Member Leadership Support (and fun!)

          "What do MLS (Member and Leader Support) Missionaries do?", you ask? 

Well, let us just share what we do to keep busy.

We work with inactive members as well as house-bound members that need help, and any new names found that the bishop wants us to check on. We have been checking missionaries' apartments, zooming every Monday nights with the mission about the missionaries and the miracles seen that week, zooming with our Hollywood Elders, Tuesdays in their Book of Mormon class, supporting the new temple session on Wednesday nights, serving with the community, YMCA food bank on Thursdays mornings, preparing orders to go out to missionaries on Fridays, and teaching classes at church.  Phew!

In the mist of it all a few of us senior missionaries went out to the ballgame.

                                            Our first real live ball game!

This is a glimpse of our Thursday morning YMCA service project that really works us and we love it!

Here, some are preparing the bags for the work ahead. 

We will fill 201 bags with dry goods and another 201 bags with fruit and vegetables. 

               They are placed in stacks of 10 to make them easier to count.

 Above is the line preparing to fill the bags of can goods. We must get them all out of the boxes, so they are easy to get.

   Once we start filling bags things move very fast.

                  

Notice who donates these!

Again, this is sponsored by the YMCA-not the church but sometimes we see the church helping out.

Debbie counting the bags

 

This is Maryland. She comes every Thursday and works with us.

 She is 93 years old!

                        Here you have some of the 201 bags that are filled. 

                      One bag with fruit and vegetables and another with dry goods.

We then prepare some bags on another side, for those who will drive in and pick up to take around to people in their neighborhoods or organizations.

After we are done the workers go home. Sister Snyder and I have learned to stick around and help Avi, the YMCA leader, distribute the rest out to the people who come in off the street to collect their two bags of food and any extras we may have left over.

Veva stands at the line and greets everyone. Even the drunks! I usually pack the two bags of food to them after they have been checked off. It's from eight to twelve o'clock and by the time we go home we are aching but we both feel it's a good aching.

                                   

                                           Fun pictures today!

            This is our Bishop and the tie he got for Father's Day!

And not to be out done Andrea came to teach our Relief Society lesson with her hair brightened up.  

                                        

                              Don't you just love the Hollywood Ward?

Our District Council and their different Zones meet in the Stake Center. With the changes all the Zones had to find a room to meet in. Our Zone chose the chapel this time.

Do you remember the Stake Center? I know we showed you pictures in the past blogs. We didn't show you the ceiling though. Amazing! Right?

Elder Evan jumped on the organ and played our opening song.

Elder Evan is our Hollywood Elder who is going home to Sandy, Utah in 2 weeks! 

                               So Sad! 

                    Our Chinese Elders gave the Mission Statement in Chinese.

Before we started, Eder Evan got a call from our friend Bart who had been working with a man who had just told Bart of a spiritual experience and was now ready to be baptized. We all could just imagine Bart doing his happy dance because another person who had the same desires as Bart now wants to turn his life around. Bart brought him to church today, and we are all so excited.

I couldn't resist this picture! How many colors do you see in this Catus?

Gina invited us to her talent show that she put on for the 4th ward. She told the ward that years ago her family (parents and eight kids) came here from Holland.

About five years ago Gina's parents passed and that's when she moved to the Hollywood Ward who has taken her in and loved her. This was her thank you to them.

This is Gina with her faithful hat. She wears it almost all the time and even in church on some days. 

Some of the woman got really into Gina and her electric guitar. Can you see them off to the side dancing? They were really good dancers.

Then Nazarene had to get up and perform. She was really good. She has a wonderful voice. 

On the 4th of July we went over to the Visitors Center and had a 4th of July 

sing-a-long. We then went to a park and had a barbeque. 

The night of the 4th we all went over to the temple grounds (along with the locals) to watch the fireworks.

Out for a walk one afternoon. We grumbled some because it was later in the day when the tourists were out and all over our path. 

I'm sure you all know they bring them in by the bus loads. That's why early mornings are best but sometimes we have District Council or assignments in the mornings.

And of course, there are a few people you have to go around since they drop anywhere and take a nap.

We discovered that the homeless have the "gift of tongues". They jabber in such a strange language. One homeless woman sitting on her sleeping bag, there on the street was jabbering away to another homeless man who seemed to understand her. At least he nodded and was paying attention to her. 

So my question to you all, "Do the homeless have their own language"? Maybe we are the ones that don't understand the Homeless Dialect. 

Today on our walk we came across a homeless man who started yelling at us and was throwing big item of trash in the Beverly Hills Pond. 

                                           This is a real NO, NO. 

On the way back the Park Ranger was there escorting him away from the place and they were busy cleaning up the pond. Don't people know this is a tourist spot and so they are going to keep it presentable to the public?

               (One of the few places the homeless are not welcome to linger).

                    Speaking of homeless, our neighbor moved!  

Do you remember the lady that set up a place just down the street? She has cardboard boxes for walls and an umbrella for the roof. She sets up camp right in the medium of the road. Traffic going by at night and she must sleep right through it.

We saw her in her black coat, with her black suitcases and her cardboards strapped to her back moving up the street. Not to worry though.

                         She just moved one block up the street. 

On the days we happen to walk around the temple this is what we might see. 

                  Today we caught the workers going in to clean the temple. 

Today at Relief Society they asked for two volunteers to help clean the temple the end of August from 6 to 1. We volunteered since we just live across from the temple. That 6:00 am is worrying me!  This will be us in a few weeks:)

While out working with an inactive member we came across the writers of the TV stations on strike.

We also thought about buying us a plot or cubical for our burial. Can you see the cubicals that people are buying instead of going into the ground?

For all you who might still feel sorry for us and all the work we have to do just watch this and weep!

                               YES, Senior missionaries can do this.

                           

                          So it's farewell once again from Sister Snyder 

and Sister Cox

Oh yes and what do MLS Missionary do? They Sometimes Go to the Beach:)

God Bless you All!