Joy Journeys to Begin 2016

• This will be the follow up to Whitney and Jake Thompson's story or Thor's death.   On the way to the UC Davis Children's Center, Thor passed away. The para-medics who transported him told Whitney that they believe he had been brain dead for several hours. Everyone is devastated by the horrible turn in events.  I can;t even begin to understand what the Thompson family is going through.  We spent the next week visiting Whitney every day.  I'm not sure if we did any good but we hope that we were able to bring some peace. Because of the death circumstances, the coroner's office will be doing an autopsy.  The autopsy came back that Thor died from shaken baby syndrome and being dropped on the floor.  Everyone is in disbelief as to the events that are unfolding.  A second autopsy was ordered because it not changes Thor's death to a homicide.  WOW!  I can't believe what Whitney will have to go through.  On December 23, the Thompson's flew to Salt Lake City, Utah to bury Thor.  They are not sure of when the body will be released but they want to get out of Fairfield.  The breaking news on Monday, December 21was that the babysitter was being charged with homicide.  We arrived at the Thompson's just as they had received the phone call.  Whitney was totally in shock.  She is such a sweet person that this thought never entered her mind. This babysitter watched the children often as Whitney works.  Others have since told me that they too have used her for a babysitter.  She does a lot of tending and the entire base has been torn apart. We are in hopes that when the Thompson's return we will be able to help in some way. I have often thought that I don't know how the loss of a loved one can be lived through without the gospel.  
• We had Kit come for Christmas.  He arrived at the Oakland Airport on Monday evening about midnight.  Tuesday morning Craig and I went to District meeting and then went home to begin our week of touring with Kit.  After our meetings, we went to the JellyBelly factory, showed him around the wine country like Napa Valley, then around the neighborhood and places where we frequent.  On Wednesday we got an early start to take the ferry across the bay to San Francisco.  We had pre-purchased tour tickets to Alcatraz.  While we waited we visited Fisherman's Wharf and the multiple shops.  There is also a place where sea lions seem to all come together.  Then back to our tour boat.  Alcatraz was really interesting.  It was something that Kit really wanted to do and I totally enjoyed it.  I know that when Craig and I go places like this we tend to take our time and read most of the information.  However,  I felt like I was being rushed through everything. I had to just be content that we were seeing things as fast as possible because of our limited time.  We did get to have clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl that San Francisco is famous for. We walked around and saw the trolley car museum.  We decided not to wait in line to ride the trolly car because it had a 1 1/2 hour wait.  We meandered back to the wharf where we went through a 'market' and the shops.  Craig taught Kit to eat oysters and Kit loved them.  They ended up having two helpings.  Then they both tried the trout eggs.  As for me, I took the pictures and tried hard not to gag. On Thursday we were up again early to drive to Muir Woods to see some redwoods.  It was a rainy day so we all had to take an umbrella.  The rain made it beautiful for some of our pictures.  These redwoods are not as big as the one's Craig and I have seen but they are still impressive. We then drove to take pictures of the San Francisco Bridge.  Again Kit got some really great pictures of the bridge.  It was here that we could also tour some gun hideaways from early days. Craig fell while we were there and scraped/bruised his leg.  Kit then took over the driving because Craig was in pain.  It was then off to Chinatown. All I can say is that it totally reminded me of China.  We had a good authentic lunch at a place called Shon-Li.  We didn't buy anything because we never looked long enough.  Maybe when Mindi or Brady come to visit we will take our time.  We drove down Lombard Street and it was cool.  We looked for a place to have fish and chips by googling to see what was around us.  Kit said we needed to try new things.  So, as we did, we were in a very questionable neighborhood.  It wasn't the best fish and chips but we did step out of our comfort zone.  Friday morning was Christmas.  I hope it wasn't a let down for Kit.  I didn't get much for him because of the luggage weight.  We gave him a couple little things and cash.  We watched some football and spent the day relaxing.  Kit flew out the next morning.  His flight was at 6:20 am and had to be there two hours early.  Needless to say, by the time we got home we were in need of a nap and so that's what we did, we had a nap.  We loved having Kit here and we hope he enjoyed and appreciated the time and energy we put forth to try to help him have a good visit. 
• For New Year's Eve we went to Modera California to watch BYU play St. Mary's.  It was really quite disappointing to see them lose so badly.  Craig is a BYU fan through and through.  I was hoping it would be a good game but they really got walked on.  We had very little traffic coming home.  I'm hoping for a very Happy New Year.  Next year at this time, we will be getting ready to go home.  I'm guessing for a busy and great new 2016.

