Los Angeles temple, Tueday evening, and Wednesday am, Nov 3-4

We got into LA early Tuesday evening, November 3rd,  and went directly to the temple, where we had reserved a room in the temple housing.  This is a large apartment building on the backside of temple grounds.  We ate dinner in the temple cafeteria and then did an endowment session that evening.

We also enjoyed walking around the temple grounds which featured a wide variety of unusual trees and plants from all parts of the world.

In the morning, we vacated our apartment, then went back to the temple for another endowment session and some initiatories.  Then we found I-10 and headed toward Redlands.  That route goes right through downtown LA, and for quite a while we had to contend with slow traffic and aggressive CA drivers and motorcycles zipping along the traffic lane markings just inches from the cars and at twice the speed.

Fresno temple, Tuesday am, Nov 3

We stayed up C-99 a few miles in Madera than went first thing Tuesday to a temple session in the Fresno temple.  It is one of Pres. Hinckley's mini-temples, like Raleigh, Monticello, and Reno.  We got a warm welcome.  After the session, we grabbed some lunch and headed for LA.

A trip to the Sequoias at Calaveras Big Trees Stake Park, Monday, Nov 2

It was a dark, cool and drizzly day at the State park.  This is a mixed-conifer forest in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Stockton--here is my old friend Ponderosa Pine, but bigger than I ever saw in WA state

This Pine tree is nearly 4'  diameter at its base

An even larger Sugar Pine.  Even the trees other than the Sequoias were huge.

 

I caught a squirrel trying to hide from us behind this tree.

This is the "Discovery Tree", first found by an old hunter named Augustus Dowd chasing a wounded Grizzly bear in 1852.  When he found the grove, he lost interest in the bear.  For a time no one would believe what he saw.  But soon---

At 5' above the ground, the Discovery Tree was about 25 feet across.  Interest grew.  Within a year from discovery, the tree was felled by ambitious speculators.

No saw was big enough to cut it.  It took 5 men 22 days to down it, by drilling holes using long handled augers.  A large chunk was then shipped east for display (for admission money).

People in New York and Paris paid money to see the tree.

When the rings were counted the tree was only 1,244 years old, fairly young for a big sequoia.  It was 281 feet tall.

Here the remains of the top still lie 162 years later, perhaps 250 feet away from its base.  At this point, the diameter is still 4-5'.  Sequoia wood does not decay readily.

More vandalism.  This tree has had some of its bark removed.  Bark may be 12-18" thick and is fire-resistant.

See the scorched bark.  This tree survived a fire in 1908.  Time moves slowly here.

Huge root system of a tree that fell in a windstorm in 1965.

Notice that the tree is hollow in the center.  These trees don't have tap-roots.  They can survive for many years with a hollow center, since the nutrients flow up on the outside of the wood, just under the bark.

No more Sequoia pictures.  My I-phone camera used up its battery power at this point.  There are about 75 groves of Sequoias in the world, all on the west slopes of the Sierra Nevada range.  Sequoias are relatives of the Redwood but grow differently.  Sequoias are bigger and bulkier, but Redwoods get a little taller.  Redwoods grow in groves by themselves; Sequoias grow in mixed conifer settings.  Redwood needed more moisture, so grow only in coastal settings.  Sequoias have female seeds in small cones that only open in fire and are fertilized by male seeds.  There were a quit a few young Sequoias with about a 2 foot diameter that were started from the fire of 1908, but few if any since that time.  Smokey bear has been too effective! 

What a great learning experience to see these Sequoias.

Sunday in the Berkeley ward

Wardhouse entrance across the street from the sidewalk coffee shops

Relief society room with fireplace and bas relief sculpture of Joseph Smith organizing the RS (I think)

Beautiful chapel

On Sunday, we attended church with Heidi and Steven in the Berkeley Ward.  The building was very pretty.  Here is my shot of the chapel, with pipe organ, exposed beams, interesting colors, etc.  Persons we talked to said that the members built this chapel themselves.  The building was dedicated in 1934, the pipe organ added in 1938.  I borrowed the first three pictures from a website, LDS Architecture (https://ldsarchitecture.wordpress.com/category/meetinghouses/united-states/california/berkeley-ward). 

I liked the RS room with its art work.  The building is on a small corner lot with only a minimal parking lot.  Across the street are sidewalk cafes, populated by people with anything but an interest in Sunday worship.

The ward had a different climate than ours in Utah--It was fast Sunday and we heard some of the testimonies that we more non-testimonies (expressions of not knowing)--Several women in pants, and not as many men in white shirts and ties--Some long-haired boys preparing and passing the sacrament.  But overall, I thought it was good--a sort of gathering place for persons living in a challenging environment and trying to achieve faith.  I was reminded of what the Church ought to be, as implied by the Savior's parable of the mustard seed--a sheltering place for all kinds of strange birds.

Oakland temple

Notice the Crape Myrtle in bloom at the left.  It was one of our favorite plants in NC.

We did a second endowment session on Friday morning, followed by some initiatories.  Then we went to find Steven and Heidi and Derek.

View of City from Oakland temple

Oakland skyline, with San Francisco through the haze

Bay bridge, west span on left (SF to Yerba Buena Island), east span center to right (Yerba Buena Island to Oakland).  Tallest tower belongs to Golden Gate bridge (SF to Marin Co.) and is in the background.

Derek at the Oakland temple

It was fun to tend Derek on Saturday morning, as Heidi and Steven attended a sealing session.

