Thinking of a Senior Mission?

 Hi all,

     The best bonus of being a senior missionary . . .  is being able to visit family!

We serve and then we are free to enjoy other “good things.”

     I will share our last 2 weeks that have been so full and fabulous.  

     We love our visits to different wards throughout our mission.  A couple Sundays ago we drove 45 minutes and were able to sit in on 2 sacrament meetings and introduce ourselves and our employment services to 4 Relief Society groups / 4 Elder Quorum groups.  We love these weekly outings where we see beautiful church buildings and meet so many wonderful saints.  

     We enjoyed meeting with the other senior missionaries for a potluck dinner and to hear how one couple has been serving to make connections with consuls (similar to ambassadors) from 72 countries here in San Francisco.  They have many amazing stories. 

The Fotheringhams are pictured here in the center with representatives from Lithuania. 

When the church couldn't get clearance for Elder Patrick Kearon and his wife to get into Kazakhstan, they called Elder Fotheringham to see if he had any connection to this country.  He made one phone call and within a short amount of time the visas were processed.  Another time they had several guests from Vietnam who wanted to see our temple so they took them to walk around the gardens on the second level of the temple, then inside the Visitor Center to hear from some senior missionaries and listen to 3 Elders sing a hymn in Vietnamese.  Then two sister missionaries sang, "I Am  A Child of God" in English.  The spirit flooded the room like these guests had never experienced before.  They didn't know what was going on and began pulling out their phones to take pictures of the sisters, the room, and each other.  It was the only thing they could think to do.  

     When we served at the Visitor Center, a gal came in that recognized me.  She reminded me that we sat at the same table while eating dinner at the Greek Festival down the hill and I had invited her to come see the Visitor Center. She brought friends and the sisters gave them a tour.   I only had ten minutes before she had another appointment to tell her all I could squeeze in.  She grew up with no religion herself so I told her about our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, apostles, the restoration, the Book of Mormon, priesthood, and living prophets.  She was astounded but receptive to hear all this, and accepted a Book of Mormon.  I hope we can meet with her again.  

    

      Kayleigh came to visit with her husband and 2 little girls.  We enjoyed showing them around Temple Hill where Kora, their 2 1/2 year old loved the Christus, the movie about Forever Families,  the roof top gardens on the temple, and the water fountains.  The following day we saw all the fun sights in San Francisco - sea lions, shops, soup and sourdough bread at Boudins near the wharf, chasing waves in the little cove below Ghirardelli Square, then going for a cable car ride.  Afterwards, we drove down the crookedest street and up to Coit Tower overlooking the city and bay area.  We drove across Golden Gate Bridge to take some pictures before heading home to fix supper, paint Kora's nails and take her for a swim.

     We went to the closest church in our town of Antioch.  There used to be 5 wards, now there is only one ward left and it is mostly older folks with very few families.  There was no nursery, only 3 kids in Primary and I'm not sure I saw any Young Men/Young Women.  We took a picnic to the park, then put on a nice meal with pie to celebrate Father's Day.  We got a call from our missionary, Amy, "Hermana Jerman" serving just a few hours south of us.  We also got to talk to my folks on a group call with my siblings.  

     We got to spend a quiet day at Pacifica Beach to enjoy the warm sun, sea breeze, waves to chase in, and sand to build towers and tunnels.  Further down the beach there is a Taco Bell right on the beach front so we enjoyed some food on the patio while watching the surfers.  Then said our goodbyes and had our hugs as we dropped them off at the airport in their sandy swimsuits!

     The following day we were back at our mission service with going in an hour early for a meeting with our advisors in Salt Lake.  Then we stayed after doing office work and working on resumes for an extra 2 hours before driving another 30 minutes away to meet a Filipino family of 3, to help them with their resumes and job search.  Funny story -  we missed the exit, so circled back when suddenly Roger's  phone died.  I didn't have any contact information so we had to pull over and wait several minutes for his phone to recharge before we could see where to drive.  We didn't finish early enough to drive home before English Connect class so we found a shop that sold hot sandwiches and pie. Oh yum!

     After that full day, our office was closed for Juneteenth, so we packed our bags and flew home.  We got to spend a day with our kids in the canyon and at our home, then another couple days in Logan paddling around Cutler Reservoir, enjoying family time in the Godfrey’s backyard with dutch oven dinner, then being their again for the baby blessing of Jason and Taya's baby boy Finn. 

Just tellin' ya, senior missions are the best! 

     Love, Elder and Sister Jerman

Lend a hand to someone struggling

Hi all,

On Saturday we took the opportunity to drive to Point Reyes Lighthouse on the coast about two hours away from our apartment. It is the foggiest and windiest lighthouse in the US. As we arrived, the wind was strong, the fog was heavy,  and visibility was only a few feet. But as we walked down the 313 steps to get to the lighthouse, the fog cleared and we could see the breakers out on the ocean, a fishing vessel, and a boat of whale watchers, although no whales were sighted this day. The lighthouse no longer requires a lighthouse keeper, only a National Park Ranger to give tours, because everything is automated now. Back in the day, it took someone to light the lamp and the lower lights along the shore to keep ships from crashing on the rocks in the narrow harbor. The visit brought a beautiful hymn to mind.

Brightly beams, our father's mercy

From his lighthouse evermore

But to us, he gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore

Let the lower lights be burning

Send a gleam across the wave

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save

All of May we had a total of 20 jobseekers come in for our services. This past week alone, we've had 14 already! We were so excited because a college grad we met in January,  finally came in to update his resume and get some job coaching in May. This past week he told us he landed a job! It's so satisfying when we can contribute a little to someone's success.

