Jerry Graduates!

Hooray! Our son Jerry and friend Blake Bickmore are is here visiting. Jerry just graduated from BYU with his Masters of Accountancy! He goes to work September first for Deloitte Touche in Dallas. In the meantime he is studying for the CPA exam. He will remain in Provo, Utah until August. Congratulations Jerry!

Life in the California San Fernando Mission

Well, it has certainly been a long time since I posted anything. Time goes by so quickly here in the mission field. It seems like you just need to keep swimming or you will be swept away. President Martin continues to work on wonderful trainings for the missionaries. He leaves tomorrow for Sacramento and the interim Mission President's Seminar. We were delighted to hear the name of our former Stake President and good friend Elder Jerryl Garns named as our new Area Seventy in the recent General Conference. He will be at the seminar with Jerry. He is over our mission's coordinating council (Stake Presidents and Mission President) and the Ventura one. He has a wonderful wife Mary Lynn who is a good friend to us as well. We are so lucky to have them.
I am focusing strongly on safety and health issues. Each missionary is supposed to have an "earthquake bag" by their bedside. Sister Siv Flick (who lives near the mission office) has a bunch of volunteers who help sew drawstring bags and supply contents for them. Each one comes to us with a pair of work gloves (to keep hands safe and able to clear glass), a flashlight with batteries, and a whistle (to signal your location if trapped in rubble). The missionaries are supposed to add in two to three bottles water and a small first aid kit. They have the option of putting sturdy shoes in the bag, or sleeping with the shoes near their bed. The bags in the past have been assigned to the area and left there for the next missionary who comes. This has posed several problems. No one seems to have ownership over the bags. Contents and bags are missing. One bag was filled with Halloween candy (the Elder had obviously attended his ward's "trunk-or-treat"). Another was filled with flag football equipment. The only thing left of the original equipment was the whistle. (I think we all agree on which Elder we would rather be stuck with in the event of a disaster.) I just finished getting the name of each missionary ready to attach to their bag. It is in a little plastic pouch with a California San Fernando Mission Emergency Plan pamphlet that I modified from the one they were or are using in Quito Ecuador. Sister Granados, a native Spanish speaker, and her companion Sister Sorenson, helped me get the changes I made translated into Spanish. The native Korean elders will have to make do with English for now.
Adam is lamenting the demise (or should I say demolition) of Texas Stadium. He feels it should have been turned into a Cowboys museum. He just sat for the ACT last Saturday. Then he went to an Angels game that night with Spencer and Camie and their two boys. On Monday night he and President Martin went to a Mavericks/Clippers game complements of Brother Lamb from our Stake who I think is the CFO for the Clippers. Adam came downstairs in his Dirk Nowitski shirt with his Mavs noisemakers. Jerry told him he may need to re-think his choice of clothing being a guest of the Clippers. He put a shirt over the Mavericks shirt. I noticed it was no longer on when he came home. It's hard to suppress a true blue Mavericks fan.
We enjoyed Camie and the boys most of the weekend. They are so fun. We missed Spencer because he was home ill. Ben had a lot of fun. He was given the choice to come here or go to Disneyland. He chose us!!! He informed his mother he wanted to go to "Gam-pa, Gam-ma's."
All our grand kids are so adorable! We got a call from Ashlin Boren (who will be five years old in less than two months) this past week. She sounds so grown up.
We love hearing from our friends! If anyone knows Christopher Sample's (or his parents)address, please get it to me! I am thinking his parents moved since the last address I have for them.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow...

Wow! The Dallas area has had record breaking snowfall! Adam is so disappointed that he can't be there to make a snowman. Oh well, he did get the day off of school here and will get Monday off as well for President's day. Diane Litt (our next door neighbor in Plano), called last night to tell us it was snowing. She has pictures she will send. I hear that 49 of the 50 states have snow within their boundaries. Several of our missionaries have never seen snow. One, who is a native of Mexico and is serving in Ridgecrest, California was so excited to get to go to the Bishop, California area and experience snow for the first time in his life. I think it has since snowed in Ridgecrest.

Kindra, Neil and family in Georgia are getting lots of snow. "I moved to Georgia to avoid snow," said Kindra in exasperation. She says she will stop worrying about global warming and start worrying about a new "ice age" instead. None of her kids have snowsuits, boots, insulated gloves, etc. She was asking me how long it is safe to let the kids play in the snow with regular clothes and shoes and a winter coat. I can't remember it has been so long. Maybe some of you friends or relatives who have "real" winters can give us a clue. Brooklyn (almost 6) was very disappointed to find out there was no school this morning. She was all ready to celebrate her first Valentine school party with her Kindergarten class. She went to bed thinking school would still go on. Kindra and Neil slept in because they found out before they went to bed that the schools (and nearly everything else) would be closed. They were awakened by Brooklyn who was all dressed for school (and the Valentine party), and excited to go. Big disappointment! I don't know if they will make up the party or not. They get all of next week off for a winter break. Brooklyn (and Kindra) had even made treats for all her teacher's. Hopefully it won't snow out the party next year.

The California San Fernando Mission

Don't faint! I have finally posted a picture on our blog!

