Elder Dawson Flake: 2009

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Pictures and Wisdom Teeth

Friday, November 6 we went and picked up Dawson's new suit that was being altered at Adrians. Then we went to Kiddie Kandids to get his picture taken. He only wore the top half of his suit with shorts and slippers so the photographer had little trouble coming up with shots of just his top half. We got some good ones and then proceeded to stop by Grandma Flake's house and put Dawsons missionary picture on her Missionary wall. She is so proud of all of her 7 sons and many grandchildren who have served missions. Dawson and I were just as excited to put his up and be the next in line.
Next stop was to get his four wisdom teeth pulled. It went pretty smoothly and Dawson watched "The Man from Snowy River", which is one of his favorite movies from his younger days. Later he watched another movie with the boys while I worked on the Flake Family Newsletter. He slept well and was up and going the next day. He did go over to Grandma's and watch the BYU vs Wyoming game with her. We watched the first half and then went to buy Andrew some new shoes. It is such a beautiful fall day.

Mission Call!

Dawson's mission call came today! Oct. 7, 2009. He had submitted his papers the week before and the stake president had got them in on Sept. 29 so the call was made on Wednesday, Sept. 30, the week of General Conference. We thought that might set it back a week, but it came. Dawson got the letter on the way to his 3:00 Biology class. He ran it home and hid it in his room so we wouldn't try to open it. After his class he helped Davy move a desk and then went to his institute class. Meanwhile I went and watched Andrew run at SCHS for his cross country race. We made a few phone calls and had friends and neighbors here at 9:00 pm when he opened it. San Jose, California Spanish speaking! He leaves on December 30! That is the date that we put as his eligibility date. Sweet! We are all excited.
Johnsons, Hatches, Saaralainens, Suttners, Thompson's, and a bunch of Dawson's friends were there. We had brownies and ice cream and celebrated!

Mission Facts

The California San Jose Mission was created July 1, 1978, by dividing Oakland and Fresno Missions. Lysle R. Cahoon was the first president of the mission. It is approximately 175 miles long and 50 miles wide. There are now 13 stakes with the mission boundaries. Effective September 7, 1991, another boundary change gave the San Jose Mission the areas of Hayward and Fremont; and San Francisco was transferred to the Oakland Mission.

The California Mission was organized July 31, 1846, with Samuel Brannon as president. When gold was discovered in the area in 1848, people came by the thousands to seek their fortunes. Partly because of this, the mission was closed in 1858 and not reopened until 1892, with John L. Dalton as president. Later, President Robinson (1901-1919) established the mission home at 939 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. The 1906 earthquake prompted the brethren to move mission headquarters to Los Angeles. In 1941 the mission was divided and the Northern California Mission came into being, with German E. Ellsworth as president. Today there are 12 missions in the state of California.

San Jose enjoys a very mild climate. Average maximum temperature for January is 57.6; April 69.0; July 81.1; October 74.1. Humidity varies from 66% in January to 54% in July. Average annual rainfall is 13.11 inches, falling mostly between November and March