Weeks Ending March 21 & 28, 2010 Week # 1 & 2

Our latest and great zone leaders. They were so excited talking about the people they had found while tracting in the area.

President is the only one who doesn't let his true personality show through in some way. Does he have something to hide? Hmmmm?

Our granddaughter trying her luck at bowling. It was so much fun to have them here for a visit.




Her sister feeding the ducks and starting to be attacked.



Our wonderful senior couple in Lincoln City. We had a wonderful day with them.




Someone I knew when I was younger, a friend of my parents. She and her husband moved to the coast some years ago. It was so fun to run into her. I had no idea she was here.

This is the view from her living room window. It was absolutely breathtaking.

On the 16th of March we held our Zone Leaders Council. At this meeting the 18 zone leaders throughout the mission come to our home, along with the assistants. We examine results and counsel together on ways to improve the mission and successfully reach more people. This time we had the zone leaders come in a few hours earlier and do some missionary work here in Eugene the night before. This gave us a chance to hold a BBQ dinner for all of them, along with the Giles from the office who were able to join us. Unfortunately the Idiarts weren’t feeling well and were unable to come. We enjoyed our time with everyone, both on Monday night and Tuesday. We love being with these good missionaries and trying to help them grow and develop.

On the 19th our eldest son and his family came up from northern California and visited with us for a few days. We were, of course, thrilled to see them. They, like all of our children, are very understanding when we need to take care of a few mission duties while they are here. They had decided to drive up the coast and over night in California on the way here, and so we drove part way down the Oregon coast to meet them on Friday and drove back with them that same day. Sister Macdonald and I took turns driving in our car with one of the adults, while the other one enjoyed visiting with their two daughters in their car. We spent some time on Saturday seeing the ducks in the park and going bowling. That evening I went up to speak in the Saturday adult session of the Lebanon Stake Conference and Sister Macdonald attended a baptism here as they needed a piano player. Afterwards they all went to a glass blowing demonstration here in Eugene. We SO enjoy our time whenever the children are able to come here. We are so glad that Tommy decided to go to business school in the West instead of some of the Eastern schools he had also applied to so we can see them more often. He will finish school in June so unfortunately we won’t have any family in the “neighborhood” for the last year of our mission.

Tuesday morning, the 23rd, we left early to begin our interviews that week in Roseburg, Grants Pass, Medford / Central Point, Klamath Falls and Bend / Redmond. Our family left a couple hours after us. It would have been sadder to leave them if we weren’t immediately busy with our missionaries. On Wednesday afternoon, the 24th, while we were leaving Medford, it was 76 degrees and beautiful outside. On Friday morning we had to deal with freezing temperatures and 2 to 3 inches of snow on the ground in Bend. Two days and a few hundred miles can make for a huge difference in the weather in this mission. Along the way we enjoyed visiting with all of the missionaries and enjoyed visiting and/or dining with a couple of the stake presidents.

During this round of interviews we are studying King Benjamin’s address from the Book of Mormon with the missionaries. We follow a pattern of asking the missionaries to tell us about a particular verse that meant something to them in these chapters. It is good to hear their insights. In chapter 2 we are given specifics of how the people prepared to hear from their leaders. They received notice of the event, came with their families to listen, gave thanks for their blessings, they faced the temple, and those who couldn’t hear had the words distributed to them afterwards. After hearing from their leader they made solid commitments to change their lives for the better. This is the same pattern we need to follow in listening to conference next weekend, both the preparation beforehand and the willingness to change when we hear their inspired counsel.

Week Ending March 14, 2010 Week # 6

Transfer day and meeting new companions is always exciting.

Lots of "temporary" goodbyes.

A very happy groups of new missionaries. They were so ready to get going.

This mom was so surprised. It was so fun to watch their reunion.

Someone was late so we took one picture before the session and one after. We were missing one missionary in each.

This week of transfers had a few activities that needed the immediate attention of both Sister Macdonald and me. The most pressing one occurred on Wednesday when we had a house full of missionaries for their traditional final meal at our home. We had a call from one of our elders who is serving as a zone leader in Grants Pass. He reported that his new companion (whom Sis. Macdonald had been monitoring by phone all day) was now in the hospital. The decision being his need for an emergency appendectomy. Sister Macdonald quickly called the appropriate medical advisors and the family and then authorized the surgery. The next day I called the missionary department and the family’s stake president and informed them of the prior day’s events. We also had the elder call his family and let them know that all was well.

As I talk about this week’s medical issue it occurs to me that I didn’t report that two weeks ago one of our elders had sinus surgery and he also bounced back very quickly. When these medical emergencies happen, we are glad again to be in this part of the world where competent medical advice and treatments are available. This, combined with the fact that the missionaries are looked after by divine power, brings us great peace.