Oakland temple from our apartment, Thursday-Friday-Saturday, Oct 29-31

The lane from the apartment to the temple, lined with young? Sequoias.  Left is Oakland mission office

City from apartment balcony

Night view of temple from apartment balcony

Small Sequoia along the lane to the temple

Temple from apartment window

We got to Oakland temple late afternoon on Thursday, and got settled in a room in the Todd house, which is temple housing.  It is located across a street to the north of the temple grounds next to the Oakland Mission office and a Distribution Center.  We then went over to the temple, ate dinner, and did an endowment session.

By the way, we talked with several missionaries and discovered that this was the mission that Jerry Meredith had presided over, until last July, and missionaries seemed to remember him and his wife with a lot of fondness.

Sacramento temple, Thursday am, Oct 29

The Sacramento temple is really in Rancho Cordova some 20 miles SE of Sacramento and is part of a 47 acre plot that contains a stake building and various Church recreational facilities.  The design might be called a maxi-mini, with a floor plan and capability similar to the Reno temple, but with more expansive size and decor, in fact about twice the square footage.   It follows the same design as  the Newport Beach and Redlands temples. 

Reno temple, Wednesday am, Oct. 28

The Reno temple is a mini-temple, and attending made us homesick for our temple in Raleigh NC.  The setting is way out of town up on a hillside in a nice residential area.  More than any other of the temples we visited, we got a sense that this temple is truly a refuge for members in the Reno area, who must lead their regular lives surrounded by much that is less than desirable.  The people that we met there sure loved their temple.

We were quite impressed with the session officiator.  He led the group with dignity and his prayer seemed to communicate that he was well acquainted with his Heavenly Father.  He was a humble but handsome man of about 60 who had the hands of a working man with callouses and several blackened fingernails.  He was at the recommend desk as we left so we stopped to visit with him.  He was a BYU graduate no less who owns and runs a ranch near Austin, NV, which is a three hour drive west of Reno on the "loneliest road in America" and has a population of about 350 people.   He and his wife serve as temple workers.  He said that left home about 3 am that morning in his truck with a load of hay to sell, that he needed to deliver after his temple assignment is finished in the afternoon.  He also mentioned that until recently he had been serving as the President of his Stake.  That seems amazing, since (we looked it up) the Austin branch is at least 110 miles from the Stake center in Fallon NV, and where most of the wards in his stake are located.

A temple worker's holiday

What would a couple of temple workers do when their temple closes for two weeks for cleaning?  Why, go traveling to visit as many temples as possible, of course.  Wendy and I made an eleven day loop through northern and southern California, where we visited and did work in 10 temples and put 2075 miles on our Traverse.  We did 12 endowments each, and a total of 23 initiatories and 16 couple sealings.  We also watched Derek so that Steven and Heidi could go to the temple.  We spent a wonderful part of a Saturday with them, on Sunday went to church with them in their Berkeley ward and had Sunday dinner with Steven’s family in Livermore, CA.  We spent Monday seeing huge Sequoia trees in Calaveras Big Tree State Park.  We also checked out the construction site for the Cedar City Temple.

Wendy and I left home early on Tuesday, October 29th and drove to Salt Lake to the Jordan River temple where we did an endowment session, then left to drive across Nevada to stay the night in Reno.  

On Wednesday morning, we each did an endowment in the Reno temple, then we left for to stay the night near Sacramento.  

On Thursday morning, we each did an endowment in the Sacramento temple, then drove on to Oakland, where we had reserved a place in the Oakland temple housing. We were there early enough that evening to do an endowment session that evening.

The next morning, Friday, we did another endowment session, plus a batch of initiatories.  We found Heidi later that afternoon, and went to dinner with them and then to a member family’s home that she had arranged.  

We went back to the temple with them on Saturday morning, tending Derek, while Steven and Heidi were in the temple.  

We stay again at the members’ home and attended church with them then caravaned the 50 or so miles to Livermore where we spent an enjoyable time with them and with Steven’s parents and a brother’s family for dinner.  Then we drove to a motel in Stockton for Sunday evening.  

In the morning, Monday, we traveled eastward into the Sierra Nevada foothills to see the big trees, then in the mid-afternoon drove to stay the night in Madera.  

On Tuesday morning, we visited the Fresno temple for an endowment session, then left for Los Angeles, where we had reserved a room in temple housing for Tuesday night.  Arriving there in early evening, we had time to do an endowment session that evening.  

On Wednesday morning, we did another endowment session then some more initiatories, and then did the hour or so drive to our motel near Redlands (it was actually in San Bernardino).  After checking in, we made the  15 minutes drive to the Redlands temple and did an early evening endowment session.  After the temple we found a Sizzler and celebrated Wendy’s birthday with a nice dinner.  

On Thursday morning, we headed for Las Vegas and, arriving at the temple there mid-day, did an endowment session.  Then we continued on, reaching St. George in the early evening, got a motel, and then went to the temple where joined a sealing session and we able to do a bunch of family couple sealings.  

In the morning on Friday, we went back to the temple to an endowment session.  After the session we drove to Cedar City where we took time to find the site for the new temple that is in the early stages of construction in that city, have lunch, then continued on northward.  From Cove Fort we crossed the mountains eastward on I-70 to Salina then north to Manti, arriving mid-afternoon for an endowment session there.  We arrive home about 8 pm to find all well.

We tried to do "selfies" at each temple.  Some of them left something to be desired, photograph-wise.