Monday was like an extra P-Day due to the Labor Day Holiday. The President decided we did not need to have the Mission Office open on Monday; but we still had plenty to do since it was the day 9 new missionaries arrived in the mission. Sister Jensen had to be at the Mission Home by 2:30 pm to help prepare dinner for the 9 new missionaries and the AP’s and the President and his wife. Before going she had to do some food preparation to get ready to take with her. I took her to the Mission Home and then went to the Mission Office and did some things I needed to do to be ready for the New Missionary Orientation meeting at 6pm that evening. I went back to the Mission Home a little before 6pm to get things set up for my part of the new missionary orientation meeting. After the orientation meeting we went home and had our home evening and went to bed.
Tuesday morning we spent our time getting ready for the missionary transfer meeting at noon. With the 9 new missionaries, 5 Elders and 4 Sisters, to be assigned to a training companion and other companion changes that needed to be made as well we had about two thirds or more of the missionaries in the mission come for the transfer meeting. These meetings are now held at the Kreag Rd. church where the mission office is now located. With the parking lot around the church being repaved this past week, there were some challenges in getting all the vehicles the missionaries drove, into the parking lot and out of the way of the asphalt paving crew and equipment. I had to talk with the missionary companions who were having changes in who the designated drivers were to be and make sure they knew who was to be the driver and remind them of the responsibilities of a designated driver. I also had a few vehicle repair issues to take care of. I had Elder Hunt, who is from Winnemucca NV, who is a great auto mechanic, help me with one of the repairs; he is a fine missionary. He has used his mechanic abilities a number of times to be of service to people who were having vehicle or lawnmower problems. While he was repairing something his companion taught a lesson to the people or gave them a Book of Mormon; they have had return appointments to teach more to some of the people they have helped. After transfer meeting I had July vehicle reports to process and record. Due to the holiday weekend and no mail for 3 days, most of the reports arrived in the Tuesday mail delivery. Sister Jensen had to process the 3 day accumulation of the mail on Tuesday.
Sister Jensen went and helped with providing food for the last meal for the 3 missionaries going home on Wednesday morning. The 3 going home all have last names beginning with the letter “C”; Sister Coreia, Sister Crook, and Elder Cox. Sister Jensen also discovered on Tuesday that some of the computer issues we thought we had fixed were still a problem, so I spent some of my time trying to have the Church Computer Technology people help guide me through what to do in order to fix the problems. We had to wait until Thursday afternoon for Brother Hales to come and fix a few of the problems. By Friday we think we had almost all of Sister Jensen’s computer problems cured, we hope they stay cured.
Wednesday we were able to get caught up on a lot of our work that has been delayed for one reason or another. Wednesday evening we went to the GVB YSA opening social for Institute. It was held at Buckman Park, which is about one fourth mile from the church on Westfall Rd. We only stayed long enough to eat then we drove to the Hill Cumorah for the Wednesday evening site training meeting that is held every week. We attend this meeting as often as we can since we are not able to attend a weekly district meeting the missionaries have in the day time. It turned out that I was asked by one of the companionships of sister missionaries to replace their windshield wiper blades. I have some in our office supplies so I brought the right size with us so I could install them. It turned out that the right adapter piece was not in the package with the new blades, so I was not able to replace the wiper blades after all. I told the sisters to stop at an auto shop we use in their area and have them install new blades for them.
Thursday we were able to solve some more of the computer problems Sister Jensen has been having; and then Brother Hales came and he took care of most of the rest of the computer problems for her. I received all but one of the late vehicle reports for July and got them taken care of. Sister Jensen also helped with some food for the new missionaries and their trainers who came to the Kreag Rd. church to be trained by the President. Thursday evening Sister Jensen worked on preparing some food for Friday to feed the 12 people who come to the Zone Leader Council meeting which was held Friday from 10am to 3pm.
Friday with help from the Church Tech. Support people we were able to solve a few more problems with Sister Jensen’s computer and also do some catching up on our normal work. Friday afternoon we had Scott from ICS Telecom come and help us with the final steps of setting up our new telephone system. Scott had set up a lot of the system the week before; but Friday at noon our previous phone number which was supplied by a different phone company, was finally released for us to begin using it again with the new phone system. Scott was very helpful and patient with us and we have our phone system pretty well operating as it should. There are a still a few things we need to do to get some of the functions set up but at least we have our phone number back in service, so people can now call us again. We also had to change our fax number so we have to let our vendors and others know of this change. Friday after we left the mission office we drove to Palmyra to take care a minor car repair problem for two sister missionaries living in the White House which is about one fourth mile from the Palmyra Temple.
Saturday morning I drove to Geneseo and picked up the Elders and took them to Chris Elliott’s place in Nunda to help fix the breakfast for the fathers and sons campout. We did not sleep over with them but we just went to help with the breakfast. Elder Maisey cooked the bacon, and Elder Stoddard and I took care of the pancakes. When I arrived back home we did some home work things and went to Chase’s Vegetable and produce shop at his farm in Macedon and we also went to Wal-Mart for a few things.
Friday evening and Saturday we received text messages and phone calls about how well Shaun’s surgery went on Friday. Shaun even felt well enough, and bored enough, to call us a few times and visit with us. He is doing quite well and may be able to go home on Monday. Our prayers in his behalf have been answered; thank you so much for all who included him in your prayers. His prognosis is looking good so far.
Today we had great church meetings. The speakers in Sacrament meeting spoke about the value of scriptures and the blessings that come from studying them daily. One speaker said if we choose not to read the scriptures one day, we better be careful to choose a day when we do not need the blessings and help that come from the Lord; because we may not receive the needed blessings that would otherwise come from reading, pondering, and praying about the scriptures on that day. I need all the blessings and help I can get, and we have learned that taking time for the scriptures every day is a great source of strength and power to get through each day with the help of the Lord and the Holy Spirit. Our Gospel Essentials class in Sunday School was on the Priesthood. A quote from President Mckay said that the one major unique thing our church has that is not in any other church is “divine authority”. Authority from the Lord is the source of the ordinances and covenants which bring to us the blessings we need now and also the eternal blessings that will come in the future. We are hoping to be able to see the CES Fireside broadcast tonight. The speaker is Elder Holland, he always provides powerful truths and doctrines to bless our lives.
We know and testify that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored through divine authority from Jesus Christ given to his Prophets in this dispensation of time. Joseph Smith was the first of these prophets and the Book of Mormon is absolutely true and provides the full gospel of Jesus Christ. This church is true, we have living prophets, seers and revelators, who are apostles of the Savior; they do receive revelation to teach and help us live the way that will enable us to return to Heavenly Father and the Savior with our families sealed to us for eternity. We love you all and are so thankful for all the blessings we receive because of our relationship and associations with you.
Love,
Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Maxine & Richard
No comments:
Post a Comment