Week Ending May 8, 2011 Week # 6

The Salem Zone dressed in their baptism clothing and went to the beach to make a statement. I love it!

Our new missionaries were welcomed with teasing sunshine. We haven't seen a day like this in F-O-R-E-V-E-R!

Two beautiful days in a row! What is going on?! Will it last? Of course not. However, in true Oregon spirit we will enjoy every second of it. It was a glorious day at the temple.



We had a wonderful time out to dinner and visiting with the Morgans, Dyches, and Brinkerhoffs one last time. We have enjoyed the opportunity to serve with them.

On Monday I took the opportunity to drive to Redmond the missionaries who were being transferred out that way. I also brought the missionaries who were leaving the Redmond area back to Eugene. It was fun to be with these good missionaries in an informal way during our drive and visit with them as we traveled. We also stopped by Sahalie Falls both coming and going and enjoyed seeing that beautiful site. I renewed my appreciation of the good members of the church who regularly use their time and efforts to transport missionaries far distances every transfer and sometimes in inclement weather.

I forgot to mention that last week during our leadership training I again asked each missionary to be the first one up this last Sunday in their respective wards and be the first ones to bear their testimony. I suggested that their testimony should take just a few minutes and consist of thanking the members for all they do for them, expressing their love for their companions, and testifying of Jesus Christ. As I have been reading their letters this week I often heard what a positive experience this was for them and for the meetings they attended. Many reported that the whole meeting seemed to be more focused on the bearing of true testimony. I had given them this challenge twice before (once about a year ago and once just over two years ago) and each time had received similar positive feedback. I hope that members and missionaries alike were reminded of the importance of bearing pure testimony.

This week I asked Elder Christensen, one of my assistants, to go on an exchange with each of the five companionships in the Klamath Falls Zone. This zone is the most remote of all of the zones in our mission and I felt impressed that there was a need for some hands-on teaching in each area in that zone. It turned out to be a very positive experience for each companionship there. Elder Christensen came back with greater insights as to things we could do to improve our teaching in more remote areas of the mission.

This transfer week also provided, as it always does, the excitement of having new missionaries arriving in the field, the reward of taking great returning missionaries to the temple in Portland, and a few tears as we said goodbye to these great young men at the airport. We also held a conference call with the trainers before their new companions arrived in the field from the MTC and one with the trainers and the new missionaries a couple of days after they arrived. It was good to get at least a light touch with each one of them and explain the importance of this great work and their role in it.

On Saturday evening, Elder Brinkerhoff, our Area Seventy, took us, the Dyches (the Portland Mission President), and his executive secretary and their wives out to dinner. It was fun to be with them for one last time. He was gracious as he thanked us for the service we had rendered during our time here in Oregon. He gave us both a picture book of Oregon and he had the stake presidents in our respective areas write a brief note in the book. This is a gift we will cherish.

This Sunday was Mother’s Day, and Sister Macdonald received a text from almost every missionary in the field wishing her a happy day. In church the sacrament meeting was about the atonement, so no mothers went home feeling guilty that they weren’t as good as the mothers that are often spoken of on that day. This ward has one smart bishop don’t you think?

Week Ending May 1, 2011 Week # 5

Our last four assistants were all together so we took a picture! Why not?

Lunch is always a highlight. The relief society sisters are so good to the missionaries!

Some of our sisters enjoying lunch. Look at the great center pieces!

The elders are so good to let me take their picture when they'd rather be eating.

This bunch wanted their picture taken.

We even had fancy flavor packets for our water bottles.

As you know new instructions were given to mission presidents last summer about how to train missionaries, including teaching a set of lessons called The Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel. In connection with these instructions there was a major shift planned for how missionaries in the MTC would be taught prior to arriving in the mission field. It was anticipated that this new curriculum would begin being taught in the MTC in May of 2011. At that time we charted a course that would have us teach these lessons often enough that all of our missionaries could have a complete understanding of these principles before we left (June 2011). This last week we once again gathered all the missionaries, rather than just leaders, to attend a series of leadership training sessions in Albany, Eugene and Medford on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday respectively. We taught again how revelation can be received through reading the Book of Mormon, and through church attendance. This was taught both from the perspective of the missionaries and their investigators.

In an effort to teach the same principle many different times and in many different ways, I assigned some of our best teaching missionaries who are not going home for about a year to teach these principle in each of our meetings. When I assigned these missionaries to teach I asked them to vary from the outlined lessons, but teach the principles included in those lessons in a different way. As Sister Macdonald and I participated in each of these classes and in role plays within them we were impressed with how well these teachers did, and also what good students all of the other missionaries were. I am sure that many, who were not assigned to teach this time, would have done a great job teaching as well. Although the date has shifted and this curriculum will now not begin being taught in the MTC until August 2011, I think the Youngs will be able to come to Eugene and find missionaries who know these principles very well.

