Week Ending March 27, 2011 Week # 6

Wow! what a great bunch of new missionaries. We are so excited to have Elder Jones back and his knee repaired. It was so good to see him that I almost gave him a big hug--whoops!

Elder Gellersen and his parents

Elder Winn and his parents

Elder Nichols and his family

Elder Rivera and his father

Another great morning at the temple. There is always someone there who is willing to take pictures with everyone's camera. Very kind and patient people attend the Portland Temple.

Once again we were blessed with timely flights in and out that helped transfers go very smoothly. We only had seven missionaries come in (one of those was a returning elder we were happy to get back, Elder Jones, who had gone home for knee surgery). We sent ten missionaries home. This made it necessary to collapse one area that we hope to be able to reopen in a transfer or two. Of the ten missionaries going home, five had their parents pick them up. It was nice to be able to see these happy reunions between parents and their missionaries.

The trip to the temple with the returning missionaries went well too. Elder & Sister Campbell from the office (who we are lucky to have serve here from our home ward in Orem) came with us too. Sister Macdonald and I commented on how well we now know the temple workers on this shift in the Portland Temple because we always go to the same session on the same day of the week. It truly feels like “our” temple. Saturday, Sister Macdonald and I went to Roseburg to attend a baptism for and in behalf of Elder Mullenax. He had taught this family before his transfer a couple of months ago. He knew that he was now too far away to get to go back for it, so he asked us to go for him. When we told the person being baptized we were there for Elder Mullenax, she thanked us and spoke highly of him and the other missionaries who had taught her.

Sunday it was nice to be able to attend our home ward and have no speaking assignments, but instead just be able to take in the spirit of the meetings and enjoy going to the normal three hour block. Later that day Elder Christensen and I went to Corvallis to attend a baptism for a person that he had been involved in the teaching of before he was transferred to Eugene. It was nice to go to the baptism and spend some one-on-one time with him and get to know him better. A recent convert spoke at the baptism and said how nice it was to be able to pray now as a member and to have the Holy Ghost with her. It allowed her to pray with more meaning. It caused me to reflect on whether my prayers were as meaningful as they should be.

Well I know I didn’t write much this week, but we always have a fair few pictures associated with the coming and going of missionaries, so I will let the extra pictures make up for my shorter writing.