LIfe with the Dalebouts: January 2015 -- Our Last Month on our mission

In January, we packed in as much as we possibly could. We first met with some of the CES missionaries for dinner and a short tour of San Diego State University. It was beautiful and we were very impressed with the grounds.

L-R: Sister and Elder Todd, Elder and Sister Scott, Sister and Elder Dalebout

We pulled in Elder Baker on the right. His wife had gone back to the San Diego State Institute of Religion to fix some dessert for us. We really loved associating with these nice people. We will miss them.

The branch members had a farewell party for Buddy Langton, who moved to Utah to go to school. Buddy is just behind Alex (the young man in the red shirt).

Sister and Elder Dalebout with our mission leader, Buddy Langton. He was a great mission leader.

Elder and Sister Dalebout with our Mongolian friend, Odko, Okonkhuu Nyamjaw. What a great young man, who wants to become an airline pilot. This picture was taken at the "Linger Longer" after church.

"Linger Longer"

Sister Serrato and Sister Stakkeland with Elder and Sister Dalebout at FHE

Brent Sadlier, Alexis Black, Sister Dalebout and Wade Edwards

Elder Dalebout, Odko, Alexis, Brent and Wade

President and Sister Little with Odko and William Johnston

Elder Dalebout with Alex Katzensen, our genealogist. Alex found many of his family names, and with the help of the branch, much of the work was done.

Elder and Sister Dalebout with Leslie Cardenas, the Branch Relief Society President.

The sisters with Chelsea Nyuyen (a non-member whom we worked with and taught an institute class to, who is from Vietnam) and Elder and Sister Dalebout

It was great to have Jenny and Milly come visit us just before we left to go home. We enjoyed going to Point Loma and the tide pools.

After Jenny and Milly came, we were invited to President and Sister Schmitt's home for dinner. We had such a delightful dinner with them.

Our trip to the Mormon Battalion and Old Town brought us a pleasant surprise. There was a parade and re-enactments of when the Mormon Battalion came into Old Town on January 29, 1846. We had a pleasant surprise when Elder Holland came to visit. His brother was getting an award, so he came to see his brother receive that honor.

Part of the Parade

Milly wanted a picture with Elder Holland, but by the time we got through the line, he was sitting down on the platform. So, we got a close-up picture of Milly with Elder Holland clear in the background.

Milly, Jenny, Elder Rasmussen and Elder Dalebout

We got to dress up in pioneer clothing, which was fun.

We got the opportunity to go to Sea World with Milly and Jenny. It was a slow day, fairly warm, and was a lot of fun.

The whales perform. It was quite a show.

A dolphin poses.

The day that Jenny and Milly left, Jenny and I went to the temple to go through a session. Guess who came on that very session? Chris Packard. What a coincidence. It was fun talking to her. Then, Milly and Jenny were on their way home. We had a great time with them.

Our last night in San Diego, the branch had a going away party for us and a welcoming party for the Monks, who took our place. It was held during the institute hour. We played the "Newly Wed," Nearly Dead" game in competition with the Monks. We won by 1 point. It was fun. Then, we had ice cream sundaes and took lots of pictures. What a great evening. We were given a beautiful book that Sister Little and Sister Cooper put together for us. Sister Little was our branch photographer and took all of the pictures, and Sister Cooper put those pictures in a book for us. They also gave us a couple of discs of branch activities during 2014 and wrote in another book for us. What special memories we will have of this wonder little Santee YSA Branch. We will cherish our experiences with such wonderful people.