In addition to teaching these lessons at three different locations, Sister Macdonald, President Lowary, two of our stake presidents and I had the opportunity to teach in each of these groups. I also asked several missionaries in each session tell how their efforts in their missionary work had improved by making a personal commitment to become low maintenance and high yield missionaries. We were pleased with the spirit in each of these meetings and enjoyed being with all of our missionaries again this week.

This weekend I attended the last of my coordinating council meetings. We held one in Medford on Saturday and one in Eugene on Sunday. Although we will see most of these stake presidents again, it was somewhat surreal to know that this is another one of our significant “lasts” here in Oregon.

Week Ending April 24, 2011 Week # 4

These are the mission presidents and their wives that we came out with who are serving in the Northwest Area. We have come to love all of them. Can you tell it was cold and windy?!

An unusually beautiful day in Depoe Bay




Just finished dinner with the Dixons and the Strattons. What a greatl time with such wonderful people. How we love them!

As we returned from the mission presidents’ seminar on Saturday evening, Bob and Andrea Stratton (some friends from Orem, who served with us in the mission office during our first year) arrived for a visit. It was fun to have them stay with us for a few days and enjoy their trip down memory lane with them. Monday we went to the coast with them, and on Tuesday evening we enjoyed dinner with them and the Dixons who had served in the office from the Eugene area. We have been so lucky to have many good senior couples serve in the office and it was fun to reminisce with these four great people.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I worked on transfers with my assistants. The interesting thing we have been working on the last couple of transfers is trying to make sure we plan several months ahead so that the right leadership is in place for an easy transition to President Young. The Lord has been good in guiding our thoughts and helping me think very clearly in knowing what should be done. Although I will only work on one more transfer, my heart will be here in the Oregon Eugene Mission for some time to come.

Thursday evening I had the opportunity to travel to Sweet Home to witness the baptism of the Thomas family, consisting of a father, mother, son, and daughter. The sisters in that area had been teaching them for a while, and we had met them at the Lebanon Stake conference last month. Since Sister Macdonald needed to work on her talk she was giving on Saturday, I took Elder Dietrich with me to the baptism. It was fun to have a couple of hours with him. I also was pleasantly surprised to see Sister Abbott there, who had gone home last month. She came back for the baptism, and also dropped by our home on Friday to visit. We love how these missionaries are such a part of our lives.

On Saturday Sister Macdonald was a key note speaker at a Stake Woman’s Conference in Bend. It was so fun to go with her and hear her give such a great talk. Selfishly I enjoyed being able to sit back and just enjoy her talk because I knew I didn’t need to speak when she was done. As I watched the audience, it was so obvious that she had the sisters’ hearts in her hands. I was once again so proud of her. That evening I went to a baptism for a sister from Veneta in the Eugene Stake Center.

On Easter Sunday we were able to speak at the Roseburg Stake Conference. It was great to be with President Hopkins for one last stake conference, and he invited us to his home for dinner with their parents afterward. Since we had invited the Watsons to come with us for the day, the Hopkins were gracious enough to include them.

I realize that we are taking a risk of seeming overly anxious by posting this on our blog this early, but we also have been receiving a lot of inquiries as to when and where we will be speaking in our ward upon our return. So here you go:
• Date: July 17, 2011
• Where: Timpanogos Park 2nd Ward 1000 North Main Street Orem, Utah
• Time: 9:00 AM.

Week Ending April 17, 2011 Week # 3

Elders Judkins and Schrecengost looking all relaxed, as they should. It was so good to see them!

Pres. and Sis. Palmer came out after us. They are fantastic!

Pres. and Sis. Wilson were friends in Orem and also came out after us. It was a special treat to have them here in the Northwest. They are doing a great job!

We completed training our missionaries in the Corvallis and Salem Zones on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was good to spend time with Elder Newman as he traveled with us and taught the missionaries with me. On Tuesday evening Sister Macdonald and I had dinner with the Kunzler family in Salem along with the missionaries serving there, Elders Groskreutz and Wells. Karen Kunzler had worked for me five years ago in Utah at Canyon Park. It was good to see her and her family again. That evening I visited with President Lathen of the Salem Stake along with the zone leaders there. President Lathen will be out of town in May, which is our next visit to the Salem area. I was shocked to realize this was the last time I would visit with him in his office. One more of many sobering thoughts of late that our time here is all too quickly coming to an end.

We had planned our visits and training throughout the mission this transfer so that we would end in Salem and could leave from there to the mission presidents’ seminar in Seattle. Before we left Salem two of our former missionaries, Elders Judkins and Schrecengost, stopped by the meeting house in Salem and visited with us for a while. They were taking a trip through Oregon. It was fun to see them and see how happy they are. Some of the missionaries in that area knew them which made it fun to watch their reunion and interactions with one another during their lunch break. They truly do care about each other. Perhaps it was a small peak at future reunions, both on this side of the veil and on the other. I pray we will always be happy because we all find ourselves in harmony with what the Lord would have us do.

