Follow up Training

Today all the new missionaries who have arrived within the last six weeks and their trainers came to the mission office for follow up training.

Elder Iverson talked about cars and Tiwi.  Elder Floyd covered cleaning of vacuums, mold, bugs and finances.  Sister Felix did a power point on etiquette.  The Sisters/Hermanas stayed with Sister Felix to discuss dress standard guidelines while the Elders went with President Felix.  Then the trainers stayed together to discuss how it has been going over the past transfer while the new missionaries were with 

President & Sister Felix discussing how they were doing.  These new missionaries are loving their missions.  They would like to be out of the apartment doing more finding and teaching but for the first 12 weeks of their mission they have an extra hour of studying with their trainer to work on the fundamentals.  The Spanish speaking missionaries have an hour daily to work on language.

President Felix concluded the meeting talking about the Doctrine of Christ.

Front:  Hermanas Wright, Hirst, Lance, Scott

Middle:  Hermanas Green, Torrico, Sisters King, Hardy

Back:  Hermanas Peterson, Gonzalez

Front:  Elders Atkinson, Hales, Taufatofua, Portillo

Back:  Elders Shaw, Haines, Nielson, Gregory

They are eating Strawberry-Banana Trifle.

The strawberries here are so delicious!

Mid transfer

Yea, they are here!

Hermana Lance

Elder Portillo

President and I picked up food from the Santa Barbara Chicken Ranch and then went to the airport to greet these missionaries.  They were so excited to be here.  It was such a beautiful day and fun for them to have lunch by the ocean.

They are jumping in with both feet!

We know these missionaries will do great here in the CVM.

Both missionaries were able to pick avacados from our trees to take with them.  

The assistants came to the mission home and did a short orientation then we drove to the mission office for the Senior Couples to do more orientation.

This is the exciting part, when the companions meet each other.

Elders Taufatofua and Portillo

Hermanas Lance and Scott

Just Serve

The missionaries from Ventura and Camarillo zones were given the opportunity to be of service at the California Dentist Association's free clinic.  Everyone involved was giving of their time without pay to help provide free dental service.  Our missionaries helped set up on Friday and came back on Saturday to volunteer.

This event was very well organized.  The patient went from triage to decide what needed to be done.  X-rays were taken, fillings, oral surgery, extractions, cleanings, and dentures. Patients could not move around without one of us volunteers.

Many compliments were given to us and gratitude for the missionaries' help.

We had name tags and we put our missionary tags over them.

Elder Herrera

Elder Bradler

Sister Floyd and walking away is Elder Floyd.

This pic includes Hermana Johnson at the back with her back to us, Hermana Eames and Elder Floyd.

Sisters Hopkins and Jones

We were given t-shirts to wear which was our "pass" to move around freely to go between the two buildings.  The patients had to have a volunteer with them as they went from station to station.

Elder Iverson

Hermanas Kneip and Pirir

People lined up even on Friday morning to be seen on Saturday morning.  We helped Tony who said he was first in line and had been there for four days.  He was getting dentures.  He said he would accept missionaries to visit him.

Randy was so excited to get dentures where his front teeth were missing.  He said he was so excited to get his life back.

Elders Weiss, Summers and Sister Felix

Elders Strom and Davis

While people were standing in line outside, missionaries would take them food.

Elders Slaugh and Jo carried dental instruments to the cleaning area.

Sisters Felix and Iverson

Sister Iverson's shirt is yellow to show she can interpret (she does ASL), some of the missionaries did Spanish.

Elders Atkinson and Hales are cutting up strawberries for the volunteers to eat on their breaks.

Elders Gibb and King

Hermanas Hirst, Scott, Wright

The yellow tag lets others know they can interpret Spanish.

Sisters Houseman and Meglen

back clockwise:  Elders Hatman, Heck, Sisters Greding, Barnum, Elder Nielson

Receiving some instruction are Elders Barrios-Vega, Taufatofua, McLane

Elders Gemar and Routledge

Elder Iverson wrote to the coordinator requesting some particulars regarding the service. 

