Week Ending May 30, 2009 Week # 1

Elders Peterson and Goodman at zone conference--willing to not run away from my camera.

Elder Howard is giving tie tying lessons to Elders Larsen and Fawcett before they go home. You'd think they'd know how after two years. Actually, it was a new way.

Elders Judkins and Bosen had to show me this thing they can both do--kick themselves in the forhead. It happens so fast, I just couldn't capture it (photographer I'm not), but I had to put it out here for everyone to know about. Now and then they kick themselves a little too hard and end up on the floor. What is that saying about men never grow up? I love it!

With transfers behind us we started the new transfer cycle with our zone leader council. As is always the case we had 4 or 5 new zone leaders with us. Also, Elder Livingston who was just released as my assistant is once again serving as a zone leader. It is my hope that the missionaries can recognize this for what it is, the pattern they will see throughout their life of being called to “visible” callings with added responsibilities, then being released and moving on to less visible callings. It is so great to be with these good young men and see their desire to do all they can to carry forth this work. They are so teachable, but also very knowledgeable about missionary work and they truly do want to do all that is asked of them.

Normally this week is a bit of a catch up week but with Correlation Council Meetings beginning down in Medford on Saturday we rearrange some of our interviews. This way we don’t have that long drive just for one long meeting. So we did interviews on the coast and then in Klamath Falls on Thursday and Friday respectively. It is always good to see the missionaries.

Last Zone Conferences (which we held a couple of weeks ago) we taught about the need to have shorter (preferably 20 minute, but no longer than 30 minute) but still “spirit-filled” first lessons. It the short period of time since this was taught to our missionaries we are already hearing about the impact that is having in return visits. They feel the special something the missionaries bring with them (i.e. the spirit of God) and the missionaries don’t outwear their welcome by staying too long.

On Friday night I went out teaching with two missionaries and saw them put into practice this principle. Perhaps they were a little nervous to have the mission president with them, but they taught great and when we went to the next “soft” appointment and they weren’t available the Elders quickly had a plan to still be productive. Although the press of our day-to-day activities doesn’t allow as much personal teaching to investigators as I would like, I am very grateful for the times I can get out and for the high quality of teachers we have in the mission.

At our last Zone conference we also taught about the “Doctrine of Everything.” Elder Sybrowsky had taught me the difference between doing “Anything” for the people we are teaching and doing “Everything” for them. As I studied this out I determined that to do anything to help someone is an act of desperation, but to do everything to help someone is a principle of dedication. Dedication is a much more powerful tool than desperation. I know the Lord has done everything for me and I hope I can be a useful tool in giving something back.

Week Ending May 23, 2009 Week # 6

Our new missionaries saw some rain as they arrived, but the sun decided to show now and then throughout the day, a good taste of Oregon Spring.

A cool but beautiful day at the Portland Temple with our departing missionaries and the Dixons, one of our office couples. We even ran into Elder Stout who went home several months ago. I'll get his picture in next time. It was great to be in the temple with our missionaries.

Elder Fowler's family couldn't wait to see him. I've never seen so much love and excitement in the eyes of kids before. It was wonderful!



Elder Fowler's family. Well, some of them. We counted 18. How many do you count?





Gary Stewart and Thales Smith are the salt of the earth and among the best in leadership I have seen. I am so grateful that Tom has them to work alongside him. What a difference they make in the way things run in this mission. Their wives are right there with them--Wow!






There's Tom, Rachel, Ryan and my adorable, little Bennett! We hiked Sweet Creek Falls and went over to Florence. Bennett was the talk on the trail, of course.

Another transfer week has come and gone. Not since I was serving my own mission and maybe when I was in school has time been marked by such regular stops and starts. It was another emotional roller coaster of watching fresh excited incoming missionaries and then seeing people we have come to love so much leave us as they have completed their service. This week’s transfers also had a change in assistants for me. Elder Livingston was released but still has one more transfer and Elder Goldhardt, who goes home in December, has joined Elder Brown. They, of course will do a great job together, but I will miss Elder Livingston, as I do all those who we work closely with when it comes their time to move on.

Sister Macdonald and I noticed something so delightful this transfer cycle. We had three missionaries picked up by their families. One was met at the temple by his parents. It was great watching them unite and be so happy to see one another. He came back to the mission home later in the day for our final supper together and they picked him up again here. That same evening we had another Elder picked up by his parents and his two younger sisters. Again it was fun to watch their interaction and the love they have for each other. However, perhaps the highlight was the last Elder picked up by his family.


We had an Elder from Northern California, who comes from a large family, picked up Wednesday morning. There were 18 people who arrived to get him (his parents, some siblings, some in-laws, and several nieces and nephews). It was wonderful to see the love in this family as they hugged one another. One of the nephews (age 2) tugged on Sister Macdonald’s skirt and when she bent down to talk to him he grabbed her and hugged her and told her that he liked her. They had purchased a small bus, like a shuttle van you take to the rental car counter of the hotel from the airport, to make the trip. - What a memory!


