I am not sleeping right now so I thought that I might as well catch up on my blog!
There really aren't a lot of monumental things to report this week. It has been a good one with the Commemoration over last week and starting to gear up for the Golf Tournament in a little over a month. I don't know if I have explained the Golf Tournament. Several years ago the funding for the fourth grade kids here in San Diego schools was cut dramatically and one of the things that was left unfunded was the fourth grade field trips to Old Town for their history units. That meant that we wouldn't be able to have those kids learning about San Diego's history in our tours or in the other museums in Old Town. So we got together with the Chamber of Commerce of Old Town and created a golf tournament. It has been very successful and the fourth grade program to Old Town has been reinstated. It is a big deal. Billy Casper comes down and plays in it and people from all over either sponsor people to play or pay $500 to play in it themselves. The Public Affairs Committee for the church gets in and helps with volunteers and planning for this gala event. My involvement is to help promote it. We were also just handed a sheet where we are to try to get people to buy a $5.00 golf ball. They are going to drop 1000 golf balls from a helicopter on to the golf course and if your ball goes into the hole you will win $1000! Is this really missionary work? I am not really excited to try to get money from people to do that.
We are more involved in the running of the Battalion too. We now work on the Sister Pday and are giving tours again. That is really fun because that is when we get to really share the spirit of the tour and have those special moments with the guests. We have been given more hours and are spending time in meetings trying to get the new Director and his wife up to speed. They are really digging in and are catching on quickly. They are great people and we are thrilled to know them and love them. Each day brings new adventures there. People come from all over and visit. We have had lots of Utah visitors this week - getting out of the snow. Today I got to talk to some wonderful people from China, London, France, Germany, Russia, and Africa. We love the challenge and joy of that place.
We are enjoying the work in the ward. We are still trying to find the inactive people in the ward and invited them to come back. We are getting through the list with the help of the Ward Council and the Ward Missionaries. It is cool to hear the stories of how the ward people are using their creativity to approach people. One lady has prepared a brown lunch bag with a poem on it and then a Book of Mormon with a red pencil inside along with DVD's of the Restoration and The Testaments, a list of the Bishop and other leaders phone numbers, invitations to the Mormon Battalion, the church address and of course cookies! It has been amazing to hear how the people respond to a little gift. We have several names of members who live right here in our complex and have gone by so many times we have lost count and never found them home. Most people aren't interested in coming back but there are some that we are reaching and where there is some potential. Those are the ones that the missionaries will focus on. Roger's scripture class continues to get better and better. He has been giving scriptures for each member to read and prepare so that when they come to class they are already thinking about the subject and are involved. We have had some wonderful discussions and great learning going on from the scriptures.
We had a beautiful sealing session in the temple the other night. What a beautiful temple the San Diego Temple is! The sealer was the former mission president of the San Diego Temple. He was an amazing man and he taught us as we performed the different sealing ordinances. He taught us to listen better to the words and the promises in the ceremonies and helped us focus on those things that are important. It was a rainy day and I was thinking that we had put in a full day and maybe it would be OK if we missed the session and went home and rested up for the next day. I am so glad I didn't listen to my lazy self and pushed myself to be there. Isn't that how things usually happen that are wonderful?
We are going hiking with our friends we have made from the tour guide association tomorrow. I am looking forward to that. And we have many other things scheduled one on one with others in the ward to help them and with those who aren't members. Everything from teaching someone how to use their iPad to Family History and going to lunch!
Here is the quote I used for the Sister's in our prayer meetings this week. It is President Hinkley talking to missionaries.
"You are making a sacrifice, but it is not a sacrifice because you will get more than you give up, you will gain more than you give, and it will prove to be an investment with tremendous returns. It will prove to be a blessing instead of a sacrifice. No one who ever served in this work as a missionary, who gave his or her best efforts, need worry about making a sacrifice, because there will come blessings into the life of that individual for as long as he or she lives." - Gordon B. Hinckley
Sending love...................
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