JUMPING RIGHT IN!

Wow--never imagined it would be so difficult to get my blog up and running on a regular basis!   This post is actually a modified report for Pres. Peterson.  Don't give up on me.  I'll get the hang of this yet!

Much of our week was spent trying to get the lay of the land, finding groceries and misc. Items, (still praying for the delivery of our balikbayan box), and working out technological kinks with our computers and phones. Sis. Robinson has been plagued with issues. Unsure weather it is her Android or the Android user :o)--probably a combo of both. My iphone seems to do much better. Ever so grateful to the Kartchners and all they have done and continue to do to help us get acclimated. Also grateful that we came onto the scene a little later so we didn’t have to deal with the same huge learning curve as everybody else. So nice to have people watching out for us and showing us the ropes. Tender mercies for sure!

L-R  Jamison, Adelyn, Kamaile, Landon and Julie
Hernando

We have spent some time getting to know the Hernandos (neighbors) and the landlord (Mila). Such nice people! We are planning a trip with Julie Hernando to see her facility for endangered/rescued children and perhaps offer a little grandmotherly love to those unfortunate little ones.

The sisters piled into our air conditioned car while we were
waiting for the building to be opened.

We attended two district meetings with the Kartchners--one in Poway, which was supposed to be held in Batac, and one at our house with Elders Clark and Durbin, which was supposed to be held at the church--finally gave up on waiting for someone with a key to let us in. Really learning to roll with the punches. We have thoroughly enjoyed attending these district meetings--getting to know the missionaries and hearing how their work is progressing. We pray that we will be able to make some helpful contributions. We continue to be impressed with these young missionaries and their dedication to the work. We also see the results of the love, concern and teaching the new mission president has given them! We are planning to attend a different district
meeting every week with the Kartchners.

Plan B--Hold the District meeting at our apartment when you
can't get into the building!

We wanted to drop into the Institute and introduce ourselves so we ventured out to locate it. No luck!!! Ventured out a second time and thankfully came across a couple of Elders (Levine & Lerange) who jumped in and took us right there. We drove up into the parking lot and that’s when things went south. As I was backing down that steep incline, the cement bump that holds the gate became intimately acquainted with the exhaust pipe that runs down the center of the car and stopped us dead in our tracks. We pulled forward and were able to skirt around it but felt like something was amiss. Brother Thomas to the rescue!! He came right away, took the car to look at it, and found that a joint in the pipe had been dislodged. He fixed it or had someone fix it!  Unfortunately, that is not the only time I have connected with a concrete block or pipe sticking up.  I am getting the hang of driving on these narrow crowded roads but it has come at some cost to the exterior of the car.  Yikes!

Sis. Robinson has been doing some preparation for the dental hygiene presentation at zone conf. We (the Kartchners, office sisters and us), are planning to travel together to zone conference and do a little sightseeing along the way. We have also been involved in helping the Kartchners plan out activities and family home evenings for our Senior District. We are scheduled to hold the first FHE at our place-we are having spaghetti.

On Saturday--Elder Kartchner had another obligation so we helped Sis. Kartchner with her piano lessons at the church. So glad we were there as she had a full house--most with keyboards in tow. Many challenges with getting students to be prepared and show up on time. We were all glad when Elder Kartchner showed up to lend a hand.

Finally-on Sunday we returned to Sinait. Made the trip for two reasons--one-to help out with the choir that will be singing at their branch conference and two- to attend RS and follow up with the RS presidency. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. In spite of not understanding a lot, we were so impressed with the RS teacher and lesson given. Fortunately, everything she put on the board was in English! She was well prepared and followed the pattern of asking questions and engaging the sisters. It was a pretty lively discussion on sharing your testimony as part of ministering. Once again, we were so impressed with the presidency and how things are being run and felt so strongly of the sweet spirit that was present in the Relief Society. We had hoped to return to hear the choir sing at their branch conference, but the Elders have arranged a meeting for us with the RS President of 2nd Ward so we will be attending there next Sunday.

Sinait RS

On our way home from Sinait, we did a little exploring along the coastal road and actually found a couple of spots by the ocean where we could get out, take in the ocean air and revel in the beautiful vistas! Exhilarating! All in all, we felt we had a very productive and enjoyable week!