Just catchin' up!

Wow, we have had a totally busy week!  Just for a change, and you've said you'd like to know with some detail, I thought I'd write about how a day has gone for me yesterday.  This week, we've had "Zone Conferences"which we do every six weeks. We are totally busy in the "non-spiritual" sort-of preparations for these things.  Anyway, here goes from yesterday for me.  It's not at all that Mom isn't equally busy, but this was my day yesterday.

(Thursday we got back from that day's Zone Conference at Santa Barbra (north of us, about like a trip to Brigham City).  Got back to the office and I spent a couple hours getting my papers ready for Friday's Zone Conference.  Friday's Zone Conference was in Camarillo, south of us, like going to Brigham City distance.  We've had a visitor from Salt Lake City, Bro. Russ Foutin; he's like my Church "boss" in the fleet management part of my mission.  He gave a 50-minute talk on vehicle safety three of the four days of Zone Conferences.  He had to leave on Friday so he asked me to give his talk at that Friday ZC.  So Thursday when we got back, I was busy putting together my notes from attending his talks so that I could give that talk. 

During all these Zone Conferences, we also have two technicians, Adam and Daniel, who are testing and upgrading very car's tiwi devices.  

I usually get up about 5:30/6:00.  I got up this morning a lot to go over my talk today.  We left the apartment about 7:40 to meet the Floyd's at the Mission Office and leave from there in a mission van for Conference. Arrived at the ZC church about 8:40; met with Bro. Foutin, Adam,and Daniel.  The ZC starts at 10:00 but the missionaries start arriving at 9:00 so that we have more time to test the tiwi's.

I'm in place to greet the incoming missionaries in their cars.  I greet them, check them off on my list of cars, give them an instruction sheet (which I made up previously) of how to leave their car parked.  I direct them to Sister Iverson who will tell them exactly where to park.  I do this until approximately 9:50 (all have arrived).  Previous to this in the morning, I was on the phone to one set of missionaries who are having car heating problems and who have to have their car at this ZC.  But I get them there OK.

I'm seated on the stand at 9:55.  I will be "on" at 10:10.  The meeting starts and soon I'm giving my 50-minute talk with Powerpoints and videos. Mom and the Floyd's have stopped doing their inspections of the cars outside to come inside to listen to me.  When I'm done, we all go back outside.

While the tiwi team is specifically doing their tiwi upgrading, Elder and Sister Floyd are a team and Mom and I are a team outside.  We do about a 30-point inspection of each car (check fluid levels, tire tread depth, tire air pressures, all lights, horn, interior orderliness and cleanliness, glove-box papers (instructions of what to do if in an accident, insurance forms, registrations, Daily Vehicle Report (gas expenses and logging of miles), and exterior for scratches, dings, etc.

While we do these car inspections, we're taking notes of ones that might earn our "Best Car in Conference" award.  We've made this up since we got here - it's a certificate with a little model car attached plus a KitKat candy bar.  One for each of the missionary companions who have that best car.  We confer, I look over the Floyd's and Mom's top picks and decide on a final winner.

Mom stops inspecting about 11:45 so she can go inside to work with Relief Society sisters with the lunch which they have put together for the missionaries.  Mom organizes this.  Floyd's and me go inside for lunch.  We take plates of lunch out to Adam and Daniel.  During the lunch period, President Felix has the missionaries all "serenade" the Relief Society sisters with "Called to Serve" as a thank you.  He then announces all missionaries who have had birthdays that month and we sing Happy Birthday to them.  Time is turned over to me to present Best Car in Conference awards - this is so fun!  The District group photos are taken.  I also take advantage of this time to take impromptu photos of the missionaries and talk to them casually.

Typically we do not attend the afternoon meetings but today Floyd's and us decide we'd like to take the time to listen to what's said.  It was Ok but our time was probably better spent outside finishing up our inspections.  I left the afternoon meetings early to see how our tiwi guys are doing.  They told me they'd be finishing up about 2;30 but at 2:05, I just felt like leaving the meeting early to see how they're doing. As I was walking out of the building to see them, Adam was walking in to find me - they had gotten done a little early,.  Nice coincidence!!??

With the tiwi guys leaving and all others inside, the cars are open with keys in them so I stay outside for security.  I took advantage of that time to make four calls to alcohol/drug detox facilities to see if we can find a place for Jake to go to.  Some success but not complete.  I have more calls to make next week.  I also made about 6 calls to missionaries from the previous ZC's who have called with car issues.  Pretty much solve them.

