Sister Missionary Update

   Sisters Lund and Gonzalez pose together.  Sister Gonzalez was herself a new missionary for Mokelumne River ward just a month ago.  Now she is welcoming Sister Lund who is from Washington D.C.  and was recently serving in Stockton as a Spanish speaking trainer.  Before her mission she attended BYU-Provo  studying music and dance, and hopes to be accepted in one of BYU's traveling programs.  Unfortunately  (for us) she was only here for 12 days.
 

   Sister Gonzalez's new companion is Sister McLeod from Las Vegas, Nevada.  She has been in the mission field for seven months, and has a delightful personality.  Each gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting on September 12 and they were excellent.  We are blessed to have such amazing missionaries.

Relief Society Sisters Fill Goodie Bags for Foster Care "Graduates"

   Relief Society sisters gather at Ardell Gillingwater's front porch to fill bags to be given to 18-year-old kids who are just leaving the Foster Care program.  Lori Wick (center picture) is Executive Director of Mary Graham Children's Foundation and headed up the project.  She had bags that needed to be filled with items that the boys and girls would find helpful, and enjoyable as they venture out into the world. 

    Participating from Mokelumne River Ward are Lisa Clegg, Ruth Dadella, Betty McOmber, Tressa Spencer, Ardell Gillingwater and Ann Kerr.  The event was organized by Ardell who is the RS Service Coordinator.
 

Dean Flores Baptized

   Dean Flores, son of Erin Flores, was baptized August 28 with family participating in the service.  He was baptized by his Grandfather, Bill Griffitts, who lived many years in Lodi, but now resides in Auburn.  Dean was baptized in an aunt's swimming pool in Auburn.  His sister, Leah Belle, sang the primary song "I Will" accompanied by his uncle.

   His mother said Dean took the whole thing very seriously and feels "almost different, like a new kid. Dean is very loved at home."

Relief Society Sisters Donate to Shower Bus

     

Relief Society sisters donated clean socks and underwear to "Showered with Love Mobile Showers."  The project was initiated by Cathy Leonard (left) who is the stake Communications Director.  Suzanne Fairbanks (right) first councilor in the ward Relief Society, brought the baskets full of donations that had been collected.

   Mary Jarrard, Kelly Hanisch and Lori Behnke are three devoted volunteers who gave us a tour of the three showers inside a decorated bus.  There is also another shower with special features for the handicapped. The bus includes a hair dryer for winter months.

    The shower bus has provided over 5,000 showers since its inception. They call it "God's Bus, because he helped in every way to get it going," they said. 

   Ann Kerr interviews the "Showered With Love" staff and learned that the bus travels around Stockton and Lodi with a weekly schedule for stops. The stop in Lodi is at the Gravity Church on Central Ave. Those using the showers not only get clean clothes, but a towel, washcloth and sometimes shoes. Bags of supplies are given to each to use there, and take with them. (See picture on lower right in the above collage.)  Notice the colorful bus, decorated with scriptures. One of them is from Ezekiel 34:26:  I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.

   LATE NEWS FLASH --The full time missionaries make 100 peanut and jelly sandwiches a month to supply the shower bus users with breakfast or lunch when they are hungry.  The supplies for the sandwiches come from the church and are delivered to the missionaries at the stake center where they make up the sandwiches.  Then they are picked up and saved to be used as needed during the month to bring a little light to hungry shower takers.

Dave Gillingwater Teaches Winter Gardening to Relief Society Sisters

       Winter gardens can't be grown in many places, but they are perfect for California.  Dave says that our prophets have always told us that we need to be prepared temporally as well as spiritually for our time.  President Kimball has said, "Eat what you grow."

   Dave taught a lesson to Relief Society sisters on growing a garden in the winter. He passed out a chart telling when to plant various seed, how to transplant, how far apart seeds should be, and how far apart the rows should be.  Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and sugar peas all grow well in the winter.  "If you don't have much room," Dave says, "plant near a fence and let sugar peas grow up the fence." Another thing he taught is to adapt to your situation.  Plant the things your family will eat.

   The picture above shows some of the fruits and vegetables grown in the winter.  The round red "tomatoes" are not tomatoes, but persimmons, Dave says.  He brought Dixie cups and potting soil to plant 5 or 6 types of seed and begin their growth.

