Our new arrivals. Finally someone shorter than me! Sister Clark says she is always the shortest. It was a cold, but sunny day to welcome new missionaries.
Our trip to the Portland Temple with our outgoing missionaries. It was a small group, but we had a wonderful time. The atrium was beautiful and much warmer for pictures this time of year.
This was the week of transfers. For the missionaries this is both a time of sadness for leaving areas and people they have come to love and a time of hope with new starts in their lives. For Sister Macdonald and me it is also a time of recharging our batteries as we welcome in new missionaries who are full of excitement and want to learn so much so that they can magnify their callings. It is also a time of peaceful reflection with the outgoing missionaries in the temple and in our home as we contemplate with them all the good they have done and the life changing events that they will now face. We are happy for them, have faith in their abilities and pray that each one of them will navigate the waters of life ahead of them successfully.
There are so many examples of inspiration that happen during each transfer process, but let me just share one that happened this time. I had been feeling for some time that Grants Pass (about 2 hours south of Eugene) could use another set of missionaries – specifically a set committed to do Spanish work there. This of course has to be “managed” with the number of missionaries coming and going and the ones who speak Spanish. A transfer ago we put three missionaries in one companionship (one of whom spoke Spanish) so that this transfer we could send another missionary there. Then they could open the new area and the missionary breaking off from the 3-some would already know the area. As the assistants and I were determining who should go to Grants Pass, we had decided on one missionary, but I kept feeling a second one should go too. While we still had an extra missionary available it didn’t make logical sense to have that extra person so far away. Well of course we followed the spirit and sent the extra person. The very night of transfers I received a late night call (that kept me up and worried until about 2:30 am) that one of the missionaries was in the emergency room having trouble breathing. Long story short is that he had mono and of course would have a fairly lengthy recovery period. Since he was going home next transfer anyway we decided to send him home a few weeks early to recover. The work did not stop for long as we already had the extra missionary in place and those staying already knew the area.
Of course I feel bad that the Elder had to go home a few weeks early, but was so happy that the Lord had prepared a way for the work to move forward even when one of His servants was no longer available. I am seeing so many of these miracles happen time and time again. I know that I do not make the transfers – the Lord does - and I hope I can always hear what He is telling me.
This week as Sister Macdonald and I were doing our long range planning we found that we have been in a bit of a rest period (although it certainly hasn’t felt like that). In saying this I am making reference to stake conference speaking engagements. We only had one in the first six months because all of the stakes in our mission were involved in a regional satellite conference held on the same day. Because of this we only spoke at one Saturday, adult session. These next few months we will be speaking at a stake conference almost every weekend – sometimes two in one weekend. It will be great to be able to encourage the members to do missionary work, but it will certainly increase our travels as getting to some of these stakes will require an over night stay.
There are so many examples of inspiration that happen during each transfer process, but let me just share one that happened this time. I had been feeling for some time that Grants Pass (about 2 hours south of Eugene) could use another set of missionaries – specifically a set committed to do Spanish work there. This of course has to be “managed” with the number of missionaries coming and going and the ones who speak Spanish. A transfer ago we put three missionaries in one companionship (one of whom spoke Spanish) so that this transfer we could send another missionary there. Then they could open the new area and the missionary breaking off from the 3-some would already know the area. As the assistants and I were determining who should go to Grants Pass, we had decided on one missionary, but I kept feeling a second one should go too. While we still had an extra missionary available it didn’t make logical sense to have that extra person so far away. Well of course we followed the spirit and sent the extra person. The very night of transfers I received a late night call (that kept me up and worried until about 2:30 am) that one of the missionaries was in the emergency room having trouble breathing. Long story short is that he had mono and of course would have a fairly lengthy recovery period. Since he was going home next transfer anyway we decided to send him home a few weeks early to recover. The work did not stop for long as we already had the extra missionary in place and those staying already knew the area.
Of course I feel bad that the Elder had to go home a few weeks early, but was so happy that the Lord had prepared a way for the work to move forward even when one of His servants was no longer available. I am seeing so many of these miracles happen time and time again. I know that I do not make the transfers – the Lord does - and I hope I can always hear what He is telling me.
This week as Sister Macdonald and I were doing our long range planning we found that we have been in a bit of a rest period (although it certainly hasn’t felt like that). In saying this I am making reference to stake conference speaking engagements. We only had one in the first six months because all of the stakes in our mission were involved in a regional satellite conference held on the same day. Because of this we only spoke at one Saturday, adult session. These next few months we will be speaking at a stake conference almost every weekend – sometimes two in one weekend. It will be great to be able to encourage the members to do missionary work, but it will certainly increase our travels as getting to some of these stakes will require an over night stay.
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