This past week was a transfer week again….number 11 of 13.
Monday was a regular work day. Monday night we talked to Traci and the boys: Nathan, Kyler and Tristan. It was great visiting with them! Scott wasn't home....he is always busy!
Tuesday was the day that the office was full of missionaries for the transfer meeting, and the ones leaving went to the temple after the meeting. As it was Veteran's Day, there was no mail that day. It was a late day for me. I worked until 6:15, and got home just after 6:30. Gary was already home as he had to take the truck home because we needed it first thing in the morning to help with transferring all the missionaries leaving to the airport. I had a message to call President Shelton, our branch president. He wanted to ask me to do the scripture in Sacrament Meeting Sunday……we don’t have youth, so that is sort of like giving a youth talk. You read a scripture and talk about it for a little bit, explaining more about it or why you liked it, etc. I agreed to do it, but knew that my time to even think about it was extremely limited with this busy week.
Wednesday morning, we left before 7 a.m., and took the truck to the mission home to load up the luggage for the airport. The Michie’s were also helping as well as the Crockett’s. We got to the airport and got everyone to their terminals. Sister Mella took the ones to the other terminal (there were just 3 going there). However, she had forgotten her purse, so she took Gary’s office credit card to use to pay for the luggage for those missionaries. So we weren’t much help in checking out missionaries. The AP’s had the other office card, and they were amazing how fast they worked in checking everyone’s luggage! Plus President Mella had his card and was working with some too. We finally helped a couple of them who were in a different line for a different airline than the majority of them. And the AP’s ran over when it was time to pay for the luggage. When we were helping our last person, there was a glitch. His itinerary showed him arriving in one city in his state, but the airline person said she showed a different one. It turns out that the airline had changed the flight after it had been booked, and we didn’t know anything about it. So, she made a phone call, and then did some magic and got it worked out for him to arrive where he had been told (and where his parents would be waiting!)
Then we went up where everyone else was, and they started sending missionaries through security at the appropriate times. They just sat visiting with us until their times came. Then the good-byes.
We had 27 leaving this time, and 29 coming in…..28 from the MTC and 1 that was being reassigned to our mission after being home for medical reasons.
So after we sent off the missionaries, we waited for the incoming to get there. Then, loaded up their luggage in the truck and in the Crockett’s vehicle, then we headed back to the mission home to unload, while President and Sister Mella, the AP’s and the new missionaries headed to San Jose Stake to do the initial contacting activity they always do when they arrive. Then they came back to the office for lunch. By then we were back working.
Thursday turned out to be a crazy day. Normally, we begin at 8 with our office orienting. Sister Nedreberg goes over the cars, I cover the finances and baptism records, and Gary goes over housing and the missionary supplies in the office. Sister Wilks has a part, and medical has a part. Well, we got there early to be ready for the meeting. I wanted to allow plenty of time, as I hate being rushed, and wanted to review what I was covering and get everything ready. Well, when we arrived there were no missionaries there yet, so Sister Nedreberg and I rushed around setting up the breakfast items in the cultural hall for them, thinking they were really running late. When they finally arrived, we learned that the time had been changed to 9--only the office staff hadn't been notified of the change!
Then it just went from bad to worse. We didn't do it in our usual order. The medical took longer than they usually do (but, we have a new mission nurse, and she probably hadn't been told how long to take). We are always on a time schedule, because the meeting where the new missionaries get placed with their companions starts at a specific time. Anyway, it was almost time for that meeting to start and we (Gary and I and Sister Wilks) hadn't been in for our orienting parts yet. We were told we needed to speed things up, so that just flustered me more. I only take 10-15 minutes usually, but to cut it even more and to try to decide what to leave out when what I cover is pretty important....their funding cards and baptism records. Plus, when I was told they were ready for us, I had missionaries in my office doing things, and it was hard to break away. I had been taking payments from missionaries who were purchasing items, and receiving baptism records and going over them with the missionaries to make sure they were complete. Then, to leave the office, I have to lock the money box away, and close out the computer enough so that no one can get on and see anything they shouldn't. So that slowed me down. And, during my presentation, I realized I hadn't done one thing to get ready for the meeting that I should have done, so that was another fluster. It all worked out in the end, but just turned out to be a very frustrating morning. I think that part of the confusion was because we have new AP's who have never been through a transfer before, so they are just learning their jobs too. I did ask President if next time I can go on earlier. It just is very difficult for me to be at the end of the time, when all the missionaries are arriving in the building and needing me for one thing or another. I feel I am being pulled in two directions at once. I really preferred the 8 a.m. starting time, because I would be done with my part before 9 when the office officially opens up, and the phone calls come in as well as the missionaries.
One thing that happened Friday…..the Viet elders stopped by in the afternoon to drop off something from Ann Nguyen. They just left it in my office and didn’t say it needed to be refrigerated or anything, and as I was busy I never even looked inside the bag to see what it was. I worked late that day….till about 6, and by the time we got home at about 6:30 I finally looked in the bag and saw it was food! Since it had been sitting out for several hours, I was afraid to eat it….I didn’t want to take the chance of getting sick. So, I had to throw it away. I felt bad, and I told Ann today at church that I had to apologize to her, and explained what had happened.
