Diana and Shane Williams Family Visit
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| Following Church, Sunday, April 29, 2012 we celebrated Shanelle's 9th birthday. |
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| Starting from front left Sophie, Connie, Ethan, Shanelle, Diana, Shane, Chance, Hallie |
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| Following dinner we hiked around the Observatory to see the sights. It was a hazy, smoggy day in Los Angeles and we couldn't see very far.
Monday morning we went to the tide pools near Dana Point.
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| Hallie Dale, Connie, Diana, Chance, Ethan Sophie, Shanelle |
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| Ethan near the tide pools |
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| Diana Chance, Shane Shanelle, Ethan Hallie, Sophie |
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| Back: Connie Sophie, Diana Hallie
 Saturday and his birthday was Sunday. He was cold but he absolutely loved the water.    Shanelle, Chance at Dana Beach Friday, May 4, 2012
Well here I go
again—three weeks have already gone by and we are now 8 months into our
mission! Time goes quickly when you’re
busy.
31st Week
(Dale added this from the last Blog Post)
On the 10th
of April we met with Griselda Pineda and her husband Oscar. He is a member
already and she is waiting to get a traffic ticket paid off to be baptized. I’m
not sure how much the original ticket was, but she has been paying for several
months. So it was more than a couple hundred dollars. She is also due to
deliver a baby next week. Seems like we wrote about this before but I can’t
remember when so am writing again!
They have such
a cute 2-year old little boy. Their home appears to have only a kitchen, a bedroom
(where we sat and talked to them) and a bathroom. There was only a narrow
walkway between where we sat and the end of the bed where they sat! The boy
would run back and forth between us and the parents kicking a little soccer
ball. There is hardly any place for him to run outside without constant
supervision, so now we know why the parents let him run back and forth the
across the back of the chapel during sacrament meeting. The bottom line is that
the traffic ticket will be paid off the end of May, so she will able to be
baptized in June.
On Wednesday
evening we witnessed the baptism of Abel Vasquez by his father, Sedonio, who is
just beginning to become active again.
We gave them two family home evening lessons on baptism to help them get
ready. It was wonderful watching the father baptize his son!
Saturday we met
for second time with Filipe & Mara Estrada family. We were surprised that they even let us in
because the week before we spent an hour and halftalking (mostly listening to
him complain about everything that was wrong with the 3rd ward. I
kept telling him that he should not judge and that the church is perfect but
none of us is perfect. In the end we told them we loved him and prayed with
them. He let us set an appointment for the following Saturday.) We had a nice talk and left them a copy
President Monson’s talk about hidden wedges. Then they came to church Sunday!
32nd
Week
Monday evening
we met with Jose & Silvia Campos. He was recently baptized and is very
enthused about being a member! We have talked to them several times at church
thinking that she was a member, but at a dinner with them last week we
discovered that was not the case. She
agreed to listen to the Jesus- Book of Mormon lessons so we had a good visit
with them. We took turns reading a verse in each set of scriptures. Even Connie
took a turn and did very well.
When we read in
2Nephi chapter 31 about the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and asked if
we should follow his example, Silvia answered that is good for José. I was so surprised that I just laughed and the
rest joined in. We went on reading and it all went well, maybe not quite as
spiritual as I would have liked it to be.
Saturday evening
Sylvia invited us to a birthday party for Jose, his “21st” (He is 60!) and enjoyed
a very good catered meal. He works for an armored car company and has done so
for over 30 years. There were several ward members, including the Olazavas, there. It was a good get
together.
We
met with Brother & Sister Cabrera on Thursday giving them the next
Jesus-Book of Mormon lesson. We were somewhat disappointed with his replies
because he seemed to go back to his intellectual way rather than a spiritual
one. We hope and pray that he understands spiritually as well as
intellectually.
Thursday
evening we met with Jorge, Marisol, and Leslie Arzu. They told us Jorge (the son) is going to be
in Juvenile Detention another 6 months.
He may get out earlier for good behavior. They seemed satisfied with that. He could have received a much stiffer
sentence. We are going back to keep
teaching the dad about Jesus in the Book of Mormon. Leslie, their daughter even said she would
join him. That will be great if she
does.
Saturday all
three of our appointments fell through and we spent the day driving and trying
to make contacts. We were especially
discouraged when the Estradas fell through after coming to church on Sunday. The Elders told us that they had similar
problems-four falling through and spending the day knocking on doors.
