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Our latest group of missionaries arrived a week before Christmas, and they’re already leaving!

Some have been here for quite a while, but others just arrived. It seems a shame to have them for such a short time. Still, they pack their bags every time and head out to a new area and new adventures. And as always we’re excited to welcome the new group.

Although we always take new missionaries out to lunch, every now and then we invite them over to our apartment to make some dinner. Of course the fan favorite is homemade pizza.

Last night we had the guys…

… and tonight it was the ladies’ turn.

It’s always a party when we have a roomful of missionaries!

The graveyard is full of indispensable men.

– Charles de Gaulle (maybe)

I’ve been told I “talk with my hands”. Well, tonight I was teaching a class and Pepper was sitting off to the side, and she decided to snap some pictures of me during the discussion. I think they demonstrate my hand-talking pretty well…

At least I’m animated, right?

During our mission, Pepper and I haven’t had many opportunities to hike… something both of us enjoy. When we heard there’s a slot canyon not too far from us, we were enthusiastic about going. It turns out it’s called simply The Slot, and that’s how you find it on a map. Go figure.

We packed a snack and headed out. Despite its boring name, the canyon was quite fun. The walls are very sheer, and at points they’re narrow enough that a particularly large person literally wouldn’t fit.

The hike wasn’t very long– perhaps a mile each way– but we enjoyed it.

I’ve heard there are a few other slot canyons in the San Diego area, and we plan to check them out as well…

My friend Jeff has this license plate:

I asked about it, and his wife rolled her eyes and said “He tells me it has something to do with Lord of the Rings.”

We were visiting the apartment of some of the missionaries, and I noticed this beautiful table centerpiece:

Elder DeMordaunt explained that guys aren’t really very good at decorating, nor do they want to spend money on it, so picking up a fresh pineapple on sale for $2.49 and plopping it in the center of your table is the way to go. Brilliant.

This evening we went over to our friends’ home to make pizza. Stephen built a pizza oven a few years ago: bricks covered with a layer of concrete. He’d been stoking the coals in it for a while when we arrived.

He has a little temperature “gun” that measures the temperature of a spot you point it at, and he showed us that the back of the oven was just over a thousand degrees. The floor– where the pizzas would bake– was “only” around 850. That means the baking time is less than ninety seconds.

We made our little personal pizzas, and I slid mine into the oven. I kept it in a little longer than usual, because I enjoy slightly browned cheese, and I was not disappointed.

After this delicious meal, I’m thinking about how I might set up a pizza oven back home in Montana…

Serving as a young missionary is hard. It’s a lot of study and work, you don’t ever get a day off, and there are a lot of rules. One of those rules is “thou shalt not go to the beach”. Here in the San Diego Mission, there are a lot of beaches, and there are plenty of missionaries who drive, bike, and walk in those areas. But they don’t go out on the sand or into the water. (To be clear, senior missionaries don’t have any such rules, and we’ve been to several beaches on several occasions.)

Our mission leaders definitely recognize the sacrifice these young men and women make, and when they announced that Christmas Day and New Year’s Day would officially be “beach days”, there was widespread rejoicing. The sheer number of missionaries– almost two hundred– makes it impractical to have everyone together at once, so half went on each day. Our Christmas was spent in the Valley, and our young friends were excited to head out to San Diego a week later to celebrate the new year in the sand today.

There were a few of us with awesome Hawaiian shirts:

We set up sand volleyball nets and spikeball sets. Many of the missionaries just sat around talking and taking selfies with the ocean behind them. I gathered some friends and we played ultimate. Our mission president even joined us (he’s in the center, wearing a grey sweatshirt).

The weather was a bit chilly– maybe in the mid-60s– so it was hardly suitable for jumping in the water. The handful of surfers braving the waves were in full wetsuits. But still, it was New Year’s Day on the beach!

Being the social guy I am, coupled with my love of eating out, I invited a group of the senior missionaries to join us for dinner at a restaurant walking distance from the beach. It’s worth noting Hodad’s was also walking distance, but they aren’t really set up for a large group. We ended up on the rooftop, where we had a fun dinner together. Notice everyone in their sweatshirts and parkas (!) while I’m lounging around in my shorts and Hawaiian shirt…

Just like Christmas a week ago, this was unlike any other New Year I’ve experienced. And it was just as fun.

Back in July, when we’d been serving a mission for just a few weeks, we took a pair of young missionaries out to lunch. We’ve since made that a tradition– every transfer, we enjoy a lunch with every set of missionaries in the Valley. It’s a great way to get to know the new ones as they move into the area, and of course I just enjoy dining out.

Anyway, that particular day, we chose to sample a new restaurant: Brickhouse Deli, a little family-owned sandwich shop in town. We walked inside and stood in line to order, and a woman immediately came up to us and asked if we were missionaries. Yep. She introduced herself as Heather and insisted on buying lunch for us. Now, that’s something that happens to young missionaries in Utah quite often (in fact there’s the story of Zack’s friend Kyer and his “faith lunches”, but that’s for another day). But I’m guessing it’s not that common in other areas, and especially with senior missionaries.

So we gratefully accepted her invitation, and the four of us had lunch. Heather left because she’d just been picking up some sandwiches for her office. Before she went back to work, though, we snapped a picture.

We’ve been back to Brickhouse on many occasions, because it’s quite good. And at least half of the time we go, Heather is there. She loves it as well, and evidently eats there as often as she can. We chat with her each time, and the last time Pepper and I were there, we met her two daughters who were visiting for Christmas.

Today, a few days later, I was at Brickhouse with my friend Woody and– surprise!— Heather walked in. It’s almost comical. Her daughters are still visiting, so I insisted we take a picture together.

At this point, I almost expect to see Heather when I have lunch at Brickhouse. Next time, I should buy her a sandwich.