Alysabeth Ann Webb Returns from Mission

    Alysabeth Ann Webb left for her mission to Ranacagua, Chile 18 months ago.  She was only there 2 and 1/2 weeks when COVID struck Chile and she was returned to the USA and placed in the Idaho Pocatello Mission where she served 10 months until she was able to go back to Chile where she spent much of her time in quarantine. She still had some good experiences and says that "God has a plan for all of us."

   While on her mission her parents moved to Utah, but she returned here for her homecoming.  Her brother Evan is also a returned missionary now going to school at BYU Hawaii.  Before Sister Webb's talk in Sacrament meeting the two of them sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" together.  Both are excellent singers.  Alysabeth plans to continue her education at Utah State University.

Sister Gonzalez is New Missionary in Mokelumne River Ward

   Sister Gonzalez (left) who has recently served in Manteca and Elk Grove, was transferred to Lodi and will be companions with Sister Bolschweiler who was previously a part of a threesome in our ward.  They are a delightful pair, full of excitement and personality. Coincidentally both of them are from Boise, Idaho and were even in the same ward for a short period of time.

    "Going on a mission was the best decision of my entire life up to this point," she said.  "I like to see how people's eyes light up when they hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ." Sister Gonzalez attended BYU Idaho before her mission and hopes to continue at BYU Provo majoring in anthropology. 

   Sister Gonzalez has a restricted diet due some health issues.  She must avoid all milk products, sugar, all grains, and meat from any animal fed with grain. Wow, how does she do it? Members who have her for dinner are advised of these restrictions.  She is willing to bring her own food if necessary. She was glad when she learned that the Kerr's have grass fed beef, and lots of fruit.  She was so excited she wanted to see the cows and feed them some apples. Both girls had fun visiting the animals and collecting lots of fruit to take home. 

Young Men and Young Women Enjoy Special Camps

Mokelumne Ward Young Men  and their leaders participated in a stake Duty to God Camp  It was a great experience for all.  They spent a week n San Juan Bautista at a church youth camp.  The week was full of fun activities, talks by leaders, great food, and sacred personal time for each young man to study and search their scriptures, pray, and ponder.  Everything about this camp was ran by the youth, and youth led.  It was a powerful experience and testimony building event.

  Below are pictures of some of their activities.

   Around the same time the young women attended Girls' Camp. One of the young women wrote this about their camp.  We have no pictures.

  By Aubrey Anderson, daughter of Neil and Ruth Anderson 

     Because of COVID  we did not get to have girls camp at all last year and this year we had a modified version where we had different activities for each of the 3 days of girls camp. The activities included a ropes course in Tahoe, boating at Lake Hogan, and a ward day with games here at the stake center. I was a 4th year this year which meant that I would have done my 4th year hike, a 4 day backpacking hike, and then returned to camp to sleep on a rock. I’m not extremely sad about having to skip the hike but I know that it would’ve been a good experience for me. 

   This years girls camp was fun and different from the traditional camp we have. The first activity of girls camp that I did was the ropes course in Tahoe. Now I’ve done many different ropes courses in my life so to me this wasn’t a big deal. I am afraid of heights but knowing that I have a harness that will catch me when I fall completely masks that fear and I was able to do every course with no hesitation.      But it wasn’t the same story for everyone. When we had Young Women’s the following Sunday some girls described how they were so scared of falling and were struggling to complete some of the courses, despite being strapped in. We can relate this experience to the gospel and Jesus Christ. He is the harness, and the ropes courses are trials in our lives. When we are faced with trials and challenges in life we are scared and feel as if we are going to fall, but if we root ourselves in the gospel and keep that harness on He won’t let us fall. 

   The harness can also be seen as the atonement. Just like how every girl at the course was given a harness to keep them from falling we were given the atonement when we came to earth. In order to use the harness we needed to clip it onto the wires that were connected to the courses just like how in order to used the atonement we need to turn towards Christ, follow his commandments hear him, follow him, and repent. And we do this so that when we sin or fall off the path we won’t fall and get hurt, but instead the harness will keep us strapped in and safe.

 

Spencer Mecham is Off to His Mission in Honduras

His mother Christy reports:

    "When I think about Spencer serving a mission in Honduras all I see are smiles and laughter. I see smiles and laughter because that is what he brought to us at home. Spencer's quick wit and sense of humor will be missed (especially by his mom) but I know his humor and laughter will be contagious and bring joy to the people of Honduras. 