"The LDS volunteers have helped so much since the church got involved in December 2013. They have made CDA Cares better. We are truly grateful for LDS participation, not just the volunteers, but the connections to the community to help secure donations, get media coverage, support the patients with food/water, etc. The LDS point people I have had the privilege of working with are amazing people – smart, kind, generous and great to work with. Nothing is too big or too small and the answer to any request I have ever made is yes, we can help with that."

  

1,884 people served, $1,5 million in care provided

89 dentures

99 stayplates

1,394 volunteers

311 dentists

78 hygienists

305 dental assistants

28 lab technicians

177 dental students

43 medical professionals (physicians, nurses, nursing students)

452 community volunteers

Where did they arrive from?

After the two missionaries who will be arriving (mid transfer) on Monday, April 18, we will have 146 single missionaries and 5 senior couple missionaries. This breaks down to:

Spanish Hermanas  22

English Sisters  28

Spanish Elders  21

English Elders  75

Below are the areas the single missionaries are from and how many came from that state or country:

Arizona 3
Brazil 1

California 1

Canada  6

Colorado 5

Georgia 1

Hondorus 1

Florida 2

Iowa 1

Idaho 19

Indiana 3

Kansas 2

Kentucky 1

Mexico 1

Maryland 1

Missouri 1

Montana 2

North Carolina 1

North Dakota 1

New Jersey 1

New Mexico 1

Nevada 3

Ohio 2

Oklahoma 3

Oregon 2

Pennsylvania 1

Tennesee 1

Texas 8

Utah 62

Virginia 3

Washington 3

Wyoming 3

All of the Senior Couples are from Utah.

Mission Tour 4/6-4/8

The mission tour began with Elder Hamula arriving at the mission home on Wednesday before noon.  We had lunch on the deck and enjoyed visiting.  He mentioned he had not seen the channel islands so we drove to the harbor and went places we had not seen before.  

We had a special MLC at 1:30 where the Assistants reviewed how we as a mission were doing on the key indicators, Sister Felix spoke about humility, President Felix taught us about true doctrine understood, changes attitude and behavior,  Elder Hamula helped us to understand more about faith and hope.

Elders Boyce and Ruby

Front row:  Elders Ruby, Stewart, Snyder, Deem Elder Hamula, Elders Kuepper, Chatterton, Weiss, Summers

Back row:  Elders Boyce, Campbell, Powell, DuPlessis, Parkinson, King, Gibb, Swenson, President & Sister Felix

Sisters Orme, Lambert, Ulassin, Israelsen Elder Hamula, Hermanas Eames, Johnson, Ricks, Hemingway,
President & Sister Felix

That evening all of the Senior Couples came to the mission home to eat and meet with Elder Hamula.  They were all assigned food to bring which helped out so much.  I should do that more often because it was less stress and the food was delicious.
Elder Hamula was very gracious and thanked the couples for all they are doing and the sacrifices they are making.  He opened it up to answer any questions they had. 

We drove to Goleta to the Santa Barbara Stake Center Thursday morning to begin the conference at 9:00; actually the missionaries were at the church by 8:40 so that Elder Hamula and us could shake hands with each missionary prior to beginning. 

The Assistants reviewed the key indicators with the missionaries and received input as to what we do well in the mission and what we lack.  Sister Felix reviewed 4 aspects of helping the missionaries be better and in turn the mission will elevate.  They were:  Work Ethic, Attitude, Obedience, and Gospel Knowledge.  President expounded more on the CVM target:  True doctrine understood and applied, changes attitudes and behavior.  He reminded us of having both feet in. 

Our mission is down in baptisms.  Elder Hamula helped us in understanding WHO we are, WHY are we here, WHAT do we do, and HOW? This was to help us gain confidence and faith so that we can invite and teach repentance and baptize converts.  At the conclusion of that, he opened it up to questions the missionaries would like to ask.

Elder Hamula interviewed 6 missionaries - getting a feel for the missionaries in this mission.

Yummy lasagna, salad, garlic bread and cake.

Singing Called to Serve to the sisters who served us lunch.

