Our beloved zone leaders looking their best.
...and then something happens to them.
The facial hair matches the hair on their heads. They don't do anything halfway!
Elder Calica is back to lead us in the Oregon Eugene Mission Song! What a treat.I think it is the only time he really truly enjoyed doing it.
Elders Calica, Brown, Buchanan, Larrabee and Goldhardt enjoying some breakfast.
Our visit with the Kirkhams at their going away party. We sure will miss them.
It was so good to see Elder Burt. He is playing the tuba in the band. No surprise to any of us that he is pursuing his music.We have been busier than usual the last two weeks which is why the blog got one week behind. The first week of transfers is typically run at a slightly slower pace but the last two weeks has kept us on the road more and busier than usual.
The first part of the week we held our Zone Leaders Council and we had several new zone leaders there for the first time (which is always the case) who were obviously excited to be learning and growing as men and as missionary leaders. One of the things we discussed was the need to emphasize both the growth of these good missionaries and continued growth in all aspects of missionary work – teaching, fellowshipping, baptizing, and total conversion of those we teach and of the teachers. There had been some discussion among a few of the missionaries about whether we should emphasize results or growth of the individuals, and what type of people they would be 30 years down the road. Stealing some examples and quotes from the great basketball coach who recently passed--John Wooden--I suggested that we could do both. Clearly he was able to develop his players and still win championships. I feel that we can both work to develop great people and at the same time have success at the things we are given to do as missionaries. This seemed to resonate with each of them and they left committed to do the same.
We had a visit from former Elders Buchanan, Larrabee, Calica, Brown and Goldhardt. They showed up during zone leader council in time to sing (and of course, for Elder Calica to lead) the Oregon Eugene Mission Song. They were around for a few days. It was a lot of fun to see them and spend some time with them, a reminder of how much we have missed them.
Most of the time when we are asked to speak to groups outside of our specific missionary duties, we are not given any specific topic so we are able to draw from teachings and experiences we have with our missionaries. This helps keep preparation time fairly limited. The last two weeks we were given topics that we were asked to address at a stake conference in Coos Bay as well as a youth conference in southern Oregon. So we were grateful that after our zone leaders’ council we had a couple of days to work on these talks. I also caught up on reading the weekly letters from the missionaries and some office duties. During this time we also had a visit from our former Elder Burt and his parents. We were wishing he had been here for zone leader council too, to play the piano. That would have really been great. We had a good time getting to know his parents and catching up with what is going on in his life. Another reminder of how much we miss our returning missionaries.
On Friday, June 11, we were invited to a going away dinner for the Kirkhams, a senior couple who have served for the last 18 months in Lincoln City. It was fun to watch them interact with the people they had grown to love and who so obviously love them. We were invited to stay the night with the Hansen’s and enjoyed our association with them too. The next morning we drove to Coos Bay to interview missionaries that day. This was out of the normal rotation of interviews, but since we were going to be there for a stake conference we decided to make just one trip out of it. We enjoyed the beautiful drive along the coast and stopped in to see the missionaries in Newport in route and picked up the elders in Florence who are in the Coos Bay stake. We enjoyed our one-on-one time with them in the car. We enjoyed our weekend with the good members of that stake. The two of us spoke at both the adult session on Saturday evening and the general session on Sunday morning. The spirit was strong at both of those meetings and we were grateful for the opportunity to attend.
Over the weekend and into the Monday we had a missionary with some health concerns that occupied much of our thoughts, phone time, prayers and concerns. A good stake president in an outlying area did a great job of working with him and had him see a doctor on Sunday. He was also good enough to drive him halfway to Eugene on Sunday where I intercepted him. On Monday his mother flew into Portland to fly home with him and we hope he can get the help he needs at home to make a full recovery.
