Week Ending February 28, 2010 Week # 4

Spring is here! Beautiful blossoms are everywhere and so is unpredictable weather.

These are at the side of the mission home.

These have the most heavenly aroma and are near our driveway.


Here are some of the colors emerging at the Portland Temple.

This was the week that I worked with the assistants to make transfer decisions. It seems like yesterday that I was working hard to figure out how to work through my first transfer experience. I thought it was a little difficult because I didn’t know any of the missionaries and I had to depend so much on the spirit to direct where missionaries should be sent. This week was the 15th transfer I have worked on and I found it difficult for a different reason. Now I do know the missionaries and I want to be sure that it is the Lord directing this work and not my preconceived thoughts about any of the missionaries. Once again I found He did a great job of leading the way and I am calm with the decisions that were made.

This week one of our elders, who came in last month, had to go home with health problems. He has crohn’s disease and had delayed his arrival into the MTC by six weeks because he had a flare up right before he was suppose to arrive. He got it under control, but almost immediately after he arrived he had problems again. The doctors (both here and the ones the missionary department consult with in SLC) recommended that he go home and try to get it resolved. He wanted to stay, but he and his family know that his number one concern right now has to be to get healthy. We hated to send him home.

This week while I was getting my hair cut the shop was calm enough for me to have a good conversation with the woman who cuts my hair. I have had many discussions about the gospel with her on previous visits. One time she told me that she couldn’t afford to get married to her fiancée. I told her I would provide the church and perform the wedding ceremony for free. They are still considering taking me up on that. This time I asked her if she had ever read the Book of Mormon. She told me that she hadn’t. I told her about the book and testified of its truthfulness. She agreed to read it and I got one out of the car and gave it to her. We agreed to talk about it next time I was in. Let’s hope for the best.

This weekend our stake conference speaking assignment was right here in Santa Clara, about 20 minutes from our home. Because of how close it was, we were able to partake of the sacrament in our Eugene ward before we went over to the meeting. We were only asked to participate in the Sunday session, so it felt like a week off from speaking. We enjoy going there as we know a number of people in that stake, and today we found out that Sister Macdonald has a second cousin living there. She had fun connecting with him for a little while.

Spring must be getting close, as we saw a man on a large tractor mowing the park lawn for the first time of the year when we went for a walk one day this week. It is nice to see that Spring is coming (although this was a very mild winter) and see the hope of new life that comes with it. We are ready for longer, warmer, and mostly DRYER days.

Week Ending February 21, 2010 Week # 3

Sister Brinkerhoff was so good to take care of us while we stayed in Grants Pass for stake conference. Her husband is a counselor in the stake presidency.

Our Eugene Zone
I Love this picture. It shows where their minds are.



Our former Sis. Parker and one of her new member friends stopped by. It was so good to see her and to know she hasn't forgotten the OEM.

This week we did interviews in Corvallis, Salem, Eugene and Coos Bay, seeing the rest of “our” missionaries and enjoying our time with them. After we finished interviews in Coos Bay on Friday, we headed towards Central Point, as I had a correlation meeting with the area seventy and the stake presidents there on Saturday morning and we had agreed to speak at a youth fireside while we were in town on Friday night. We were enjoying a beautiful drive along the Oregon coast and were busy visiting and enjoying the scenery, letting the lovely lady in our GPS tell us where to turn. She took us up a lovely mountain vista between Gold Beach on the coast and Grants Pass towards the east. This was our first time traveling this road. We loved it until just over an hour later when we came to a snow cover road that was impassable. We turned around and when we had cell coverage I let the stake president in Central Point know that we were going to be very late.

When we started out we thought we had an hour to spare but this turn around added over two and a half hours to our trip. President Wright was SO gracious and told us that everything happens for a reason. Anyway, we went straight to his home, arriving at 8:30 (for a 7:00 fireside). They had an enjoyable time just visiting before we arrived, and then we took 45 minutes or so and had a great visit with the youth about missionary work and preparation. Sister Wright was kind enough to feed us at the end of the evening. They then told us the story of that road in the winter months. A couple of years ago another couple had followed their GPS through that area and were caught in a storm, stuck in snow with their family. The husband died from exposure trying to hike out for help just before they were rescued. So I guess there are a lot of things worse than arriving late. We felt protected and felt absolutely no pressure for not being on time. I, of course, felt foolish, but that will wear off - I hope. 

