Mikayla Kidd First Fulltime Missionary to Serve From Mokelumne River Ward

Mikayla is excited about her mission call to North Carolina Raleigh.

   Mokelumne River Ward has recently had two full time missionaries return (Colin Anderson and Jacob Meyers from Lodi Third Ward,) but Mikayla Kidd, daughter of Mark and Vickie Kidd, will be the first to leave from our ward.
   Mikayla had graduated from BYU-Idaho and was living in a Hawaii for a few months, having fun with a friend and completing some Internet courses she was taking to prep for a planned Master’s degree in speech therapy.  She had thought about serving a mission ever since her freshman year of college.  “It was always in the back of my mind,” she said. “I didn’t talk about it to friends or family.”
   While in Hawaii she began thinking about it and having regrets that she hadn’t already done it.  Then “The light switch went on!” she exclaimed. “I got really excited and wanted to go.  I knew that if I were feeling that way at the moment I was always going to feel that way.”  She remembered what her dad had once said in a casual discussion at home: “You will never regret going on a mission, but you will always regret NOT going.”
   Mikayla immediately talked to her bishop in Hawaii, found a local doctor and dentist to have checkups and get medical papers signed. She submitted her papers at the beginning of December, asking the bishop to not reveal the news to her parents. When she came home from Hawaii she thought, “I should probably tell my parents I’m going on a mission.” She decided to do it by giving her mom a Christmas gift list.  It started off with things such as skirts and blouses and progressed into things such as the Preach My Gospel book, garments, temple bag, etc. At that point Vickie got the idea.
   For some reason the formal call had gotten delayed a week and didn’t come until after Christmas.  When Mikayla opened it she and her parents all knew at the same time that she would be going to the North Carolina Raleigh Mission. Her parents told her that they were proud of her, that she was qualified, and would be a leader in the mission.
   These are Mikayla’s thoughts about her mission: “Because I’m older [almost 23] I’ve had more experiences, able to feel God’s love, and know what a difference the spirit can make.  I want to share that feeling with others. I want them to have a feeling of happiness and love in their hearts.”
   February 7 is her date to report to the MTC in Provo, Utah. Her mission president in North Carolina will be released in July and the new president will be Matthew S. Holland who is the son of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and is currently president of Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem.

Mikayla graduated from BYU-Idaho last year.  December 17 she took out her 

endowments in the Oakland Temple accompanied by her parents.

Dorothy Percival's Life of Dancing

Editor’s note:  Part of the mission of the Mokelulmne River Ward Blog is to occasionally feature stories about one of our members.  This is the first.

Dorothy lives in a home filled with pictures of students (above) and hundreds of mementos from her years of dancing.

Dorothy Percival

   After attending the Sacramento Temple open house in 2006, Dorothy asked a lot of questions, got answers, and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2008.  She is good friends with her neighbors across the street—Dave and Ardell Gillingwater.

    Dorothy is famous for her ballet dancing and teaching, having studied and danced around the world, including the San Francisco Ballet, the Joffery Ballet in NYC, and throughout Europe.  She was a soloist with the Sacramento Ballet Company and spent 11 years there.

   It seems Dorothy was born to dance. As a young girl she begged her parents for lessons and at the age of nine she began her first dance class.  It cost 10 cents a lesson and was a sacrifice for the family as it was the Great Depression and the money could have been used to buy groceries.

    When she walked into that first dance studio, in Tracy where the family lived, she thought she “had died and gone to heaven. That was it!”  At age 15 she started her own dance studio.  In 1969 she founded Ballet San Joaquin.  She has choreographed more than 50 performances throughout her career.

   At age 87, Dorothy is still teaching dance lessons every weekday at her Stockton studio. She enjoys teaching children “who want to learn.”

Left: The last time Dorothy danced professionally was in 1983 in the Role of Bernarda Albain the production, The House of Bernardo Alba. Right: Dorothy reflects fondly on one of the many ballet costumes she keeps in her home.

Dorothy has produced many Nutcracker Christmas shows in Stockton.

Four Teens in High School Honor Concert

L to R: Evan Webb, Alysabeth Webb, Caden Webb, William Stewart

   Not one, not two, not three, but FOUR high school students from our ward were selected to perform in an honors choir as part of the 2018 County Honors Concert which also included a band and an orchestra.  These wonderful youth are Evan, Caden & Alysabeth Webb, and William Stewart.  They are high school students singing at a college level.

   Auditions are held throughout the fall and are open to any student in San Joaquin County. With the help of their instructors, students prepare a recording demonstrating their skills and send it to the county office.  One hundred twenty-two were chosen to be in the choir.  They were directed by Dr. Yejee Choi, director of choral studies at University of the Pacific. 

    This experience gives students a chance to perform with the best of their peers and with college-level conductors.

    We are proud of our Mokelumne River Ward  teenagers for achieving this honor and for always being willing to perform at church events, which blesses all of our lives.

First Council Meetings Right on Target

    New this year is the Church mandate that Melchizedek Priesthood quorums and Relief Societies “sit in council” (D&C 107:89) on the first Sunday of each month.  Under the direction of Priesthood or Relief Society leaders, first-Sunday meetings will be used to identify local needs and counsel about how to meet those needs. This is an account of those meetings in the Mokelumne River Ward.

HIGH PRIESTS

   High Priest group leader Dan Sroufe contacted High Priests by email during the week prior to the council meeting, asking them to act on their assignment to visit less-actives and be prepared to participate in the council.
   During their meeting, Bryant Bogren led the discussion, and then gave the brethren a “call to act.”  Loren Perry added, “Do it!”

Bryant Bogren (inset) prepares to begin the discussion.  Helping out are (l to r standing) Neil Anderson, first assistant; Dan Sroufe, HP Group Leader; and Travis Leonard, secretary.

ELDERS QUORUM

    Becoming closer to the Lord by increasing the amount of time each member dedicated to Him was the topic of discussion led by first counselor James Radulovich.  One of the suggestions was to check in twice a week on home teaching--with a text, phone call, or email communication.  Each individual is to decide how much to increase his time in drawing closer to Heavenly Father.

Brother Radulovich used the chalkboard to record the main ideas gleaned from the discussion.

RELIEF SOCIETY

   The council discussion was titled “How we can be more unified as a ward and as a Relief Society?”  We are still blending as a new ward.  How can unity be achieved?  First Counselor Ruth Anderson led a great discussion defined by lots of participation and ideas. These are a few:

   Use visiting teaching as a method to reach out and get to know others.

   Have getting-to-know-you activities.

   Take time on Sundays for introductions—a few each week. Highlight a different sister each week. 

   Use name tags on Sunday in R.S. and weekly activities.

   Create a photo wall with picture of members and a short intro of them.

   Upload a picture of yourself to the Ward Directory.

   Form a group of sisters to go to the rest homes on Sundays to sing.

   Monthly “birthday party” luncheon for sisters who have birthdays that month.  Their stories could be better learned and lives appreciated.

   Classes with help in the basic skills sisters may need/enjoy/improve upon.

Ruth Anderson did a creative arrangement of the RS room to better facilitate discussion.

Dave Gillingwater Honored

    San Joaquin Country Public Health Services named David Gillingwater “Volunteer of the Year for 2017” and he was honored at a recent meeting. His picture was one of three on an official publication of the group.

    Brother Gillingwater led two preparedness fairs last year—one in Lodi and another in Murphys.  He also mentored three boys who all received the Eagle Scout award after working on projects involved with the fairs.  The scouts are Miguel Smith, Ryann Means, and JD Crosian.