Journey Joy-Journey Sadness-December 18, 2015

I thought I would share with you what we have been doing yesterday and today.  Thursday night we were in bed and about midnight we got a phone call from a base chaplain telling us that Whitney Thompson asked him to call and have us come to the ER. Craig and I dressed and headed out.  

Whitney is a member, her husband is not.  We have been visiting Whitney often.  She is such a sweet girl and we have had some special experiences and visits.  She made it clear in the very beginning that she wasn't interested in coming to church but we could come back and visit anytime.  Jake also made it clear he doesn't do religious things.  When we got to the ER we found her son Thor was the patient.  Whitney and Jake had been out and the kids (Thor-18 mo. and Mila 3) were at a babysitter.  When they got to the babysitters home, they called her to let her know they were there.  They pulled in the driveway and the sitter came out screaming and carrying Thor saying he wasn't breathing.  Walking in and seeing Little Thor hooked up to everything was very emotional.  Whitney melted into our arms and asked Craig to give him a blessing.  Whitney had been sitting with him for quite awhile and needed the restroom.  She asked me if I would sit with Thor so he wouldn't be alone.  I was happy to do so.  I held his foot and rubbed it and quietly talked to him.  I got to sit there for about 30 minutes.  He felt so cold to my touch.  The respiratory therapists worked on him.  Blood was coming out his nose and mouth.  Luckily it didn't affect me because I'm not very tough when it comes to medical things.  The doctors decided that Thor should be transported to university of California at Davis Medical Center.  When the medical team got there to transport him, I knew it was not good.  I just had that feeling.  We said our goodbyes with the plan that we would drive to Sacramento in the morning.  We got home Friday morning about 2:30 am.  About 8:00 am we got the phone call that Thor had passed away while in transport.  

This afternoon, Friday, about noon we went to the house to see them.  Whitney's dad and stepmom were there from southern  California, her mom and sister were there from SLC, and his parents were there from SLC, plus many military friends.  Her family members are active but Jake's parents are not members.  We visited, met the family, arranged to bring in dinner and then left.  We picked up the bishop about 4:30 at the front gate and took him to the house.  It was then that Whitney received a blessing for comfort from her dad.  It was a very tender moment.  We met up with another family and took dinner in about 6:00.  

Thor had been sick a week or so before.  He spent a couple days in the hospital but had been released the previous week.  Whitney said they had a good week.  Thor was happy, playful and didn't show any signs of being sick.  As of tonight they don't know what he died from.  The autopsy will determine when they can leave for Utah where they will bury him.  

I have thought all day wondering what I could do to help.  As you can imagine they are devastated.  I decided that I would write to all of you and ask you to pray for their family.  As we all know the situation can go both ways.  They can be even more bitter and angry with God or they can seek for peace through the understanding of the plan of salvation and our Heavenly Father's love.  Will you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  Jake and Whitney Thompson plus the extended Thompson family.  We love you all and are grateful for our family.  Give you kids a love tonight.  Grandmas play with those kids and loves every moment.  Life can be pretty fragile.

