One Great Member Missionary!

We have begged everyone in our two branches to introduce us to their friends and family who are not members of the Church.  It’s been so interesting and frankly sad to us that not only have they not introduced us to anyone, active members have asked us and other missionaries that we not visit with their nonmember or less active family members.  The ONE AND ONLY exception to this is Brother Oilar – he has given us names and directions (he doesn’t do addresses “over the hill, past that one field, I think the house is white”) for MANY people to visit.  We have met some lovely people through him – only one has agreed to be taught lessons, but we have made friends and he has done his part.  He is a GREAT example of “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”  Who should you be introducing to the missionaries?

I sneaked a picture of his open briefcase! ❤

We took a P-day (well, half of one) and went to Burney Falls – 90 minutes away.  We weren’t able to hike as much as we had planned, but we were so glad we went.  It is GORGEOUS.

100 million gallons of water go over this per day - it's 129 feet high!

When we went to our Zone Conference this week, we took our good friend, Ron, to the Temple, as the Temple shares a parking lot with the chapel where we meet.  There wasn’t anyone around to take a picture of the three of us, but at least we got a better one than the silly selfie we had before!

My One and Only Epiphany

Craig is a deep thinker – he comes up with clarifications and perspectives that are quite profound.  I am not.  I have a very simple brain, and that’s ok.  But this week I had an epiphany while I was bemoaning the low turnout of our Patriotic Program (which had some definite nice moments, small audience notwithstanding.)

We’ve all heard that we don’t pay tithing just because Heavenly Father needs our money – if the Lord simply wanted the Church to have huge sums of money he would tell the Prophet where a goldmine is and how to purchase it, etc.  We pay tithing for US – to show Heavenly Father that we have faith, and to enable us to have the opportunity to help build the Kingdom.

The thought came to me that the same is true about missionary work.  Heavenly Father, through the Holy Ghost, could steer “those who are ready” to Church buildings all around the world as each Ward/Branch is gathering for Sacrament Meeting.  But that wouldn’t do US any good.  (Except to build up Wards/Branches that are in desperate need, like ours are!)  Instead, as WE participate in Missionary Work, OUR testimonies grow.  As we invite our friends to join with us we are showing Heavenly Father obedience, faith, and a willingness to put ourselves in potentially awkward situations as we do our part to build the kingdom.  Small sacrifices, but needed ones that help US grow and builds OUR testimonies.  So as Elder Bednar said, “Stop praying for the missionaries to find those who are ready – that’s YOUR job.  Start praying that you’ll know who to invite.”  (I love Elder Bednar)

We tried to make the Chapel look festive!
PSA - Handbook update - it's ok to take pics in 
the Chapel as long as it's not during Sacrament Mtg.

We have been anxiously watching for the new fawns🤍 - when we saw 
them coming down the street we opened our gate, but they walked on by!

Love, Share, INVITE!!!! (At least that's what we hope happens Sunday night!!!)

This week has been spent rehearsing with people…. Or TRYING to get together to rehearse, and spreading the word about our concert tomorrow night.  We have passed out 276 invitations, and posted a dozen fliers.  Besides putting an article in the paper, there was a lovely man in the Branch who insisted on paying for a newspaper ad.  If people don’t come it’s not because they didn’t know about it!!! 

They received a much better photo than this article shows!!!  :(

Different little towns around here have their Independence Day celebrations on different days.  Alturas held theirs on July 2.  I am used to small, rural parades (Cokeville!!) but have never seen Farm equipment entered before!

 There were some traditional entries as well...

There were a lot of people watching farther down the route!

Parade and rehearsals aside, Saturday, July 2, was a sobering day for me.  It was 50 years since my father passed.  We are just so grateful for the knowledge that we have that we will see our loved ones again – that is why we leave the comforts of home and our families – so we can share with others the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel with others, and help them handle the sadnesses and separations that are part of life.

We Got To Attend A New-To-Us Temple

When we first arrived in Alturas, we met with the Klamath Falls Stake President, and were asked by him to do what we could to facilitate getting a newly-activated member to the Temple.  I will spare the details, but there have been MANY struggles to get there, as there always are when people are making steps along the Covenant Path.  IT FINALLY HAPPENED THIS WEEK!!!  Since they live in Nevada, the Reno Temple is closer so that is where they went.  It’s out of our mission, but because of our involvement we got permission from the Area Authority to leave our mission boundaries and attend with them.  The Temple is beautiful, and located on a hill with an amazing view.  We were asked to be the Witness Couple, making the whole experience even more meaningful.  It was a nice break from our routine, and as always, so nice to be in the Temple!  We’ve missed having that as a weekly option!

 

(I was the photographer - nobody around for me to impose on, darn it!)

All missionaries in our mission were asked to watch with their ward/branch Missionary Committee a Broadcast for Leaders that the Church just released. We watched on Saturday evening.  I don’t know what videos each Area showed, but I would STRONGLY suggest watching it and checking out the videos shared in the “North America West” Area.  (When you hit on the video, you can choose on the left side which Area you're in.  If you do watch the North America West option, my fav presentation was at minute 20.)  No matter the Area, the video starts out and ends the same; in the middle you get a message from your Area Authority. TRULY worth the time!  Very motivating!!! 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/share/2022-leadership-broadcast/area/north-america-west?lang=eng

Haven't done a sunset picture for a while!

Happy Father's Day! (Since I didn't mention it below!)

Most of the missionaries in our zone live in Klamath Falls, which is two hours away.  But there is one set of Elders just over the border in Oregon the other direction, who are only an hour away.  They live almost as close to Betsy as we do, so they have been able to help her a lot.  She loves them, and so when THEY asked her to commit to a baptismal date, she agreed to July 2!  There are a few things that must be done first, but we hope she can make that!  Since she adores them so much she’s going to have one of them baptize her, per our suggestion!  We're so excited for her!

