Week Ending August 29, 2010 Week # 6

Sorry mom and dad, but a large group means smaller faces to look at. Hope you can pick out your baby boy. We are so happy to have them here.

My fault that the lighting isn't good. I picked a poor spot for the picture. There are so many beautiful trees on the temple grounds to deal with and I'm so not good at this! But here we are and we're happy to be at the temple together.




Unloading the trailer at the airport yet another time--Oh for these three it is the last time!

Elders Cluff and Johnson in front of the Gates Branch building. It is a beautiful, though small chapel out in the country. We loved being with the branch and feeling their spirit.

The group of eighteen missionaries that came in this week seemed even better than previous groups. Now if a mother of a missionary who was in one of our previous entering groups is reading this I am sorry, but each group seems to be getting better. No one in this group gave me any indication they were having second thoughts (normally one or two will admit to being a little homesick and unsure of themselves). There was none of that in this group. Each one already seemed so well adjusted and happy to be here. We look forward to working with them and helping to train them to be even better.

An unusual thing happened for one of these good missionaries. After we welcomed them and just before he got on the transfer van to drive north, the assistants told him he was on his way to a baptism and that he would be baptizing one of the people getting baptized that night – in Spanish. A very nice gesture by his trainer to have one member of the family be baptized by the new elder. The investigator thought it would be a nice gift he could give to the new missionary also. So the new elder changed into his baptismal clothes at the church, climbed into the transfer van and arrived at the baptism just in time to participate, He did a great job.

Another unusual thing about this incoming group of missionaries is that because of road construction at our home (which has been LONG overdue) we were not able to get into our street that day, so we had our welcome lunch at the 18th Street Chapel.

I was very melancholy and felt some anxiety when we sent off this going home group of missionaries. I have already mentioned that we saw this group come into the mission field. Maybe this could be the cause of some of my anxiety, but I hope it won’t keep being this bad to say good bye to these friends of ours. Two of this group had worked with me as assistants so I got to know them better, but it is the whole group I am missing. By the way, one of those good assistants took a set of my car keys home with him. (One assistant almost did last year but handed them back through security.) I trust he will make good and get them mailed back to me soon. :>

In addition to going full steam ahead with transfer week, we enjoyed a high priest group party in the Hansen’s yard on Friday night. I also went to a baptism in Salem on Saturday evening. Sister Macdonald was tied up putting up jam – ALRIGHT – and so I took Elder Carlson to the baptism with me. It was good to visit with him in route.

On Sunday we spoke in the Gates Branch which is on the far eastern side of the Salem Stake. It was fun to be there with their 50 members or so, and we enjoyed a “linger longer” lunch with the branch afterwards. Then we had a very nice dinner at Pres & Sister Lathen’s home. One of his counselors and his wife were there too. It was relaxing and nice to be with them.

Week Ending August 22, 2010 Week # 5

Three Zone Conferences--three champions at Paper, Rock, Scissors! Such excitement!

Even Sister Watson got into the action.

I am amazed at how competitive these missionaries can be for a piece of paper and a roaring cheer from their peers. I think it has more to do with having sat through several hours of meetings.

Here is the group headed home a few days early to get into school. Don't they look great. Oh we will miss them.

This was our zone conference week and as usual we held them on Tuesday in Medford, on Wednesday in Corvallis, and on Thursday in Eugene. We felt like they were well received and that the missionaries learned a lot. I did not invite my counselors or any of the local stake presidents to speak as I wanted my assistants and myself to have the time to share the last two lessons from the new curriculum with all of the missionaries. Sister Macdonald taught powerfully about the need for inspiration in our lives. She asked each missionary to take a moment and write down when they last felt inspired, and taught about eliminating things that can stand in the way of our receiving inspiration. As usual she did great! We also had the chance to meet a new senior couple who went straight to Lakeview last week. It is great to have them here.

Although the groups were a bit larger than when we go to each district for teaching and role playing, it was obvious that the missionaries really grow when they have the chance to immediately put into practice what they are being taught. We have always had some role playing with our zone conferences, but it was good to have more of it and see them immediately apply what they are being taught.