Journey Joy -December 2015

We are so behind this Christmas season.  By the time I get home, fix dinner and do dishes, then catch up on emails, I'm ready for bed.  Our Christmas card greetings will be pretty scarce.  Craig helps with everything but we both run out of steam.  I'll try to hit some of the highlights

• We have been volunteering at the Airman's Attic for several months now.  One of the ladies that is in charge and trained us told me today that her mother was LDS and she was raised as a Mormon until about seven or so.  At that time her mother got MS and was pretty much bed ridden.  She told us that she remembers ward members taking care of she and her sister.  Her memory is she went from house to house.  Her mother decided to give her two daughters up for adoption because she couldn't take care of them.  A nice family adopted them and she moved to Oregon. Her adoptive parents would bring the girls down to California to visit their mother every now and then.  When they did make the trip, they always stayed in member homes.  She was not raised as LDS but remembers well the people who helped her family.  We had a nice visit about the church and what we do as Military Relations missionaries.
• We also volunteer at the David Grant Medical Center.  We have been an on-call couple.  On Friday, Barbara asked us to come in.  We cancelled our trip to the temple in order to fill in.  We stayed from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  It was a long day and we served lots of coffee.  About half way through the day, a man asked us about Mormon missions.  He asked how they work, how are you called, how do you pay for it, etc.  It was a nice conversation but we didn't do any proselytizing.  After he left, the manager of the hospitality group talked to Craig in private and asked him to remove his name tag.  She said it was unfair advertising of our faith.  We did as asked, but my heart felt so sad.  We didn't do anything wrong.  The man asked us questions about the church and we answered them, of which we were told that would be OK.  I immediately felt like saying that if the name tag goes, we go.  Craig and I talked about it and decided to carry on for now.  We didn't want to do anything rash.
• We went to our first mission Christmas Devotional.  The mission president divided the mission up and belt several devotional a.  Our devotional was for four zones.  The best part of the morning was watching the elders and sisters greet each other.  They were so excited to re-connect with past companions.  I realized how close those young men and women get to each other. I too was excited to see some who were previously here but have moved on.  The other thing the mission president did was ask all the missionaries to memorize a scripture and be prepared to share it with everyone.  Even the senior couples shared one.  Yes I shared one!  I know you are surprised because I done do well at memorizing anymore.  It was a pretty special day.  When I posted a picture, Mindi responded that she remembers her mission Christmas devotionals.  It was a sweet moment as I thought about how my missionary children have experienced all the sweet things I am experiencing.  The tender mercies come to us all the time and I am grateful to be able to recognize them.
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Joy Journeys-November 14, 2015

It's been such a crazy week, where shall I begin.  We spent a lot of time looking for apartments of singles.  Our problem today was we had apartment addresses but no apartment numbers.  We'll just keep trying.

We followed up on some active members.  Bro. Pratt is deployed and she is here with three daughters.  They are older and they seem to be doing pretty well.  Bro. Fox is now home for the Middle East.  We have not met him yet but we have contacted Bethany and all is well.  The Millers are an active family living on base.  They have 3 year old twins, turning 4 in December.  Alexis and Austin are so cute.  Alexis is very friendly and talks all the time.  Austin is quiet and doesn't say much.  The reason I mention them is because they had their Christmas tree and inside decorations all out up.  Around the tree are two trains which chug along a track.  The interesting thing is that everything about the train, track, people, buildings, etc. are all out of Lego's.  I want to go back next week and take a picture.  It is really fascinating to watch.  I know Crew would love seeing what they have done.