      "last six weeks of home MTC brought new challenges and a beautiful Spirit to our home. Watching Spencer spend hours studying the gospel and learning Spanish has been faith-building. He has the greatest understanding of the Lord's love and the tender mercies He offers to His servants. I watched him pray in faith when he needed the Typhoid vaccine and we couldn't find it anywhere, and again offer a prayer of gratitude when shortly after he was receiving the vaccine. Spencer's confidence in the fact that his very last Taco Bell five-dollar pack was his favorite brought back just a few days before he left for two years being the Lord's love for His missionaries at work, trumped coincidence and opened my eyes to all the tender mercies that perhaps we overlook. The Lord really does love his missionaries and that confidence gives us peace and calm as Spencer enters Honduras to teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

 

 

July 24: Primary Celebrates Pioneers

   Mokelumne River Ward Primary celebrated the Mormon pioneers traveling to the Salt Lake valley by hosting an amazing event that included lots of participation, fun, friendship, and learning about what it was like to be a pioneer.  Children and their families were greeted by a welcome sign, and a beautiful map showing the trip made by the pioneers.  Sister Liz Carlston, Primary 2nd Counselor,  greeted everyone as they arrived at the stake center pavilion.  Girls were presented with a gift bag containing a pioneer bonnet to wear.  Bonnets were sewn by Relief Society sisters, Judy Wilcox, Sherrill Adamska, Lori Shore, Tena Peters, and Liz Carlston.

Children enjoyed creative activities such as painting pictures of pioneer wagons, making dolls, and carving from soap.  (See next picture.)  Adults were at every station to help and encourage.

    As well as soap carving, children and their families enjoyed pioneer strength games, testing out freezing water, and gunny sack races , as well as other fun activities.  And of course, everyone had to try  traveling with a handcart.

    The event ended with refreshing drinks and pioneer lessons by Sister Ardell Gillingwater who told stories about her pioneer ancestors, and Sister Tami Woods who explained how some pioneers came to America on the ship Brooklyn.  Primary President Ginny Shull was instrumental in producing this event and was there the whole time overseeing the fun.  Below is a picture of the group as they posed before leaving.

Rex Barnes Served and Blessed by Ward Members

    Ward member Rex Barnes lives on a ranch in Clements.  In  the last part of April he contacted COVID-19 and became very sick.  He was in a coma and ventilator until June 10. He has a daughter Alaina Dahl who lives on the property, and another daughter Danielle Mellot who is from Montana and came to help. At this point, the doctors asked the daughters to allow them to "pull the plug" on him. Unless he had mental damage they wanted to hold out.  His lungs didn't look good but all other vitals were excellent.

   Bishop Holden asked the ward to fast and pray for Rex on May 16.  That was the first day that the doctors were able to lower the pressure and the pure oxygen.  Relief Society service leader Ardell Gillingwater said, "Truly this was a miracle because he improved the next two weeks enough to be moved out of urgent care and to a hospital in Modesto."  He was given blessings by Dave Cundari and Dave Gillingwater.  The next day the hospital was able to take the tracheotomy tube out, and four days later, the feeding tube.  "Another set of miracles!" sister Gillingwater reported.

   While all this was going on it was noticed that the house and property needed a lot of attention. The Relief Society came and helped clean out the house so it would be wheel chair and hospital bed accessible. This job took over two months. Meanwhile the Elders Quorum came and did some work on the ranch and Casey Haynes and Bishop Holden helped get a gate to secure the property.

Sister missionaries also came to help.  Left to right: Sisters Otto, Benton, Ashcraft and Flores.  The little girl in front is Rex's granddaughter Andilyn.  The missionaries also taught her a few lessons.

Robert (Bob) Tyler Passes Away

   Bob Tyler died June 29, after suffering a long bout of cancer in his spine, all bones, and blood.  In this picture taken in April 2021 Bob stands with his wife Joanne holding a picture of themselves when they were younger.

                           Sister Missionaries Come to the Rescue

    Joanne was extremely tired after all the arrangements had been taken care of, and really appreciated the Sister Missionaries offer to help her straighten up her house, and help her with cleaning that was difficult for her to do.  Here Sis. Smith (green shirt) and Sis. Otto, blue shirt  pack things away, clean up the clutter, and shampoo the living room carpet.

      Meantime Sis. Bollschweiler takes control of the kitchen and washes every dish in sight

.

    Joanne expressed her thankfulness for the sisters' help.  This picture was taken at the beginning of the project or this room would be nice and clean.  We have wonderful missionaries who not only teach the gospel, but serve at every opportunity.  We are blessed to have them.