9 months down-what!?!

 We celebrated our 36th anniversary by serving at the Employment Center, helping 7 people that came in that day. That is a big day, especially since they could only speak Spanish. Elder Jerman got acquainted with them, then helped write up resumes since they say they don’t know how to type or how to use our keyboards. I did the clerical work in the background. Then we treated ourselves to dinner at The Spaghetti Factory. 

     One morning I needed to go grab a few groceries to feed missionaries later that day. On my way out of the store, I could tell the man walking past me was taking a second look at my missionary tag. I stopped and asked him if he recognized my tag or knew The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He said it was in his Tongan heritage back in Tonga but he now lives in Oakley, CA. Since we visit different wards each week and feed missionaries each week I knew there was a Tongan ward in Oakley, so I invited him to come. He seemed surprised and a bit skeptical, so I showed him the address on my phone andagain invited him to come. He said he knew the location and seemed pleased to know. Now I pray he will feel inclined /inspired to go. 

     We had one night that cooled down and felt good but we have mostly had days over 100 degrees and. . . our air conditioning went on the blink. At first it worked sporadically, but now we don’t get any cool air! 

    Our kids drove to Boise to have their own Jerman Crew Reunion. Fun to be able to FaceTime a couple calls to see them all together having fun. I love that they carry on and enjoy being together.  

   We feel so blessed to be in this mission as we can spend a whole day on Temple Hill, going to the temple, working at the Family Search Center then serving at the Visitor Center. 

     We were invited to a Stake Pioneer Day celebration with breakfast, games, a flag ceremony and the opportunity to say the Pledge of Allegiance. (We don’t get to do that very often anymore.)   We set up a table to share information about our Employment Services alongside the Pathway program, English Connect classes, Family Search services, and Self Reliance classes. 

     Then we got another turn on the sailboat to go with a wonderful senior couple before they leave to go home in a week. It was a beautiful day and just so incredible to be on a boat surrounded by the Oakland Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, the landscape of San Francisco and the Oakland Temple shining like a beacon on the hillside. 

     We were given the keys to an empty senior couple apartment near Temple Hill that we can use the next couple of months. This saves us the 45 minute drive home and back again which was so nice this weekend when we served at the Visitor Center Saturday night until after 9:00 p.m., then went to church Sunday morning saving us an hour of travel time. We were able to visit 3 wards in the Bay Area. Then we filled in at the Visitor Center for the evening shift and again chose to stay just down the hill from the temple. Besides being only a 2 minute drive instead of 45 minutes, it’s 20° cooler near the bay compared to back at our apartment with no air conditioning!  

     Have a great week and remember your ancestors this Wednesday for Pioneer Day. Maybe even have some pie for Pioneer Day. 

     Love, Elder and Sister Jerman

Temple with missionaries 

Jerman Crew Family Reunion in Boise 

Amazing outing!

The Spirit Invites Love

Missions are the BEST! I am learning so much about how to be a better human being. Each week we have a training devotional with the other managers in our Western Employment Area. The manager/host of the meeting this week asked us an introspective question that made me think. What did we do the past week that helped us to really invite the spirit? Each of us have busy lives, but we could slow down a little and do things more mindfully and allow the spirit to speak to us in that still small voice, so we can actually hear it and then follow those whisperings. 

This week we helped improve prospects for several job seekers looking for employment, we fed a lot of hungry missionaries and we toured a coal mine and sand mine (used for making glass) with other senior couples, followed by pizza at Skipolini's.  It made for a great week!

On Thursday at our shift at the Visitor's Center, it was fun to see Kaleen's sister and her family. They came to enjoy a short tour around several California sites, and it was so fun to hear about their adventures in person. While they were here, I was pleasantly surprised by an Elder from a different mission coming up and saying "Hey, are you Mr. Jerman? You taught me at Riverton Elementary!" My mind raced over the years, I glanced at his mission tag and it didn't ring a bell - but his face was very familiar. Luckily, he was glad to see me and we had a great little visit and we exchanged contact information. I'm very happy when I meet former students and they enjoy talking to me, because it could be otherwise. It reminded me much like when we get to the end of our lives, how will our old acquaintances come up to us and greet us, I hope we will have a positive memory about our experiences with them.

We had the privilege of eating lunch with an amazing senior couple this week that are true examples of Christ-like love and service. They were called to serve as Government Relation Missionaries. They basically make connections and build bridges with other countries who have offices in San Francisco. Their job is difficult because they don't wear their mission tags and they don't come right out and declare that they represent the church. They create opportunities to serve, build a positive relationship and show their love. That is what I want to do when I grow up. Simply show my love by doing good, without needing recognition. What a great goal. Here's hoping we all can be good examples this week. 

Love,

Elder and Sister Jerman 

Rees Family

Elder Mason Chandler from the Santa Rosa Mission

The Fotheringhams rode BART to join us at Harry's Hofbrau

Fun with senior couples at Black Diamond "coal" Mine 

Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight!

