Memo of My Missionary- WEIRD, 97 violations, and Zombies

well, Yreka is interesting. the area we cover is huge and we are basically at the edge of the mission boundaries. the only ones further out than us are a pair of sister missionaries in Etna. the people here are WEIRD haha. the drug of choice here is Meth. let me tell you this: Zombies do exist, just look at a meth addict and you will agree. we drive a Nissan truck. i do all the driving cuz my companion got all his driving priveleges taken away..he had 97 violations lol. I must be honest, when i first got to Yreka i was murmuring in my heart against president young for sticking me here in this dead waste of a town with a comp that breaks a ton of rules and is lazy. luckily this week he came to the area to interview us. i told him my feelings and he said "that's why i put you here, to straighten him out. to make him work." i thank you mom and dad and all my other Boss people for helping me build a strong work ethic. and elder mcbride my trainer helped a lot too. it made me feel better to know that president trusts me to be an example and inspire other missionaries to work hard. he said he has big plans for me :D. i must be humble though. 

so this morning an investigator agreed to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God! way awesome! finding through members is in my opinion the one and only way to find people to teach. forget tracting. i like to see results and tracting just does not cut it. President told me that the two previous missionaries that were here had like uber anxiety about tracting. they couldn't take all the insults and ridicule. me though i just smile and walk away. as D&C 75 says (i think 75 lol) shake the dust off of your feet onto the porches of those who will not recieve you and depart speedily. 

 this ward is totally dead. the other two missionaries that were here only taught 10 lessons in six weeks. my companion and I taught 10 lessons in just this last week. i think that if we dont see results here this transfer president is going to shut it down and just leave senior missionaries here to do less active work. but we do have 3 solid investigators that should be baptized soon. like i said one already committed so we are gonna set the date this week or next hopefully. only one problem he is hard to meet with cuz he has a busy schedule.

mount Shasta (active volcano!)

elder and sister Pease

service

Memo of My Missionary

things are really good. the sisters in coos bay baptized a 14 year old girl named Mary Jane on sunday. that was awesome. i was in charge of filling up the font. lets just say a five gallon hot water tank is no good. i am not a trainer. im just a regular junior companion this time. my companion is elder Turner. he seems cool. still getting to know him though so ya lol. yeah it is quite hot here. i am now serving in Yreka California. look it up it is wierd.

Me: So, you got transferred!?!

yeah i just barely got to Yreka like two hours ago. dont know a single person except the member that drove me here. kinda scary. we got double transfered into here.

  the AP's and I talked to president about grandpa and he said he will put me in Newport one of these transfers.

Glen is getting baptized on the 26th. working hard.

Elder Drake Turner

Me: Funny story involving Elder Turner. I was in the grocery store and our neighbor, Bro. Mike Gardner (he and his wife own the adorable yellow Victorian-style house, they are snow-birds meaning they only come up her for the no-snow months) got in line behind me. He used to be a coach and has a son who is currently coaching. I guess he sometimes helps his son out just cuz he really loves working with the youth. Anyway, he was asking his son about one of the young men who they coached who was out serving a mission. His son told him Drake was in the Oregon Eugene mission. So, Mike says "really? you should have him look up my friend Anthony Galloway" Mike's son reiterates this message to Drake's mom who then informs him that Anthony is Drake's companion. Small world!

To Jackson With Judy!

Judy's flight left Jackson Hole early on a Friday morning so she planned to stay the night Friday. That was a perfect excuse to take the kids to Ripley's Believe it or Not! The freaky and the weird from all over the world!

Tiana and Judy.

Judy and Rylee.

Morgan, Rylee, and Harris, and a buffalo.

Harris and Judy and a bear having a very bad day.

Dinner at a very unique grilled-sandwich shop.

Porter and Nicole chugging fizzy sugar-laden liquid.

So thirsty!

Observing.

At the hotel waiting for Judy & kids to show up.

Turns out she had arrived, checked in, and was waiting in the room for us!

Dr. Judy Flores in the house- anyone in need of a doctor of Pacific Oceanic Art?

My mother had three siblings. I say "had" because my mom passed away way back in 1994. Even though, technically, they are still siblings, but that's how we roll in the American language. Judy was the oldest, then Albert, then my mom Phyllis, then Amelia (or Meady). I have some memories of each of them, but mostly of my Auntie Judy.

I know that my mom and I lived with her for a time. Maybe even more than once. I remember one time at the breakfast table, for some reason Judy was using powdered milk instead of fresh and UGH! It was awful! I remember them nursing a little baby chick and trying to get it to drink mineral oil because it was constipated. I remember some kind of fowl outside her house attacking me by pinching my sides with its beak. I remember huge rows of green beans, and Uncle Johnny's snore rumbling the entire house.

