Ward Campout at Lomia

Young women have spent many summers at Camp Lomia. Our ward went there again for our annual ward campout. It was great fun and beautiful weather. Too bad for those who couldn't come. The food was good, the company was better. Colleen got to sleep in til 10:30. We had plenty of blankets (and needed them).

Good thing it wasn't a clam

Claire and I went out to Pier d'Orleans for dinner tonight. Adam would have gagged. We both had raw oysters as an appetizer.

By the way, the food there is great.

Girls are dumb

When I talk to young women, I like to tell them that "boys are dumb". And by that I mean that boys generally don't have the self-confidence to take the lead in a relationship. They are lead by their hormones. They will generally do anything a girl wants them to do, if the girl is smart enough to take control. I could give personal examples, but it's too embarrassing.

On the other hand, many girls are dumber. They have something that boys want more than anything in the world, and as long as they control it, i.e. keep it to themselves, boys will do anything for them. But girls fall for the "We don't need to be married" line. We're in love. I love you. I won't love you if you don't let me have it.

Girls need marriage. They need to be respected and taken care of. They don't need to be stuck with kids to take care of on their own. They don't need to be stuck without an education, with no one to help them take care of their kids but their mothers. They shouldn't have to accept any low-life boyfriend who might help them.

Girls need to realize that once they let go of that one thing, it's hard to get it back. It's almost impossible to restore that relationship with that one guy because he has already found out what it can be had for. It doesn't take the supreme commitment of marriage along with all that goes with that. It can be had for something far less. You've heard about the man who offered the woman a million dollars to go to bed with him. After she accepted he changed the offer to $1.00. She protested saying, "What kind of woman do you think I am?" His answer, "I already know what kind of woman you are, we're just negotiating on the price."

Boys need marriage, too. Men are pretty much useless by themselves. It takes a good woman challenging them to be better to get them to do their best. That thing that women have, that men want, keeps driving men to be better, if their woman keeps it just for them.

In some ways, this man/woman thing is way more complicated than this, but in some ways not. If girls don't understand it while young they will give away that pearl of great price before they know what it is worth. They will lose the power they have to motivate boys to be better than they are. And boys, by taking it too cheaply, will never be motivated to be as good as they can be. They will give up missions and education and families.

Success

Mark & I drove over 1,200 miles through the heart of Mexico and did not see one killing or kidnapping. We did meet a lot of incredible people and see a beautiful part of the country.

I picked him up in St. David, AZ where he was working. It was raining cats & dogs. We drove through Tombstone. You know they have billboards there with actual photos of Wyatt Earp, who looks remarkably like Kurt Russell. Bisbee is really pretty with a lot of tall, old buildings. Douglas still has the Gadsen Hotel downtown. We ate at a quaint little place in Aqua Prieta served by a young man who graduated from North High in Phoenix. He said to give our regards to Sheriff Joe.

We followed some double trailer semis through the mountains in the dark through Janos where we turned South. We reached Nuevo Casas Grandes late at night and stayed in the luxurious Paquime Hotel. Next morning we drove out to Colonia Juarez, one of the mormon colonies. As we drove into town, there was a banner hung over the highway which announced, "Welcome Home Elder Ordaz". The scene might remind some people of driving up from South End into Afton, WY. Col. Juarez is a beautiful farming community nestled between hills. There are apple and peach orchards all around and a beautiful Temple on the hill. The architecture would remind you more of Northern Arizona than most of Mexico.

We attended the wedding of one of Elder Brimley's companion's converts, who married a local girl from Nvo. C G. Elder Martinez is a handsome and funny man with a really interesting church history. Mark says he is one of the best missionaries he knows. That night we drove on down to Chihuahua, Chihuahua via Lebaron, the "other" mormon colony. We spent quite a bit of time finding a motel for under $400 pesos a night, but finally found one that did not rent by the hour.