Then, Saturday, we had a missionary meeting scheduled from 2-5 in Oakland at the Interstake Center which is located on the temple grounds. We were told to arrive by 1:30 and be in our seats by 1:45. We were combining with the San Francisco/Oakland mission for this meeting, and were going to be addressed by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve. He was in town for things having to do with the 50th anniversary of the Oakland Temple. He was speaking to us that afternoon, and then to the young single adults in the evening. We planned on carpooling with the Mitchie’s, and they were riding with us. So, we decided to just go to the temple earlier and go through a session ahead of time. We left here at 9 a.m. We planned on going through the 10:45 session and had allowed time for traffic. We got there fine that morning, moving along well in traffic. After the session, we planned on going back to the car to eat a sandwich, then walk to the Interstake Center for the meeting.
Well, as we were waiting in the chapel to go to the temple session, we got a pleasant surprise! It was announced that Elder and Sister Bednar were going to be in our session too!! And when we got up to the room, we found that not only were they going to be in our session, but they were the witness couple! How cool is that! And we participated in the prayer circle, so that was an experience of a lifetime.
The meeting was great! A lot of question and answer time for the missionaries. After it was over, we headed home. And the freeway was moving very, very slowly. Like 20 mph for quite a long time, and stopping a lot too. I will not be sad to be away from these freeways! The traffic is just horrendous…..doesn’t matter the day or time.
When we got home, I hurried to start preparing for Sunday’s scripture, and reviewing my lesson for Relief Society. I am so glad I had time a couple of weeks ago to prepare this lesson, as my time available this week was zero, and I knew it would be.
This morning, I wrote up some notes for Sacrament meeting (the scripture and what I wanted to say), gathered up my stuff and headed to church. All went well. I was a little nervous about Relief Society because I had planned something that I wasn’t sure how it would go over, as I rarely get any response from the ladies. Anyway, the lesson, which is from the Latter-day Saint Woman part A, lesson 16, was on Family Home Evening. I had wanted to do the activity we had done for Senior FHE at the beginning of the month…..have them draw slips of paper with an object written on one paper, and then drawing from another envelope with a Gospel Principle written on another paper, and tying the object to the principle someway. [I had had the Viet Elders help me in getting the objects and principles translated into Vietnamese ahead of time.] Since the ladies rarely participate, I knew this part could bomb. Janette happened to be there in Relief Society today, thank goodness! I started with her, thinking she would understand what I was trying to explain since she speaks English very well. The ones who don’t speak English got it through the translator, so I was hoping by seeing it done, they would understand better. She did great! Then I went to another person I thought would do great, My Den, and she was super! So they got the idea I was trying to portray. I had told them several times that there was no right or wrong answer, that actually there could be several ideas for the same papers. So, then I got brave and asked for a volunteer, and got one, and I even got some of the very quiet people involved! Everyone did a great job, and it was the best I have felt after a lesson, that they were involved, and that they gained something from it. I just hope they got the idea that FHE is for everyone, and even if they are a single person, they can get together with someone else and discuss the gospel, or study, or even play games like we did today. They did seem to enjoy the lesson today at least! I told them I have always been one who loves playing games!
So, now we are to this evening and I am typing up my journal and getting ready for the blog.
Today was a monumental day for our family…..Shelley turned 30! All my kids are now in their 30’s. However, this day is one Kori said she has been dreading. Because they are 10 years apart, that means on her next birthday she will be turning 40! I just don’t know how they can be that old already….where has the time gone?
Thursday night we had the chance to talk to Jeff’s kids…..the first time in a long time. It was great hearing their voices and hearing what they have been doing. Jackson sounds so old now…his voice has changed. He is in 8th grade now, so will be starting high school next year, as will Nathan. Jackson broke his arm during football, and ended up having to have surgery on it. He is able to use it now, and has had some therapy in getting it back to normal. Kaden and Brooklyn sounded great too. We look forward to seeing all the grandkids again when we finish our mission, and spending lots of time with them, watching some of their activities.
In the meantime, we work hard here, trying to do our part in moving the missionary work forward. Our numbers are going to start dropping and then leveling off. The rise in numbers was when the age was lowered. Now we will get to normal numbers. So now we will be in the process of having the President and the AP’s figure out area changes, and as apartments come up for renewal of leases, making decisions as to which ones to close.
In closing, I will leave some thoughts from our meeting yesterday:
Agency is the capacity to act, not be acted upon. We are agents, not objects.
When we pray, we need to ask to know, and then DO. When we have faith in Christ, we act first then the power comes. When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, the water parted after they stepped into the water. Objects expect the answer without doing much to get it.
Quit talking about it—go DO it! (an example of this: prayers that ask that those who weren’t here this week will come next week. He said we just go do it….go to the homes. Help them to want to come to church. Be proactive about it.)
Try to be happy about what your are doing.
Begin with the end in mind.
The Holy Ghost carries the message unto the heart, not into the heart. We exercise our agency in receiving it into our heart.
Teaching is more listening than talking. We need eyes that see and ears that hear to discern.
There are different patterns of learning and teaching. Try different ones.
Get up and try! The Lord will help you do things you don’t think you can do.
An interesting question that was asked the missionaries: What would your mission president teach you if he didn’t have to worry about what you were doing right now?
And, in answer to a question on how to best sustain leaders, specifically our mission president: To sustain your mission president, make it so he doesn’t have to worry about you.
We are dependent upon Christ. We need to overcome the natural man—by the Holy Ghost and with the power of the atonement.
In closing, I pray that we can all quit talking about it and DO IT! Do what we need to do to overcome the natural man, and become more Christlike.
Have a great week!
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