Sunday! Once again, Glo had taken the wheel and planned out every activity for the day (with one exception: she realized that she had forgotten to plan something with a family whom she knew would see her FB posts from Day One, so she called them and arranged dessert ;-))
We started out by driving to the Santa Rosa chapel. She had made arrangements with the bishop there to do a musical number...until the bishop realized it was Fast Sunday. No problem--he wanted us to play our musical number as the opening song, and then asked us if we would also play the sacrament and closing hymns since the members aren't allowed to actually SING yet in church. Sure! So we showed up early and figured out where and how we would do everything. While we were running through our musical number, Glo turned and looked right at me. This is a VERY strange thing for her or any of my children to do, because when they DO look at me, it ALWAYS signals that something is wrong. She was across the rostrum from me though, and I had no idea what was going on. We finished the last note, but she cut it off early and ran down the stairs. Turns out, her dear friends were walking in, and she needed to go talk to all of them ;-) What a happy reunion I witnessed from up there! Hannah joined her soon after, and they both stood at the door to the chapel, welcoming everyone with hugs and smiles. It was so cute seeing my girls looking like an hermana companionship ;-)
When we started the musical number, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, all 40 (or so) Latino members in the audience started humming with us. I was completely caught off guard because I would expect that with a standard hymn, but not with a musical number. I tell you though, it was the BEST performance of that hymn (and we've performed it a lot!). I had to keep blinking away the tears--it was just so beautiful and so moving.
And the meeting just got better from there. Of course, I couldn't understand any of it except for a few words here and there and what the Spirit told me, but I was transfixed. Glo got up and bore her testimony, and the part that I actually understood and that I loved was that "hermanas" and "hermanos" mean more than just brothers and sisters in Spanish. They mean real brothers and sisters which ties us all together as a family of God. I had already witnessed how much she loves the people of her mission, and I knew from the depths of her heart, they are her family. Then, one of her favorite people, Hermano Miranda got up and bore his entire testimony about Glo. He spoke about her parents and how he could see now why Glo was as wonderful as she was. It was so sweet. It was just a love fest. I asked Hannah if it reminded her of her mission, and she said that it was much sweeter than hers.
Glo and Hannah rushed out of the meeting afterwards to catch people with whom Glo wanted a picture. Two of the three people she baptized in Santa Rose were there, and the BEST was Graciela!
Afterwards, we headed out to Hermano Miranda's home for tacos with a "few" people. Glo had arranged to have Agustin make his favorite tacos, and there was only supposed to be three or four people there, but by the time we arrived, it was a party, and all for Glo! Hermano Miranda lives IN a vineyard--he's a manager so the vineyard gives him a home. So there we were, in 75 degree weather, in a shaded backyard, in the middle of a vineyard, eating lunch with some of the dearest people from Glo's mission.
And the food was AMAZING! Agustin makes the tortillas as well as all of the meat--beef, chicken and pork--and he serves them himself. We had been warned about the "heat" of his tacos, and they didn't disappoint!
After several hours there, we had to leave to head back to Napa. Not only did we have a dinner appointment with Jesse and Teresa, but Brother Nelson had asked us to come back BECAUSE HE WANTED TO GIVE GLO ONE OF HIS GUITARS. We honestly couldn't believe the offer when he texted her, so when we arrived, we told him that he could seriously change his mind and we wouldn't be offended. But no, we spent a good hour talking to him, and for the first time, Glo met his non-member wife who turned out to be delightful. And then he stole her away, and she came back in with a guitar. Of course, we know NOTHING about guitars, but considering he owns "about 14" of them, he knows a lot. And as his wife told us, he used to deal in guitars, buying and trading them when he played with a rock band. Turns out, the guitar he gave her is from 1978, it's called a "lawsuit" guitar by Yamaguchi. From what we can tell, it sells for about $800 although I found one for $3,500. Like I said, we know NOTHING about guitars, and it doesn't matter because she'll NEVER sell it, but it wasn't just junk sitting around either. Glo was overwhelmed, and even had trouble closing the lid because she was nervous about even owning it. But as Brother Nelson told her as she left, "There are blessings for serving missions." Good guy, that Brother Nelson.
We then booked it over to Jesse and Teresa's home. I knew they lived in their home with several other family members, but when we arrived, there was a full-on party happening in their driveway. Thankfully, they took us inside, and it was just us with them and their 6-week-old baby, Bianca. There is a guilelessness to Jesse and Teresa. They are so humble and willing to learn, and they are always smiling and sweet. I can see why Glo knew immediately that Teresa should be baptized, and I appreciated how Glo helped them figure out how to get engaged and get married so that she could be baptized. It's really amazing to think of all Glo did while a missionary--she worked her BUTT off for these people whom she loved so much.
We had such delicious food sitting cramped around a table in a very humble kitchen. Frijoladas--chicken enchiladas covered in black bean sauce. They plated the food so when it was put in front of me, I wasn't sure how I was going to eat it, but I took one bite and wondered where that meal had been my whole life. It was insanely delicious! And we talked. And talked some more. They had questions for us. Questions about temple after I asked them if they planned on being sealed soon. And they had questions about patriarchal blessings--Jesse is requesting a copy of him, and Teresa was going to make an appointment with the bishop today to get hers. We talked about life and how there are trials and struggles but it's all worth it. It was this beautiful, sacred moment with these two humble people, sharing our thoughts about Jesus and the gospel. I can see why my children have all embraced missionary work and have come home better people.
Remember that dessert? We drove up the mountain (literally) to the Kastners--I owe these people more than I can ever give them. After COVID hit and the missionaries were ordered to stay in their apartments, no one thought about the sister missionaries and how they couldn't give themselves the sacrament. But when the Kastners found out that the hermanas had gone weeks without the sacrament, they invited them over, fed them dinner and gave them the sacrament. And they continued to do it until Glo left the area. Brother Kastner makes "bread and beans", and Glo wrote home about the fact that when he served it, she
couldn't get enough of it--she hadn't had bread in over a year! Glo also helped them clean up their homestead after both their main home and their guest home were burned to the ground in a wildfire. So we had "Baptist Sheet Cake" in their new guest home and just marveled at the beauty of the design and interiors. All of their children are super successful (like getting Ph.D.s at MIT successful), but they are all artists as well, and the home is filled with their most recent artwork (since everything else was destroyed in the fire). I mean, it's pretty hard to supersede the successes of our children, but they do it without even blinking.
I came back to the hotel that night completely exhausted and yet completely exhilarated from all of the service we had done that day. Just trying to show everyone that we loved them either through music, or through testimony, or through holding a baby, or through eating one.more.bite, or through talking about sacred things. I told John that I can see us now as "senior" missionaries (seriously, can we make it middle-age missionaries, because I just don't think we're going to fit that stereotype for many years to come). It was a wonderful glimpse into the future!
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