Week Ending March 6, 2011 Week # 3

Is Sister Macdonald in the Men's Room?! Well, someone need to take the picture. Elder Curtis must have been a good scout, "always prepared". He carries his hair clippers with him in case someone needs a haircut.

Lokk what was in our hotel parking lot. We didn't know it really existed!

This week we interviewed the missionaries serving in the Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, and Pacific Zones. The three larger zones (Corvallis, Salem, and Eugene) have 26 to 30 missionaries in each. We are always excited to see our missionaries, but a little tired when we see that many good young people in one day, especially when we see these zones in three straight days. We pray that although we are a little tired we are effective with each visit and that we do some good in lifting and inspiring each one of them. The trip to the coast, where there are just 10 young elders and one senior couple, was a welcome day of “rest” with fewer interviews and some beautiful scenery. As I visited with the stake president there, he expressed his appreciation and support for the work done by the good missionaries in his stake. What a great partnership we have with the local leadership throughout the mission.

On Saturday evening we spoke in the adult session of the Springfield Stake conference. President Lewis, who presides in that stake, basically offered my eulogy at the beginning of his talk. He, along with the other stake presidents in our mission, has been so good to work with. I was humbled as he poured on more praise than I deserve. As we are speaking in so many stake conferences for the last time, it is a bit like a farewell tour, and many are offering kind remarks, but we are remembering not to inhale. Sunday we were blessed to speak with Elder Gong and President Cryer in the Santa Clara Stake at an early meeting with the recent converts as well as in the general session.

This week we visited one of the missionary apartments that we had heard was not being kept up as nice as it should be. We let them know beforehand that we were going to stop by when we were in their area so they could be prepared. They were so proud of the transformation they had made. Of course, with transfers you sometimes inherit the problems of others, but they did a great job of bringing the apartment up to standards so the Spirit could have room to move in.

As I was studying the scriptures this week, I realized that now more than ever we have been blessed to be personally involved in helping the Lord bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, even more than we have in any other calling other than parenthood. This is a great time that we will no doubt miss when the opportunity is given to another.

Week Ending February 27, 2011 Week # 2

Elder Pimentel, President and Elder Salas at the baptism in the Spanish Branch in Eugene

It was great to be out on the road again and to have a chance to interview our missionaries serving throughout the south and east portions of our mission. This time we had our missionaries read Mosiah chapters 23 & 24 before they came to the interviews, and I led a discussion on the principles taught in those chapters. After the discussion the zone leaders in the various zones taught the missionaries the principles "How to Begin Teaching" and "How to Have More Success with Finding New Investigators to Teach". While the zone leaders were teaching I interviewed missionaries one at a time. Sister Macdonald visited with another missionary at the same time and then we would switch so that we both had time with every missionary. With interviews now occurring only every other transfer, the missionaries and Sister Macdonald and I had a great desire to visit and catch up with each other and to talk about ways we can help them and their areas improve. We had great visits. We really love these good young people!

On Tuesday evening we had the opportunity to have dinner at the home of President and Sister Morris of the Medford Stake. They invited the Wrights from the Central Point Stake to join us. Thursday evening we enjoyed another wonderful dinner at the home of President and Sister Rau of the Bend Stake along with the Perdues from the Redmond Stake. We enjoy these evenings of visiting with these stake leaders, but the scales say that they are feeding us a bit too well. I also visited with President Stewart of the Klamath Falls Stake. I am grateful that these good men make time in their schedules to visit with us when we are in there towns.

This week we were glad that we have a car with all-wheel drive and snow tires (a Chevy Traverse). On Wednesday night snow fell throughout the mission, although it melted quickly in towns along the I-5. On the drive from Klamath Falls to Bend we drove through blowing snow on snow packed roads, and from Bend to Eugene we had large stretches of snow packed roads. The pass was the worst we have seen since being here. Although the drives took longer than normal, the good news is that we made it where we needed to be, protected and on time.

