Members of the Military Are Being Baptized

We have enjoyed a couple of memorable weeks!

We cover military members in the San Diego Stake - but most of the military families live in the San Diego 1st Ward and the Point Loma Ward.  The 1st Ward covers downtown and a number of suburbs and has 2 sets of Elders and a set of Sisters.   At Sacrament Meeting some of the Mormon Battalion Sisters and a Senior couple attend and a couple or two from the mission office.  So lots of Name Badges to sort through.  At the Point Loma Ward there is one set of Elders, another Battalion Senior Couple and a lot of visitors on vacation.
 
A lot of the single military members attend YSA Wards. There are 4 YSA Wards within the 6 Stakes in the greater San Diego area. Senior Missionary Couples are assigned to each YSA branch.

The 1st Ward baptized Brenda and her 2 children on conference weekend.  In May she will be leaving for 3 months to attend officer's training.  We met with her today.  She has a strong testimony!!!  Her sister-in-law attended church with her on Sunday and is taking the lessons.  Brenda is flying her Mother up from Brazil to help with the children.  Pretty big family sacrifice to serve the country!  The Ward members really supported the baptism and will be a source of strength in the near future.  One of the neighboring Wards teaches English classes.

Stephen was baptized this week.  He serves in the Navy and has been studying with the Elders for a number of weeks. (on a side note - the missionaries refer to investigators as "Friends".  Not sure how long that has been going on? but what a great title!)  Stephen has a girlfriend in Jakarta who is a member of the church.  It will be fun to learn more of the back story.  As Senior Missionaries we can leave the mission boundaries to take people to the temple in Newport.  So we look forward to helping these new members get to the temple!

Once a month, the Mission puts on an Inspire Event on a Friday evening at the San Diego State Institute Building where missionaries and members can bring friends and enjoy music and messages of hope.  For the most part Elders and Sisters perform the numbers. The music was awesome - a lot of talent in the mission (I included a pic)  We were able to attend with a friend that the Sisters are teaching.

In San Diego, most of the military families live outside the "gate" to the base. We are working to get base access - One of the other Military Relations Missionary Couple (the Boyds) were able to get us on the Point Loma Installation (Elder Boyd is retired military)  We were able to locate the base chapel.  The Chaplains were out for a week of training but we visited with the RP's (Religious Program Specialists) who work with the Chaplains.  Part of our assignment is to support and build working relationships with the Chaplains.  

The Chaplains and top Officers on the Military Installations in the San Diego area will be invited to a VIP tour of the San Diego Temple during the open house.  See attached photos of the base chapel and an aircraft carrier headed out of port) .

Once a month the Senior Couples in the Mission get together for an FHE.  This month it was held at the Wildwood church camp in the mountains on a Saturday Afternoon.  It was great to get to know other Senior couples and learn their very varied backgrounds and the varied mission assignments.  The Senior couples got to zipline, throw hatchets, shoot arrows (Sister Peterson made a Robin Hood shot placing two arrows in the same hole) and a few of us hiked the rocky trail to the hilltop cross.  We had a great potluck meal and Sister Peterson and I had the short devotional.  A few magic tricks and the Kintsugi bowls.  It was a fun afternoon.  (see pic of hilltop hike)

We have continued to participate in service projects and are completing the training to volunteer at the USO.

It is great to see the gospel come into people's lives as they accept the sacrifices of Jesus Christ, make covenants and strengthen their relationship with the members of the Godhead!    
 

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Elder Jeff Peterson and Sister Tammy Peterson
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