Dodger Stadium as we got there.
Our first initial reaction to seeing its vastness.
Our cute Swedish tour guide, as she acted courageously, but sometimes confused, around all these uniformed, badged, Asian youth who acted so courteously. Do Chinese people like baseball?! YES, they do!!
the Hall of Fame with gobs of golden gloves,
Here is how it looks from above and then we'll go down and down and down...
Inside the training room, with all kinds of memorabilia from past heroes.
Into the Pressbox, where the missionaries made themselves right at home with microphones and media. In the glass doors just beyond is the famous organ where the organist plays according to what is being announced in the press box. Organist is quite a prestigious job, and you have to be good. The person doing it has been doing it for decades.
We examined the suites,
the Hall of Fame with gobs of golden gloves,
and the players' Dugout.
And check out this sweet find:
I think I finally found the Nana mobile of my dreams! Wouldn't that be a riot tooling around about!
And the sisters had as much fun as the elders!
Afterwards, we went to Chinatown for lunch and shopping and had almost as much fun there.
Me Thinks we did more than Dodger Stadium, however. In the normal everyday, I'm now at the front desk, also doing phones and greeting the patrons that come in. I'm having a little trouble staying on top of all the work now, but I'm still learning a lot! I get those calls from someone homeless who happens to call the first LDS number that shows up on their phone. Heather called one day, and we ended up going with the Center Director, Joel, to pick her up from Skid Row and get her on a bus to her daughter's house in Oregon. Me was Thinking Skid Row was just an expression for someone down and out on their luck. NOPE! It's a real place, and it's sad, lonely, dreary, and scary. And far too crowded with people who all have stories of how they got there. Tarp tents line the cluttered, graffitied streets, and people wander quite aimlessly. So far removed from my little country home bubble!
Me Thinks we also had some laughs in places that missionaries don't conventionally go. We went to a Chinese tea house with the missionaries, who got us a drink called bobas. It is a whipped milk drink with little boba balls in the bottom, that are kind of sweet little gummy balls. The straws you get are awesome pea-shooters, because they are bigger than the usual, so the boba balls can be sucked up through them. It was yummy, filling, and very different.
We also went to eat lunch at a great restaurant in a casino with Elder Werner, the volunteer resume specialist, who comes in once a week just to help people do resumes. He knows LA's every nook and cranny, and all the best places to eat. So there we were, missionaries in a casino, of all places!
But that's not all. We also went for breakfast one p-day morning to Arcadia's Santa Anita horse racetrack. What a facility! We felt a bit out of place among gamblers and horse-betting enthusiasts. It is a beautiful place, inside and out, the home of Seabiscuit and Belmont Stakes. A horse's paradise.
Last Sunday Sister Thurgood and I gave talks in the Valley Branch, our little Chinese unit. We had to have translators, and I'm glad it's over, but always a growing experience. There are baptisms in the branch almost every Sunday, and then feeding afterwards. There is the leadership contingency that are so wonderful to bring food each time for these fledgling members. We bring our usual baptism fare -- chocolate chip cookies and brownies.
We had a baby shower for a first-time mother in the branch at our apartment this past week. It went well, and the new parents were thrilled. Again, lots of food. I never knew turkey-grape salad croissants could be such a hit, but after the shower, the elders came over and gladly finished off the rest.
Jason and Thelma.
We went to the Glendale Theatre with a very cool member of the Alhambra English Ward, Jezebel, who invited us to go to dinner and musical of "The King and I." It was a theater-in-the-round, and quite darling. I thought so much about Sammie and our shows together at the Old Barn. This was a little different feel than a barn, and the acting and music very well done. It was a lot of fun.
We still teach English classes Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Sometimes things come up that curtail our going to them, but we're trying to fit it all in before Sister Thurgood leaves. Everyone wants a piece of time with her, so I get to go along for the ride.
The days and weeks are so full, and as I go through my journal of daily happenings, Me Thinks I'm missing a lot to try and fit into a blog. But those things are written on my heart and making it all part of an entire missionary experience. And Me Thinks I'm STILL learning a lot!
