Snoopy and Woodstock

                                                 Could it be Snoopy and Woodstock?



Ever since the beginning of October we have been watching this strange airplane take shape. At first it was Snoopy the WWI flying ace  and Woodstock in their plane on a mission to stop the Red Baron at Halloween. Now it is the same two characters flying in the night sky all decorated for Christmas with teddy bears hanging everywhere.
The tri-plane is made entirely of recycled materials, like conduit pipe, chicken wire and paper mache. The body of the plane contains about 750 empty water bottles, and is lit mostly with solar panels. Dryer vents were used to make the engine, and a kitchen rolling pin was used to allow the propeller to move. The propeller was made out of flattened soda cans and chicken wire. It is an amazing work of art.
We look for it everynight when we go to and from our apartment.

Christmas lights

                                                     Temple Hill at Christmas




Each year at the end of November the temple hill complex in Oakland is lit up with Christmas lights. 2013 was no exception. During the month of December there are all kinds of concerts, at least two a night as well as a production of the Nutcracker and different choirs from churches and schools around the bay area. It is a lot of fun.
Sister missionaries and Senior missionaries spend evenings in the Visitors Center greeting guests and helping people feel welcome and help them come in out of the cold evenings. Although with the palm trees it is California

Visiting San Francisco

                                                           A visit to San Francisco



Tuesday Nov. 26 we went to San Francisco to be tourists. We met Heidi, my step-sister at Boudins bakery at Pier 39. She lives in San Francisco and whenever we can we will try and visit with her. She had not seen Sherlyn since she was a girl and so we warned her that this would definitely be an age reality check. Darn it.
We ate together at the pier and she shared her latest adventures in movies. Heidi is a production manager for movies. She makes sure everything is in place before a movie she is hired for begins filming. She has several good movies she has worked on, plus some tv series. Lots of fun to visit with her.
After lunch we walked over to catch a trolley to go up Powell St. Heidi had an appointment at the top of Powell so we got to be "trolley people", as Sherlyn puts it.  The man taking tickets was very funny and we had a great time riding up the steep hill. Glad we made it to the top. We said goodby to Heidi and took the local bus back down to Pier 39.

George is running to get on the trolley

 

 

At pier 39 we did some souvenier shopping and took pictures of Alcatraz which was right across the water.

As we walked around the pier we came upon at least 50 to 60 sea lions playing on the neighboring pier. They were so fun to watch just playing with each other and falling into the water and getting back on the pier.

 

 

 

 

Another fascinating sight grandpa saw of course was this giant spider. It was part of San Francisco competing with New York's King Kong.

 

 

 

After Pier 39 we walked down to Girardelli Square.

                                              

 

                                                Chocolate, chocolate, mmmmmm   


                     As we were walking toward the square we saw this sign over a fish store

                                           Mmmm, wonder if the Lazio is anyone we know.
                                           It was getting late so we didn't stop to ask

                                     Mark and Sherlyn and their family at Girardelli Square
                                                             We had a great time

Wed. the 27th we did a drive through of San Francisco and saw places like China Town, Lombard Street (the crookedest street in the world), The Painted Ladies (Victorian Homes), and ended up at the Golden Gate Bridge. Here are some fun pictures.

 

Thanksgiving travels

During the week before Thanksgiving we had a few days to sight see. Our first destination was Half Moon Bay and Moss Beach and the Fitzgerald marine reserve. The reserve is north of Half Moon Bay and has tide pools to explore and a very nice sandy beach.
We missed low tide but still were able to see sea anemones and crabs scurring around with their shells. They are fun to watch. The weather was warm and the sand was cool and the sea air was so relaxing.