Here are all our missionaries with us at the Los Angeles Temple in December. We have had a new group of 19 arrive and only one leave since this picture was taken. Thank you President Garns (our former Stake President and a professional photographer) for shooting this picture. Thank you Alyssa for talking me through how to get this picture onto the post.

We are feeling like we have become the Washington Seattle mission this past week. It has rained for almost four days. Adam is glad Mrs. Claus got a raincoat for him for Christmas. He went the first day with no coat. He thought if there was rain, it would be warm. (In Texas, the gulf air which usually accompanies the steady rains like this is does not make it cold like the Pacific air does here.) He now has the sniffles, but is wearing his coat.

Happy Birthday Kindra! She is 29 years young today!!! They are expecting a baby boy in May. That will make 2 girls and 2 boys for the Ronér family. It will also make 11 grandchildren for Jerry and I!

Happy New Year!

Well, it is January 7th already! We are happy to report that Alyssa and her three children accompanied by Jerry (our son), made it safely across seven states to their new temporary home in Utah with Jenae and Brett and their two daughters. Everything is going fine with them. Ryan will be starting school soon. The cousins play together very well. Our little Marin (Alyssa's youngest) will turn 3 on Sunday.

Adam got all four wisdom teeth extracted on the 28th of December. He has done well. He was so funny. He drooled all over his shirt because he couldn't feel the water going over his chin. I have pictures but do not know how to get them from my camera to this post. I need Alyssa or Jenae to come and train me. Adam is back to eating regular food. Tonight he is playing a church basketball game. Go Adam. Camie and Ben are there to watch him. I am tending Joshua.

We are gearing up to welcome 19 new missionaries in less than a week. We are only sending one home so it will be a transfer of great growth for us. This means a lot of apartments with the capacity for four missionaries, will now have four instead of two. We will need to add only two new apartments.

Joshua just woke up. You are therefore saved from the normal novel I usually write.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from Santa Clarita

What a busy time in the mission! This week Adam had finals. It was also Zone conferences. The mission is currently divided into six zones. The missionaries come to zone conferences to receive training on how to be more effective at teaching the gospel and to get their testimonies strengthened. They also come to associate with each other and get a welcome seven hour break from their normal daily routine. Sister Martin felt so bad to miss all of the conferences this week except a few minutes of the Santa Valencia zone. I was trying to accomodate Adam's schedule. I am first a wife and mother, then a missionary.

We want to notify all of you that you can send mail to us via the Mission Office for the next year.
Send to:
President Jerald (or Sister Gemie, or Adam) Martin
23504 Lyons Ave. Suite 107
Santa Clarita, CA 91321

If you have already sent us a Christmas card which we did not receive, it will eventually get to us. We will have mail forwarded to us. Thanks for your patience with us and our mailing address changes.

Yesterday Jerry arrived for Christmas vacation. He looks great! He will be with us until the 28th when he flies out to Louisville, Kentucky where Alyssa will pick him up and they will drive to Utah where Alyssa and her three children are moving. What a great brother to give up part of his vacation to help drive his sister and her children to their new home. Of course, it could be a vacation to drive half way across the country with three children under seven--or not.

For those of you who do not know, Alyssa was divorced last year. She has a job with Richards Labs waiting for her back in Utah. She has an interview in January with a pharmacy school also in Utah. We are praying that she will be accepted to their program for the Fall of 2010. She scored very high on the PCAT and has been getting A's in the prerequisite classes she has been taking in Kentucky. Alyssa, you go girl!!! It will be nice for us because we are hoping they will be able to come visit us while we are serving here as missionaries.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and (from Adam--who kept the faith), "How 'bout them Cowboys?"

Fall Update!

Alyssa tells me she keeps looking for new posts. I keep thinking I will post some new posts when I know how to put pictures on. I will learn in a few weeks when Jerry, Justin, and Kara come for Thanksgiving. Camie, Spencer, Benjamin and Joshua will also come over from Orange.

President Martin was asked to perform his first baptism. A young man named Alex Torres was taught in our home. He was a golden contact. He asked Adam to speak at his babtism (which he did). He was baptized about two weeks ago and confirmed last Sunday in Sacrament meeting. When I do post pictures, I will put one of President Martin and him on this site.

It goes without saying that we have been very busy. We just finished the Zone Conferences for this transfer period. A transfer is every 6 weeks. If you ask any of our missionaries they can tell you which week of the transfer we are in. (I have to ask them to know). Months do not matter any more. If you ask them how long they have been out on the mission, they will tell you in transfers. The same thing if you ask them how long they have been in an area or with a particular companion.

The flu is starting to go around down here. I am having missionaries call on a daily basis reporting fever, headache, sore throat, etc. Don't know if it is the H1N1 (Swine Flu) or just the regular flu. I tell them to stay home, but they do not obey me. They also for the most part do not even have a thermometer. We acquired the Germ Pro, hand sanitizers for the mission. This is a product that stays on the hand killing germs for three to four hours after you put it on. The alcohol sanitizers kill germs, but after the alcohol has evaporated, they don't work any more. They also dry the hands out as apposed to the Germ Pro lotion type.

The dedication and commitment of our missionaries continues to amaze me. We hear daily of the miracles that happen on the mission. We love our work here. Adam is doing great and for the most part is a happy camper!