Bartlett's California Sacramento Mission: 2020 What’s next?

Before Covid-19

We were able to mingle with the Missionaries and could actually see their faces. We enjoyed being close and even hugging the Missionaries such as these two who are returning home.

We were also able to welcome new Missionaries who came to our Mission. These two were in the Mission temporarily from the Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

The thieves were also out in force also as evidenced by someone breaking our car window in a parking lot while we were in a restaurant eating. They stole Sister Bartlett’s backpack with her laptop computer and her iPad inside.

We tried locating the computers from our other computers with not luck. The insurance fixed our window but would do nothing for the computers. That had to be covered by our home owners insurance. Needless to say we received about $300 to cover her lost computers. We did order her a new laptop so she is back in business. Lesson learned.
There is still beauty in this world like these orchids we have.

We were also able to meet together in groups like Mission Conference, Sacrament Meeting, and New Missionaries’s arriving.

Also some Missionaries were leaving and we were able to get close to say hello and to say goodby without any facial coverings to protect us against viruses.

We were able to use the Church for our meetings and to line up all of their luggage, bikes, bedding and 72 hour kit backpacks ready for new missionaries to meet their new companions.

When they met their new companions they were able to give them a big hug.

Another hug.

And yet another hug.

We were able to go to the Oakland Temple and even go inside for a session.

I just have to pause one moment to tell you the story of Sister Bayless and the squirrel. We asked her during Christmas what one of her family Christmas traditions was.

She explained that on Christmas morning everyone in her family goes out and kills a squirrel and they wrap it in bacon and cook it. We were believing her until she said she was just joking. From then on we always exchanged squirrel jokes such as the chocolate squirrels we found and gave to her and her companion. And the squirrel xing sign she found. She even went so far as to bring us some cooked meat wrapped in bacon and said it was squirrel. It was chicken.

Then Covid-19 hit and everything changed.

I remember the day when we went into isolation. It was the day after my birthday and our anniversary. For our anniversary we ordered take out from Texas Roadhouse and took it home to eat it together. The next day we had to start working at our apartment. About 14 of our young Missionaries went home and 4 of our Senior Couple went home shortly after that. That left us with two senior couples to run the office and here we are 4 and a half months later.

We were asked to work from home, so good thing we brought our own computers and have internet access at our apartment. We went to the office in the evenings after 5 pm to pick up our work, The other couple went to the office each day that way we could maintain social distancing.