22 July 2018

Many new military families and individuals have come to Monterey for school this summer, and several of the old ones have graduated and moved on. Such is military life. We have stayed busy identifying, reaching out to, and ministering to those who are moving in. Many of those attending DLI are required to remain on base for a few weeks, and we encourage them to attend our post sacrament meetings and fellowship night. Some choose not to accept this invitation and want to remain aloof from the church. Many of them are less active when they arrive or are very young and want to get out from under their parents' and church leaders' influence. We do all that we can to bring them into the fold, but you win some and lose some.
        Last week was a week of presentations. I gave a presentation on Vietnam and my experiences there as a combatant at fellowship evening. We had 2 non-members attend. I did a power point with slides which Chaplain Allen helped me show with his laptop. Later in the week, he sent a kind email to the head garrison chaplain, Bill Lovell, on how spiritual and great the presentation was, and offered it for chaplain training. I don't know that they will want a Mormon teaching the chaplains, but I'll do it if asked. I was also asked by the relief society of the Marina ward to do a presentation on major depression, signs, symptoms, causes, and how to help people. I did a 60-minute presentation to about 20 sisters. It was well received.
        We met a woman named Teresa at the Monterey cemetery office (where she works) and became friends with her. We did some family history work for her and presented her with a fan chart and some information about her ancestors. She was very grateful. We followed up with another visit and gave her a copy of "My Family" with our testimony written inside about the significance of families in the Lord's plan and of their eternal nature. We also gave her a booklet called "Families and Temples," along with a copy of the Family Proclamation. She accepted these graciously. We have established a nice relationship with her and plan to give her time to read these materials and then follow up with another visit.
        It is transfer time and we are losing some of our missionaries. Elder Deeter and Sister Sanft return home, having completed their missions. Elder Watkins, our Zone Leader, is being transferred, and they decided to white wash the sister's area here in Monterey. They transferred out Sisters Wong and Aliasa and are bringing in two new ones. This last Saturday, we attended a Pioneer Day event at the Spencer Ranch in Carmel Valley hosted by the Monterey 1st ward. It was fun with lots of food and activities.