 Hello everyone, 

     We suddenly love the cool morning hours as the days warm up to 106°/107°.  We live in the Greater Bay Area so it is interesting to walk out our front door and feel like we are in an oven, then drive to Temple Hill in Oakland and get out of the car to a 20° drop in temperature and breathe in the cool sea breeze. It drops another 5° or more when going on down to San Francisco. 

     Every 6 weeks (the length of a transfer), we invite all the missionaries in our zone over to eat.  We have 4-6 come for dinner once or twice a week to fit in all 22 missionaries.  We love the opportunity to get better acquainted and let them share a gospel message and sometimes a song on the ukulele or guitar.  

    

    We had a very wonderful and quite unique 4th of July.  We first enjoyed an E bike ride on the great bike paths in our area, and then a swim at our place.  Then we served at the Visitor Center before joining the other senior couples for a BBQ at the mission home.  We got special permission to go up on the rooftop garden of the temple to watch the fireworks going off all over the Bay Area for as far as we could see.  From this view we looked down at fireworks going off in tons of neighborhoods below us.   We stayed overnight at patron housing that has an incredible view of the Bay Area, and fell asleep to the constant rumble of fireworks that sounded like distant white noise in the background.   

    We got up early to go to the temple with the missionaries, then took a ferry to San Francisco to enjoy the Exploratorium Museum where the first PI Day was celebrated in 1988.  Saturday we enjoyed time at the Family Search Center and served again at the Visitor Center.        

  

Ferry Ride

Exploratorium

    

    Sunday we enjoyed visiting 3 new wards about an hour away from our home.  We got to listen to testimonies, including a lot of youth who had just returned from a wonderful stake youth camp.  We then went on to Sunday School class to introduce ourselves and share information about the Employment Center and employment services.  The Samoan ward invited us to stay for their "Linger Longer" meal where they dished up our plates sky high with delicious food.  We enjoyed visiting with many members and missionaries then drove home feeling so happy and blessed to be here.  

   We finished listening to all the recent General Conference talks.  We'll start again as there are so many great messages to discuss and ponder, and we know we can learn something new each time. My favorite thought was by Elder Kearon that "God is in relentless pursuit to bring us home."   We are not alone.  He loves us. He . . .  loves  . . .  us, and we can all return to Him.  I know this to be true. Pres. Nelson promised many blessings as we attend the temple.  We love being here.

 

   With Love,

Elder and Sister Jerman

Mercy and Love - Amazing Grace

 My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, My Savior's ransomed me. And like a flood his mercy reigns, Unending love, Amazing Grace.

God's love is real. We felt it tonight as we listened to heartfelt praises to what our Savior has done.  He takes each one of us just as we are and floods us with mercy and unending love and Grace. We need to do our part, and sometimes it's a hard thing to do. We were so lucky tonight to hear from a group of recent converts as they expressed how Jesus has made a difference in their lives, and that they have been drastically changed.  One young lady was depressed and on drugs, yet she found the Grace of Jesus Christ and found a reason to live, though she had to work hard and go through rehab. Another was raised by his grandparents who brought him up as Catholic, and his grandparents told him to never join another church. He was changed, by Grace, and accepted the missionaries' challenge. Now he can do his grandparents' temple work, and he knows they will accept it and that he has done the right thing, though it was a hard thing to be baptized. We can do hard things. Jesus will give us His strength, if we ask Him.  Just a fantastic night to cap off a wonderful week. 

Three other things.  Yesterday, we had such a fun day! We were treated to another sailboat ride for almost 6 hours! We had a great time helping to pilot the boat under the Bay Bridge, getting splashed by one big rogue wave, helping to dock the boat and walking right up to the dining area on the wharf and eating a yummy lunch at a wharfside restaurant.  Cool!

The second thing we did was a little hard.  We helped a job seeker go through an application and hopefully he'll receive unemployment compensation. He has been looking the past 6 months for work and was unable to get hired after sending in application after application.  Finally, he will receive some training and government assistance because of a disability he has. The hard thing was wading through all the paperwork to apply for it, but he has reached the light at the end of the tunnel. 

The last thing - we were blessed to attend a double baptism today. Guillermo and Carlos came into the Visitors Center a couple of months ago. I was so excited to get to talk to them about the Book of Mormon and living prophets in Spanish. I felt they could immediately start the lessons. Then they surprised me by saying they were already on date for accepting the gospel. Ohh Okay. It was all good because we got to see them baptized today. They are just another example of finding God's Grace - it's real and ready to flood each of us with so much mercy and love and warm good feelings. Unending love, Amazing Grace!

Love you guys,

Elder and Sister Jerman

“Why I Believe” Fireside where we got to sing “Amazing Grace” with these missionaries. So beautiful!  

 Beautiful boat ride in the Bay. 

Fun lunch at the marina

A new Christus was installed 

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