Mark and Pat Day Go on a Mission: WARM AND SUNNY SAN DIEGO

Today was our preparation day or "day to do things like shopping, laundry and sightseeing. It was a glorious 84 and very hot. I love it. We ride the Green Line Trolley to work everyday but have never taken the Blue or Orange lines. So that was our goal today to see where they went. We first took a drive up to Santee to check out Santee Lakes campground. We thought is was going to be in the mountains but it wasn't. It was a series of 7 man-made lakes made into a resort. It was nice but nothing like the beauty of camping in Idaho. It was right in the middle of town. We made a stop at Costco and JC Penny's for some shoes for Mark and then came home. Walked to the trolley and began our ride. We stopped off in La Mesa Village which is a nice little area full of secondhand and antiques shops and some cute restaurants. It kind of reminded me of how Coeur d' Alene downtown used to be. Hopped back on the Orange line and road to downtown San Diego. This line is definitely not on the scenic tour list. It is a bit seedy to say the least and we were glad it was not dark. We won't take that line again. Our Green line is safe and we have met some great people on it. Yesterday we met a very nice black man who happened to be LDS also and told us about his family. We hand out cards to everyone we see encouraging them to come see the historic site. Then last night we got on in Old Town and a lady got on with a suitcase who had obviously just come from the airport. I overheard her asking this disheveled looking kid where she should get off for her hotel. He mumbled something incoherent to her. I interrupted and said the train went to Hotel Circle. But then as we went on she didn't get off and after about 20 minutes I could see she was agitated that she had missed her stop so I got up and asked if she was lost. She said she thought she was. So we had her get off at the next stop with us and found out that she should have gotten of at the 2nd stop. So we all walked to our trailer an got her in the truck and drove her back 10 miles to her hotel. By then it was 10:30 pm and it would not have been safe for her to have walked from the trolley. That is one thing I love about my husband is that he always does the right thing. She was so appreciative. She is out here from Iowa for a medical conference. Today we met another very nice young man who had on some sort of medical uniform. He saw our tags and asked what denomination we were and I said Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, Christain, Anyway we had very nice conversation with him. He works at a Center for Men. They deal with helping men with issues of anger and abuse ect. He told how he was going a wrong track and he prayed one night that God would send him a good wife. Not long after he met his wife and it turned is life around. They have 4 children so we invited him to come and bring them to the Battalion, it is so fun for kids. At the next stop an obnoxious woman who had been eavesdropping on our conversation got up to leave the train and loudly exclaimed "I have just one thing to say if Romney gets elected I am leaving this country." Everyone was shocked because politics had not even been brought up and it was so rude. The train was full and so it was awkward. I wanted to say well good riddance then to your nasty attitude..but I remembered I was a missionary and just smiled and said "That is your choice." We have found people here to be very friendly and helpful. She was the first negative one we have encountered.

Our Director, Elder Ed Seegmiller has asked me to help one of the young missionary sisters, Sister Mendoza, with her English. She is from Mexico and comes from a very prominent family. She is 26 and has graduated from the university in Graphic design, but has never learned proper English grammar. When she went into the Missionary Training Center she was supposed to be trained in English and in an English speaking mission. They gave her a short test and said you are fine. The problem is then that when she came to San Diego she was English speaking for a while and then they transferred her to Spanish and now she is not developing the English skills. She only has 3 months left and then wants to get into a Master's program. She speaks English pretty well but makes lots of grammatical errors like "I will get marry" instead of "I will get married." I started by having her write me a 1 page story about her family so I could see where she needed help. It it mainly the ending of words, like es and ed and ies ect. Also she has never learned proper English pronunciation like th instead of the Spanish d sound.

The Director wants the young sisters to do all the tours so that is a bit frustrating. But on Tuesday's they are gone so we do all the tours and we really enjoy it. We meet so many wonderful people from all over the word.

Working in the Call Center

On Thursday mornings we work at the San Diego Temple grounds for two hours just answering questions of people who stop by and want to know about the temple.