On the other hand it's heartbreaking when we see people coming in with devastating challenges. One homeless gal that has come in every day for 3 weeks now to use our computers, heard multiple phone chimes and asked Sister Jerman why she was getting so many messages on her phone. Kaleen told her because her mom, brother and sisters were texting back and forth. What? You talk to your sisters? Well of course, Kaleen remarked and even showed her the phone.  Then there is another string of conversations with our children. She couldn't believe it! Unfortunately, she has a destructive relationship with her family and hasn't been in touch with her mom for years. The conversation led to how we treated each other politely and with a lot of respect and love. You mean your husband has never hit you? Of course not, was the answer. We love each other and talk things out whenever we don't agree with one another. This was a new concept for her. She had been raised with abusive parents and didn't know of someone who didn't resort to coercion to solve problems. Hard struggles, which are so sad. Kaleen took the opportunity to tell her how much peace and joy the gospel brings into our lives as we strive to follow the example of Jesus Christ.  We've dropped her off at a park for a free sandwich several times as we head home. She carries everything in her backpack and a couple extra sacks.  She sleeps somewhere outside and pulls off sticker weeds before coming inside to begin job searching. She is one of the few homeless people we know who is trying to get a job. We pray for her and hope a job comes soon!

Let us each be one who reaches out and keeps the lower lights burning.

Love,

Elder and Sister Jerman

P.S. After enjoying time at the Family Search Center, we attended the temple, then took the opportunity to visit the quaint main street of the little town of Montclair.  Our waiter asked us a few questions about ourselves and of course we shared a bit about serving a mission.  He stopped by later to tell us "I can tell you are a happy couple". Once again, someone recognized a joy that is so meaningful in life.   The gospel and covenants are so amazing!

 

Faithful Pioneer Saints

 We have so enjoyed our past week! We started out on Memorial Day by going on a picnic, riding our E Bikes and then going for a swim.  We fed 5 missionaries and challenged each other with some "Celestial Pursuit" questions.  The next night we fed 4 missionaries and enjoyed singing "Come Come Ye Saints" with the guitar.  We began by just singing 1 verse, but it was such a sweet moment that we continued through all 4 verses, feeling the spirit of the pioneers. What a privilege to be here supporting these young missionaries in this great work!

     Next was our day on Temple Hill.  We did sealings at the temple, some work at the Family Search Center and then served at the Visitor Center. It is such a wonderful blessing of our mission to have all these opportunities so close and available. 

     At the end of our week, after visiting 2 new wards, we drove up the steep windy road to the top of Mt. Diablo which sits in the middle of the huge valley east of the San Francisco Bay.  From there, we could see Antioch where we live, and all the communities we have been visiting the last 7 months.  We could see out west to Oakland, San Francisco, and even the Golden Gate Bridge way off in the distance.  On a super clear day, we could have seen northeast to Sacramento and east to Yosemite.  It was so cool to be on top of this mountain and see that incredible 360 degree view.

     This weekend we got to go on a Church History Tour with a local member who loves church history and knows all about the Ship Brooklyn that landed on July 31st, 1846 in a cove of San Francisco.  She took us to a bunch of different markers and plaques that showed where the ship landed, where the first homes were built, where the first newspaper was printed, and where the first hotel, bank and school were built. All of these are several blocks away from today's waterfront as there was a ton of debris that was packed down into landfill to fill in the cove and build the city on top of it. A lot of it consisted of old ships that were abandoned to get to the gold fields!   

      The Ship Brooklyn had 238 people on board when it left New York on February 4, 1846, the same day the Pioneer Saints began their exodus out of Nauvoo.   One baby born onboard was named Atlantic and the other was named Pacific.  Eleven people died. They sailed down around the bottom of South America, up to Hawaii, then after a 6 month journey, they landed in what was at the time called Yerba Buena, now San Francisco.  Once ashore they were very industrious, helping to build a new community and planting crops to welcome other saints they hoped would continue to travel west to make this their new home.  Many helped rescue and care for the remaining members of the Donner Party.  Once learning Brigham Young was settling in the Salt Lake area, these destitute saints had to work once again to try to outfit themselves for the trek over the Sierras to the Salt Lake Valley.  The discovery of gold actually helped the faithful "Ship Brooklyn Saints" have the means to gather to the Salt Lake Valley with the main body of the church and the prophet.  It was a fascinating day to learn about this history while people hustled past us on the busy streets of San Francisco.  

    Elder Jerman and  I are currently reading histories about our ancestors.  It is so incredible to learn their stories such as the long, hard, dark days working in a mine, wives having babies while their husbands were away, many deaths in a family, or being 10 years old and left for months to care for the sheep herds out in remote areas far from civilization and family.   It is amazing and humbling to read and learn about them.   We would invite you all to find something to read about your ancestors before Pioneer Day comes up next month.  Perhaps get on Family Search to explore their lives and work on your own family history.  

     We are so blessed to be a part of the restored church on earth and have so many wonderful blessings in our lives.  We can read the Book of Mormon every day.  We can pray to our Heavenly Father every day.  We can attend church and partake of the sacrament, blessed by those with the priesthood, every week. We can attend the temple often.  We can share our testimonies and welcome our friends to learn about the gospel.  As we love, share, and invite, we take part in this great and glorious work of Gathering Israel which prepares the earth for the return of the Messiah.  

     All the Best to You!

Love, Elder and Sister Jerman

Memorial Day outing - we biked around taking pictures with flags and flowers

Feeding missionaries

Our view from Mt. Diablo

Our Church History Tour about the saints who arrived on the Ship Brooklyn 

U.S. Mint building survived the 1906 earthquake and fire 

Site of the first public school/church now in the heart of San Francisco