Shon and I drove from Spokane Washington to Stockton California. Our trip took approximately 17/18 hours, considering the many stops along the way.
It was wonderful to see friends and family. Mom and dad Begonia also came to Stockton for their Mentoring Program with the Tumales. For the first night, we (mom, dad, Eric, Jasiel, Christine, Jayrica, Jennifer and Raymond Erickson-King) went to a Chinese buffet for Jennifer's birthday. Awesome!
The next day, after Shon and I slept in the Tumale's king-size bed, we ate pandesal and rice (champorado)....yummy! For lunch we went to a Filipino restaurant and ate some sinagang. We went after that to the Stockton Corps for a tour.
We then traveled to Merced to meet the Erickson-Kings and take a tour. Merced Corps has a lot of potential. I have confidence in Erickson-King to turn that place into a Kingdom Building Center! They have an effective homeless feeding program; according to Raymond, they feed approximately 150 people every weekday. And the beautiful thing about it is that it's all run by volunteers.
The Erickson-Kings home was beautiful! They put a lot of work in major cleaning, interior repainting, and getting new furnitures for their home. Too bad that they had to do all that work when they got to their appointment. We capped the evening by going to Red Robins in Turlock.
The next day was wonderful as we (mom, dad, and Ral) went to Yosemite National Park. That place was awesome! I can't believe how huge those granite rocks were, as they hovered and casted their massive shadows over us. Praise God for His awesome creation!
Enjoy the pics:-)