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We wandered around to the main beach and came across sea lions sunning themselves on the beach and watched for awhile. Took pictures of our crew as well.It was such a nice sunny day to be at the beach

Loving the sun; Cassaundra, Sara,George, Mark in the back,
Brandon, Grandpa and Taylor

Man that sun is so bright

Thanksgiving Nov. 2013

                                                    First Thanksgiving on our mission



This Thanksgiving Mark and Sherlyn, Brandon, Taylor, Cassaundra, George, and Sara came to stay with us in our tiny apartment. We loved having them here and getting to see some of the area including San Francisco. They were here from Saturday November 23rd. until November 29th.
We had everyone sleeping all over our little living room. The sofa, two recliners, and several air mattresses, and everyone fit. The kids were great sports.
We spent Sunday introducing everyone to our 9th ward family and then walked the temple grounds and took pictures. Here are a few.

A special Laotion friend enters the waters of baptism: Paul Phonvongsa

     Elder Watson and Elder Omori met Paul while out street contacting. They invited him to hear the message they had about Jesus Christ. He agreed to meet on a Tuesday afternoon September 24,2013.
Little did he know his life would be changed forever that day.
     We met Paul outside of the Oakland Museum of California. He likes to go there regularly because he loves history. He is majoring in journalism and hopes to become a journalist who can shed truth of what is really happening in the world.
     As he puts it he met this "older missionary couple" who walked with him to the park where he met the sister missionaries, Sister Wiser and Sister Shephard.
     Later, just after his baptism, we found out he was actually dissapointed that he was going to be taught by Sisters because he feels awkward around young women. He was hoping for the Elders to teach him!! However the Lord had different ideas.
     What is so amazing about the experience was that he was the first person the Sisters actually got to teach together. Sister Wiser had been out 6 weeks and she was training Sister Sherpherd who had been out only 2 weeks. Their lesson was far less polished then the Assistants to the President that we had spent the last four months with. So we wondered if Paul would hang in there and if the Sisters would actually learn how to teach a "bit" more smoothly.
     Paul actually lives north of Oakland in Richmond but is hardly ever there because he is in college here in Oakland and usually stays with friends all week. His parents are divorced and he lives with his father who is Buddhist.
    The family story is quite interesting. During the late 1970's in Laos (where his family comes from), the Chinese communists had begun "re-educating" the people. Paul's father and mother decided to leave their country through a Catholic charity who offered to sponsor them in the US if they would eventually join their church (according to Paul). His father chose not to change from his original faith.
     Paul is 24 and is always volunteering and serving others. He believes seriously in giving back to society. He said his grandmother had taught him about Jesus Christ and he believed in Him. He truly is a seeker of truth. He became comfortable with the Sisters and several ward members assisted in teaching him the gospel with the Sisters. He has a wonderful testimony and he really feels he has found "home" in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He feels for the first time in his life that he belongs here.
     Paul was baptized on November 17, 2013. He, like Daniel and Maryann before him, asked Sister Felt to speak about the Holy Ghost at his baptism too, and she has been truly honored in doing so.
    Paul was recently called as a ward missionary and to serve on the activities committee. We have lots of activities in the Oakland 9th ward, so he will be kept busy!!

Paul's teaching team: Sister and brother Reed, and Hudson, Elder Felt
Paul, Sister Felt, Sister Shephard, and Sister Wiser
November 17, 2013

Daniel Gardner- Another new friend enters the waters of Baptism

On October  13, 2013 Elder Felt baptized Daniel Gardiner.