Tuesday was a day of history in our mission. I think it is the first time (and if not the first time then it is the first time in a very long time) we have had more new sisters arrive in the mission in a single day than we had elders. We had 5 sisters arrive on Tuesday along with 4 elders. They were all excited to be here and anxious to get to their area of service. I should mention that last Friday we had a missionary transfer in from the Mongolia mission where he was having a problem getting his visa renewed. He will serve for an unknown period of time in our mission. He had served almost a year and a half in Mongolia, so he only has about six months left. He seems to be a great elder, so I half hope we get to keep him even though I know Mongolia would like him back.

This group of missionaries going home was very full of life and we enjoyed having their boundless energy in our home. One of the missionaries was scheduled to have his sister and her husband meet him at the Portland Temple and they were going to travel home from there. Unbeknown to him his mother arrived at the temple too and surprised him. It was great!

This weekend we went out to the coast and spoke in the ward in Lincoln City. We went out with one of my counselors and his wife and planned to enjoy a rainy, but quiet weekend. It turned out to be a weekend of nice weather, and a member of the ward who lives out there part-time had provided a lovely home right on the beach for us to use. We traveled out on Friday and on Saturday morning were also invited to speak at a bishop’s retreat the Monmouth Stake was holding. Although we were a little busy with meetings and phone calls etc., we definitely enjoyed the slow down in pace, a chance to visit, read a bit, catch up, and enjoy the scenery and company.

Week Ending March 7, 2010 Week # 5

The Pacific Zone greeted at zone conference with "Oregon" tie dye. They made them all by themselves, dyed and constructed. I was so proud.

Then out came their mission ties.

Next I found these interesting looking ??? in the hall. They looked familiar. Clark Kent? Three of him? No, they were wearing name tags. They were my missionaries
in scholarly disguise!



A challenge every zone conference--audio and video. Elder Bosen is trying to get it going. Cross your fingers, and your legs, and your toes, and your arms, and your eyes, and your........




Lunch time recess.

Elder Baucom said something funny again!

On Monday night before the zone conference in Central Point we had dinner at the home of the bishop of the Ashland ward. He had the four missionaries in the area over too. After dinner the elders each answered the children’s question about what they wished they had done differently to better prepare for their mission before leaving home. The elders gave great answers, typically to spend more time in Preach My Gospel. One pointed out the need to particularly focus on chapter 6 as this is the chapter dealing with the attributes of Christ, a life-time quest. They then left for some teaching appointments and we stayed to hold family home evening with the family. They have six children, one of whom is away to school. We talked about missionary preparation from the vantage point of a mission president. We enjoyed just being with a family (it made us feel a little like we were with our own family) and seeing the happy interaction between all of them.

This week we held zone conferences again in Central Point, Corvallis and Eugene. Sister Macdonald told them that the moment they accepted their mission call they became great leaders of significant influence in the world. She then told them ways they could work to better reflect that. One of my counselors spoke in each of the conferences about overcoming rejection and not getting discouraged. I spoke about the revelation that comes with transfers, the need to be obedient, and the strength they get by being righteously united with their companions and the Holy Ghost. I also testified about the power of testimony.

Before the zone conferences I asked each of the missionaries to come prepared to speak for a few minutes on the attributes of Christ, and then called on a half dozen to speak at each conference. Those who spoke did a great job. The assistants conducted a workshop on the need to be diligent in seeking people to teach. At the first conference a couple of the missionaries misunderstood the council being given and thought they were being chastised for not doing more. I assured them that was not the desire of our hearts, as we had just finished a great month with more measurable success in the way of baptisms and other indicators on a weekly basis than we had ever before achieved. The spirit of that conference was a bit tainted because of the contention, but I think (or at least hope) we were able to get things worked out before we left.

This weekend I went alone to a stake conference speaking assignment in Bend. Sister Macdonald wasn’t feeling well so I covered for the two of us. It was very strange to be without her. For almost two years we have been together at all of these types of assignments. I spoke at both the adult session on Saturday evening and the Sunday morning general session. The weather driving up and back to conference through the McKenzie River Valley was beautiful. On the way back I stopped and stretched my legs at Sahalie Falls for a few minutes and enjoyed another beautiful view of that water fall. I was able to stay in the stake president’s home on Saturday night and again enjoyed my association with him and his wife.

Week Ending February 28, 2010 Week # 4

Spring is here! Beautiful blossoms are everywhere and so is unpredictable weather.

These are at the side of the mission home.

These have the most heavenly aroma and are near our driveway.


Here are some of the colors emerging at the Portland Temple.