On Friday we met the Vacaville Zone Leaders to visit the Hansen's.  We have met with them several times and the elders have been meeting with them for a long time.  The goal was to prepare them for temple marriage.  They are a delightful couple about in their late 70's and have been married 36 years.  They have had a lot of challenges but we thought they were doing well.  When we arrived at their home we found out that Bro. Hansen's son was in the hospital where he had two stints put in.  Sis. Hansen's father is 93 years old and in the hospital in Brazil.  When we found out that so much was going on, we offered to come back another time.  Bro. Hansen began visiting with us. Sis. Hansen joined us to say hello but then excused herself to try to reach her family in Brazil.  We were fine with that and then the meeting took a totally different turn.  Sis. Hansen came back, sat down and proceeded to tell us that Bro. Hansen doesn't believe in Joseph Smith and doesn't have a testimony.  He has a hard time reading and so he has not read the Book of Mormon.  The elders engaged them in some gospel questions but the conversation continued to take different turns.  Next Sis. Hansen told us how Bro. Hansen has hit her before.  Of course, Bro. Hansen had his side of the story.  He has been in jail twice for domestic violence.  They began telling us about events going back to when they first met,  how they treat each other's children (second marriage), the language he uses when he gets mad, etc.  Elder Nordfelt and I looked at each other and knew we needed to end this visit.  These missionaries were in way over their heads.  Elder Nordfelt asked Sis. Hansen if she loved Bro. Hansen and she said yes.  He then asked Bro. Hansen if he loved Sis. Hansen and it was a little bit more labored yes.  The next question was 'do you want help to put this back together?' Sis. Hansen said yes and Bro. Hansen said he didn't think he had a problem.  There was so much blame and hurt going on.  Elder Achal told them that a way he puts his temper in check is to think about blessings in his life.  When he starts thinking about his blessings, his temper calms down.  I really don't thing Elder Achal has aa temper problems but I think he made a very good point.  The elders will follow up by calling the bishop and giving it to him.  He is the person that needs to take over and see where this will be going.  As we left , Sister Hansen kept saying, 'pray for me.'  They are certainly in our prayers as we left to go to our next visit.

We then visited Sis. Henderson and her son Edward.  Bro. Henderson is in the Middle East and won't be back till the end of December. Sis. Henderson and Edward will be leaving on Monday to go to Utah and get some things ready for her daughter's wedding.  She has four sisters that she will be with and I really do think it will be a blessing for her.  She has some very strong feelings about U-Tube, Amazon and different websites and how they are so bad.  She worries about her husband and pornography.  She does everything she can to protect her son.  I don't blame her, it is a very challenging world around us.  We offered to help with the wedding reception.  I hope she lets us help and be there for her.  Her depression and her tears seem to be a little more under control.

Journey Joy-November 5, 2015

The middle of October we visited with the Henderson Family.  They have a 12 year old son, Edward, and a daughter living in Utah, getting married in January.  They were a sweet family but she was very emotional because he was going to deploy on October 26. We kept in contact and offered to help in any way possible.  On Tuesday, October 27 we got a phone call from Cecily and she wanted to have a blessing.  When we got to their home, she was an emotional wreck.  She began telling us their story. It seems that he has had some problems with pornography.  They had met with the bishop and she feels like he is trying but unable to get it under control.  She has also had multiple health issues, he has been passed up for promotion, they had a failed business adventure which caused a bankruptcy, plus dealing with the healing of a spouse feeling not good enough because of pornography.  She told us that she has even thought about suicide but would never do that because she knew her children needed her.

Craig and I felt a little overwhelmed with the information.  Craig gave her a wonderful blessing and we left for the night.  On Friday night we saw her at the Halloween party.  She said she was doing much better and felt like she was going to be OK.  Then on Saturday she text and said she wanted us to come by and give Edward a blessing.  On Sunday, November 1, we went over to visit.  Craig gave a message kind of like a home teaching message.  Edward then had a blessing.  We had a nice visit  and were invited to come back anytime.  I told her I didn't want to bug her too much by texting or calling but she said, "bug me all you want."

The next text came on Wednesday she texted and said she wasn't doing very good.  She expressed her concern again about him gone and that she feels she has no self esteem.  On Wednesday evening I called Erika (my daughter-in-law) to get some advise from a 'real' counselor.  I am truly grateful for her help and advice.  So today is Thursday, November 5, and we are meeting with her again tonight.   I have been looking for a talk or a thought to take to her.

She is such a sweet sister.  I feel like we are good friends even though we have only known her her a little over a month.  This will be an ongoing situation until he comes back in December.  It won't really be cured when he gets back but the situation will change.  I'm not sure what our role will be then.  The wedding is in January and so that will be another stressor on their family situation.

Craig and I have spent some special time with her and Edward.  We know that the Lord is aware of her and blessing her.  We have had to go in prayer to determine what we should do or say.  I listened to the Osmond Brothers sing "I Believe".  I have felt an overwhelming feeling that our Heavenly Father is truly aware of Cecily.  However, its time for her to trust in him and let some of the pain go and let Him carry it.  I'm just not sure how to explain this to her and what to say.  I guess I'll have to depend on the Lord also.

