Reminiscing and spiritual blessings....

We finally made it down to Imperial Beach this week.  Jim lived there when he was six years old and his dad was assigned with the Navy there.  We found the place where the old house was, but a big new one was built in its place.  He spent time reminiscing about walking as children down to the beach from their house.  He said it was just palm trees then (62 years ago) but, now it is very built up with businesses, restaurants etc.

We went to the beach and took pictures..... 

 This was the old school building that is now a charter school.

Three of our Senior Military Relations missionaries had birthdays last week, so we all celebrated at the Cheesecake Factory!  They are such a fun group!

This marine is very special to us.  He was a character and always confident both in the gospel and his ability to become a marine.  Sorry, about the reflection. This was right after graduation and we were lucky to catch him for a minute to say goodbye.  He will get ten days leave and then return to SOI(school of infantry) at Camp Pendleton.  We may see him there as we go up every other Sunday evening for their fireside.

I am continuously amazed at how the Lord blesses us with inspiration in serving these young men.  Even when I am lax in preparation for my gospel class, I receive inspiration when needed and the recruits feel the spirit. Class has been so good lately.  It is a small group of newly baptized recruits and they feel comfortable enough to ask questions to gain understanding.
I know the Lord loves all of his children, even me!!!

The branch presidency is constantly praising Jim for his knowledge of marine corps life and training. He always says he is just doing what he thinks is right for the recruits and their spiritual training, but the leaders say it is so much better with a marine officer at the helm :-)

Time Flies!

This is one of our marines from Kilo Company.  It turns out he was an Honor Man in graduation.

This means he was picked as the best all around marine from his platoon.  We were so surprised when we attended graduation and saw that he was selected as an Honor Man.  Doesn't he look great?

We took this picture and placed it on our display for our weekly LDS reception. I always ask if any of our marines are picked, but this is the second one and we were surprised about both of them.

We tried to get a picture of the first one, but we could not find him in the crowds at graduation.

These marines are in Charlie Company and will graduate tomorrow.  I took their picture because they all attended my gospel fundamentals class.  The two in the middle are so funny together. I told them they were like "Laurel and Hardy" and they did not know what I was talking about!! They are too young.  So I asked them what comedy duo did they know and they said, "Tom and Jerry!"  Too funny! 

Meet little Lilianna Elizabeth, my newest grand daughter that was born last Sunday. Sure wish I was there to hold her.  She is so precious!

This week Elder and Sister Arnell came to visit.  They were just released from being the Military Relations Coordinators in Salt Lake City.  They gave us our military training before we came out. They are the couple closest to Jim and I.

Heavenly Father continues to bless us in our service.  We know that this is the church of Jesus Christ restored for our day and love to be serving our recruits and marines at MCRD.

A New Year and lots of fun!

 After Camden and Eric left to drive back to Texas.  We wanted to give Suzy and Taylor a little comfort and alone time so we reserved a room at the Navy Lodge on Coronado.

On Monday we picked them up and toured around Coronado.  It was a gorgeous day! Unfortunately, Jim did not feel well and we dropped Suzy and Taylor off early at their room on the beach and Jim came home and slept for two days.  It turned out he had the flu!  We had the flu shot, but apparently he came down with one of the strains not covered.

The next couple of days, I went with Suzy and Taylor to see the Midway aircraft carrier and we also took a whale watching trip.

This A-6 is on the Midway and Jim flew this....I had fun imagining him sitting in the cockpit and landing on the carrier.  I really wished he was there as our tour guide because he knows so much about everything we saw that day.

The pictures above are on the whale watching trip.  It was sunny but chilly on the Pacific.
We did see a gray whale, but it was very difficult to get pictures..Taylor got some on his phone.
It was neat to hear everyone "woo and ahh" when the whale surfaced.

As the new year begins we have had a change in those Elders that are serving with us at the base.
Only the ones whose wards are in the afternoon can serve because we meet very early Sunday mornings.

I found out that my step sister, Zan, who is serving with her husband in South Africa at the Johannesburg Temple has a grandson serving in California San Diego mission and low and behold he is now serving at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot!! His name is Elder Dudley.

We love serving with these young elders and they love serving at the base.  We always have a lot of visitors that they can teach.

I am struck each week as we serve by the spirit that testifies to these young recruits and to us of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power that resides in the priesthood to bless all of us.