Elder Stewart-Longhurst Mission to Santa Rosa, CA

This week we were able to experience the following: -         We put on a “Missionary Movie Night” complete with free Ice Cream and toppings, free Movie (Saratov Approach), and free Air Conditioning.   The turn out was great and many folks in our congregation got to visit with each other and fellowship.   They started talking about next month’s movie night, so apparently, we will be doing this monthly now.   It’s a good thing and we love to serve.   Plus, Ice Cream is tasty, and the movie is awesome. -         Sister Stewart-Longhurst’s brother and sister-in-law (Dave & Chris) drove the two hours from Walnut Creek to visit us and spend the day with us.   We love seeing family here and we had a lot of fun showing them the fire damage, our area, and eating at a very great Mexican restaurant. -         On Sunday night, another fire broke out an...

We really are enjoying our mission!  This past week we were able to take a few days off and tour the coastal line of our mission via the infamous Highway 1.  We saw some incredible scenery, hiked on some amazing beaches and enjoyed a break from fires and smoke. In our area, we are enjoying some great spiritual experiences with the people we are working with as they prepare to attend the temple of the Lord. We love the opportunity to be missionaries and serve as many of our brothers and sisters as we can, but this week we found ourselves being served and uplifted so often it seemed to be the theme of our week.  With such love and support we don’t ever become discouraged by the challenges of our work. Thursday we drove to the Sacramento temple and experienced a powerful spiritual boost!   We gained new understanding about God, about how to use delegation to be a better leader, how to make prayer more powerful, and a reminder to trust God to take care of ...

The Mendocino Complex Fire, the largest wildfire in California history, continues to burn out of control and still is threatening some remote towns.   Fortunately, it is now burning north, away from where we live and our communities.   There is still smoke on most days, but it also is getting better. We find it interesting that such calamities and trials bring us closer to God and to each other.   Below are a couple of entries from Elder Stewart-Longhurst’s journal regarding the fire almost taking some of our people’s homes. _______________________________________________________ The fire peaked up on the hill just about 100 yards west of the house.   Embers blew in there from the next hill over, which looked like it was about half a mile over.   When the family saw the fire there that close, it frightened them.   A Sheriff stopped in and told them to get the heck out and that even the firefighters and cops were leaving.   Their neighbors...

We have had a busy week, thanks to the monstrous Mendocino Complex Fire.  Here are some things we experienced: -  We have had literally a front row seat to the fire and the drama it is causing.  It burned within ten miles of where we are living, but fortunately, we were not evacuated.  It is now burning away from us and has become the largest fire in the history of California.  325,000 acres and still burning. - The fire resulted in horrible air quality.  We ended up doing our daily exercises in the church gym instead of the usual morning hike. - Along with the other missionaries here, we did spend time serving in the evacuation centers.  We transported donated goods, cleaned and moved tables, helped people unload their cars, set up cots, and spent time just talking to the frightened and bored evacuees. - 29 families from our congregation were evacuated.  Many of them were also evacuated with the previous fire back in June.  ...

Here is the text of a talk I gave on 7/29/18: ________________________________________ Soon after Sister Stewart-Longhurst and I started courting, we were amazed to discover that we both had ancestors in the Martin Handcart Company.    We don’t know if they knew each other, camped together, or anything.    But we are amazed that they were both there. My ancestors were the Robinson’s.    Solomon, a buff young 21-year-old, and his sister, 19-year-old Elizabeth.    They joined the church in England and left behind their parents and life to come to Zion.    And, they ended up with the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company. I have Elizabeth’s life history and it details out her hardships on that trek.    Starvation, exposure, exhaustion.    She did make it to the Salt Lake Valley.    At one point, after being rescued, her feet were so badly swollen and black from frostbite, that they wanted to amputa...

Once again, our County, Lake County is ON FIRE!  Two different fires started at about the same time Friday afternoon to the West of the lake.  By nightfall, they had burned across a mountain range and were heading straight for our “lake” communities.  The temperatures have been above 100 degrees with very little humidity and a bit of wind.  The vegetation is incredibly dry.  It has not rained since we arrived here in early June.  Perfect conditions for huge wildfires. Of course, the people here are already shell-shocked when it comes to fires.  Over 1,000 homes burned in this county (another 5,000+ in Santa Rosa) during last October’s fires.  Additionally, this is the fifth straight year that major fires have burned in this county.  The happy, welcoming atmosphere of our little community changes fast into panic and crankiness when a fire breaks out. By Saturday night, the fires were stor...