Hello All!
Dan and I were recently moved to Lompoc, California, for Dan's military training. We were told that he will finish in June and then we will move to Cheyenne, Wyoming!
Lompoc is a beautiful place. It is very green, with lots of vineyards and rolling hills. Although the area is beautiful, our first week has been a little rocky. When we first moved into our new apartment the heater did not work (along with many of our lights), no internet, and the place was covered in grime. While I spent the first few days cleaning, Dan began training. It was very discouraging for him. A sergeant lost Dan's records and he had to spend the first few days re-doing paperwork while falling behind in all of his classes. And to add insult to injury, they lost his medical records too. He was required to get a few shots he had previously gotten, "just in case". It was during this time we found out that our moving van would not arrive for another week.
The temperature drops at night and since we had no blankets or a working heater, the first few nights were very cold. On the plus side, we have never slept closer together as a couple!
The weather has been extremely wet--showers, sprinkles, heavy thunderstorms... it has been non-stop. Before our first Sacrament meeting began, the Bishop stood up and asked the ward members to include a plea for more rain in their fasts. Dan and I looked at each other wondering, "Why on earth do they want more rain??" We later found out that it never rains in Lompoc. The members have been praying and fasting for weeks for rain. I guess we are in a very faithful area because it is supposed to rain for the next week and a half. The ward members, by the way, are wonderful and we have been bombarded with welcomes!
This past Saturday Dan and I hung out with 11 other people from his school. We had all decided beforehand that we wanted to go to an outdoor mall in Santa Barbara, so Dan and I volunteered our car as well as ourselves to be one of the designated drivers. After window shopping, we ended up going to a bar and the very end of the strip. The bar was packed, but we ended up getting a long table on the patio. While Dan and I were trying our hardest to be sociable and friendly, there were a lot of people and most of them were already friends with each other. We made it through until the food and drinks came (which, by the way, was really expensive, and not very good). When a few people noticed we weren't drinking, they began asking us questions about not drinking. We ended up replying that it was religious and they lost interest. For two more hours we were at the bar trying to make small talk with people we didn't know. I remember thinking, "this is going to be the longest night of my life."
He told us that his Mormon friends in high school told him about the LDS afterlife, and asked us if we wouldn't mind clarifying what they had said. We ended up talking almost the entire way home about the Plan of Salvation and our beliefs (he had a lot of questions). Mickey seemed impressed with the plan and commented that "you Mormons thought about everything". He began talking about his own struggles with religion. He was raised Protestant, but began having questions and fell away from his church. He had questions about the people in Africa and others who would never have a chance to hear about the gospel. We had unknowingly answered this question when we were speaking about spirit paradise/prison and the teaching that goes along there.
We finally left the bar and were walking back to the mall for frozen yogurt. We passed a cigar lounge, where about half the group went in and bought cigars to smoke. The rest of us waited outside until they finished and we continued up the strip. The group stopped again at an ADULT store and everyone went in except for the two of us and one other guy. When they came out, they began talking about what they had found interesting in the store. At this point, Dan and I were just trying not to listen. We eventually all got frozen yogurt, but throughout the walk up the strip, more and more people started telling us that it would be okay if we left. I kept thinking, "Great. We came to get to know people and make friends, but now we don't fit in and they don't even want us around anymore."
One car driver was feeling sick, so he took his group home. Since most of the "fun" people were in that group, everyone decided that they were all going to go to someone's house and continue drinking there. They also told us that we didn't need to come.
Santa Barbara is about an hour away, so I was expecting a very long and awkward drive. When we got on the highway one of the guys in the back (Mickey) leaned forward and asked us if we were Mormons. After we said that we were, he told us that no one in the group cared if we drank or not. The conversation ended there, and they talked in the back and Dan and I talked to ourselves about Dan's Dr. Pepper addiction. Mickey popped back up and jokingly said, "Dan! Doesn't that have caffeine? You're a bad Mormon!" We laughed and he asked us what we believed about caffeine and what the church's stance was.
I had never shared the gospel with anyone (not really), and it was nice that we were able to answer all of his questions. It was amazing that the gospel had an answer for all of his questions (well, except for one. He asked us if God was the first God or if we believed there was a line of Heavenly Father's behind him). The Spirit was in the car when we spoke about the LDS religion and it was the coolest experience!
To lighten the mood after all of the questions were answered, I started a discussion about the more crazy religions, like wiccan, spaghetti monster, and scientology. They laughed a lot and told us about a scientology documentary we should watch. When we got to Lompoc, we stopped at a gas station so they could pick up some beer for the rest of the night. While they were getting out of the car to go in the station, they stressed that we should come to the house and hang out. While they were out of the car, Dan and I debated. Neither of us are super social creatures, but decided that it would be good if we went. We would play ONE game, and then come up with some excuse to leave. We went into the station and bought some soda so they wouldn't feel weird about us not drinking anything.
We started playing games at the house around 9PM and it was SO. FUN. We got along really well with everyone at the house and we made them laugh a lot. We left just before midnight--which was still before anyone else left. We were both really glad that we had decided to come to the house and play games. On the way home, we started counting the hours we had spent out with them and it ended up being 8 1/2 hours!!
Sidenotes:
- We live just down the road from a sewage treatment plant, so sometimes it is really stinky
- We have a pair of nesting doves right outside our bedroom window! They have two babies inside their nest. I am pretty sure they are Eurasian Collared Doves.
- This past Sunday, Dan agreed to go with me to our first choir practice. Dan hates singing and was not excited to be there. There were two altos and one tenor (all well over 70). The accompanist was also the choir director. They were overjoyed to see us and were thrilled that we could fill in as bass and soprano. They were so kind and welcoming, and IN THE OPENING PRAYER, prayed that we would come next week. They sealed the deal by complimenting Dan on how low his voice was. On the way home, Dan told me that he would like to go next week!
Dan and April (Curtis) Crunkleton
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