Daniel's story: 9 years ago Daniel heard the gospel for the first time and decided against being baptized or taking more discussions.
     Our zone leaders Elder Caleja and Elder Chapman found Daniel again and he accepted the opportunity to again take the missionary discussions.
     Sunday Sept. 14th Elder Felt was asked by the missionaries to pick a Daniel Gardiner up on Market St. Daniel is a blind man with cerebral palsy but can walk with a walker. So he did. I (Sister Felt) met them in the church parking lot and helped him into Stake Conference. We met Maryann Guevara, another investigator, coming in so we all sat together.
     Daniel was very emotional during the intermediate hymn and said he felt really comfortable here.
     After Stake Conference we went with Daniel to the Visitors Center. Every one who goes there has the opportunity to sit and hear the words of Jesus Christ. Daniel listened and as I was thinking about this man who could not see the beautiful Christus standing before us I wondered what other senses we could use to help him understand the important roll that Jesus Christ is in our lives.
     A thought entered my mind that we should ask Daniel if he would like to go and feel the Saviors feet and hands and especially the nail marks in them. The thought would not go away and I asked if it was possible to touch the Christus. We were told, " sure people love to feel his hands and feet and side." So we invited Daniel to do that and helped him up to where the Christus was. As he touched the Savior's feet he was overcome with emotion and when he sat back down he told us that he had made his decision. He wanted to be baptized and wanted to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Of course he needed to finish taking the missionary discussions but he was so excited.
     We assisted the missionaries on occasion with the discussions and on October 13, Daniel was baptized. A week later Elder Felt confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Then two weeks after that Elder Felt conferred the Aaronic Priesthood on him and ordained him to the office of Priest.
     He is very enthusiastic and has since received his first calling. He loves coming to church on Sunday and is anxious to do the work in the temple for his family.

The teaching team for Daniel, Elder Chapman, Daniel, Elder Watson, Elder Felt
Sister Felt, Elder Calaja, and Elder Omori. It was such an honor and priviledge.

Our first baptism in the mission field-Maryann

Our first convert to the 9th ward was baptized Sunday, September 22, 2013, right after Sacrament and a lot of the ward came to witness it.

Maryann Guevara went to the Oakland Visitor's Center one day just to see what the beautiful building on the hill was all about. When she walked into the Visitor's Center she said, "tears just came, it was so peaceful, I loved it there".

The sister missionaries of course wanted to know what was wrong and when she told them how she felt, they explained that she was feeling the "Spirit". They asked if the church could send missionaries to her home and she said yes.

The story continues with  Elder Watson and Elder Omori serving in the Oakland 9th ward going to her home one evening. It was the last visit of the night. They walked up a dark staircase to the top and knocked on the door. Someone said, "Who is it?" Elder Omori replied, "It's the missionaries."

Maryann said she wasn't interested and then Elder Omori called her by name and reminded her of her visit to the Visitor's Center on the hill. She opened the door and they shared why they were there and invited her to come to church the next morning. She came and has come every Sunday since.

We assisted the missionaries in teaching her and feel like we have become good friends. She lives in a small apartment with her two adult daughters and her granddaughter. She loves the light and spirit we bring in to her and loves how she feels when she comes to church.

Sister Felt spoke at her baptism on "The Gift of the Holy Ghost".

                                                       Our first baptism in the mission.

                                                Our new friend,Maryann Guevara and I
                                                                September 22, 2013

                                              L-R: Elder Omori, Maryann, Elder Watson,
                                             Sister Felt and Elder Felt, the teaching team.
                                         What a privilege to be able to share the message of
                                             Jesus Christ and His restored church with her.

      Elder Omori, Maryann and Elder Watson

Week 21 of the Mission

(Just another typical week in the mission field?)

We participated in the Oakland 9^th Ward's "lost sheep" program where we attempted to locate and meet with less active members that have not been seen yet by anyone in the ward.

We attended Oakland 9^th Ward mission correlation and ward council leadership meetings.

Sister Felt participated in choir practice.

We picked up an investigator (French speaking woman from Liberia) and brought her to church meetings.

Elder Felt confirmed our blind new convert (who also has cerebral palsy) a member of the Church.

We helped the sister missionaries teach a Laotian investigator, and then drove him home.

We sprayed two missionary apartments (one in Alameda, and one in Oakland) for bed bugs.

We prepared a new mission apartment in Moraga (totally furnishing it).

We shopped for additionally needed furnishing for two mission apartments (one in Moraga, and one in Concord).