On Saturday we attended a baptism in the Grants Pass Zone and on Saturday and Sunday we participated in a Stake Conference in the Grants Pass Stake. It was a joy to be with those saints and to feel the spirit of their stake. We stayed with a counselor in the presidency and enjoyed our time there. The president had arranged to have the first three rows reserved for newly baptized and recently activated members. It was so good to see them and catch their spirits.

After the conference was over we headed back home to Eugene. I had another correlation meeting on Sunday with the stake presidents in the northern part of the mission and the area seventy. I do enjoy the opportunity to visit with the stake presidents through out the mission. (Make no mistake about it, I still wish that they were much shorter in length!)

Week Ending February 14, 2010 Week # 2

A very sad story. I won't reveal the name of the elder (it starts with an Hu and ends with an er). He was giving himself a haircut and the guard fell off resulting in THIS. It's on the top of his head, but he's not real tall making it visible to, well, just about everyone but me.

I Thought I'd just show you more pictures of Oregon. This is the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. It is one you can go inside and tour.

This is a view from the top of the lighthouse. It was a beautiful, sunny day, making the top of the lighthouse extremely warm.

In keeping with our more recent pattern we started our interview schedule with a very full week. We traveled to Roseburg, Grants Pass, Medford, Klamath Falls, Bend & Redmond and then back home. With other travel this week we put almost 1,000 miles on the car. We also enjoyed the uninterrupted “quality time” we had to just visit with each other. We saw over 75 missionaries and although we were exhausted at each day’s end, we also felt rejuvenated by our interaction.

This week two of our missionaries had surgery. One elder had surgery done to eliminate the repeat of bladder stones he was having, and the other elder had a hernia repaired. The first one stayed in our home with his companion for a night before his surgery and we enjoyed having them here. I was able to give him a blessing before his surgery. The elder who had his hernia repaired was in the Salem area and he had local elders administer to him. We look forward to seeing him this next week. They are both doing much better.

A week ago I fell on my shoulder and I was concerned that I may have reinjured the work I had done on it in December. I had an elder administer to me and he told me that the shoulder would heal and that the pain would go away. I was grateful for his worthiness to give that blessing and immediately noticed a reduction in the amount of pain I was experiencing. The physical therapist told me he did not think I had damaged the repaired rotator cuff. I am glad the Lord is looking after me and these good missionaries.

This weekend we participated in three sessions of stake conference in Corvallis. The stake is about an hour away from our home so we were able to drive back and forth on Saturday and Sunday. Three of the speakers were converts to the church. I was not born into the church either, although my parents joined when I was young. One of the speakers had only joined the church six months ago and was now speaking in front of a very large group. It is amazing to see the growth in people as they have embraced the gospel. In one of my talks I emphasized the fact that someone who has not even heard of the restored gospel could be speaking at this stake conference next year.

During our travels we also had the opportunity to visit and/or have dinner with the stake presidents in Roseburg, Ashland, and in Bend & Redmond. We enjoy our association with them and are happy with the progress each of them is making with the missionary work in their stakes. I also had the opportunity to interview a couple of investigators for baptism, and we attended several baptisms. It is great to be part of this work and see first hand the Lord’s hand in all of this.

Week Ending February 7, 2010 Week # 1

This is a beautiful world we live in! The ocean is an amazing thing.

Our beloved, proper zone leaders.

The real thing! What more can I say. Sorry parents, but they just don't lose it. In fact, for some it gets worse. They are a lot of fun. We love them!

Our zone leader’s council was great this week! Speaking collectively of this group of leaders, I feel like they are “getting it” better than any other group of zone leaders have at the same time before. Now to those former zone leaders who may be reading this, I am sure you “got it” and I am proud of you for doing so, but in talking about a whole group, a higher percentage of this bunch are firing on all cylinders at the same time. What I specifically make reference to is how prepared so many of them came this week to discuss things they needed counsel or suggestions on in their areas, and to share the success they are having and what is working well for them. In writing this I am keenly aware that it is most likely that I am finally “getting it” and helping them learn how to be leaders and contribute to a counsel with recommendations and not just coming ready to be instructed. I do feel that they are very ready to advance the purposes of the mission in their respective zones this transfer.

