July 13, 2014

July 13, 2014

Well, we just finished another transfer week!  Once again we sent home some missionaries that we have gotten close to and will miss!

This week has been great working with President Mella.  We already feel comfortable with him.  He is willing to listen and understands how hard we are working to keep things in the mission running smoothly…..our behind the scenes jobs.  He is doing what he can to not add to our burden….which, by the way, already eased up a lot!  We learned that mission presidents and wives are not supposed to turn in receipts to me for reimbursement, but they are to scan and email them to Salt Lake for reimbursement!  Wow…..that takes a lot off of my plate…..and will make my job easier.  We have always been told that change is good, so we shall see what changes come that will be good, I guess!  We noticed the first change on Friday.  The MLC (Mission Leadership Council) which consists of the Zone Leaders and the STL’s (Sister Training Leaders) was held.  In the past, the meeting went from 9 to 3, with a break for lunch.  This time, it was just in the morning, ended at lunch time.  The missionaries seemed excited that it wasn’t as long as in the past.  Shorter meetings ought to give them more time for their missionary work.  These MLC meetings occur every 4 weeks I think, so that will end up giving quite a bit of time overall back to the missionaries for their work.

Last Monday we had our Senior Family Home Evening at President and Sister Mella’s home.  We did a potluck, with President Mella grilling chicken on the barbecue grill, and Sister Mella cooking a big pot of rice.  It was a nice evening, enjoying one another’s company.  When we cleaned up from dinner, we gathered in the family room, and went around the room telling a bit about ourselves and our callings and telling a family history story from our family.  What a neat way to learn more about other people!  We learned that Elder Michie is descended from the Hunsakers that settled Honeyville.  I told him afterwards that Grant’s mom is also descended from that Hunsaker, as well as Ann’s dad…..so we are kind of connected there - in a round about way of course…fun!

I still haven’t typed up my notes from the Outgoing Devotional last Sunday, July 6th.  Maybe I will get to it later today.

Last Friday, Gary moved another set of sisters into their new apartment.  This was the last one in the apartment we had to be out of because the building was sold, and possibly being torn down.  Everyone in the building got eviction notices because of the change in ownership, anyway.  Now, he has the task of getting missionaries what they need this week since the latest transfer.  Also, we have another senior couple coming the end of August, so when the president decides where he will place them, then Gary will need to get another apartment ready for them…..always busy!

Saturday night (yesterday), we went out to dinner with the Michie’s.  We had gone on a walk while my bread was rising, and Gary’s phone rang, asking us if we would like to come over to visit with them…..they said it was too quiet!  So, we went to visit awhile, then decided to go to Sizzler for dinner.  It was a nice evening!  I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but they live on the opposite end of the building we live in.  We are apartment 502, they are 526.  The Crockett’s are in apartment 310, the building on the other side of the pool from us.  The Vietnamese elders are in apartment 292, a couple of buildings away.  Speaking of the Vietnamese elders……Elder Hullinger was made a traveling AP, so is out of the Vietnamese program from now.  So, we won’t get to see him as much…….that was sad, we really enjoy him, but we know he will do a great job in his new calling.  We are also getting another Vietnamese elder this coming Wednesday, Elder Golightly.  So that will be 3 Viet elders in our branch for now….Elder Kwon, Elder Ho and Elder Golightly.   And speaking of our branch…..we have a baptism coming up again!  Next Sunday after church, we have a man and his wife getting baptized…their names are Minh and Loan.   I don’t know their last names.  So we will be staying after church next week for that and for a small social which the branch always does after a baptism.  Only this time it was announced it won’t be a big meal, but easy foods, because clean up gets to be too much with a big meal.

Our next transfer is in August, and will be a big one….each side of it.  We have around 30 going home, and we have around that many coming in!  So, we may all need to drive vehicles to the airport to get them all there and pick up all the new ones.  The AP’s will let us know those details later.

We have exciting things to look forward to this month—we are flying to Dallas the weekend of the 25th for Dylan’s baptism!  And we will not only get to see Melissa’s family, but Kori’s family as well!  I can’t wait to hug and kiss some grandkids and see how much they have grown!!

Well, I am hoping for a normal week in the office this week, quieter than it has been for 7 weeks.   During the last 7 weeks we have had 2 transfer weeks, missionary interviews with President Watkins, and Meet and Greet’s with the new president and his wife.  That makes for a crazy office full of missionaries almost constantly!  And makes it hard to get our jobs done well.  And makes for a stressed out Wanda!  (Sorry Gary)  So, maybe this week we can catch our breaths and catch up on our jobs.  I hope so.  I know I am not the only one who feels like I am falling behind.

We hope all of you are doing well, and look forward to hearing about what is going on in your lives…..if you happen to send us an email!  Once again, we caught tidbits the rare times we glanced at Facebook, but don’t know any details……fill us in!   And thanks so much to the ones we do hear from!

When I get the notes from the Outgoing Devotional put on here, I hope you get a feel for the meeting as I did.  As usual, it was a spiritual feast!  I love hearing from the new converts…..how they are so grateful for the changes in their lives, and are so happy to be closer to Christ now.   Some struggle to give up bad habits, but are so grateful when they see themselves change for the better.   Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are also so grateful when they see us change for the better.  None of us is perfect, so we all need to make constant changes to improve our lives to try and be what we can be.  I hope we can all work towards that goal of being the best that we can be, and being better children of our Heavenly Father.

See you soon!   [Next Saturday we will hit our 11 month mark—7 months to go!]