Johansons

This last weekend we got a great opportunity to go to California on an errand for the owners of my company that also own a small car dealership. They purchased a couple of cars at the auction in Fontana, CA and needed someone to fly out and drive them back. I jumped at the chance because Fontana is not only right in my mission, but the area that both Tyler and I were assigned when we met. :) It is also very close to the area I was in before that, Rialto.
So we flew out on Friday afternoon and there was a shuttle van waiting to take us over to the auction where we could pick up the cars. Our flight had a stop/switch in Phoenix where our 2nd flight in to Ontario was delayed so we ended up getting to the auction front doors at exactly 4:01, and the auction closes at 4:00 pm on Fridays, so the doors were locked! We didn't know what to do, and staying until Monday wasn't an option, so we ended up going up to some strangers with tags on that looked like they might work there as they were walking out to their cars to go home for the day. We explained the situation and that the shuttle had just barely dropped us off... and luckily they were kind enough to get past the mean security guard keeping watch at the only unlocked door on the whole building... and petition our cause. :) We got in and got our "gate passes" to get in to the lot that had the cars, and then all that was left was.... finding the cars! All they could tell us about the location of the cars was that they were somewhere in that lot over there. So we searched isle by isle until we located both of them, and luckily it didn't take nearly as long as it could have. :)

The rest of the trip was relatively stress-free. We checked in to the hotel, the DoubleTree in Ontario, and got to go to dinner with a couple that Tyler had gotten to be great friends with on his mission. Then, the next morning we had breakfast with another family that he knew, and from there we drove over to Rialto where a couple of families were waiting for us to join them for lunch. If you ever wondered why missionaries in our mission have historically gained a lot of weight... you are probably not wondering that now. But, it was great, they made Chicken with chile colorado and chile verde and they also made mole and fresh homemade tortillas! Here are a few pictures that we took with them:

Later that afternoon we headed to one last home to visit with a family that I got the awesome opportunity to teach. Their kids have grown up so much! Little Danny used to run around pretending like he was a dinosaur and growling like a T-Rex, "Fwah!" He didn't really remember me anymore, but that's ok. :)

Here is a picture with them:

It was such a fun trip. Every time we think about going back, we always think to ourselves that it's been too long, and no one will even remember us... But then we get there and it's like we haven't even been gone a day. I'm glad we got to go, hopefully we can go back soon.

It was especially sad to come back to this cold cold weather!

We basically went from

to

We decided we should visit California more often in the winter time, it's much more pleasant weather!