Mom and the Floyd's come out about 5:00 ready to go home.  Mom had previously accepted a dinner/lesson invitation for us to go see a dear Ward lady named Sabina (she's Peruvian and just returned from a month-long visit to family there.  We watered her plants while she was gone.  We got to her place just five minutes late but it was OK.  Our two Sister Missionaries (Sister Jones and Sister Coulon; photo attached) are there for dinner also and they teach a short lesson for Sabina after supper.  It's a pleasant visit.

After supper we go with the Sisters to visit a recovered addict/alcoholic, Jeff.  He'a  great guy and is super excited about the gospel.  The Sisters take the lead for sure on a lesson they've prepared and we tell Jeff the story of Ammon and King Lamoni.  We're teaching him about listening to the spirit and acting on it.  While we're talking, I'm thinking about talking to Jeff about maybe dedicating his house.  Mom asked him if he had the Priesthood - we just weren't sure what Priesthood he held.  He is an Elder but has not exercised the Priesthood ever in his life. It's time to close.  He asks me to say the closing prayer.  I say the prayer but include a request for Heavenly Father to protect Jeff's home that it can be a safe haven for Jeff and anyone who comes there.  When we're done, Jeff is moved because he had meant to ask me specifically to ask for just that blessing!  Cool, huh? I'm about to ask him about blessing/dedicating his house when Sister Jones asks the same question!  We are all in total sync here!!  He definitely wants to and I tell him that I will get with him later to teach him more about performing such a Priesthood ordinance!  I'll talk to Bishop Hooke first of course.

We then went home - it's now about 8:00.  I then spend about an hour and a half checking for messages from missionaries - there are six - and returning calls and arranging car fix situations.

I've also got a call from a Sister Bigler.  She is a young-ish widow who is a Single Adult rep in the Stake and she is charged with organizing a four-Stake Pioneer Day sort of fireside. The Floyd's had previously been contacted to see if they would be speakers at this fireside and talk about any aspect of pioneering in the gospel sense.  They accepted and volunteered us to be on the program as well!  So Sister Bigler is calling as a follow-up.  She asked us some bio- type of questions, asked me to send her a photo of Mom and me for their flyer (which I did). and just talked to us about a few more details of what they'd like from us. 
She said, before she knew much about us that we would be free to put any kind of 'twist" on the topic if we wished - so she was particularly glad to hear that Mom and I are the first ones in our families to be members so we have just that 'twist" to our subject that she was hoping for.  We will present for about 10-12 minutes each that night - July 17th.  I better get started on that now! They're having the fireside in the chapel.  She said they were having a really talented young lady as part of the program who will sing and play a guitar.  Usually Church rules on music in the chapel is that guitars are not an allowed instrument.  I've never known what the basic logic is on which instruments are allowed in Sacrament or other chapel services and which are not. Interesting.

Maybe Mom has told you but she and I have been called by the Stake Presidency to head up the Stake Employment Center!  The Stake Employment Center really does not currently exist at all!  There is, however, a room, kind of like an office/classroom in the Stake Center, which is set aside for the Center but the brother who was called to this hasn't done anything with it in the past several years so we're essentially starting up a brand new venture!  We need to see what exactly our objectives are and the scope of who we need to reach out to (??just our Stake or further out - probably  more rather than less!!)!

Our Ward Mission Leader will be out of town tomorrow and Tuesday next week so has asked us to teach Gospel Essentials and our Tuesday night Book of Mormon class.  We already contribute a lot to those classes but for these two days we're in charge!  It's fun.

As part of our inspections of cars during these ZC's, we leave several notes in cars for the missionaries to follow up on (add oil, get new tires,etc.) so now I'm starting to get calls from those missionaries asking for help in getting those tasks done.  I taught some missionaries how to add coolant yesterday too.  Our Chevy Cruze's are notorious for losing coolant.  The Church will not be ordering these cars for us anymore - just the Ford Fusions and Toyota Corollas.

I'll likely go into the Office today to get some car bills paid, start my monthly recording of fuel purchases turned into me by missionaries from the 1st-5th of each month.

Wow, this turned out to be way long!  Oh, we're also preparing for Christian's visit out here next week.  They're coming on July 7th and leaving the 12th.  We'll take some time off then. That'll be fun.

Well, gotta run.  Love you all.

Dad/G-pa