Fun Family times

Last weekend some of our family came to visit.   Yaaaa!  This is Sara, Neli, Amy,Quin, Avri and Maci.  The door behind them is to my office.  The map shows the boundaries of our mission.  They were here for 2 1/2 funfilled days.

My computer crashed last weekend, I apoligize for not "blogging" last week.  It has taken all week, until Friday evening for a computer place to fix it.  I had several "bad" things on it and alot of pictures, so it took them along time to save my data, but wipe the rest of my computer clean.  (Thank heaven for being able to save my data !!!!)   Sara is going to send me my programs that I lost.  Should have brought them....should of, could of, but didn't.  I had some with me and some I could get from the internet, but the mail is fast for the rest.  It is amazing how dependent we are on electronics and technology!

While my family was visiting, we had a very special treat!  Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve just happen to be passing through on his way to a vacation and wanted to talk to our missionaries.  President Bubert said to bring our family to the talk.  WOW!  We all got to shake his and his wives hands.  Elder McOmber also was able to go to lunch with him, I played with family.
Elder Ballard talked about missionary work, of course.  He said we need to "internalize" Preach my Gospel, "internalize" the gospel and the doctrines, then go and teach.  Study then confidence comes.  Use the spirit to teach.  It was awesome!
My family got to meet all 154 missionaries that I help try to keep healthy.


My family walking with Elder and Sister Ballard out to the cars.

                                                                       
    

We went to a concert in the park, Quin loved dancing, we blew bubbles and had a picnci.  Avri and Maci played with other kids around us.

We went to the Pier on Seal Beach.

Beach "Bums"Maci, Avri, Quin, Neli

Playing in the water, Seal Beach Pier in the background.

On Seal Beach Pier

We had fun flying kites, our "home" is the one you can see with the American Flag.  Quin (3yo) was really good at keeping his kite up in the air!  We could have done this all day.

On top of Signal Hill, the pacific ocean and downtown Long Beach in the background.

Feeling the Spirit



Los Angeles Temple



This week was transfers.  I guess every mission does them differently.  Lonnie helped with transfers in Idaho, but here they let the Elders and Sisters figure out how to get to their new areas on their own.  We are no longer the newest missionaries in our mission.  We got 2 new sisters and 4 new elders.  One is from Sugar City, Idaho. 
Being a triage nurse on the phone sure takes some thinking.  Knowing the right questions to ask is a skill I am working on.  I am glad that I received a blessing that the spirit would help me, because I really need help.  Some days I get very few calls, and I think I am doing great, then other days the phone doesn't stop ringing and I have to refer several calls to my AMA (Dr that is over all southern CA.)  Everyone knows how much I love talking on the phone--NOT!  The Holy Ghost is really my  help.

Elder McOmber answering visitor's questions at the Temple. They just happened to stop us as we were taking pictures.  He was excited to share the Gospel with these ladies. They promised to go to church on Sunday.  The Elders live across the street from one of them and they said they would talk to the Elders.


We spend our days visiting the Elders and Sisters in their apartments.  Some are awesome, others

not so awesome.  We have recommended moving out of a couple of apartments.  It makes me want to clean my home up better. Lonnie tells them they are going to have a GI party and they don't know what that is, so he teaches them.  (a GI party is a cleaning "party") Teach your children to keep their rooms clean and how to clean the kitchen.  Elder McOmber has talked to nearly every missionary about how to clean their stoves to prevent roaches, ants and mice.


I love clearance at Walmart!!  We found this swing for outside.  We don't have alot of time to sit in it, but in the evenings we will read while sitting there.  Lonnie likes to talk on the phone while swinging.  We were given white Christmas lights that we have hooked up outside to decorate also. (Some Elders that moved were throwing away their Christmas tree). The carpet outside is one my mother and father used when the camped 20+ years ago.  It is fun to put it all together and make it our home.  We feel we are blessed!

Happy 4th of July

Looking at downtown Long Beach (taken a couple of weeks ago)

Happy 4th of July!!  We went to a ward breakfast on the 4th.  Lonnie jumped right in making pancakes--he feels it is his "official duty".  Besides he enjoys doing it.  I helped with the set up and talked to a few people.   Satan was working hard on me....I got real homesick when the grandparents and their grandkids all started coming in. The best cure is to work!   Missionaries(the younger ones) don't celebrate the holidays, so we worked visiting their apartments the rest of that day.  It was good.  We have such good, dedicated Elders and Sisters!  We sometimes have trouble finding parking at their apartments, I told Elder McOmber, "the Lord will provide" and He always does! In the evening, a member invited us to her home for a picnic and to watch the fireworks from Los Alamitos Military base.  They were good (not as good as Idaho Falls though).  We felt at home with lots of kids and waterballoon fights and the police stopping after they set off some illegal fireworks.  :0)  After that Lonnie and I sat down by the wetlands near our campground and watched the fireworks all along the beach in Huntington Beach and Seal Beach.  It was pretty with them reflected in the water.
Did you know there is a scripture about handwashing?  Check it out  2 Samuel 22:21.  I put an article in the newsletter about handwashing.  I like to back everything up with scriptures.    Cool huh?
The mission opened 3 new apartments (closed 2)Lonnie helped with the moving.  That took two full days.  He loves helping!

Lonnie had burned his head and ears so the mission Pres. said he could get a hat.  These are the hats we found at a swap meet.  We found the closest commisary and BX about 25 miles away, but all freeway;  good deals on groceries. We are getting the feel of the area around us better now.
Hope you all had a wonderful celebration for our country's birthday party!!  We are so fortunate to live in a free country, and yes, I cried when we heard "I am proud to be an American", as usual.

Elder McOmber is flying high.



My roses first thing in the morning with the dew on them.

I needed something to make our "home" more of a home.  I wanted flowers.  Lonnie (and I) love roses so we got two bushes that we set outside of our motorhome.  The rabbits like them.  They leave their droppings in the pots at the base. 

Our "home" before going to work in the morning.  The rose bushes out our door.

This week we had 3 zone conferences and met with all of the Elders and Sisters in our mission.  I feel I am starting to put faces and names together and get to know them.  It was wonderful! I was able to give a presentation .  I made a power point and talked about the importance of staying well hydrated. It went very well and of course I love teaching.  I am so impressed with our Elders and Sisters, they want to go out to work even when they are sick.  They are disappointed when I tell them they have to stay in for a temperature of 102.0 degrees.  They want to keep up the Good Work.  Dr Jackson, my "boss" (Area Medical Advisor), says I am doing a "good" job and have made a difference already.  I hope so. 
It is interesting how the Lord works, he does know the big picture and cares about each of us.  Our mission president's wife had to go home for a death in her family.  She is the one who had taken the calls from the Elders and Sisters when they were sick, so it was good I am here at this time, so she could leave and not worry about them and take care of her family.
Our Mission President got tickets for a LA Dodgers baseball game.  The game itself was boring, they lost 9-0, but President Uchtdorf threw the first pitch.  At the end of the game Lonnie went to get a couple that were in another section and "ran" into pres. Uchtdorf and his wife and was able to shake their hands.  That made his whole week!


Lonnie, me, Ottisons, Sister Blickenstaff
before the game.

We sat in the "home run, all you can eat" section.
We ate hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos and drinks--too much!

President Uchtdorf at the LA Dodgers Game.