Monday evening we drove to Salem and enjoyed another dinner with President and Sister Dyches of the Portland Mission. They started their service the same time we did, and we shared our common feelings of wanting to serve in the mission field, but also wanting to get back with our families, etc. We experienced mixed emotions and perhaps some fears of our own set of unknowns.

Saturday evening I enjoyed attending a baptism in the Spanish branch here in Eugene. For one of the missionaries serving there it was his first baptism on his mission. He has been a member of the Church himself just over a year. Sunday we drove to Grants Pass and spoke at the general session of their stake conference in the morning. We also did a youth fireside in the early afternoon. Both conferences were full of the Spirit and, as always, we really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the youth.

Week Ending February 20, 2011 Week # 1

The Floods in white, ready for baptism. What an exciting day!

Bishop Gregh watching the picture taking from inside the church building. He was a good sport letting me take his picture.



All the missionaries in attendance and the Chords.




A very wet day outside, so we played around with a new way to take a picture inside. As you can see, it is difficult to keep this many people still.



They are anxious to do their "fun" shot. I just hate being in pictures. I'd much rather hold the camera, but oh such wonderful memories.

We have breakfast together before Zone Leader Council. As you can see, the food is gone. It's about time to begin.

The highlight of this week was attending the baptism of Bill and Donna Flood on Saturday in the Florence Ward, and having the opportunity to perform the baptism of Bill. In our blog of January 30, 2010 I mentioned some of the experience that led to their baptism. Many of the missionaries who had taught them were able to attend the baptism, including Elder Chord who went home in December. He and his parents made the trip back to Oregon bringing the Flood’s daughter with them. Elders Peterson, Christensen, and Smith are still serving their missions and are serving in areas close enough to allow them to attend. Elders Barker and Hill would also liked to have come, but they are serving too far away (one in Klamath Falls and the other in Bend, respectively). The ward was very supportive and I am confident that the Floods will be well received into their ward family, and that they will make a significant contribution to the church from this point forward.

We held our zone leaders council this week. The way this meeting works so well, is a testimony to me of the power the Lord can help instill in all of us, but particularly in these great young missionaries. Before the meeting we asked the zone leaders to come prepared to discuss a variety of subjects affecting the mission, and each one of them (even the four newly called zone leaders) came prepared to participate in the discussion and share ideas about how we can improve. If these elders will reflect back on these meetings in the future when they are in ward and stake councils, they will know how they should prepare for those meetings and understand the potential these meetings have to be a time of revelation and growth.

This week we also received news that Mark and Sue Young of SLC have been called to preside over this mission come the end of June. We have had the opportunity to have a couple of conversations with them. They seem perfectly matched to come here, and we are confident they will do great things. We will try and keep the mission in good shape these next few months until they arrive. In the future we will get a picture from them and post it on this blog so that parents whose missionaries will be here when we leave can start to know and love the new mission president and his wife.

On Wednesday, President Young told me he was at a son’s basketball game and met the father-in-law of President Warren Barnes who is the stake president of the Eugene Oregon Stake. As a nice coincidence we had previously scheduled to have the Barnes at our home for dinner that same evening. Sister Macdonald had fixed a great meal, and we had a good time visiting with the Barnes after dinner. These stake presidents and their wives have become our dear friends away from home.

Saturday and Sunday we were privileged to speak at the Central Point Stake Conference. It was presided over by Elder Bruce Merrell, an Area 70 from Washington. We have attended two other stake conferences with him in the past, and we enjoyed our time with him again this weekend. We love President and Sister Wright (he is the stake president there) and we always come away from meeting with them, and hearing him speak, better people.

Week Ending February 13, 2011 Week # 6

This group has plenty of energy and lots of enthusiasm. They were ready to get to work so we put them to work just as fast as we could.

It was a long drive, but we really enjoyed each others company. We really enjoyed the spirit inside the Medford Temple. What a great day!

