Week Ending April 25, 2010 Week # 6

Rain, rain, rain, then a moment of sunshine just in time to take a picture! There are days I think we are all going to float away. These are our newest. They will see plenty of sunshine this summer.

It was a beautiful day at the temple--chilly, but beautiful.

We found some elders from the Portland Mission. The elder on my left (on the far right) is new and came from my cousin's stake in Texas. Their families know each other well--another small world experience.

This is the Oakridge Building.

This is the view from the Oakridge Building. Wow!

It was great to see the enthusiasm and excitement of another group of brand new missionaries, and sad once again to say good bye to a group of faithful missionaries who had completed this portion of their service in the Kingdom of God. The love that comes into our hearts for these elders and sisters that we are just meeting is sometimes difficult to understand and the love we feel for these faithful ones who are finishing, after having given their all, is overwhelming. We so enjoy going to the temple with the departing group and seeing them enjoy the things of the Spirit.

Sunday we were able to speak at the branch in Oakridge along with the sister missionaries serving in that area. It is a quiet, small town of less than 4,000 people and is nestled in a beautiful area up the canyon. These smaller units have such a nice feeling about them. It was good to be there. This branch has been active in doing missionary work. We hope our talks helped inspire them to continue the good work they are doing.

One of the unpleasant experiences of being a mission president is that from time to time I am the one who is called upon to share bad news from home. Last Sunday I received a call from a stake president of one our elders. The elder’s mother has had cancer, but it had now spread to her liver and she had been given only a couple of months to live. The elder, and his sister (who is serving in the Colorado Denver North Mission) were very committed to staying in the mission field. I suggested to the elder that he arrange to make a Skype call home to his family which he did on Saturday. He was grateful, but sadden to see his mother so ill. This Sunday another call came with the news that his mother has passed away already. We went up and visited with him and tried to comfort him. He was so very solid, doing more to bring comfort to all around him. I am glad he was able to speak with her, and am strengthened when I see the depth of his testimony and his conviction to the work. I hope that the peace of the gospel will continue to come to him and his family and that this hurt can be manageable for all of them.

This week we also had a pleasant visit from a missionary who had returned home over a year ago. He brought by his fiancée and we enjoyed the visit with the two of them. One of the dividends of serving with all of these good missionaries is being a part of their lives moving forward. It will be fun to watch them over the years as they continue in their life’s journey.

Week Ending April 18, 2010 Week # 5

At just one zone conference there were seven Orem High graduates! (that includes president and me) What a small world it is.

What a great bunch of sisters. We love getting a chance to be together.

These young men from Prineville are very talented. They did a great job sharing their musical talents with the group while in Bandon.

It was good to meet with all of the missionaries as we held our Multi Zone Conferences this week. We tried to teach principles that will help them in their mission life and in their life after they go home. To that last stated goal I invited a different former stake president in each of the areas to speak about the process of releasing and being released from callings. They spoke about the need to be faithful in whatever calling we have at the time, and to know whether we are being released as a trainer, DL, or ZL on our mission, or being released from other callings when we are home, that both the call and the release came after prayerful consideration by those in leadership over us.

Sister Macdonald shared examples from church history where a simple, pure testimony willingly given changed lives and how we can do the same today, that the Lord has prepared many for the gathering just as he prepared many for the restoration. It is our calling to gather in faith.

The assistants (along with Elders Crandall and Martin who joined us at my invitation on this round of zone conferences) taught about the need to prayerfully determine what is possible and not allow negativity or past results to influence what we can do with the Lord’s help.

I spoke about the need we have to rescue all those we can, and shared several scriptures that I was taught at last week’s seminar. We also encouraged all of the missionaries to re-read the Book of Mormon by the end of May. We believe that this, coupled with a mission wide fast to start us off this Sunday, will raise the spirituality of the mission and increase the success that we will have together.

During the three days of zone conferences we hold, we teach basically the same principles to each group. It was great to see missionaries in every conference be thirsty for ways to improve and grow. I have noticed how critical it is to come to a meeting personally prepared to be taught. Whether anything outwardly is said at the zone conference or not, there always seems to be one group that receives what is being taught a little better than the other groups. As I have looked at this over the time we have been here, this phenomena doesn’t seem to be affected by one specific location more often than another, nor does it seem to be affected by whether or not it is the first area in which we hold zone conference (perhaps because the bugs aren’t worked out yet) or the last (perhaps because we are a little tired) or by any other outside influence. It seems to exist in the intangible quality of personal preparation. I hope that I will always go to meetings I attend, either as a teacher or as a student, ready to learn and be edified. I believe as I do so I will get much more out of the meetings.

Saturday night we had the opportunity to drive out to Bandon and speak to a youth group staying there from Prineville. We had the full-time missionaries in the area join us and we answered some of their questions about missionary preparation. It is always good to be with the youth and see their enthusiasm for life.

Week Ending April 11, 2010 Week # 4

The most wonderful mission presidents in the northwest area along with Elder Clayton and Elder Arnold



This picture includes the area seventies for the northwest area. They are a great help in working with stake presidents.