Journey Joys-October 30, 2016

On October 26 we had an active duty Military Family FHE.  We have been planning this for about six weeks.  We made arrangements to use the chapel on base.  We were assisted by Col. (Brother) Wonnacott and his wife Holly.  Holly did the refreshments because I really don't have the resources nor the extra money to fund such an event.  We gathered the information as to names and email addresses of active duty military.  Wards were our source and we really appreciated their help.  We then organized the information and Col. Wonnacott sent out an email to the active duty inviting them to FHE.  We approached the Chaplain about sending out an email to all those that indicate the LDS preference.   He said he would and he did.  We put it in the base paper.  We contacted all the wards and put it in their bulletins for three weeks.  Craig and I personally delivered an invitation to every military home that we had an address for.  Members were told that if any of them wanted to bring a snack to help with the evening, that would be great.  Holly make 125 cinnamon rolls, did the table coverings, plates and cups and gave the place an autumn feel.  Her family made a large pumpkin bean bag toss along with coloring and search pages for the children.  We were hoping to have 100 or so but really had no idea.  Our RSVP's were about 85 so we knew we were going to have some and we were thrilled with the RSVP numbers. However in the end our head count was 227.  WOW!  We were absolutely thrilled.

The evening began with members putting on name tags as they came in.  People didn't really start coming till 6:30 so we were late when we started.  Col. Wonnacott spoke for about 15 minutes.  We had invited Father Cannon to come but we were unsure of his plans because he never said yes or no.  However, as the event got underway, Father Cannon came back and took over greeting at the front door and then he stayed for most of the program.  When he left, he said that he couldn't believe how many came.  He said he could feel the energy and joy in our gathering.  We believe that he was feeling the spirit of all the wonderful members but just doesn't recognize it.  As Father Cannon left he offered to let us use the chapel whenever we would like to use it.

Tuesday morning, Col. Wonnacott received an email from Father Cannon offering to reserve the chapel for us on a quarterly basis.  He had the dates and times and said, would these work for you.  Of course our answer was yes and so we have 2016 dates reserved and ready to plan.

This was a great experience for us.  It was really the boost in the arm that we needed.  We have been slow in some of the work and I have to remind myself that our work is different than a young missionary.  I'm so grateful that we had the support of the members and that they want to do it again.

Journey Joys on the Weekend

We visited with Nicholas Darragh (young airman) and took him to dinner.  We found out he is from Texas and his girlfriend is on a mission.  He goes to the singles ward when he can.  He is a young single guy and we hope to be able to stay in touch with him.  He was at church today and we were thrilled.  He says that he wants to receive the priesthood so we offered our assistance to the bishop, telling him that if there is anything we can do to help, we would be happy to do so. Our visit to the Rockville Singles Ward was interesting.  The ward has some really sharp kids and there are some who are not so sharp.  One of the Relief Society advisors told me that they are struggling in numbers to get the youth to attend Institute.  Some of these kids will never leave home and some have college degrees.  They are truly a high risk group.

After dinner we tried to find some more names on our list.  One of them, Bro. Sanderson, was not at home but his wife was.  He is the member, she is not.  She was very nice and we learned some things about Bro. Sanderson.  She told us that she has a step son who just got home from a mission in Brazil and is attending BYU.  Then there is his sister who attends BYUI.  With this wife, he now has a couple little kids running around.  When we mentioned them to Bsp. Lyons and to Sis. Thuesobn (R.S. president), they know nothing about them.  I have asked myself over and over,  if he has two kids at Church schools, there must have been something in his heart at some time.  It makes me want to go back over and over and help them come back to Church.

The Fairfield 2nd Ward had their Primary Program today.  It was a very sweet program and made me really miss my grandkids.  I know I would have been attending their programs.  There was a little blonde girl, about three years old, who was all over the place.  She was cute as could be but she reminded me of my grandkids and how they would have been leaning on everything and waving to mom and dad.  I'm grateful for the sweet memories I have to reflect on.