May Has Brought Changes for Military Families

Brendda who joined the church in April is currently at Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island - It is a 3 month long combination of basic training and officer training.  Her two children (age 8 and 10) are being cared for by their Grandmother.  Nicolle is Brendda's sister-in-law that was baptized a couple of weeks ago is helping also.  Our assignment as Military Relations Missionaries (MRMs) is to contact church leaders in Rhode Island and check to see if there are any MRMs at that military facility.  To our delight a new Senior Couple had arrived at that base 2 weeks ago and have made contact with Brendda.  Knowing that church members will be looking for you and knowing where you can attend church brings a lot of comfort to those headed to their new assignments and the unknown.  In the language of the MRMs this is described as a Golden Handoff!

The Church makes a lot of effort to support the members of the military!!

The same story occurred this week with Sorina as she left her husband and two children (age 5 and 8) to attend basic training in the Army at a large training base in Missouri.  There are currently two couples assigned to that base along with a single Elder.  The branch meets right on the base.  They were all excited to be assisting Sorina.  (see pic of Sorina's family) - Sorina joined the church about a year ago while her husband was deployed. 

Military families make a lot of sacrifices so that we can sleep well!

The open house for the renovated  San Diego Temple will be conducted from June18th through July 11th with the dedication on August 23rd.  The Open House is creating a lot of excitement in the area!  The members are being invited to work a 4 hour shift in a variety of assignments to assist with the open house. 

While the San Diego Temple has been under renovation the young missionaries have only been able to attend the Newport Beach Temple once at the midpoint of their missions.  We were able to drive a group of them along with the Mission Leaders to Newport Beach Temple. (see attached pics). In the short briefing afterwards the young missionaries talked about how much peace they felt in the House of the Lord.  A couple of them mentioned that it really dawned on them that the Atonement of Jesus Christ that they have been teaching to others was really meant for them also!  

Luciano (a veteran) was recently baptized in the San Diego 1st Ward.  He had studied the gospel for a few months.  He told me that there were two things the Elders taught that he had always believed.  1. That God knew him before he came here. (he had not heard that concept taught in the other religion that he had investigated)   2. He knew there had to be more places than just Heaven or Hell. (see attached pic at his baptism).

The San Diego area has Jacaranda Trees from South America.  They have lavender colored blossoms that hold for 2 or 3 months.  They are planted along some of the streets so they get mentioned often as we drive for visits. (see pics).


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Elder Jeff Peterson and Sister Tammy Peterson
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