At the end of each of the zone conferences I told a story about the turkeys who wanted to learn to fly. They hired eagles to teach them. In the morning the turkeys were taught the dynamics of flight and in the afternoon they practiced take offs and landings and by the evening they were soaring through the clouds with the eagles. After dinner at the end of the conference they toasted each other, said what a good time they had, and then they all walked home. This analogy was not lost on any of our missionaries, and they committed to immediately put into practice what they had learned this transfer.

This zone conference we also held our annual Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament. It was fun to watch the missionaries interact with one another and have a nice break for 10 minutes or so and then be ready for more training.

As I mentioned last week we have a large group going home this transfer and because of school start dates six of them went home on Friday. Because of this we had an extra departure dinner and had these missionaries stay at the mission home for a final testimony meeting and study time together. All of the missionaries we are sending home now are missionaries that we welcomed into the mission at the beginning of their missions. We have grown to love these great missionaries so much. It is getting even more difficult to say good bye.

On Saturday evening we enjoyed having the Smiths (one of my counselors) and the Hopkins (a stake president in Roseburg) in our home for dinner. On Sunday we went to the baptism of a young man here in Eugene. He received a fair bit of opposition from his family before being baptized, but still followed the Spirit’s prompting towards baptism. I pray that he will be solid in the new covenants he is making and that he will be able to influence his family for good in the future.

Week Ending August 15, 2010 Week # 4

Leadership Training, what a great bunch of missionaries! It was a thrill to watch them in action. I love breathing their air.

Sister Watson, me and Sister Idiart. They made sure the missionaries were fed for the two days of meetings. What a job! I stopped in at the kitchen to help now and then. I was amazed at their ability to accomplish so much. They are pure love.

On Monday the assistants and I (they were good enough to change their preparation day to accommodate my schedule) worked on transfers. We have a large group (25) going home and18 coming in, so there will be a lot of companionships affected by this transfer. Even though there were more than the usual number of changes to be made, things went smooth and we largely completed the process that day. I made a few changes later in the week and may make a few more after zone conferences next week, but I feel like we are basically there and that the Lord has been leading the process. We also enjoyed a dinner with the Petersens – he serves as the stake president in Monmouth – on Monday night. We enjoyed their company and a chance to visit a little informally.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had all of the zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers (who were in their first transfers with their new missionaries) come in for further training on the new curriculum. On the first day we broke into three groups and had several of the missionaries take a turn teaching part of the first 4 lessons that we had previously taught when we toured the mission over the last few weeks. This was done to insure they understood and could teach these principles with ease. My two counselors also came and helped me in monitoring some of the teaching. On the next day the assistants and I taught the next two lessons in preparation for the missionaries to teach their districts in the coming weeks. I felt like the two days were quite productive and we enjoyed watching them teach and role playing with them. It was like having a two-day zone conference with some of these young leaders. It was obvious to us that they were excited to be there and now are well prepared to teach the rest of the missionaries and to help “infect” the mission with this information in a very positive way.

This two-day leadership training was supported excellently by the office couples who made superb meals, helped with transportation, and did so much to make sure things went smoothly. Their behind-the-scene work was excellent and we are so grateful for all they do. THANK YOU!

The week ended with me attending the Coordinating Council Meetings in Central Point on Saturday and in Eugene on Sunday. We traveled to Central Point on Friday and enjoyed a dinner with the Wrights and their friends the Pedersons that evening. After the meeting on Saturday Elder Brinkerhoff traveled back to Eugene with us and spent the night here at our home. We appreciate what he does to build the stake presidents in this area.

We had the privilege of seeing President Fugal while he was in town seeing some friends here. It was good to see him, and we are glad the Fugals did so much in this mission. They made it easy for us to come here and be welcomed. We pray that we can leave things as well prepared for the people who replace us.