Tuesday we interviewed the missionaries in the Eugene Zone and then made the road trip to interview the missionaries in the Cascade, Klamath Falls, Temple, and Grants Pass & Roseburg Zones on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday respectively. We also had a meeting with one or more stake presidents and their wives on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings and spoke at the youth conference on Friday night. After interviews on Saturday we were grateful to be home, but also somewhat recharged as we had been able to see so many of our great missionaries. This time we had a couple of issues to deal with regarding a companionship not getting along as well as they should. There was also a bit of homesickness and/or discouragement with a few other missionaries. We are really amazed at how seldom these issues come up, but when they do they are very real and require immediate attention and divine help.
The first part of the week we held our Zone Leaders Council and we had several new zone leaders there for the first time (which is always the case) who were obviously excited to be learning and growing as men and as missionary leaders. One of the things we discussed was the need to emphasize both the growth of these good missionaries and continued growth in all aspects of missionary work – teaching, fellowshipping, baptizing, and total conversion of those we teach and of the teachers. There had been some discussion among a few of the missionaries about whether we should emphasize results or growth of the individuals, and what type of people they would be 30 years down the road. Stealing some examples and quotes from the great basketball coach who recently passed--John Wooden--I suggested that we could do both. Clearly he was able to develop his players and still win championships. I feel that we can both work to develop great people and at the same time have success at the things we are given to do as missionaries. This seemed to resonate with each of them and they left committed to do the same.
We had a visit from former Elders Buchanan, Larrabee, Calica, Brown and Goldhardt. They showed up during zone leader council in time to sing (and of course, for Elder Calica to lead) the Oregon Eugene Mission Song. They were around for a few days. It was a lot of fun to see them and spend some time with them, a reminder of how much we have missed them.
Most of the time when we are asked to speak to groups outside of our specific missionary duties, we are not given any specific topic so we are able to draw from teachings and experiences we have with our missionaries. This helps keep preparation time fairly limited. The last two weeks we were given topics that we were asked to address at a stake conference in Coos Bay as well as a youth conference in southern Oregon. So we were grateful that after our zone leaders’ council we had a couple of days to work on these talks. I also caught up on reading the weekly letters from the missionaries and some office duties. During this time we also had a visit from our former Elder Burt and his parents. We were wishing he had been here for zone leader council too, to play the piano. That would have really been great. We had a good time getting to know his parents and catching up with what is going on in his life. Another reminder of how much we miss our returning missionaries.
On Friday, June 11, we were invited to a going away dinner for the Kirkhams, a senior couple who have served for the last 18 months in Lincoln City. It was fun to watch them interact with the people they had grown to love and who so obviously love them. We were invited to stay the night with the Hansen’s and enjoyed our association with them too. The next morning we drove to Coos Bay to interview missionaries that day. This was out of the normal rotation of interviews, but since we were going to be there for a stake conference we decided to make just one trip out of it. We enjoyed the beautiful drive along the coast and stopped in to see the missionaries in Newport in route and picked up the elders in Florence who are in the Coos Bay stake. We enjoyed our one-on-one time with them in the car. We enjoyed our weekend with the good members of that stake. The two of us spoke at both the adult session on Saturday evening and the general session on Sunday morning. The spirit was strong at both of those meetings and we were grateful for the opportunity to attend.
Over the weekend and into the Monday we had a missionary with some health concerns that occupied much of our thoughts, phone time, prayers and concerns. A good stake president in an outlying area did a great job of working with him and had him see a doctor on Sunday. He was also good enough to drive him halfway to Eugene on Sunday where I intercepted him. On Monday his mother flew into Portland to fly home with him and we hope he can get the help he needs at home to make a full recovery.
Tuesday we interviewed the missionaries in the Eugene Zone and then made the road trip to interview the missionaries in the Cascade, Klamath Falls, Temple, and Grants Pass & Roseburg Zones on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday respectively. We also had a meeting with one or more stake presidents and their wives on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings and spoke at the youth conference on Friday night. After interviews on Saturday we were grateful to be home, but also somewhat recharged as we had been able to see so many of our great missionaries. This time we had a couple of issues to deal with regarding a companionship not getting along as well as they should. There was also a bit of homesickness and/or discouragement with a few other missionaries. We are really amazed at how seldom these issues come up, but when they do they are very real and require immediate attention and divine help.
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