Elder Campbell was hoping to win at Rock-Paper-Scissors before finishing his mission. A dream come true. He sure did cut it close!
It was such a wonderful feeling to have all my missionaries around me. I was so surprised when they handed me a big bouquet of flowers picked out by the elders! Oh how I love my missionaries! and this happened at all three zone conferences.
Our two elders serving out in Burns get a little bored being WAY out there on there own. These ties (which look great on film) are made of Starburst wrappers, folded and interlocked, many, many hundreds of them.
One stake did a luau luncheon for us. We didn't lack for food or fun, but then we never do.
Here is our broken and dislocated ankle. He is recovering quickly. The two behind him are his partners in crime or maybe I should say partners in injury.
Here's another group picture of the missionaries giving us our book of letters and my flowers. What a great bunch of missionaries!
Elder Jensen, one proud winner of Rock-Paper-Scissors. It was a fierce battle.
Elder Fiatoa was yet another winner who battled valiantly for first place.
Temple, Roseburg, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls Zones meeting in Central Point for Zone Conference. It was a beautiful day for a picture in front of the Medford Temple next door to the chapel.
Corvallis and Capital Zones meeting in Lebanon for Zone Conference. It was a cold and rainy day, but we had a great time being together just the same.
Cascade and Pacific Zones are two of the zones that met in Eugene for Zone Conference.
Eugene Zone also met in Eugene and again it was a beautiful day, making it difficult to come inside for meetings.This week was our week for zone conferences. We held them on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Medford, Corvallis and Eugene respectively. One of my counselors started each of the conferences with a doctrinally based talk, and ended with counsel to be fearlessly loyal to President and Sister Young. When President Smith spoke in Medford he said that he and Sister Smith have grown close to Sister Macdonald and me. He also said that in accordance with church policy he is automatically released when we leave, and if he is privileged to be asked to work with President Young, his loyalty will immediately shift to President Young. That is what I would want him to do. Of course I confirmed that. Sister Macdonald said that early in our mission she committed to herself that in her final zone conference she wanted to do two things: 1. To teach doctrine, and 2. To not cry. She did wonderfully at both of her goals. My assistants did a great job in teaching and in role plays about the need to increase our faith to bind the Lord in our efforts. They taught that as missionaries teach members by the Spirit, members will have a greater desire to have the gospel shared with their friends and family. They also spoke about all the Savior did for us, and that he paid the price for everyone. I am sure we will see more miracles in this mission as our missionaries apply these principles in their efforts.
I had assigned each missionary to come prepared to give a short talk on one of the April Conference addresses that was important to them. After hearing from 5 to 6 missionaries at each zone conference, I reviewed a variety of scriptures showing how the mission can change our lives. I encouraged the missionaries to be faithful and to do their best. I shared a quote from Steve Prefontaine, the famous University of Oregon track star, who said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” I also quoted my favorite poem to them, “The Man in the Glass”. I ended my remarks with the fact that Maori people (100,000 or so live in Australia where I served my mission) have no word for goodbye, but rather use the word “sewl,” pronounced like we would say seal, which means see you all later. In the first zone conference we held this week, we sang the closing song, “God Be With You ‘til We Meet Again.” The missionaries spontaneously turned to face us at the side of the chapel which allowed us to face them as we sang to each other. It was such a generous and heartfelt effort on their part, and I am sure the assistants used their influence to make sure the same thing happened at the other two zone conferences.
At all three of the zone conferences we had one last round of competition to determine the masters of rock-paper-scissors during lunch. It was fun and not totally distractive. The missionaries presented us with a book filled with personal letters from each of the missionaries who chose to participate, and they gave Sister Macdonald a bouquet of flowers from the missionaries. She still hung to her commitment and didn’t cry, but was deeply touched by their thoughtfulness.
I had assigned each missionary to come prepared to give a short talk on one of the April Conference addresses that was important to them. After hearing from 5 to 6 missionaries at each zone conference, I reviewed a variety of scriptures showing how the mission can change our lives. I encouraged the missionaries to be faithful and to do their best. I shared a quote from Steve Prefontaine, the famous University of Oregon track star, who said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” I also quoted my favorite poem to them, “The Man in the Glass”. I ended my remarks with the fact that Maori people (100,000 or so live in Australia where I served my mission) have no word for goodbye, but rather use the word “sewl,” pronounced like we would say seal, which means see you all later. In the first zone conference we held this week, we sang the closing song, “God Be With You ‘til We Meet Again.” The missionaries spontaneously turned to face us at the side of the chapel which allowed us to face them as we sang to each other. It was such a generous and heartfelt effort on their part, and I am sure the assistants used their influence to make sure the same thing happened at the other two zone conferences.
At all three of the zone conferences we had one last round of competition to determine the masters of rock-paper-scissors during lunch. It was fun and not totally distractive. The missionaries presented us with a book filled with personal letters from each of the missionaries who chose to participate, and they gave Sister Macdonald a bouquet of flowers from the missionaries. She still hung to her commitment and didn’t cry, but was deeply touched by their thoughtfulness.
On Wednesday evening following the Corvallis Zone conference we hustled back home and got ready to have 68 priests and laurels from the Corvallis Stake in our home for a fireside. They along with their 15 leaders made for a tight fit, but it was fun to be with these good young people and answer some of their questions about what it will be like for them to be missionaries and how they can best prepare.
On Friday evening we enjoyed a dinner at the Cryer home in Santa Clara. On Sunday we were privileged to speak at the Eugene Stake conference, and that evening we attended another open house arranged by several good people here in Eugene. We enjoyed this additonal round of goodbyes with some of our good Oregon friends.
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