Sunday made up
for the disappointments of Saturday because I was able to stand in the circle
when Bishop Estrada confirmed Jaime Olazava.
I was over joyed to be involved with the whole experience.
33rd
Week
Monday evening
we had a senior activity at the Family History Center. We had a delicious potluck dinner and then
the couple who are here teaching institute gave us a Family Home Evening Lesson
on the Book of Esther. They ended the lesson
using the scripture from Esther 4:14 “And who knoweth whether thou art come to
the kingdom for such a time as this?”
They gave us a bookmark that said, “And who knoweth whether ‘YOU’ art
come to the Mission Field for such a time as this?” We are so blessed to be here.
Hermana Caudillo
and her three boys have been stalwart members of the 3rd ward for
several years. Many sets of missionaries
have tried to teach their dad and husband but he always says “No.” He said that he was too busy to listen. Dale responded
by asking him if he was too busy to learn about Jesus. He could not to say no to this. So he agreed to listen to the
lessons on Jesus in the Book of Mormon.
He only agreed if we would come to dinner and that the lesson was only 30 minutes long. Dale did a great job and the spirit was there
so strong. You could tell Hno. Caudillo could feel it. He said he would tell us next Tuesday if we
can come back again. We have been
praying for him.
Thursday, April
26, the Shumans road with us to zone conference. President Baker talked about getting investigators. He said missionaries get one baptism for
every 7 people members find for them. If
they tract they get one baptism for every 25 people they visit with. That is a dramatic difference in their
success. He talked at length about
working with members.
Sister Baker
talked about unity with our companions.
In order to have unity we must love God and be obedient to his teachings. Contention is a reflection of anger and an attitude
of pride. Do not try to elevate yourself
above others. Competition is a worldly
attitude. There should be no rivalry. God has room for everyone. We need to forgive one another and not
judge.
34th
Week
May
Birthdays
Happy
Birthday Dear James—May 3—2 years old!
Happy
Birthday Dear Colten—May 4—5
years old!
Happy
Birthday Dear Dallin—May
13—33 years old!
Happy
Birthday Dear Claire—May 24—4 years old!
Happy
Birthday Dear Cienna—May
26—12 years old!
(Ruth
will only have one child left in primary!)
Last Sunday was
memorable because we had the Williams with us.
Shane and Diana and family came for 3 days at the beach and 3 days at
Disneyland. They went to church with us
Sunday and they were the hit at Sacrament meeting. Two Priests and two Laurels reported their
three-day mini-mission experiences. One of the Laurels said it in Spanish and
English just for them. Dale spoke in
sacrament meeting about members helping the missionaries. He did a great job. After sacrament meeting
the whole family got many handshakes, hugs, and kisses. After dinner we walked around the observatory
and took in the sights there. The day
was quite hazy (smoggy) so we couldn’t see very far.
Monday morning
we drove to their condo at Dana Point.
We went to the many, many tidepools there. We didn’t find a starfish but we did see two
sea hares which are quite rare. We spent
the entire morning there. In the
afternoon we went to the beach. The kids
were fun to watch on their Boogie Boards.
It was cold enough they wore wet suits.
They made sculptures and swam and run and played. That evening Shane barbequed chicken and we
watched a video from Ethan’s Eagle Scout Award which we missed because we were
here.
Wednesday we
met them at Disneyland. That day we went
to the California Adventure Park. Our
favorite ride that day was the Sky Glider Ride.
The whole family loved it. We
went several times. You felt like you
were gliding over many different vistas—the ocean, Golden Gate Bridge,
Yosemite, Palm Springs, Disneyland, etc.
It was great especially the end when you flew right through the
fireworks. That night we watched World
of Color, a spectacular water show. It
started out similar to the Belliago in Las Vegas but was much, much more. Several of the Disney characters were
pictured in the water and mist. It ended
with fire and water.
Friday we went
to the beach again. Shane’s brother,
Kelly, and his family met us there.
Connie’s nieces, Heidi and Rendi and their boys met us there also. It was just a fun relaxing day at the
beach. All too soon the day ended and
the Williams left Saturday for St George and then on to Idaho. It was so good to see family again.
On Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday we had several appointments and we inspected some of the
elder’s apartments. It was a busy, but
very enjoyable week.
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