24 June 2018

Two weeks have elapsed since I last posted an entry. Time goes by fast. We have attended graduations at DLI during these weeks and said goodbye to members of the Church who are headed out to their next PCS station. It is always a little sad to see families move away, but we are happy for them in their achievements. We are reminded of our transfer experiences while active duty. One of our fun assignments is to award each graduate an "Armor of God" honor coin. They are beautiful coins (medallions), but costly ($4.50 a piece). People really appreciate it. We have been focusing on developing a resiliency training program for those being separated by deployments, using the Church's resiliency and self-reliant program. We are also putting together a "gathering the family of God" presentation to inspire people to get involved with their own family genealogy and help others do the same. Our objective in gathering is bringing people to Christ and to do the work of salvation for themselves, their families, and ancestors.
       We have been doing a lot of counseling. We are helping one woman as she struggles with addiction and family problems. We spend time talking with missionaries who are struggling with depression and self-abuse. We are doing this at the request of the Mission President, and we are having good results. We counsel with military couples who are struggling with stress and even depression. We do not do therapy, but pastoral counseling, and it is effective. We are happy to serve.
       We are seeing things improve slowly here with the YSA students at DLI. It has taken patience and diligence, but slowly people are coming out of the woodwork of inactivity. We do have some who want little or nothing to do with the church while they are students here, and for a variety of reasons. Our fellowship evenings on Tuesday just continue to grow. Last Tuesday we had 20 people - our highest yet. The students are enjoying being together for an hour and they appreciate having a home-cooked meal. We are seeing good results with our new bishopric. They bring a spirit of warmth to which YSA are resonating. Things are looking up.
       We also enjoy our volunteer service. Wednesday mornings we do our bread delivery service to the senior center and meals-on-wheels. On Friday mornings we volunteer at the Family History Center helping people with their genealogy. We have 18 people who have volunteered to help with the Monterey 4th of July parade. This next week we celebrate our 50th anniversary. Tuesday we drive to Yosemite and enjoy the Park for 2 days, then, spend time in the temple on the 28th, our marriage date.
       We've experienced change of commands for the POM Garrison, the DLI commander, and the Marine Detachment commander. They have been fun to attend. We plan to meet personally with each new commander and introduce ourselves and what we are doing here. I give each a pen made out of 7.62 bullet casings made by a friend, Richard Jeppesen. They are cool and highly desired.