Because we were driving to the mission president seminar in Seattle, and were picking up President and Sister Dyches of the Portland Mission in route, we decided to stay one night with them at the mission home there. This way we wouldn’t need to get up real early for the drive north on Thursday. They had a nice dinner prepared and we enjoyed visiting with these great people, who are our good friends. We also enjoyed their company driving to and from the seminar.

The seminar was wonderful, as usual. We enjoyed the instructions, the spiritual edification, and the association with the good people there. I remembered the mission presidents who were in their last few months when we gathered last April and I remembered how engaged they were in all of the discussions and how they wanted to implement what they were being taught as soon as they returned to their mission. I made a mental note of that at the time, and thought how I wanted to make sure I did what they did in my final seminar. Sister Macdonald and I both found that really easy to do. We also found it to be a very reflective experience and one that brought a sense of closure to this wonderful journey. We enjoyed the final goodbyes, and will of course sprint to the end. With that said, there was a sense of peace that we had all but finished the course and would soon be released as the Lord would have us be.

Two Weeks Ending April 10, 2011 Weeks #1 & 2

Elder Puertas was a little slow getting his wig on. Sorry elder.

Elders Christensen and Newman did a great job keeping the waffle irons going for breakfast.

A break in the morning rain allowed us to step outside for the group picture. So much easier this way! Just so many shoes to put on and take off. I love it!

Zone Leaders Council was held on March 29th, and we again enjoyed our time with these young leaders of the mission. They are indeed leaders in title and in action. They are unbelievably teachable and good to be with. When we hold Zone leaders’ Council on the first week in the transfer cycle, the rest of that week is normally fairly open as we prepare for the coming weeks. However, this week was different. We started another round of mission president training on Thursday since during week three we will be going to a mission presidents' seminar in Seattle with the other mission presidents in the Northwest Area. In the past this interim seminar has been for the mission presidents only (not their wives) and the annual seminar held in the fall has been for the presidents and their wives. This time Sister Macdonald and the other mission president’s wives have been invited to come to the interim seminar as well. We will report on what happens there in another week or so. Our training with the missionaries this time focused on the need to teach people not lessons. This is one of the lessons from the Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel series that was introduced last summer. Elder Christensen, one of my assistants, traveled with us to Coos Bay on the 31st, and then throughout the southern and eastern portions of the mission in week two and assisted me in teaching this principle to six zones. Elder Newman, our other assistant, taught with me in Eugene on the 1st of April, and will travel with us next week to the northern parts of the mission. As I was preparing to teach this lesson, it occurred to me that I had the need to teach these good missionaries – not just a lesson (after all that is the title of what we were teaching). After we taught the principle mentioned above, Sister Macdonald and I taught the missionaries about what they could expect during the transition of our leadership to the Youngs. It was fun telling them about our call three years ago, and answering a barrage of questions about how the mission changed us, what we have learned, what we hope to do differently because we served, and what they might expect when the Youngs arrive. As we answered their questions, we were reminded again of our love for these missionaries.

On Friday April 8, after we had taught the missionaries in the Cascade zone, we had an opportunity to attend a baptism in one of the Prineville wards of the Redmond Stake. I remembered a goal I had made three years ago, to attend at least one baptism in every stake of the mission. As we were planning to go to this baptism, I remembered that although I had been to hundreds of baptism, including at least one baptism in every other stake of the mission, I hadn’t been to one in the Redmond stake. It is always great to go to a baptism, but it was especially nice to be able to complete this goal.

On Saturday and Sunday we attended the stake conference of the Redmond Stake. It was presided over by Elder Craig Christensen of the Seventy. It was great to be there and we enjoyed our association with the visiting authorities and the people of that stake. Our good friend David Perdue was released as the stake president after serving for nine years. Called in his stead was President Palmer, who has served for the last six months as a counselor in that presidency. I am sure he will do a great job, and we look forward to working with him over the next few months.

A few weeks ago Sister Macdonald and I had another wonderful lengthy phone discussion with President and Sister Young who will be coming to preside over the great Oregon Eugene Mission the last week of June. We were so impressed with their positive attitude and excitement as well as their firm commitment to leave behind all that they are doing to serve the Lord in this heavy responsibility because they know they were called of God. We were thrilled as they shared with us some of the impressions of the Spirit they were having about things they should do when they get here. We were happy that many of their feelings mirrored what we have felt over the last few years. This was yet another testimony that it isn’t President Young or President Macdonald that presides over this mission. We are just stewards as the Lord presides. This last week their short biography was published in the Church News. If you haven’t already seen it, you can find it at: http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/60697/New-mission-presidents.html