Week of April 24 - 30

Zone Conferences came around again, and because of time constraints they had to schedule several of them together. James and I attended. Tuesday we drove to Lancaster where the Palmdale, Lancaster, and Lancaster East Zones had a Zone Conference all together.

Sister Layton talked about why we were born 20 centuries after Jesus Christ walked the earth and not at some other time in history. She said, "These are your days!" We are here to prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ and help gather the elect of Israel before He comes again. She said the Book of Mormon is the instrument of the "gathering" and you can rely on the promise in Moroni 10:4-5. President Layton talked about the power of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon allows us to get out of the way and be taught by the Spirit. The Book of Mormon is one translation away from the prophets who wrote it, unlike the Bible which was translated many times from many languages. President Layton also taught the missionaries how they should answer their investigators questions and answer their objections using the Book of Mormon. He said Bible bashing gets you no where. He said don't open the Book of Mormon to prove a point; open it to let the Spirit teach. He asked several of the missionaries to bear their testimony about the power of the Book of Mormon. Our own Elder Holland shared his very personal and powerful testimony. He said he grew up in a family that were not regular scripture readers. His dad made some bad choices and ended up in prison. While there, his dad read the Book of Mormon and received peace. A couple years later when Elder Holland's brother was a junior in high school he tried to commit suicide. His dad told him to read the Book of Mormon and it would help him and bring him peace. The next thing that happened was Elder Holland's dad called him and said he was leaving the family. Elder Holland said he read the Book of Mormon that week himself, and he felt peace and came to know it was true.
James showed a short safety video and talked about driving safely. I gave a short instruction on how to fill out the Baptism and Confirmation Records correctly and completely. The next day we went to Bakersfield Zone Conference with all four of the Bakersfield Zones and did our presentations again. We left after lunch, so we didn't get pictures of the zones, but below is a picture taken at lunch.

Thursday morning we picked up a sandwich tray from Too Fat Sandwiches, cookies from Walmart, and I fixed big fruit and vegetable trays to send with President and Sister Layton. They had a Sister Training Leader meeting in Tehachapi and wanted to feed the sisters lunch.                            

Friday night was the monthly senior dinner group. We ate at Great Castle, a Chinese restaurant. After dinner, we and the Balls went over to Jerry and Lynette Thomas's (mission housing inspectors) house to play games. We played "Mexican Train Dominoes" and "Golf", a fun card game.

Saturday we went to the big Western Street Rod Nationals car show at the fairgrounds. There were so many cars it was hard to know which direction to walk. James loves to talk to the Studebaker and '58 Chevy owners and show them pictures of his cars.

After the car show, we went to the Kern County Museum and Pioneer Village. We learned about black gold (oil) and saw all the old stores, businesses, jail, church, school, and houses that they have put in a village-like setting.

The Beale Memorial Clock Tower in front of the museum was rebuilt in 1964 after it was badly damaged from the earthquakes in 1952. It was originally built in 1904. It is a pretty cool Bakersfield landmark.










Saturday night was the YW fundraiser for girls camp at our ward. It was a spaghetti dinner followed by a dessert and service auction.

YW entertaining at the spaghetti dinner. Interesting fact - We just found out that Sister Hansen (in the blue shirt) is pregnant with twins. She has four children of her own. However, these babies are not hers. She is being a surrogate for her friend.

Have you noticed that our mission seems to revolve around food and dinners!

The other night James was dreaming a man with weapons was coming after him and he was trying to roll behind the couch to hide, so he rolled right off the bed! That was a rude awakening! No blood, just a little sore. He said he is worried because when we go home our bed is much higher and the fall will be much further if he has more wild dreams. This is the third time this has happened. I think we are going to have to get a safety bed rail for his side of the bed.

THE LORD LOVES YOU AND SO DO WE!