San Luis Obispo Zone

Front row:  Sister Aston, Elders Endicott, Allison, Turley, President & Sister Felix, Elder Hamula, Elders Petersen,
M. Bailey, Swenson, Mata, Sister Besendorfer

Back row:  Elders Aston, Plummer, Sila, Peterson, Bronson, Huston, Chatterton, Peisley, Sisters Campbell, Capener, Scott

Santa Maria Zone

Front row:  Hermana Torrico, Sister Ulassin, Elders Castro, Parkinson, President & Sister Felix, Elder Hamula, Elders Levis, Wayment, Crook, Suarez, Sister Cardon

Back row:  Hermana Green, Sister Israelsen, Elders Lemus, Kuepper, Gardner, Elliott, Harper, Marchant,
Sister Van Der Watt

Santa Barbara Zone

Front row:  Sister Mortimer, Hermana Arkell, Sister Hardy, Elders Avalos, H. Davis, Liddiard, President & Sister Felix, Elder Hamula, Elders Brown, Oakey, VanSlochteren, Stewart

Back row:  Sister Baird, Hermana Morales, Sister King, Elders Garcia, Dorius, Valladares, Harvey, Hubbard, Reed, Campbell

Ventura Zone

Front row:  Elders Boyce, Jo, McCurdy, Weiss, Sister Hopkins, President & Sister Felix, Elder Hamula, Elders Strom, Bradler, Hermana Eames

Back row:  Elders Ruby, Slaugh, Hull, Summers, Sister Jones, Elders K. Davis, Herrera Jr., Hermana Johnson

Elder & Sister Aston, President & Sister Felix, Elder Hamula, Sister & Elder Iverson

Hermanas Eames, Johnson, Sisters Mortimrer, Baird, Felix

Sister Baird has taught me how to take selfies with the tablet.

Hermanas Garza, Morales, Mulloy

Friday morning we drove to Newbury Park to have the second zone conference.  It was the same schedule as Thursday. It was nice having the missionaries arrive early and prepare themselves for the meeting.  They all stood when we entered the chapel with Elder Hamula.  

Lunch consisted of pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw and chips.  Each table had a cake for the center piece and dessert.

President Felix

Hermanas Gonzalez, Peterson, Ames, Frias

Elder Taufatofua, Hermanas Hemingway, Ricks

Sisters Barnum, Greding, McClure, Mendoza

Elders DuPlessis, Deem, Hidalgo

Elders Heck, Hatman, Routledge, Gemar, Garrard

Elders Willis, Carpenter, Klingler

Elders Pace, DeGraw, Anderson

Elders Christenson, Holm, Boyce, Shaw

Elders Powell, Snyder, Nielson

Sisters Deitos, Dye, Orme, Lambert, Meglen

Camarillo Zone

Front row:  Elders Heck, Atkinson, Nielson, McLane, Pierce, King, Gemar, Elder Hamula, President & Sister Felix, Sisters Greding, Meglen, Hermanas Hemingway, Hirst

Back row:  Elders Hatman, Hales, Gregory, Taufatofua, Judkins, Barrios-Vega, Gibb, Routledge, Sisters Barnum, Houseman, Hermanas Ricks, Wright, Scott

Newbury Park/Thousand Oaks Zone

Front row:  Hermana Zurita, Sister Fisher, Elders Lallatin, Holm, Shaw, Chesley, Snyder, Pace, Elder Hamula, President & Sister Felix, Elders J. Bailey, Hidalgo, Hunter, Sisters Dye, Lambert

Back row:  Hermana Soriano, Sister Wing, Elders Corbridge, Garrard, Haines, Peart, Powell, DeGraw, Willis, Herrera, Rosenlof, Sisters Deitos, Orme

Simi Valley Zone

Front row:  Elders Blaylock, DuPlessis, Sister Bosshardt, Hermana Ames, Elder Hamula, President & Sister Felix, 

Sister Mendoza, Hermana Gonzalez, Elders Anderson, Morby, Klingler

Back row:  Elders Mullford, Deem, Sister Coulon, Hermana Frias, Sister McClure, Hermana Peterson, Elders Bradley, Christenson, Carpenter

We met with the Assistants and Elder Hamula after the conference to evaluate.  We determined we will be addressing "finding" and more "effective use of time" in our MLC on Tuesday.  The Council will come up with some specific ideas to help the mission.

Simi Valley had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday with Elder Hamula presiding.  He called a new stake presidency.  President & I spoke in the Saturday night session.

It's been a wonderful week!  When we went to bed last night I said, "We made it!" meaning we got  through the week!"