The highlight of the week for me was attending the mid-year mission president seminar Thursday through Saturday in Bellevue Washington. This seminar is a day or two shorter than the annual seminar and, unfortunately, it is just for the mission presidents. At the annual seminar the wives join us and it is ALWAYS better to have Sister Macdonald with me. Since it was held relatively close (a five hour drive straight up the I-5), I drove to Portland and picked up President Dyches who is presiding over the Oregon Portland Mission in route. We had a very pleasant discussion on the way up and back. Sister Macdonald and I have really learned to admire and love him and his wonderful wife. We enjoy any chance we have to be with them.

This seminar was presided over by Elder Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy. Also in attendance were Elder Arnold of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy and Brother Allen who is the director of the missionary department along with the nine mission presidents in the northwest area. On Friday evening the area seventies in the area joined us as well. Often times the missionaries will tell me how much they enjoyed zone conference and how much it lifted them. I felt the same way as I was coming home from this seminar with all of these good men. I was lifted, renewed and had clearer thoughts about where I should be heading and what I should be doing. I pray the Lord’s spirit will guide me to be able to implement the instructions and promptings that I received in an appropriate way.

One thing they always emphasize at these meetings is the need to make sure you maintain a great relationship with your wife and family, and to never allow the pressure of this calling (or any other calling for that matter) to interfere with being first and foremost a good husband and father. Although we all know intuitively that the level of our service will never rise above the level of marriage, sometimes we can let things that matter least take precedence over things that matter most. It was great when I got home on Saturday to go out to dinner with Sister Macdonald and catch up on things that happened while we were apartfor a few days. She truly is my best friend and a great missionary companion.

Before leaving for the seminar my assistants and I enjoyed the influence of the spirit as we made transfer decisions. These will not take effect for another week and a half, but with zone conferences next week and the seminar we needed to nail down most of the decisions before I left. After zone conferences I will make last changes to the transfer board and then we will let missionaries being affected know the end of that week.

All in all it was a great week where I felt the spirit of the Lord in rich abundance. In some organizations the more interaction you have with those in senior positions the more you wonder how it operates as well as it does. In the Church, the more I get to know the senior leaders, the more secure my testimony is and the more I know that the Lord runs this Church.

Week Ending April 4, 2010 Week # 3

A very special day for the Kirkhams and someone they have been working with. She was able to go to the temple and they were able to go with her. What a beautiful day it was. I've never met anyone so excited to have the blessings of the temple in her life. There are so many wonderful experiences for our senior couples. I wish more of you were able to come claim the blessings.

The reflection pool at the Portland Temple that day. The sun is shining!

These orchids are growing in the atrium inside the Portland Temple.

Tuesday through Friday of this week we interviewed the rest of our missionaries and visited with three stake presidents along the way as well. The missionaries we visited were in the Corvallis, Salem, Eugene, and Coos Bay zones. We were also able to visit with the stake presidents in Lebanon, Monmouth and Coos Bay. It is humbling to know we have the duty to train and lift these good young men and try to recharge their batteries when needed. Seeing them and the good work being done by the stake presidents is part of what keeps our batteries charged.

Outside the normal interviews, we also had several other opportunities to see missionaries. On Saturday night, the 27th of March, as we were driving home from a delightful dinner with the Lowarys (he serves in the stake presidency in the Eugene Stake and they have become good friends), I had the impression that I needed to stop and fill the tank up with gas. I pushed the thought aside as I had almost a half of tank and “knew” I wasn’t going anywhere very far away on Sunday. Sadly, that is where that thought ended until late Saturday night when I had a phone call that told me of a concern with a few missionaries in the Salem Zone. I went to bed and woke in the middle of the night with them on my mind. I knew that I needed to go see them that day, even though I would be seeing them on Wednesday. The spirit had prompted me to fill up so I wouldn’t need to shop on Sunday, but I hadn’t listened. Although it is never good to not follow the Spirit, I was glad that this failure was not damaging to anyone else in the mission, and I hope that this experience will help me be more in tune in the future.

On Sunday I went with Elder Christensen, one of my assistants, to see the four missionaries I had been awakened with thoughts of. Elder Jones, my other assistant, went on an exchange with another missionary. I was glad that we went and I think we were able to lift some good young men, and correct a pattern of behavior that had drifted out of compliance with some of the rules. Nothing too terrible, but a correction made early helps avoid a bigger problem later on. I also enjoyed the one-on-one time with Elder Christensen.

After our interviews in Coos Bay we drove down to Brookings and took the senior couple there out to dinner. They will be going home next month, and we knew this would be our last chance to visit at any length with them. They have done much good, as all our senior couples do, and we will surely miss them. We have had two senior couples finish their missions in the last few months, and the remaining five sets all leave by the end of the summer. The only replacements we have scheduled to come are two wonderful couples from our home stake who have agreed to help in the office. We could use many more senior missionaries and are praying for some to be assigned.

We stayed in Bandon for the weekend and listened to conference there. On Saturday morning it wasn’t raining and I joined the missionaries serving there for a beautiful run along the beach. We also enjoyed dinner with the stake president and his wife who live there on Saturday night. Even with almost nonstop rain the scenery in Bandon is breathtaking, the chocolate creations from the local chocolatier are great and the cinnamon rolls at the bakery are fantastic.