This is the tree that has been in the Mission Office. The Watsons and Campbells (our office couple missionaries) decorated the tree with much work, creativity and love. Every missionary's picture is on the tree. Christ is the gift beneath the tree. A picture of President and I is at the top. The tree is beautiful and has inspired many questions and remarks by those who come and go through the office, some of whom are not members.Most of my “mission president” type work this week was been behind-the-scenes work. I worked with the assistants to plan out next month’s mission president training and, since one of them will be traveling with us on this round of missionary visits, we also determined which one would go to which zones, and which one of us would be teaching which part of the fundamentals of preach my gospel. I also caught up on reading letters to the mission president and did more office work than usual. Sister Macdonald caught up on the photo portion of our history here and prepared for future cooking needs etc. The two of us delivered Christmas fudge that she had made for neighbors and some of our friends in the ward.
Wednesday was Sister Macdonald’s birthday and almost every missionary (and many former ones) texted her, or called her, wishing her a happy birthday. Many sang to her as well. It is obvious she is loved by her current and former missionaries.
Thursday morning I called each of the missionaries who will be training or taking on a new leadership assignment and encouraged them in their new duties. On Friday morning we had a conference call with all of the zone leaders to tell them of all the details of transfers. This was the first time we had all the zone leaders together for a conference call to announce transfers, and I think it answered more of their questions by doing it this way.
On Thursday evening we traveled to Roseburg and had dinner with Pres & Sister Smith prior to attending a baptism in Myrtle Creek. The Smiths have become great friends while we have been here and we always enjoy our time with them. It is always good to go to a baptism a little farther away from Eugene as people don’t expect to see the mission president and his wife there. This particular baptism completed a family as the husband had been baptized a few weeks back, and the wife received her witness a little later that she too should be baptized. Now her husband was able to perform the baptism.
On Friday, Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a dinner with the two office couples at the Watsons home. It was great to be with them and everyone’s cooking was excellent! Later that evening we had just over 20 of the missionaries serving in the Eugene area over to the house for snacks and some scripture study. Many of the missionaries shared what they had studied recently regarding the birth of the Savior or His teachings. We then read through Luke chapter 2. These missionaries often tell us how much they learn from studying with us, and while that may be true, we too gain so much from hearing their insights.
On Christmas Day we enjoyed talking with our children, various family members, and several current and former missionaries. One of our missionaries has no family and so we called him and had a nice casual visit with him, like he may have had if he had called home. Later that day we attended another baptism of a new member who wanted to be baptized on Christmas Day. It was good to see so much ward support there on a Christmas day.
On Sunday our youngest son and his wife (Clint and Tava) flew in to spend a few days with us. That evening Clint came with me to the baptism of four people in the Spanish branch here in Eugene. Since he served a Spanish speaking mission, he understood what was going on, and I could feel of the spirit and happiness that was there.
Wednesday was Sister Macdonald’s birthday and almost every missionary (and many former ones) texted her, or called her, wishing her a happy birthday. Many sang to her as well. It is obvious she is loved by her current and former missionaries.
Thursday morning I called each of the missionaries who will be training or taking on a new leadership assignment and encouraged them in their new duties. On Friday morning we had a conference call with all of the zone leaders to tell them of all the details of transfers. This was the first time we had all the zone leaders together for a conference call to announce transfers, and I think it answered more of their questions by doing it this way.
On Thursday evening we traveled to Roseburg and had dinner with Pres & Sister Smith prior to attending a baptism in Myrtle Creek. The Smiths have become great friends while we have been here and we always enjoy our time with them. It is always good to go to a baptism a little farther away from Eugene as people don’t expect to see the mission president and his wife there. This particular baptism completed a family as the husband had been baptized a few weeks back, and the wife received her witness a little later that she too should be baptized. Now her husband was able to perform the baptism.
On Friday, Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a dinner with the two office couples at the Watsons home. It was great to be with them and everyone’s cooking was excellent! Later that evening we had just over 20 of the missionaries serving in the Eugene area over to the house for snacks and some scripture study. Many of the missionaries shared what they had studied recently regarding the birth of the Savior or His teachings. We then read through Luke chapter 2. These missionaries often tell us how much they learn from studying with us, and while that may be true, we too gain so much from hearing their insights.
On Christmas Day we enjoyed talking with our children, various family members, and several current and former missionaries. One of our missionaries has no family and so we called him and had a nice casual visit with him, like he may have had if he had called home. Later that day we attended another baptism of a new member who wanted to be baptized on Christmas Day. It was good to see so much ward support there on a Christmas day.
On Sunday our youngest son and his wife (Clint and Tava) flew in to spend a few days with us. That evening Clint came with me to the baptism of four people in the Spanish branch here in Eugene. Since he served a Spanish speaking mission, he understood what was going on, and I could feel of the spirit and happiness that was there.
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