Judy, along with her son & his family came up to Star Valley to visit back in 2006 when I was very pregnant with Harris and our house didn't even have flooring in yet. It was embarrassing to me that we were living on ply-wood floors. She and I went for a walk out in the the hay fields and the high altitude was effecting her oxygen intake. The children loved her then, and they loved her this time as well.

My Auntie Judy is somewhat of a globe traveler, and when you live in such a remote place as we do, it is very flattering when someone decides we are worthy of a quick stop in the Rocky Mountains. Although, maybe she came because she also loves the process of design and renovation and wanted to see our project in person! Ha! Whatever your reasons, Auntie, I am so thankful the children got to meet you and that I had a few days time to bond with you again. You endured the craziness quite jovially!

 First stop on the tour of the cottage was to the tree-house.

 I've never even been up there!

I love people who love to share their talents and knowledge. Here, Judy is teaching us how to make chicken kelaguin which is a Chamorro dish of chopped chicken, celery, green onion?, and lemon. She also made red rice, which is made so by achiote. My mouth is watering...

 Judy has been a batik artist for thirty years. She is quite well-known for it in Guam and through-out the Pacific Island arts community.

Here, she is teaching us to do batik on some silk dream catchers.

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!

I cannot even express how much I enjoyed this.

When she does it for real she uses actual clothe dye. We used water colors.

 I *sacrificed* my crock pot-----okay, I didn't like it much anyway-------
to melt the wax. Originally, Judy would use parafin, but then she found a synthetic version which has a higher smoke point and less odor. We used what I had out in the garage.

 Morgan and Harris were at work so they didn't get to do this with us.

 I just love expressing myself artistically, no matter what the medium, which in my opinion can even be food, music, card-making, organization, speaking...whatever it is that INSPIRES you!

 Isn't Nicole adorable in that bandana?

Group shot of dreamers and dream-catchers.

 Here is mine. It is autumn and I wanted to bring that into the house. We don't have acorns here, but they are quintessentially harvesty, yes?

 Here is Kiki's (Nicole's). I love the coloring in the tree-top and the splattering in the blue.

 Bet you can't possibly guess whose this is? Rylees! Horse maniac.

I love the expression of the horse's face and action, and the swirls of color.

 Here is Auntie Judy's. She sat right at my table and painted the scene outside the north window.

I love the shading and the fall colors. She's amazing.

 I don't know what happened to my close-up of Porter's, but his is on the right. Lily pads and a butterfly.

 After we were done with batik painting, the children were, of course, enamored by the melted wax and started painting first, a finger-pad, then a whole finger...

 Never too old to explore the possibilities...

 Harris was the first to decide to paint his whole hand.

His hand covered in wax.

The hollow inside.

Broken pinky.

 Now, it's noses, and elbows, and toes...

 Well, okay.

See the shelves between the TV and the pantry? Jake installed them the first night Judy was here. She went to bed and we were still drilling and vacuuming. Sorry, Auntie!

Now, we just need cubbies along the top and a built-in desk in the corner!

Ruffle Zori and PPPs

So, apparently, I live at the base of a canyon which contains the largest fluctuating spring of only three in the whole wide world. The Intermittent Spring is about five miles up the road, and we go up several times every summer. Always when we go up the first time there is a large remnant of the mini glacier that forms during the winter. It is fun to note how much the mini glacier shrinks each time we make the "hike". I say hike, but I can do it in my zori. 

While my dad was here visiting from Oregon we all headed up to the Spring a little later than we had planned and ended up descending in darkness, which was a first for me. Here, I share the beauty of Swift Creek canyon:

My dad!

Porter and Nicole

The beginning of the trail. Harris was shooting a pop-gun which made the dog very nervous.

Nicole and Porter. They forced me to snap a shot at every PPP---> Perfect Picture Place

So touristy.

There's the spring at full flow.

Telling the story of...? Darn my memory!

song***There is beauty all around, when there's love at home.***

This is my favorite spot. You stand on the bridge, and wonder what's up river.

Or wonder something else.

Or just soak it all in.

Fall colors on land and in the water.

Red leaves and white berries. Gorgeous!

Objects in the phone camera may appear way larger than in reality. Or is my head really that big?

It was great seeing you, Dad. Thanks for stopping by!

Why is moss so appealing?

Ginormica.

Chatting.

Ruffle zori and blue toes.

 

 

That's the final and steepest ascent. I have never been up there. You can go right up to where the water comes out of the rock.

Another favorite spot.

Rock climbing colors.

You can see that someone turned the water off. It really is intermittent.