California Arcadia Mission Musings #1

Well, we made it to California. We have been set apart as missionaries in the Arcadia California Mission and we’re excited to get back to business. We’re meeting on Sunday with the Stake President and Mission President and should have a better idea of responsibilities and what they’d like us to focus on.

I want to tell you a little about where we are staying. The Lee’s (Kathy and Kent) have been gracious enough to take us in for the couple of months we have still to be in the US before returning to Armenia. We did learn from the missionary department that our time home for medical did not count towards time served, so the 3 months we were home for medical treatment will be added on to time we will be in Armenia. This means that we will be home around July of 2011 and not April.

At any rate, the Lee’s are a wonderful couple. We learned one interesting thing. They were in attendance at Mike and Doris’ Andelin’s wedding so knew Zach’s parents. Kathy works as a third grade teacher and her husband has his own business doing drive shafts. We also met the office couple (Snow’s) at the mission office and they also knew Andelins as they are also from St. George. Sister Snow said she had been involved in music some with Doris and also Brother Snow had taught some of the Andelins at Dixie as that was his profession before missions. It seems a small world when you get out in it.

The weather here is beautiful and I must say it was quite a study in color as we drove down the freeway. The desert had flowers of myriad colors. First was a beautiful apricot color (in Nevada) and then the yellows, both bright and lemon colored, and then we got to California: bright pink and fuchsia, then purple and then all sorts of different plants. I love the way the freeways are now being artistically designed with various ground covers, rocks, flowers, etc. When we arrived at the Lees, there were the azaleas all in bloom (reminded me of Oregon). Their home was built in 1929 and on about ½ acre (large for a property in the LA area…I guess unless you are of the Hollywood set). They have a pool and large lawn area and even a garden area. We may be able to help with gardening and maybe even take a dip, if time allows. Kathy and Kent both work full-time and he is the bishop of their ward and she is in the Relief Society Presidency, so they are busy people. She loves to cook and we enjoyed a lovely meal this evening.

The Lee’s will take us on a drive tomorrow morning to get better acquainted with the area and help us locate the churches and institute we will be working with. We are so grateful to have our GPS as we would really get lost without it. Traffic here is busy, busy, and depending on the time of day, it can often be more like a parking lot.

Obviously, I didn’t get this posted and now it is Sunday, April 11th. We had a great day here. We were able to attend a Sacrament and Sunday School meeting with the Armenian Saints here in Glendale and some interlopers. They scheduled it as a testimony meeting and it was wonderful to hear prayers and testimonies in Armenian. It was also great to get acquainted with the elders who had served in Armenia prior to coming here; Elder Craft, Judd (who goes home on Tuesday) and Elder White. All seem to be doing well and the missionary work is progressing. We also had an opportunity to visit with the Stake President, President Morgan and with the mission president, President Pike, to map out some plans and ideas for what we can do while we serve here. We now have a list of all members in the Stake with Armenian names and we will get to work to meet them, bring them back to church if they are inactive, participate with them however we can. We are going to try and help them do some family history so they can have their own names to take to the temple the end of May. We’re also hoping to make connections with those who have family members still in Armenia…to sort of synergize our efforts. Maybe it will work that those in Armenia who have family names and can’t readily get to the temple, will be able to work with California Armenians to get the work done for their families. They would also like us to help find and activate members who could serve in leadership positions in Relief Society and Priesthood. They may be able to meet again as a branch if there is enough leadership and attendance. They are also going to be starting ESL classes the first week of May and we can help identify Armenians that would benefit by participation in these classes. At any rate, it’s exciting to think about what we can do. We will work with the full-time elders, too, to coordinate our efforts.

As the mission president said today, quoting from one of the prophets, “it’s great to be back in the harness.”

We send our love to all of you and hope you are having a wonderful week of Spring.