getting married there, and 3 other sisters we think will be ready to go. We are excited for that.
Last week we spent our time mostly with young Elders. We took the ones from our ward to dinner at Harry's, which they love. We were joined by the Chinese Elders, and the 6 of us were in line, getting ready to order our food, when a gentleman in front of us came by and shook all our hands and thanked us for the work we are doing. When we got to the cash register, I whipped out my card to pay, and he was there and said, "It's on me." I protested that it was a lot of people to pay for, and he said, "I have always wanted to do this. I remember the missionaries who taught me the gospel and want to pay it back. I appreciate all the work you do." Isn't that cool? We had 2 elders from Hong Kong and one from the Philippines, the other from Indiana, who is going home this week. They all sang Happy Birthday to me, too (my b-day was the next day.)
Then Steve and Joan rolled into town, and we spent 2 days with them. We went to Santa Cruz on the 3rd. We had never been to the boardwalk, so walked along there for awhile. It's pretty cool having all those rides right on the beach. We didn't go on any, and couldn't eat any of the food they sell (darn!) so walked into the town and ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant. Steve and Joan picked up the tab there for my b-day, and it was fun.
Then on Thursday we drove down to Monterey. It was a chilly, overcast day, not nearly as nice as when Tracy was here, but it also meant there were less people. We walked up and down the main street and window shopped.
Oh, almost forgot! Before that, we went to Fort Ord. Dad and Steve wanted to see their old stomping grounds from the 60's, when they were both in training down there for the reserves. They were so excited to see the place where they had to run on the beach for hours at a time and do the bidding of their sadistic sergeants! Go figure! But we found what they thought were their old barracks. They were in pretty sad shape.
Dad marched around and acted like a kid in a candy store! They were there just a few months apart, but of course that was before they knew each other, right after Dad returned from his mission. He spent Thanksgiving there. He still remembers the turkey dinner they served him. Steve was just out of high school.
We drove home and had a nice dinner at the Outback. It was fun to be with them. They want to go to Europe with us next year, so we spent a lot of time talking about that.
Friday was another mission leadership council luncheon, and we kept it simple; sandwiches, veggies, chips, apples and cookies. But we were still tired and crashed when we got home. This is a sister we have worked with, who is going home this week. Her name is Sister Chu Shing, and she is half Chinese, half Samoan, and will return to her family in New Zealand . She is an amazing young woman. She will be a strong leader back home. She has participated in some dances for mission activities where she is the one who calls out the moves for the male islanders. It's really something to see!
Saturday we took the assistants to the president out to lunch, because we have worked closely with Elder Mathias, and he will be going home soon.
They are both amazing young men, who have shown wonderful administrative skills. They will be a strength to their families and friends, and the Church. Elder Mathias on the left is going to study medicine, and Elder Black, engineering. As you can see, we went to the Cheesecake Factory. No one offered to pay for our lunches this time!
Last night was the outgoing devotional, where the missionaries that are returning home have a chance to bear their testimonies one last time. They have some amazing stories, but Sister Avery told the best one. On Saturday, it was her birthday, but she and her companion went about their usual business. They were looking up names from some old records, and went to an apartment complex in a part of Fremont they hadn't been in before. The apartment number they had was "14", but the apartments there all had three digit numbers. They decided a number must have been left out, so they saw apartment 124, and thought they would try it. They walked up to the door and saw a box of strawberries on the step, with a card on top. They thought, if the name on the card matches the name we are looking for, we have the right place, so they looked at the card. It said, "Sister Avery". What? How could that be? They had never been here before! Sister Avery thought, how many Sister Avery's could there be in Fremont? So she decided to open the card and see if it really was for her. It was! It was a birthday card and gift from a member of the ward. She was astonished! When they got home, they called this sister, and she told them she thought that was where they lived, because some sister missionaries used to live there last year, so when they weren't home, she just left the strawberries and card on the doorstep. Sis. Avery said it just proves that Heavenly Father knows each of his children by name!
This is a picture of one of the sister missionaries hair! She's with our friend, Sis. Michie.
We really enjoyed talking to everyone on Saturday night. Too bad we couldn't get Skype to work, but are glad we managed to hear and see each other eventually. It was wonderful to see your faces and talk to you. It made us more anxious to be home! But we know time will continue to fly by, and we will be back before we know it.
We love you all so much.
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