We delivered extra mattresses to apartments in Moraga, Concord, Martinez, Berkeley, and Oakland so they could house "threesomes" as of transfer day.

We picked up three missionaries and their luggage on one day and transported them to and saw them through security at the San Francisco Airport; and repeated the same process for two more on another day.

We shopped for and delivered 20 pillows to the mission president's wife for newly arriving missionaries from non-supporting countries who needed pillows.

We picked up four newly arriving missionaries from the Mexico MTC at the Oakland Airport, fed them, and delivered them to the mission home.

We replaced door locks on a sisters' apartment in San Francisco, and repaired a light fixture.

We did a temple endowment session.

We helped the sister missionaries teach the French speaking Liberian woman and one of her daughters after we first picked them up and delivered them to the Visitor's Center, as well as helped them tour the Visitor's Center and the temple grounds, and then returned them to their home.

We home/visit taught a newly assigned less active sister for the Oakland 9^th Ward.

We shopped for groceries.

Essentially, so much of this is what goes on "behind the scene" of a mission anywhere in the world.

We often do not feel like we're doing enough (mostly when we consider our proselyting activity) until we either tell someone what we just did or we see a list such as the above list for our 21st week in the mission field - NO WONDER WE OFTEN FEEL EXHAUSTED when we return home at the end of the day!

We love you all so much and appreciate all of your prayers on our behalf!

 

Missionary zone conference August 13, 14, 14, 2013

                                                         Missionary zone conference
In the California Oakland/San Francisco zone conference is divided into three days in three different areas of the mission. We went to all of them this time because Elder Felt taught a segment of the conference on personal safety and sister Felt presented the sisters an opportunity to purchase some capped tees (under the direction of Sister Meredith) that would go under blouses and help sisters be more modest. We are putting sisters on bicycles for the first time in this mission and to help them keep modest this was one article of clothing that had been requested by the sisters for quite awhile.
We loved getting to see missionaries who had helped us move into the apartments in the Walnut Creek, Danville, and San Ramone areas, as well as the area of San Bruno.
We are in awe of the goodness of these Elders and Sisters and how the spirit shines in their eyes, and in all they do.
During conference President Meredith spoke on "How the Savior touches the One". Using scriptures from the New Testament he pointed out how he healed each one individually, it was very personal for each one. He pointed out that when The Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith they called him by name, they knew him.
In Third Nephi when the Savior appeared in Bountiful he had each one come up to touch the nail prints in his hands and in his side. Again one by one. How long would that have taken, for over 2000 people to individually come forward and touch the prints on his body? He healed their sick one by one and had them bring their little children to him so he could bless them "one by one". What would it have been like.
Our Savior is always concerned with the one.

Matt8:2,3and Mark 1:40-the leper
  "    8:5-7- The Centurion's servant
  "    8:14-15 and Mark 1:30-Peter's mother in law
Matt9:18-ruler with the sick daughter
  "    9:20-22 and Mark 5:25-34-the woman with the issue of blood
Matt 9:28-The two blind men
        9:33-blessed the dumb man
Mark 1:23-26 the man with an unclean spirit

Our first district in the Ca Oakland/San Francisco Mission-June 8 to Sept 11, 2013

Elders, Watson(AP), Calaja, Albretson, (DL) Bailey,
 and sisters, Bailey, Lau,Bayot, Felt, Elders Felt Chapman and Omori (AP)
 

We love these guys, they work so hard and are great

Half Moon Bay

On Elder Felt's birthday August 28,1013 we took a drive
to the ocean.The little town of Half Moon Bay is in our
mission. It was a beautiful day and we took several
pictures of the ocean and listened to the surf.

Christ at the visitors center

At night He stands as a beacon in the dark.
 Oakland Visitors center

Sent from my Windows Phone

Great seafood, The Flying Fish Restaurant- for Elder Felt's birthday

The Flying Fish restaurant is where we went for Elder Felt's

birthday-wonderful food.