Sat. AM we drove to Saucillo where we met Nora and her family. They showed off the new pig pen they were working on and served us homemade salsa and candy coated cacahuates (peanuts). The countryside there reminded me of Central California. It was a lush agricultural area growing chiles, chiles, chiles, corn, and peanuts. We had a lot of fun with their family and saw the two houses that the dad is building by himself. We then headed back north through Delicias were we visited with several families from the Delicias branch. We just missed the famous Elder Hawkins, aka, John Sena. One of the girls, Hna. Valverde, admitted to us that when Elder Brimley left he had driven all the girls in the branch loco. He gave her the abarozo and told her to hold it over their heads that she was the only one to get a hug.

We drove back up through Chihuahua to Nvo. Casas Grande where we had a Mex Burger. It wasn't as good as he remembered it. Back in Col. Juarez we ran into John Whetton in whose house the missionaries had stayed. He invited us to spend the night (inside in the guest bedroom this time). We had a wonderful evening with John and his 4 boys. John told us that Little Johnny takes after him. John must have had a lot of energy. He also told us about his romance with Jen. That is quite a story.

Sunday morning we went to church at both of the Colonia Juarez wards. What a great tradition of service comes from there. We met a lot of wonderful people in both wards. A few of them even knew that Elder Brimley had gone home from his mission a few months ago, although some wondered why he had a grey-haired companion.

We finished off our trip with a terrific home-cooked meal in the home of Familia Ordaz who were kind enough to include us in their homecoming celebration for Elder Roberto Ordaz. Mark & I drove on home that night.

I cant' begin to tell all the people that we saw and visited with and all the places we saw, but we had a great trip. I've posted pictures on facebook.

Nothing to worry About Now

I just read the good news. The murder rate in Mexico is down. So me and Mark have nothing to worry about (just don't read the article too closely). We'll tell you all about it when we get back.

Me and Mark to Mexico

Mark & I are going to Mexico this weekend. He will be working in St. David, AZ, so I will pick him up there and head through Tombstone to Douglas & Agua Prieta. We will travel to Colonia Juarez, through Lebaron to Chihuahua, Chihuahua and down to Delicias & Saucillo. Then back to Colonia Juarez for peaches and church.

Arizona's Recovery Plan--Lower demand & raise taxes

I recently saw a blog with the title, "Summer of Recovery?". I didn't read it so I'm just reacting to the title. For Arizona, I don't think so. We must have the most treacherous real estate market. Repos are still available really cheap, and those fixing them up are facing low and uncertain appraisals.. This makes selling tough and profitability uncertain. Those investors in the market are having to bring lots of cash and facing uncertain liquidity. Homes may remain on the market or go into the rental pool. Cash investors tend to have their capital tied up and leveraged investors are stuck paying hard-money rates. Either way, a demand checked by poor credit, tightened rules, and under-employment keeps prices and activity down.

There are some qualified buyers, but the prices of fixed-up repos are still low enough to discourage new building. I still don't see much of that happening. There is a little bit in areas buyers have found incredible lot deals where they want to live.

Arizona politicians have found a way to help squash the recovery. SB 1070 is working. Illegal aliens and their families are moving out of Arizona taking their spending with them. These people buy homes, rent apartments, and spend money on all kinds of things. Many pay taxes through payroll deductions, sales taxes, and property taxes, just like the rest of us.

I'm all for just laws, but I'm for actually allowing legal immigration. It doesn't make sense just to say, "Let them follow the rules and come legally." There is virtually no legal immigration allowed from Mexico, Guatemala, etc.

To those who say we just want to follow the law, as if being legal were the same as being right, I remind them that until a few years ago there was a law in Missouri which made it illegal for my people to live in that state. It said that "'my people' were an abomination and should be "exterminated, or driven from the state." Should every other state have "mirrored" the extermination order? After all, it was the law of the land. That law worked too. And there was no "amnesty plan", no loopholes to let "those people" stay in Missouri while they got their legal papers. Just like today, there is no alternative to moving out.