Since they are SUCH hard workers and SO capable and willing, we asked if there was any way these Elders could come with us to a member’s house that is an hour from Alturas, opposite their direction.  Missionaries have limited miles each month, so we drove them out.  This sister in her seventies has been widowed for a couple of years and has 60 acres in the middle of nowhere.  This Spring three men from the Branch went to help her dig out her irrigation ditch, and I visited her a couple weeks ago.  She said the men and I were the first visitors from the Church since her husband passed.  These branches that are so spread out have such struggles.

The missionaries dug post holes, Craig did weed eating and I 
cleaned inside her house.

I have been GROVELLING all over town for more singers for our choir.  There is a large church in town that has a lot of talented musicians, but we have been told from several different people that their preacher speaks weekly in his “sermons” of the evils of our Church, and NONE of them will participate or attend ANYTHING in our Church.  Our Branch had an Emergency Preparedness Fair a few years ago, and EMTs and people who work for the electric company who attend that Church wouldn’t participate.  So sad.  I loved the story I read this week of the Saints in Edmonton, Canada who held their services early on a Sunday to accommodate a Sikh Parade that passed their Chapel, so that the parade goers could use the Church's parking lot and restrooms. (https://news-ca.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/what-a-sikh-parade-in-edmonton-taught-latter-day-saints-about-religious-freedom)   Now THAT is Christianity!!!

I don’t care how long we live here, I can’t imagine that we will ever tire of seeing the lovely deer in our yard.  

These two were actually in the yard at the same time, but so far apart
the picture of the two together didn't work out well.

Nothing Like Visitors to Make it a Great Week!!!

Two of my AMAZING sisters and their ever-supportive husbands made the drive from Utah County to come visit us this week.  While I know seeing us was the main draw, they really wanted to see some deer (which they did!) and they timed their 28-hour stay so they could attend the Alturas Country Jam.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but a group of phenomenal musicians (mostly over 80!) get together weekly at a Congregational Church and take turns singing.  They invited me to join them several weeks ago and we go when we can.  My sister Patti was the hit of the year singing her "Crazy," and my brother-in-law, Lynn, sang a sweet old Gospel song.  Then last minute we three decided to sing “America The Beautiful.”  Talk about a highlight for me, as being Patriotic was so important in our home!

We stupidly never got a picture of the six of us!!!

In typical generous fashion, they brought donuts for the whole group to celebrate my birthday.  As it turned out, there was another participant there whose birthday was also this week, so they sang to both of us.  I thought I was being funny when I asked her which of us she thought was older.  In all seriousness she told me she was 78, then waited for me to state my age so we would know who was older.  I guess I am not real self aware!  Or funny!

I wish I would have gotten a picture of Patti presenting
these Dunford Donuts to us!
(Notice Margaret in the background!)

On Sunday night we had the first practice for our Inter-Faith Patriotic Program.  Five showed.  Two were members.  But we were THRILLED that one was our dear Seventh-Day Adventist friend who was so ill we weren’t sure he would live through the Easter musical program.  He is still hanging in and blessing everyone around him with his amazing faith and attitude!  We are praying (and groveling) for more participants this week!

We are still struggling to find people to teach, but we did have a baptism this week…. Of a cute 8-year-old boy in the Branch.  I was touched that he sidled up to me a few weeks ago and asked if I would play for it.

As I’ve mentioned, 4H is big here.  The other day as we were walking to the Church we passed these two! (Turn your volume up!) 

While we have nothing specific to say about it, Craig suggested I mention how much we are LOVING our deep dive into the Old Testament.  We hope everyone is taking advantage of the great resources that coincide with the inspired “Come, Follow Me” Program.

Ministers, Medford and Miracles

We have a particularly dedicated High Councilman assigned to our branches.  We have appreciated how he and his wife have gone above and beyond, even coming from Klamath Falls to attend our Easter Musical Program!  Last Friday they made visits with us, the men going to visit men, and we women visited some of the women in the Branch.  As we’ve finished each mission it’s always been hard leaving some of the people we’ve worked with, not sure who will check on them when we are gone.  It’s nice knowing these good folks will check on a few of our friends when we leave here! And it’s always nice to see people so dedicated to their callings!

I do not use the word “Miracle” quite as freely as most missionaries, but I do feel we had a small one this week.  Craig was showing the above-mentioned High Councilor something in our backyard and he told Craig we had serious plumbing issues that could result in the house being condemned.  When we got back from Medford, Craig called the plumbers and they spent the better part of Thursday in the backyard.  (Right before the picture below, all five men were having a tug-of-war with an auger that got stuck – so frustrated I missed THAT shot!)  On Friday they spent the better part of the day in the front, trying to find the problem and get their auger unstuck.  As quitting time approached they informed Craig that if they didn’t find the problem by 4:30, they would have to wait until Monday, as the landlord wouldn’t pay for overtime, and that we would be without water for the weekend.  Because we have company planned for Sunday and Monday, and needed to do Saturday cleaning, etc, I was panicked.  At 4:25 they solved the problem!

We went to Medford this week for Zone Conference.  Here are a few of the lovely sights on the way.  We always see Mt. Shasta, but since I was driving I opted to veer off the road to see “Lake of the Woods,” for which we've only ever seen the sign.  So pretty!  And really, is there anything more lovely than a Harry and David store? 😉  You can buy just the DARK CHOCOLATE part of their Moose Munch!!!

When I walked Betsy out the door on Friday, these cute deer were deciding if they should come in our yard or not.  I’m not usually fast enough to get their jumping!!! (I hope this video works!!!)