The Flying Fish was actually a seaplane built and flown
in the 1930's. The murals in the restaurant show the
Hawaiian clipper as one of the planes was called.
 Pan American Airlines was the owner of these
 special planes in a by gone era.

Close up of the windows from the restaurant, which were interesting.

Our Fun District

 
These are our "young elders and sisters" in our district.
from right back:Mandarin Chinese speaking Elders- Calaija-from the Phillipines
 Chapman-Utah-District Leader Elder Albretson-Utah.
Front: Mandarin Chinese speaking- Sister Bayot-Hong Kong
Sister Ni-Macaw, Assistants to the President, Elder Omori
Utah, Elder Watson-Australia-assigned to our ward
Oakland 9th

Second and Third week in Oakland.

We spent most of our time during the second week of our mission going over the ward directory which is 36 pages of names. We began by taking a map we had received from the young elders who had divided the ward into numbered zones, and placed a number with every name so we would know which zone they were in.  Another thing we did was to visit with a member of the ward, Joe McMurran, who has lived here for many years and has known just about everyone who has come and gone and was at least contacted in some way. Joe was a wealth of information and sat with us for hours going through the ward directory.

We were able to meet an older couple who haven't been to church in awhile, Emmitt and Mabel Jones, who we instantly connected with. Mable has had lots of health problems but Emmitt was out doing yard work when we walked up and said hello. As it turns out, Elder Felt and Emmit had crossed paths years ago in Southern California. Emmit has a deep interest in terrorists and, in fact, has a published book about terrorism. Elder Felt believes Emmit will love studying about the secret combinations and Gadianton robbers in the Book of Mormon as soon as we introduce him to them (He's not yet read the complete Book of Mormon in any detail). We hope to visit them often and encourage them to come back to church.

We continued to teach with the young Elders all of the second week. We met Gregory Blackman from Panama, and Raul Nieves from Puerto Rico, and both have also recently attended church and several ward activities but haven't committed to preparing for baptism. We also visited a sister who is originally from Mali, Africa. She has lived in Oakland for the last 9 years and owns a shop that sells beautiful articles from Mali. She also does African hair braiding at her shop.  She says it takes anywhere from 6 to 9 hours to do hair for one person. Her name is Bintou Diarra and she has been a member of the church for around 3 yrs. but needs a ride every week and hasn't always been able to get one. We have picked her up several times. She is a very sweet sister. She travels to New York City several times a year to meet her sister who flies in from Mali where she buys statues and African artifacts from her sister and sells them in the store in Oakland.

We had the young Elders over for dinner one evening and have been to our first district meeting and attended another ward activity and then on Sunday we watched the Church's World Wide Broadcast "The Work of Salvation". Made Sister Felt wish she were back at the MTC where such talks by general authorities are more commonly held.

After the broadcast our mission president asked that we meet with him, and  during our little interview he reminded us of the last line of our mission call where it says, "Your assignment may be modified according to the needs of the mission president". He asked us if we would begin assisting the Housing Coordinator and his wife because they were swamped and also almost ready to go home. Our assignment was to furnish the new missionary apartments. Our first one was for a Senior Couple who were arriving in a week. We were asked to go to the Salvation Army and pick out a sofa, chair, possible love seat and any other furniture we felt they might need. We also needed to transport the furniture in a trailer to the apartment in San Bruno which is south of San Francisco. Elder Felt thought his days of towing trailers was over when he came on the mission. Not so!! But we are so happy to be of service in any way we can. We will also continue for a time to help the couple coming in a few weeks to be the new Housing Coordinators.

The end of the third week was also mission apartment inspections. Most of the Senior Couples are given the assignment of inspecting young missionary apartments every two months. We had 6 apartments to inspect before July 10th.  One of the best things about the inspections, though, is that we get to meet more of the young Elders and Sisters as we do them.

Elder Hamilton from Ririe ID

Elder Hamilton from Ririe ID with district.
 Our Aug 2013 zone conference.

