EXPLANATION & BACKGROUND

Now, after some deliberation of just how to communicate what is happening in our lives currently, I have decided to open back up my old BlogSpot, “East Coast Gratitude” and rename it, “East to West Coast Gratitude.”  I will use it as a means of establishing a written record and communicating with those interested in knowing what we are doing.   

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For years we talked of serving missions after Stan retired.  We were living in Elmhurst, NY when he retired in June of 2015 and we moved west and established our new home to Orem, Utah.  After a few years we were ready to serve, and we submitted our mission papers.  These few pictures represent our mission to the New York and Pennsylvania Historic Sites (Oct. 2018 – Mar. 2020).  It was a wonderful opportunity to immerse ourselves in knowing the people and places associated with the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its beginnings.  We feel this mission helped to prepare us for our second mission.  

 

At the end of April of 2023 Stan and I put in our papers to serve. To show our willingness and ability to serve anywhere, we chose eight places around the world that we were willing to serve at, but said we were happy to serve wherever we were needed.  We expected to receive our call within three-four weeks.  When all of May, June, and July went by we wondered what was going on.  Then on August 31st we received a phone call from the secretary for Elder Gerrit W. Gong requesting a Zoom meeting visit with him and Elder Hugo E. Martinez.  That visit resulted in our being asked to serve as site directors for the Mormon Battalion Historic Site in San Diego, California from February 2024-February 2026.  

We would be replacing Brent and Wendy Top who were then serving as the site directors. Since we share three grandchildren with them, we were excited to call and tell them. Being able to communicate with them helped to lay the groundwork necessary for us to begin to understand what lay in-store for us.  In January 2024 we were set apart by Elder Gong and Elder Martinez and received training from the Church History Department in Salt Lake City.  Our training, coupled with the missionaries already serving when we arrived, has allowed us to jump onto the engine of a fast-moving train, take the controls and begin the process of learning on the job.  (And yes! We do have period clothing that we wear on special occasions.) What an adventure! 

      

For the next two years we have a rotation of anywhere between 14-24 young sister missionaries called to serve the first six months of their 18-month mission with us.  We also have three senior couples from outside of California who serve and two service couples who live locally.