This was the week that I worked with the assistants to make transfer decisions. It seems like yesterday that I was working hard to figure out how to work through my first transfer experience. I thought it was a little difficult because I didn’t know any of the missionaries and I had to depend so much on the spirit to direct where missionaries should be sent. This week was the 15th transfer I have worked on and I found it difficult for a different reason. Now I do know the missionaries and I want to be sure that it is the Lord directing this work and not my preconceived thoughts about any of the missionaries. Once again I found He did a great job of leading the way and I am calm with the decisions that were made.

This week one of our elders, who came in last month, had to go home with health problems. He has crohn’s disease and had delayed his arrival into the MTC by six weeks because he had a flare up right before he was suppose to arrive. He got it under control, but almost immediately after he arrived he had problems again. The doctors (both here and the ones the missionary department consult with in SLC) recommended that he go home and try to get it resolved. He wanted to stay, but he and his family know that his number one concern right now has to be to get healthy. We hated to send him home.

This week while I was getting my hair cut the shop was calm enough for me to have a good conversation with the woman who cuts my hair. I have had many discussions about the gospel with her on previous visits. One time she told me that she couldn’t afford to get married to her fiancée. I told her I would provide the church and perform the wedding ceremony for free. They are still considering taking me up on that. This time I asked her if she had ever read the Book of Mormon. She told me that she hadn’t. I told her about the book and testified of its truthfulness. She agreed to read it and I got one out of the car and gave it to her. We agreed to talk about it next time I was in. Let’s hope for the best.

This weekend our stake conference speaking assignment was right here in Santa Clara, about 20 minutes from our home. Because of how close it was, we were able to partake of the sacrament in our Eugene ward before we went over to the meeting. We were only asked to participate in the Sunday session, so it felt like a week off from speaking. We enjoy going there as we know a number of people in that stake, and today we found out that Sister Macdonald has a second cousin living there. She had fun connecting with him for a little while.

Spring must be getting close, as we saw a man on a large tractor mowing the park lawn for the first time of the year when we went for a walk one day this week. It is nice to see that Spring is coming (although this was a very mild winter) and see the hope of new life that comes with it. We are ready for longer, warmer, and mostly DRYER days.

Week Ending February 21, 2010 Week # 3

Sister Brinkerhoff was so good to take care of us while we stayed in Grants Pass for stake conference. Her husband is a counselor in the stake presidency.

Our Eugene Zone
I Love this picture. It shows where their minds are.



Our former Sis. Parker and one of her new member friends stopped by. It was so good to see her and to know she hasn't forgotten the OEM.

This week we did interviews in Corvallis, Salem, Eugene and Coos Bay, seeing the rest of “our” missionaries and enjoying our time with them. After we finished interviews in Coos Bay on Friday, we headed towards Central Point, as I had a correlation meeting with the area seventy and the stake presidents there on Saturday morning and we had agreed to speak at a youth fireside while we were in town on Friday night. We were enjoying a beautiful drive along the Oregon coast and were busy visiting and enjoying the scenery, letting the lovely lady in our GPS tell us where to turn. She took us up a lovely mountain vista between Gold Beach on the coast and Grants Pass towards the east. This was our first time traveling this road. We loved it until just over an hour later when we came to a snow cover road that was impassable. We turned around and when we had cell coverage I let the stake president in Central Point know that we were going to be very late.

When we started out we thought we had an hour to spare but this turn around added over two and a half hours to our trip. President Wright was SO gracious and told us that everything happens for a reason. Anyway, we went straight to his home, arriving at 8:30 (for a 7:00 fireside). They had an enjoyable time just visiting before we arrived, and then we took 45 minutes or so and had a great visit with the youth about missionary work and preparation. Sister Wright was kind enough to feed us at the end of the evening. They then told us the story of that road in the winter months. A couple of years ago another couple had followed their GPS through that area and were caught in a storm, stuck in snow with their family. The husband died from exposure trying to hike out for help just before they were rescued. So I guess there are a lot of things worse than arriving late. We felt protected and felt absolutely no pressure for not being on time. I, of course, felt foolish, but that will wear off - I hope. 

On Saturday we attended a baptism in the Grants Pass Zone and on Saturday and Sunday we participated in a Stake Conference in the Grants Pass Stake. It was a joy to be with those saints and to feel the spirit of their stake. We stayed with a counselor in the presidency and enjoyed our time there. The president had arranged to have the first three rows reserved for newly baptized and recently activated members. It was so good to see them and catch their spirits.

After the conference was over we headed back home to Eugene. I had another correlation meeting on Sunday with the stake presidents in the northern part of the mission and the area seventy. I do enjoy the opportunity to visit with the stake presidents through out the mission. (Make no mistake about it, I still wish that they were much shorter in length!)