Transfer day and meeting new companions is always exciting.
Lots of "temporary" goodbyes.
A very happy groups of new missionaries. They were so ready to get going.
This mom was so surprised. It was so fun to watch their reunion.
Someone was late so we took one picture before the session and one after. We were missing one missionary in each.
This week of transfers had a few activities that needed the immediate attention of both Sister Macdonald and me. The most pressing one occurred on Wednesday when we had a house full of missionaries for their traditional final meal at our home. We had a call from one of our elders who is serving as a zone leader in Grants Pass. He reported that his new companion (whom Sis. Macdonald had been monitoring by phone all day) was now in the hospital. The decision being his need for an emergency appendectomy. Sister Macdonald quickly called the appropriate medical advisors and the family and then authorized the surgery. The next day I called the missionary department and the family’s stake president and informed them of the prior day’s events. We also had the elder call his family and let them know that all was well.
As I talk about this week’s medical issue it occurs to me that I didn’t report that two weeks ago one of our elders had sinus surgery and he also bounced back very quickly. When these medical emergencies happen, we are glad again to be in this part of the world where competent medical advice and treatments are available. This, combined with the fact that the missionaries are looked after by divine power, brings us great peace.
Tuesday was a day of history in our mission. I think it is the first time (and if not the first time then it is the first time in a very long time) we have had more new sisters arrive in the mission in a single day than we had elders. We had 5 sisters arrive on Tuesday along with 4 elders. They were all excited to be here and anxious to get to their area of service. I should mention that last Friday we had a missionary transfer in from the Mongolia mission where he was having a problem getting his visa renewed. He will serve for an unknown period of time in our mission. He had served almost a year and a half in Mongolia, so he only has about six months left. He seems to be a great elder, so I half hope we get to keep him even though I know Mongolia would like him back.
This group of missionaries going home was very full of life and we enjoyed having their boundless energy in our home. One of the missionaries was scheduled to have his sister and her husband meet him at the Portland Temple and they were going to travel home from there. Unbeknown to him his mother arrived at the temple too and surprised him. It was great!
This weekend we went out to the coast and spoke in the ward in Lincoln City. We went out with one of my counselors and his wife and planned to enjoy a rainy, but quiet weekend. It turned out to be a weekend of nice weather, and a member of the ward who lives out there part-time had provided a lovely home right on the beach for us to use. We traveled out on Friday and on Saturday morning were also invited to speak at a bishop’s retreat the Monmouth Stake was holding. Although we were a little busy with meetings and phone calls etc., we definitely enjoyed the slow down in pace, a chance to visit, read a bit, catch up, and enjoy the scenery and company.
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