Mission Tour - Day 1

When we found out that my nephew was getting married in the Newport Beach temple, we quickly decided that we would leverage the trip to southern California to visit some of the areas and people where Hermana Tonini has served (while always maintaining to not be in the same place at the same time that she was at).  I told my wife on the flight out that I was glad that she was coming with me because I was worried that after we made introductions, I didn't know how the conversation would go with the complete strangers that we would meet.  Was I ever wrong - there was no shortage of things to talk about as we talked about Hermana Tonini and how she impacted everyone in every location where she served.

Day One started out bright and early - we were staying in Ontario (to be somewhat geographically centered for our events for the weekend) which meant we had an almost two hour drive out to Anza where our first appointment was at 8 am.  Hermana Tonini's grandma and Aunt, who had also traveled for the wedding, had accepted our invitation to come with us.

On the way to Anza, we stopped at this amazing sculpture garden exhibiting the work of Ricardo Breceda.  Here are a few of his pieces:

We had a little difficulty locating our hosts' address but fortunately, Sister Davies and Sister Moffit shortly arrived and we were greeted by Brother and Sister Boyd and the sweet aroma of breakfast.  Helping them in the kitchen was their granddaughter and Brother Moroni (his wife Nancy would join us later).  Soon, Samantha (a frequent subject on this blog) and her boyfriend Daniel joined us as well as Sister Peterson and her daughter Cheyenne.  Brother Moroni even knew of Elder Tonini who, although he never served in Anza, served in this mission a couple of years ago.   

We enjoyed a delightful visit and then went outside for pictures.  When we asked what people did who live in Anza, Brother Boyd replied, "they get away from Los Angeles."  Daniel also pointed out the horticulture projects (marijuana farms) that were in view from the Boyd's patio.  We also talked about Hermana Tonini's driving record.  Apparently she had recorded a number of "harsh incidents" on the in-vehicle monitoring system and her status had been down-graded to "yellow" in the mission office.  (Had she had any more, she would have been "blue" and would not have been able to drive the rest of her mission).  Sister Davies also told us about "the jump" that Hermana Tonini liked to take every time she came to the Boyd's.  Instead of taking the paved road, she always took the dirt road that had a pretty good change in elevation.  She took it so often that Sister Davies didn't realize that there was a paved route to the Boyd's that was much simpler!  After we said our goodbyes, we followed the Sisters and Daniel and Samantha to "the jump" before proceeding to Anza.  One of my ancestors was on the Anza expedition so it was neat to be able to see some of that history.  We were all amazed at the beautiful chapel in Anza - not bad for a small branch.  The return trip was through Idlewild and we were treated to fantastic vistas of the valley below as we descended from an elevation of 4,5000 ft.

As we made our way to Moreno Valley for our next appointment at 1, we realized that we were going to be driving right through Perris, Hermana Tonini's current area!  We decided that we would make a quick detour and go leave a note on her door.  Our quest was foiled because she lives in a gated apartment complex (thankfully!) so we had to settle for a quick selfie to prove to Hermana Tonini that we were there.

Our next appointment was at the home of Hermana Berumen and once again, as we entered the door, we were greeted with the aroma of cooking food.  This time, it was authentic Mexican food - sopas and ranchero beans.  We were joined by Hermana Sorenson (former companion from Corona) and Sister Stanley (they were on exchanges) for a delightful lunch on the back patio under this huge tree.  Next to the shade tree was a fig tree and we all enjoyed our first experience with fresh figs.  It was better than we expected and tasted nothing like fig newtons.  We posed for more pictures and fortunately ran into one more member and her family before we had to leave for our last appointment of the day - President and Sister Hammon.

Familia Berumen 

Familia Tenorio

 As we left, Aunt Sheryl commented at how attentive and polite the young women were.  They helped serve and clear the table and were delightfully engaged in the lunch conversation.

President and Sister Hammon were presiding at a zone conference in the Jurupa Stake Center.  Wow - what a beautiful building!  The building was the same design as the Lubbock Stake Center (for any of you who are familiar with that building) with a full court gym, beautiful artwork, dark hardwood throughout, and security cameras!  We arrived a few minutes after 3 but based on the lack of activity in the parking lot, we could tell the conference was not over.  We sat in the foyer and listened to the soon-to-be-departing missionaries bear their testimonies before Sister and President Hammon spoke. It wasn't hard to imagine that we were listening to Hermana Tonini bear her last testimony.  (In fact, President Hammon later told us it was too bad we had not been at the Zone Conference they had yesterday because we would have been able to hear her do just that.)  We were getting a little anxious because we were supposed to be at a wedding activity by 6:30 and it was now 4 pm.  We discussed just leaving a note but we lingered long enough that we were still there when the conference ended.  Raena and I walked into the chapel and met Hermana Harper (a companion from the Mexico MTC) and then the mission president.  I wish I could remember the exact number but he said there is a huge exodus of members from California due to the high cost of living and demanding regulations.  As a result, wards are being collapsed and even a couple of missions.  Hermana Harper told us that she had begged President Hammon to have her be companions with Hermana Tonini but he said no way.  "If I put two strong missionaries like that together, the rest of the mission would simply sit back and watch them work."  It was a very nice complement.

We walked out to the foyer and took some photos before heading to the big wedding family dinner.  As we got in the car, we agreed that meeting President and Sister Hammon and Hermana Harper in person was far superior to any note we could have written.  Twelve and half hours after we left our hotel, the weekend wedding activities began.  The original plan to visit the Games family on Friday was rescheduled for tomorrow night after the ring ceremony.