Elder Lopez was picked up by his sister and her husband. They were so excited to see him. We love to watch .




Elder Bauer was met by several former OEM missionaries at the SLC Airport. I think they've missed each other.

Sister Longhurst's parents picked her up at the mission home. That was a tearful reunion. Now we know why Sister Lonhurst cries so easily.

Another transfer week has come and gone. We welcomed in some great new missionaries and sent home a wonderful group of young friends who have become a large part of our life. Three of the missionaries had family pick them up and it was fun to see them interact with each other for the first time in 18 months, or two years. One of my assistants, Elder Groskreutz, cried more than I have ever seen a missionary cry over the departure of his good friends. We are comforted that on the other end there were a greater amount of tears of joy as families and friends greeted their sons and daughters and had a sweet reunion with them. We also know how soon those who are crying tears for their departing friends will become one of those leaving us, and we will have tears for them.

Regular readers will know that we have taken each set of returning missionaries to the Portland Temple the day before they go home. This week I found out on Monday that the Portland Temple would be closed for a couple of weeks, so we made a last minute decision to travel to the Medford Temple instead. Some wonderful friends in Central Point made sack lunches so we could eat on the road and get home on time. The missionaries were very glad to have a chance to end their missions with a trip to the temple. Although the drive was a fair bit further and the timing of the sessions was not as convenient for us, we are glad we made the extra effort and had that sacred time together with our missionaries.

This Sunday was the start of the first half of the year speaking assignments at various stake conferences throughout the mission. We have 15 stakes in the mission and I think all of them have asked for a member of the mission presidency to attend one or more sessions of their stake conferences. Where there is more than one stake conference on the same weekend, one of my counselors will help fill in and speak in our stead. This week we spoke in the Corvallis stake, and it was the first of six conferences we will speak at over a five week period. It is great to see so many good members of the church that we have come to know over the last couple of years throughout the mission, and even better to see our missionaries who serve in these stakes.

Week Ending February 6, 2011 Week # 5

Just a few pictures of our wonderful missionaries involved in teaching and role play at leadership training. Everyone seemed to enjoy this chance to grow.

Elder Brinkerhoff, the Area 70 for our area, the Portland Temple President, the 15 stake presidents in our mission boundaries, and President Macdonald. We thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to serve with them and their wives.

Last week I reported that I had heard the assignments for next year’s mission presidents would be mailed out on Monday. This week I found out that the decision to mail the assignments out this week either change or was incorrect when I heard it, as they have not gone out yet. It doesn’t change anything on my end, but I’m sure the interest level on the other end is a bit higher.

This week we held a series of one day Leadership Training Conferences in three locations. They were held in Corvallis, Eugene and Central Point on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This time we invited all the missionaries to attend instead of just trainers, district leaders and zone leaders. In each conference we held three breakout sessions where we had missionaries break into smaller groups. At the beginning of each session I would assign two of the missionaries to teach one of the following subjects: 1. The role of the holy ghost in conversion, 2. The role of prayer in conversion, and 3. The principle that we invite, individuals commit, and we follow-up. While some missionaries were better prepared to teach in front of a group than others, the missionaries in each classroom did so much to help the ones assigned to teach. In each group one of my assistants, a zone leader, or one of my counselors served as a monitor to help where needed, and review each session at the end. This allowed Sister Macdonald and me to travel to each class. Over the three-day period we heard over 50 of our missionaries teach in front of a group, and heard almost all of the missionaries participate in role plays. We felt it was a huge success and may use this approach again in the future.

This Sunday our Coordinating Council meeting with the stake presidents was held in just one location, Eugene, and all 15 stake presidents from throughout the mission were there. At the Coordinating Council, in addition to our normal agenda items, I held a discussion with the stake presidents similar to the one I held with the missionaries last December regarding working hard and I thanked them for all they do. I then gave them a copy of the horse picture that we had given to our missionaries. It was good to again meet with these stake presidents whom I have grown so close to over the last couple of years.