Sunday, 4 March 2018

This week was dedicated to reaching out and making connections with chaplains at the Presidio and ecclesiastical leaders, as well as trying to clean up the rosters of military personnel who are here at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) and Naval Post Graduate School. The chaplains have been very warm and welcoming. It is challenging to keep track of who comes and goes because it is so random. Some on our list have been here for a considerable time, but there has been no activity or response to efforts to contact. We have made some positive progress, especially today when we spent a majority of the day with the YSA ward at their conference.
     We did our first bread service project on Wednesday with a woman named Masiah Johnson. We offload day-old bread from a truck and deliver it to 2-3 senior centers or other support centers where it is used to make sandwiches for meals-on-wheels and other things. We also bring several loaves back to our apartment community center for people to enjoy. We even stopped along the way and gave a loaf to a homeless man. We visited the Church's family history center and looked into volunteering there for one day a week. Another woman called us to have the missionaries help with their St. Patrick's Day celebration. She heads up several city and county-wide events at Christmas and New Years that missionaries have helped with in the past.
     Our greatest joy is ministering directly to military persons and families. We helped two this past week get settled into their homes and introduced to their wards and ward leaders. We met two new single men who recently came to DLI and helped fellowship them with other members of the YSA ward. It is so easy for these new members to get lost in the cracks of inactivity or less activity where their spiritual strength wanes and they move further away from a close relationship with their Savior. We had a fun phone call with the son of our ward bishop in Oak Hills 4th ward in Provo. He is just finishing up 1.5 years here and headed to Fort Huachuca, AZ for a few months, then, on to Japan.
     Friday evening we enjoyed a nice dinner at a restaurant at Mission Ranch in Carmel with Bishop Richard Spencer and his wife. The restaurant is owned by Clint Eastwood, who lives in the area and was Mayor of Carmel at one time. We also attended the missionary's district meeting to support them in their work, met with Bishop Stewart and Bishop Long of 2 or the 5 wards we support, and had a coordinating meeting with the elders, sisters, and ward mission leaders for the YSA ward.
     The weather has been mostly overcast, rainy, and on the cold side, although nothing like Utah weather. We hear from our family members that Utah has been getting heavy snowstorms since we left. The last two days have been beautiful and clear. Life is good.
     Pictures include a view of Monterey Bay from Soldier's Field on the Presidio, the chapel at Presidio, and some huge, ancient cypress trees at Carmel-by-the-Sea.