Sunday evening the Campbells, our new office couple, came to the mission home with the Watsons and the Idiarts for some dessert and visiting. We had such a wonderful time with all of them. I wish we could keep them all, but that isn't the way it works. The Idiarts will be leaving for home once they train the Campbells. Saying goodbye to good friends and hello to new friends is such a big part of mission life. If you stay focused on the accumulation of good friends, you feel very blessed indeed. And so we are!

Weeks Ending August 8, 2010 Week #2 & 3

Bill Flood and President at the park waiting for Bill's band's turn to play.

Does he look proud? I think so.

The team: Peter Barnes, Elders Bauer & Christensen, me & Pres., Elders Newman & Jestes

It was getting hot, but it felt so good to be outside at a ball park.

This one was a good hit. I only had to toss back a few balls. Good job Pres.

They all cheered me on. I did connect with the ball frequently. They just didn't have to go far to get it. Can you see our fan. He was a handicapped boy that cheered like it was a real game and he was truly disappointed when we had to go.

Some of the family enjoying the boat ride on the Rogue River. We saw lots of wildlife, even a big bear eating blackberries.

Posing under a Myrtlewood tree. It was a cool day so she certainly wasn't looking for shade! We enjoyed a tour of a myrtlewood factory.



Getting ready to ride the dunes. The little girls had some difficulty with the heavy helmets after a while, but they loved the steep hills--going up and down.

On Monday July 25, 2010 we were invited to go with several of our missionaries and a recently returned missionary here (who served in the former USSR) to participate in a somewhat modified home run derby. Some of them played fairly well and they were kind to invite us along. The rules were modified for Sister Macdonald as she was credited for a homerun if she got the ball out of the infield (I will let her tell you how she did) but I was given no slack. I never hit it out of the park, but was happy to hit the fence once – ok it was a softball field - but I still felt good about it. In truth there were no all-stars in the group, but it was fun to play with them, watch them play and to interact with them on the ball field.

I forgot to mention that a couple of weeks ago I went to a local park here with Elder Watson, from the office, to see a friend from Florence, Bill Flood, who is investigating the church. Bill was playing with his band along with several other groups in an open air concert. We weren’t able to stay until his group played, as I had a baptism to go to, but it was fun visiting with him a bit and to see him, his wife and his fellow band members.

On week two we toured the rest of the mission and taught some of the new curriculum lessons to the Corvallis, Salem, Eugene and Pacific zones. It is always good to see these missionaries and I feel like I understand these new lessons fairly well now. I pray that I can help teach this information to these good missionaries in the way the Lord would have me. On Tuesday night we had dinner with Karen (who used to work for me at Canyon Park and now lives in Salem) and her family along with the missionaries in their area. It was fun to visit with her again.

At the end of week 2 all of our children came into town to spend the week with us. Mission Presidents are strongly encouraged to take a small vacation each year and we were blessed to have all of the children, their spouses and our grandchildren here with us for that break. We stayed out in Bandon and enjoyed a little deep sea fishing, riding on the sand dunes, a river trip up the Rogue River and just hanging out and relaxing. Surprisingly the phone rang only a few times and we were really able to relax a fair bit. It was somewhat surreal to realize that this is the last time we will see some of our children and their families until we are back home. We are so grateful that they are so well adjusted in their lives. That lets us focus on missionary work, knowing they are all okay. We are now ready to get back to the great work we have been called to do.

Let me end this post with one lesson that I learned while deep sea fishing. I felt a fairly significant tug on my line and was reeling in what I thought was a fairly big fish. As it got to the surface I found it was actually two regular size fish along with a 25 to 30 pound cod. Since the line had three hooks I thought each one had bit at roughly the same time. The boat’s captain came over with a big net and grabbed all three of the fish when I got them to the surface and explained that the large cod was a “hitchhiker.” I found out later that this meant he was not caught on the hook at all but had a hold on one of the fish that was caught on a hook. He just wouldn’t let go. All this cod needed to do to be set free and live was to let go of the fish he was trying to eat. I wonder how many things I “hold on to” that cause me trouble or heart ache and I don’t realize that all I need to do to be free of those problems is to let them go.