This week I had a presidency meeting with my two counselors. One of the great legacies that President Fugal left for me was calling two great men to serve with. In all of my church callings, and business assignments too for that matter, I have had men better than me that I worked with who provided much help in carrying out our duties. I feel bad that I have never written before about the strength I gather from having a presidency and meeting with them each month or so and talking to them on the phone regularly. Most people know about the mission president and his role with the missionaries, but the mission president also is often called upon by stake presidents in his mission to train local leaders in their missionary responsibilities and to speak in various conferences, firesides, and other meetings. I am assisted in all of this work and much more by two wonderful counselors, Presidents Stewart and Smith. In addition, I enjoy their company and their counsel whenever I have the opportunity to speak with them. I am grateful for the strength and wisdom of men who have served long and well in the church. I have learned to love these great men and can call on them to do anything. They gladly accept and always do a spectacular job. In fact, if I really want the mission presidency to look good I send them instead of going myself. They are wonderful.

On a personal note we were so blessed to have Ryan and Rachel and their little Bennett fly up for the Memorial Day weekend. It has been great seeing them as parents and getting to see how delightful Bennett is. Bennett is our 6th grandchild and first grandson who was born in February. This was our first chance to see him and hold him. He is such a pleasant baby and is almost always happy. They have adapted well to being parents and are naturals in that role.

All-in-all another great week.

Week Ending May 16, 2009 Week # 5

Some of our elders at the Medford Area Zone Conferences

Elder Robinson carrying my bags to the car. Such a willing helper. They're heavy!

Sisters Thompson and Wood bought me this fancy chocolate for Mother's Day! It was delicious too. I waited several days to eat it because it was too pretty to eat.

This was the week where we hold our Multi Zone Conferences (MZC). Elder Hinckley had been scheduled to join us this week, but about a week ago the decision was made in Salt Lake that he would not come. I would have loved having him here, but it did allow us to cover several things that I had been wanting to share with the missionaries that I had learned at the mission president’s seminar I attended in April and from the people who visited our mission from the missionary department last month. I rememeber twice when I was a stake president that a general authority was scheduled to come to stake conference and the week before, plans were changed so they didn’t come. Must be something about me. :>)

On Wednesday night we had the three Eugene area stake presidents and their wives over to the house for dinner – Presidents Martin, Lewis and Cryer. We had a wonderful time and I think they did too. On Friday night we had dinner with the Wrights. He serves as the stake president in Central Point, down near Medford. We are so appreciative of these built in friends we have in the area. We have come to know some of them better than others (there are 15 stakes in our mission area). We are grateful for all of them and the opportunity we have to serve with them and to get to know them.

This is also the week where I made all of the final transfer decisions and made leadership calls to those being called into a new area of leadership responsibility and to those who will train. It is so good to see how receptive the missionaries are in taking on these new assignments and then fulfilling them so well.

On Saturday and Sunday the 16th and 17th, we were able to join Elder Walker of the 1st quorum of Seventy at the Medford Stake Conference. We have learned to enjoy these opportunities and to be very flexible in our speaking opportunities. Before the conference I had the opportunity to meet with the Bishops and the Ward mission leaders and lead a discussion on how to improve ward missionary efforts. They were all very receptive. Although we were given no assigned talks before hand I ended up speaking in all three sessions of stake conference and Sister Macdonald spoke at the adult session. She did a great job of comparing sharing the gospel with someone to sharing a chocolate cake recipe with a dear friend. She told of a time when she did that and used the chocolate cake analogy with that dear friend. She was excellent at getting the point across.

This was another week where we were blessed to be safe in our travels and to have our missionaries enjoy safety and success in their work. I know that we are being blessed in our lives and pray that we can do all we should to move this work forward.

Two Weeks Ending May 9, 2009 Weeks # 3 & 4

Anita and John Cushing, President, Gordon and Roma Thomas

The Thomas couple grew up in Emery County, Utah and knew my parents. What a small world!

Well this is the first time I have wrapped two weeks up in one to report on. Rest assured it is not because there was less happening, but perhaps just the opposite and I didn’t take the time to record things as they were occurring.

During these two weeks we interviewed the missionaries north, west and east of Eugene. Those in Corvallis, Salem, the Coast, Klamath Falls and Bend. It is always great to see them. I have relearned the powerful potential of the statement made by the Lord as recorded in Mathew, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” As I visit with these missionaries I feel closer to them and closer to the Savior. I believe that they too grow closer to the Lord in these visits. It is a great blessing in my life and I pray it is in theirs too.