San Francisco, Clay Street

Loved how nicely preserved this home was. This home is just a few houses down from the missionary apartment we put together, on Clay St. San Francisco

These were some more of the nice homes in this area.

 While we were waiting for the furniture to be delivered to the apartment on Clay St. in San Francisco. This apartment was one of those tender mercies. President Meredith had felt we needed an apartment in the Golden Gate area, but we have never been able to get one, certainly not at any reasonable price which is allowed. However the President was talking to a stake president in that area and asked if he knew of any apartments and he told him about the one next door to him. Heavenly Father answers the prayers of his servants so the missionary work can go forward. This is the lovely home across the street. Four blocks from the bay

Missionary Apartment in a Box

One of the apartment missionary boxes, the man is the driver of the truck that has often delivered for us.

MISSIONARY APARTMENT IN A BOX

One of the things Mission Housing is responsible for is the furniture and supplies in missionary apartments. President Meredith asked us to assist Elder and Sister Peele at the end of June,who were the Housing Coordinators in our mission. 

One of the first apartments needing furniture was a senior couple apartment in San Bruno Ca. The apartment is a one bedroom and really sits in a beautiful area overlooking the Oakland Bay.We found furniture from Salvation Army which required some fun shopping just to see what they had. Salvation Army in north Oakland has a great reputation for thoroughly cleaning all of their soft furniture, (sofas, love seats etc) and making sure there are no bugs such as bed bugs, lice etc. After we chose a sofa, love seat and chair for the apartment we went down the next day with a truck and trailer to pick up the furniture. No small feat in a city like Oakland. But thankfully they have an area out in front of the store just for furniture pick-ups.

We also had to buy kitchen, laundry and bathroom supplies for the apartment. Then we took all of the items to the first apartment in San Bruno Ca. Elder and Sister Peele went with us as did Elder Olvera another older Elder. (His wife is our mission nurse) We had lots of help from our young Elders who are serving in the area. It was so fun to meet them and get to know them a bit. We all went out to Wendy's for lunch. 

After the "Senior" missionary apartment, we have been doing what we call the "missionary apartment in a box."

What this means is that all the furniture for the apartment (beds, dressers, desk, lamps, book case, chairs, kitchen supplies, etc.) all arrive by truck, on two separate pallets. We wait for the truck and with at least two preferably four young Elders we unload the pallets and carry the boxes to the apartment, which is usually two to three floors up. Then everyone pitches in and sets up tables, beds, the bookshelf, and dressers plus putting the kitchen supplies in the cupboard. The housing coordinator needs to find missionary apartments in areas where missionary work is going to expand. This last transfer (meaning 6 weeks) the coordinators had to find 7 apartments before July 31st. The miracle is it all happened. The next transfer which is on Sept 11 the mission will need 12 new missionary apartments. The most difficult to find are in San Francisco, because of cost and because of location. Three have been leased as of today Aug. 5th. So Elder and Sister Felt will be meeting trucks again at missionary apartments this month and part of next month. We took some pictures of the boxes arriving and our excellent missionaries unloading and setting up the apartments.
These first pictures are of the apartment in San Ramone, this was the second of our "Missionary box apartments," the one day before was in Danville and the same Elders helped us. In the pictures are the two large container boxes arriving. The Elders tearing it down and then how the apartment looks when all the furniture is set up. It is pretty amazing for two hours of work.

missionary apartment in a box VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL This album has 14 photos and will be available on SkyDrive until 11/12/2013.

Elder Felt unloading the box.

Every apartment needs a vacuum

box of four chairs, mop, broom and dustpan

Elders helping us unload and set up the apartment, Walnut Creek Zone

The book shelf in a box

missionary beds, and a dresser. Very heavy dresser!







desk, lamp and bookshelf outside of its box. Wa-la

Elders who have helped us a lot

Elder Orr, Elder Fajardo,