In which we pretend this is a Missionary Blog

So I wrote a letter to my family.  I thought of sending it to my mother so she could post it on my blog, but decided it would be less complicated to just post it :)

I would tell you about our week but it is all a big giant blur.  Suffice it to say that I think this is what happened this week.  It could be last week or even next week, hard to say really.

This week was the highly anticipated, rumored and dreaded transfer week.  Transfers are every six weeks and there is always much shuffling because some missionaries go home, some come and even more get moved around or into training/zone/district positions.  El presidente is really trying to follow the counsel of the brethren and make his best missionaries trainers.   Even in the church we tend to aspire to the honors of men and Zone Leader sounds much cooler than trainer.  Especially when to prepare for being a trainer six weeks from now means you have to be released as a zone leader so you can move to the new area and learn the area before your trainee arrives.  

Adios Amigos!

So, eight missionaries went home and six arrived.  The returning missionaries went to the temple together and then back to the mission home for lunch and good-bye training.  They had all had their interviews the day before so everything was all together.  Ken gave them some good counsel and advice on returning home.  He said they didn’t have to get married but they absolutely had to date.  And then he used the Preach My Gospel chapter on finding to explain how to find someone to date (talk with everyone, go to where the people are, member referrals).  It was fun.  After dinner we had a testimony meeting and that was great.  It is amazing how much a mission can change you.  During lunch, Rebecca decided that she wanted advice from every returning missionary so she passed around an Advice for Rebecca paper.  She got some great advice, including “always eat cake if it is offered.”

We did not have any missionaries sleep at the mission home.  There really isn’t any room with the kids so they were farmed out to the assistants and the senior couples.  I hope they didn’t party too hard… They met back at the house at 4:45 in the a.m. and we weighed the suitcases one last time, made a pile of things not making the weight cut (anyone want some worn out pants and a grey shirt?) Then off to the airport.  Well, I went back to bed but Ken and the assistants went to Burbank.  Everyone was actually on the same flight so that made it easy. 

Ken made it back home in time for new trainer training.  He spent two hours on training the trainers, including sharing Suzanne’s comment that a bad trainer really can set the wrong tone for your mission.  I hope they felt the spirit of how important their calling as trainer is.  It is a twelve week intense training program that comes with extra work but no titled glory. 

The whole family and the assistants (who we might as well call family) went to the airport to meet the arriving missionaries.  Elder A (as in AP I’m trying to keep things anonymous so you may see a lot of Elder initials that make sense only to me) was literally bouncing up and down he was so excited for the new ones.  He said he loves it when they come because they are so excited about the work that it really energizes his companionship.  Our assistants are great.  One is English speaking and one is Spanish speaking and so they have served with both halves of the mission so they really know everybody.

We got the terrified new missionaries back to the mission home for lunch, paperwork  and interviews.  He didn’t want to assign companions until after interviews.  So at five the new trainers came and met their companions and went out to do great things. 

Thursday there was six more hours of trainer and trainee training (say that three times fast).  It was a good meeting even though I had to keep popping in and out for various things.  In one of the times I was actually in the meeting I felt I should share a thought I had about training and a talk Elder Bednar gave about prayer and spiritual creation preceding temporal creation.  I likened it to the dreaded role playing and how if you do it sincerely with a specific investigator in mind you can feel the spirit and know what to practice and prepare for.  Well, it turns out that Ken used the exact same talk and example that morning while I was out doing mom duty.  The talk was four years old and we had never talked about it but we both had the same impression. Pretty cool, eh?  

Ken is working, working, working and I am trying to hold everything together at home.  I have also been trying to arrange food for zone conferences and that is way too stressful.  I vote a zone conference on fasting.  Just kidding, but good grief it is complicated to feed 190 missionaries in 10 different buildings.  I’m just really glad the stake Relief Society president of the Spanish stake speaks English—or else who knows what hilarity would ensue.  Elder P suggested I just find a taco truck to come to the building and that is not a bad idea at all.

Friday night was date-night and we went to The Rose & Crown, a little British pub where we had awesome sausage rolls and fish and chips and watched part of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in London.  

Saturday we started the must do task of re-arranging the kitchen.  We were tired of trying to learn someone else’s system and are shuffling things around so they make sense to us.  Saturday night we had dinner with most of the area stake presidents/wives and our area authority.  It was nice to meet the presidents at a social type event.  Ken will be working with them on the coordinating council but it was nice for me to get to meet the wives.   

Ken spoke in the Korean branch today while I went to our ward with the kids.  Sundays are so stressful—new ward, new people, blah blah blah.  But on the plus side no trip to Costco…