On Sunday, April 26, Mom and I spoke in the Roseburg stake conference. The stake president, Pres. Hopkins, invited us to take 10 to 15 minutes each to speak. As the meeting went on it seemed to me that the meeting was overscheduled and during the rest hymn I offered to cut our talks back to a brief testimony so he could have adequate time to speak. Pres. Hopkins told me he only wanted 5 minutes to share his testimony and for us to take our scheduled time. I felt very uncomfortable with that but he assured me that it was what he wanted us to do. Well, we cut back,but we did leave him with 10 minutes and he seemed very happy with his limited time. I still felt a bit guilty. Afterwards we had a lovely dinner with the Smiths who live in that stake. He is serving as one of my counselors.

During these last two weeks one of our wonderful neighbors, Tom Reynolds, who has befriended all of the mission presidents who lived here for at least the last 10 years, passed away. His sweet wife, Lu, continues to treat us like we are a part of her family. We called the last two mission presidents and let them know of Tom’s passing. Lu was so touched that they would both call her right away and offer their heartfelt condolences. John and Anita Cushing who served here as the mission president from 2002 to 2005 made a trip out here with another couple, Gordon and Norma Thomas, who had served with them, and they went to Tom's memorial service. We could not attend the service because we had previously made a commitment to speak in Burns and needed to be traveling when the service was scheduled. We had the privilege of having the Cushings and the Thomases stay in the mission home with us. They also stayed after we left for our other mission duties. It was wonderful to visit with them and to realize again the great men and women who went before us that have set a high bar and paved the way for this work to move forward. We love them all for who they are and what they have done.

On Sunday May 3, 2009 we attended church in Burns and spoke during the 3rd hour of their church service. It was great to be in that ward. A lot of the people there earn their living by farming or raising cattle. When they pray for rain it is done with a lot of faith and earnest desire. After church we drove down to Lakeview and spoke at a fireside there. Both of these towns are fairly small and are 90 minutes or more from their stake office or any other full-time missionaries. We are blessed to have a wonderful senior couple serving in both of these towns and they are doing great jobs.

While we were attending church in Burns on the 3rd, our children were gathered together in Los Angeles where our son, Ryan, was blessing their first child, a boy named Bennett. That is our sixth grandchild and our first grandson. Of course, we wish we could have been there, but we are very pleased to know our children sustain us in this calling and each other at this special time in Ryan and Rachel’s life. A baby boy was blessed in the ward we attended, so it made me feel a little bit like I was there with my family.

Week Ending April 25, 2009 Week # 2

We took part of a p-day to go with the Strattons to a daffadil and tullip farm. They were unbelievably beautiful.

This one had to be one of my favorites, but then again I kept saying that over and over again.

I forgot to mention that last Saturday Sister Macdonald spoke at a relief society stake woman’s conference in the Springfield Stake, which is here in the Eugene area. Of course she spent a lot of time preparing and a little bit of time worrying about it, but in the end she followed the promptings of the spirit and as usual did a great job.

Last Sunday evening we had the youth from the Eugene 1st and 3rd Wards here to the house where we answered questions from them. They had evidentally asked their youth leaders if they thought we would be willing to talk with them about what it is like to be a mission president and wife. Of course we were happy to do so. The week before the youth leaders had them write down questions and then we answered them on Sunday evening. It was great to be around a lot of youth (I guess about 40 or so came along with about 10 leaders) and fun to see their excitement for life. We believe a few of them left more committed to serve a mission and more committed to be missionaries with their friends now.

This week we started interviews. We visited with all the missionaries along the I-5 South and all the missionaries here in Eugene. We always learn something new when we are out and about among the missionaries. I will share one thing we learned with you:

One of our new missionaries, who arrived a couple of weeks ago, had a good experience on his first night. He was met by his trainer, who had been in that area for a couple of transfers already, and was told they were doubled booked for the night. His companion asked if he would be willing to go teach a family for the fist time with the ward mission leader and then go teach another family with ward missionary. By all reports he did a great job and wasn’t too nervous either. I don’t think most new missionaries would be too comfortable doing that. I am glad he came here from the MTC and from his home that well prepared.

I am always amazed at how a new companion can jump start an area. We see this over and over even when one great missionary follows another great one. They just seem to bring a new focus and excitement and the work improves. Of course if you change too frequently you lose the benefit of having people come to know and trust the missionaries. I hope I will continue to be able to follow the spirit and make the changes the Lord directs and hopefully we can continue to see improvements over and over again.

Saturday the assistants had a baptism and they invited me to speak about the importance of the Book of Mormon in general and specifically in the conversion process. It was a short talk, just during the changing time, but I hope I was able to share in a meaningful way what has become so significant in my life. That book, read with real intent, has the power to change lives.