We have been to the area of each senior couple in the mission who are or have served here except for one. This week we took care of that by getting out to Lincoln City and visiting with the Kirkhams. We took them and a former senior couple, the Bergshoeffs, out to dinner. The seniors do so good on their own without much need of direction from me, but it was good to get out there and visit with them. Due to the distance, we stayed out there and I had the opportunity to join the younger missionaries in Newport for their companionship study one morning. I had tried to call them that morning and tell them I was coming, but their phone was in their bedroom. They didn’t hear it where they were studying, so when I knocked on their door they were a bit surprised. That companionship consists of a new elder (who has been out a couple of weeks) and his trainer (who has been out 5 months). When it was time for the newer missionary to practice his teaching he didn’t seem to be too flustered by the fact that I was there and he did a great job. I also participated with them in a bit of their weekly planning. It was good to be with them on their turf and see them doing so well.

This weekend our participation in the stake conference we were asked to speak in was rather interesting. The first part of the program had gone over by about 10 minutes, so we knew we were going to need to do some cutting of our talks. The speaker who spoke before us was supposed to speak for 15 minutes and spoke for 30. Needless to say we bore brief testimony and gave the time to the stake president. I felt for the stake president who didn’t know what to do when the person just kept going. I reflected back on my time as stake president and I was so grateful for the way my counselors would handle this. Before the people spoke (and that is the key – before) they would remind them of how long they had to speak and told them they would tap their foot when they had a minute or so left. This normally kept the meeting on track.

Due to our attendances at stake conferences we have not and will not be able to partake of the sacrament for several weeks. This Sunday we were able to find a ward in another near by stake that held sacrament meeting at 1:00 close enough we could get to it. We enjoyed the sprit of the meeting and renewed our covenants by partaking of the sacrament. It was good to feel the sacredness of the sacrament and realize how fortunate we are to be able to partake. Perhaps when I am able to partake each week I get a little causal in the sacredness of that ordinance.

Week Ending January 31, 2010 Week # 6

President and I were on the coast and took time for a walk near the Spouting Horn. It was a perfect day, no wind, but early in the year for flowers.

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this great tree. Just wish the lighting would allow you to see more of the ocean. The view was fantastic.

It was a beautiful day to welcome new missionaries to Oregon. We were so happy to see the sun. They had no idea how happy we were to see the sun!

This was a strange transfer week as we only had missionaries coming in, and no one going home. We only had a few scheduled to go home this month, and they all went home a few weeks early to get into school at the beginning of the semester. With this influx of new missionaries and no outgoing, we were able to open another two areas this transfer. It also created a couple of three-somes. Due to not having a trip to the temple and no missionaries staying here on the way home, the week sounded like it was going to be quite light, but things seemed to fill in and keep us busy. Some of the “things” that filled in were not straight missionary work. I had a follow-up visit with my doctor and I am progressing as I should. My office work is a bit more caught up, and Sister Macdonald and I are both a bit more organized for now. In addition she had a lot of missionary medical things to follow up on, and I was able to enjoy a non-hurried presidency meeting with my two wise counselors. I so appreciate their fresh look at issues and their sage advice.

In addition to being able to witness several baptisms this month, we were also able to attend and speak at four sessions (they added a youth session Sunday morning) of stake conference in the Central Point Stake down near Medford. All the sessions of conference were great and the spirit was there in abundance. We leave much better people for having attended and we were touched by several of the messages and the songs. I hate to mention just one speaker as they were all great, but a young mother spoke that had been in a car accident within the last year. In that accident she was seriously injured and took months to recover. She lost her husband of just over a year, but her new born baby was not hurt. She spoke so powerfully and I know even more now about the Lord’s love for us even through our challenges. We were able to stay in the stake president’s home, President Wright. We enjoyed their family and our interaction with them very much.

This is the first of six straight weekends where we will have the opportunity to speak in stake conferences. Each of the stake presidents has asked us to address things a bit differently, so we also enjoyed the extra time this week to plan for each of these conferences. We love seeing all of the members across the state, but we really love seeing our missionaries whenever and where ever we can.

I have been e-mailing a couple of friends who have recently received their calls to serve as mission presidents and have asked me a few questions. It has been fun to reflect a bit on our own call two years ago and to realize that we are now in the "sweet spot" of our mission life. I have also mentioned to them that a mission is a great place to have your love grow as a couple (after some adjustment of being together 24-7.) I do know this much, I don’t plan to go back to being so engrossed in my business and church life that Sister Macdonald and I just see each other for an hour or two per day again. This mission experience has made be want to be around her a lot more.