Today is Elder Ruse's birthday - he is 68.  He looks pretty good for being 68.  He wanted to go fishing out in the ocean today, but too much work to do today in the office.  Maybe that will happen on Saturday.  We missed Coy and Kenzie's birthdays this month also while we are here.  We can't believe that Kenzie turned 12 - she is such a beautiful young women.  Here is a picture of Elder Ruse eating an ice cream cone outside of McConnell's ice cream - the best ice cream in the world!  On this day they were playing Beach Boy songs and he was loving sitting here.

Well - he didn't go fishing.  Saturday was extremely windy.  We did go see "Heaven is for Real", which made us grateful for the knowledge we have of the Gospel.

Pictures from last week:

These are rose bushes from the Olivas Park that was an old spanish home built in 1847.  We stopped by here one day after we dropped the mail off at the post office.  We pass this place occasionally and wondered what it was.  It is only open on Saturdays and Sundays - but we just wanted to see the grounds.  It is attached to a golf course.

Elder Ruse on a very cold, windy day on the Ventura pier - last Saturday.  Look how beautiful it is, however.  We went to the pier for his birthday fish lunch.

Elder Ruse again - wishing he was doing some yard work at home!  The white roses love the cool, moist weather here.  They are beautiful!

Here is Kenzie taking riding lessons last summer in Herriman - we sure miss all of the grandchildren!  And our children.  It is just that we are missing these young years of the grandkids.  Love you all!

If you are wondering why you never see pictures of Sister Ruse, it is because I am in charge of the blog and therefore, you won't see pictures of Sister Ruse!  I don't think Elder Ruse knows how to get to the blog - so I am pretty safe.

We loved conference weekend, but we miss being able to see every session from the comfort of our own home.  We have an internet service which gives us just 5 gig per month and it starts over about the 3^rd of each month.  I have always wondered how much time on the internet would be a gig.  Well we soon realized that 1 gig is watching 1 hour of conference.  We watched 4 hours of conference from our apartment on Saturday and used all of our months allowance for the internet.  Therefore, we went back to our ward to watch the Sunday sessions with the missionaries and others who didn’t have access to the internet.  I will attach a picture of the missionaries watching conference.  Those watching it in English were in the Gospel Principles class watching and listening on an old TV and those watching it in Spanish (which the chapel was almost full) were watching and listening to it on the big screen in the chapel.  We sure wish we could speak and understand Spanish!  Conference was wonderful and now we can listen, and re-read it over and over 

again for the next 6 months

.

Monday, April 7^th was transfers and the new 11 missionaries came into Santa Barbara airport (just a day after the big spring break riots were there), and were picked up and brought down to the Ventura Stake Center for interviews, training and lots of food.  We saw them for the first time Tuesday morning when we did office orientation.  Then we all go to the Chapel with all of the missionaries who are transferring at 10:00 for the actual transfer meeting.  It involves about ½ of the missionaries – so we only have about 110 there, plus about 30 members who bring the missionaries to the meeting and take them back.  We wish every member of the Church could experience a transfer meeting and feel of the spirit.  What an experience the transfer meetings are!  The missionaries who are leaving bare their testimonies and then we hear from President and Sister Castro.  We all stand and say the Mission 5 areas of focus together and recite the attribute for that month – in English and in Spanish.  And, the music – it is incredible to hear all of those missionaries sing  our mission song – Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise.  No one sings this song like the missionaries.  One day in our Relief Society class in the Oxnard ward, the sisters sang it and I didn’t even recognize it as being the same song.  They forgot to sing with enthusiasm!  It was all I could do to stay in my seat and not jump up and tell them to start over – that this is their Mission song and sing it with power and testimony!  But, you will be happy to know that I stayed in my seat and kept my mouth shut.

We are amazed at the growth that occurs in each missionary within the first 6 weeks until the next transfer – when we see them.  You would never guess that they are the same missionaries that we saw on that 2^nd day after they arrived in the mission.  The mission leadership that they all experience, is a trajectory for the rest of their life.

 

On Easter weekend we will be blessed to have a visit from Elder Russell M. Nelson and two Seventies.  We will get to experience our first Mission Conference since we have been here.  This will be the first time all of the 240 missionaries have been together.  According to President Castro, it has only happened one other time in the 3 years that he has been here. We are all gearing up for that visit and are excited for this opportunity.  Sister Castro, Sister Truman and myself will be able to also go to a special meeting for the various stakes within the mission women leadership meeting with Elder Nelson’s wife, Wendy and the wives of the Seventy.  It will be a real treat and we are looking forward to that.