Wow...does time go by fast!
We have been out now 7+ months.
It feels like I keep learning new things about my job each week. It may only be July, but I am living part of
my office life in October already! Just
submitted travel requests for those leaving in October. Church Travel wants the travel requests 3
months in advance. Monday, I start
working on gathering information on those leaving in December!!! Doesn't sound too hard, but you have to find
out from the parents if they want their missionary to fly home or if they are
picking him up, into which airport do they want him to fly, have they had any
Bishop/Stake President change, have the parents moved, separated/divorced, or passed
away, print out certificates of release,
send letters with itineraries to parents and their local leaders,
etc. We have already had two parents
pass away while their missionary was here.
We've have several grandparents pass away. Most of the parents are great about replying
with all the info right away, but there are a few who forget so I get to play
phone tag with them for a few days. I am
always a little nervous to hit the "submit" button. I have nightmares of sending a missionary to
the wrong airport.
Office couples get a bird's eye view of all that goes on in
the mission. I am amazed at how well
everything comes together and how much missionary work actually gets done. Elder Stringham has had his hands full! First, we are starting to get more bedbugs in
the apartments! Our heat machine broke,
so until it is fixed we use exterminators.
Some apartments want to use their own exterminators and some don't care,
but just want them gone soon before they spread. One thing I am learning is that too many
missionaries don't clean well. They can
be quite messy....things not put away.
They haven't cleaned their refridgerators or stoves in a long time. Some have used the same old, ragged dish cloth to the point that it is dark and
sour. I didn't even want to ask about
their bathrooms. Trust me when I tell
you that it doesn't take long for individual missionaries to get a reputation
of being messy.....to the point of being almost intolerable. And there is an unseen line of communication
between all the missionaries. Sometimes
they know stuff before office staff hears about it. Elder Stringham found out that there were 5 missionaries
living in a 2 bedroom apartment where the lease only allows 2 unrelated people
living there. Whoops! I'm sure these missionaries enjoyed all the
company....but Mission Presidents have learned that the work suffers when too
many missionaries live together. Second,
our phone company has upgraded our phones and we received 100 new phones that
need to have all their numbers and info switched over. More new phones will
come when it is their time to upgrade. New phones always cause some problems....just
getting used to them. I haven't set mine up yet. Makes me nervous learning new technology
things. My brain cells still can't
remember all of my usernames and passwords for all my online accounts.
Part of my job is to collect photos for a DVD video that is
created for the missionaries just before they go home. Some of their pictures make me chuckle. This is from one of my favorite Elders. He was an Assistant to the President and we
often saw him in the office. We shared
computers.
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| "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel unto every creatures!" |
Two more of the family from Iraq were baptized
yesterday....the father and daughter. I
heard a little more of how they found the church. They were looking for a Christian religion
and saw the Des Moines Stake building while driving around. So they showed up one Sunday and were noticed
by one of the friendliest women in our ward.
The family was just standing outside on the sidewalk looking lost. Sister Knight talked to them and they said
they were looking for a church to go to.
I must say, I think her fellowshipping them, getting them to the
missionaries and taking such an interest in them helped this sweet family feel
right at home and prepared them to hear the Gospel. They actually live in the boundaries of a
different ward so I really don't get to see them!
Went to the Des Moines, Iowa Farmer's Market in downtown Des
Moines. It is huge....many, many blocks
long and then all of the side streets crossing over were filled with tables and
booths. So many different vegetables, some fruits from down south, pork and
beef cooked many different ways, lots of different kinds of cheese, eggs, dozens
of salsa recipes (many tasting tables, too), and of course booths and booths of
craft items. Parking was a breeze because there is a huge parking garage right
there on one of the blocks. However,
leaving the garage took close to 30 minutes....mainly because we thought we
were smart and parked on the top floor.
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| Farmer's Market ...one of the largest in the country. |
Today, I learned about a very wealthy member of the church
who was concerned because one section of his ward had to travel so far to the
building for activities. Attendance was
sparse. So he built a big, huge
beautiful home on a lot of acreage closer to those who had little or no
transportation and set it up so all the YM/YW, Primary, Ward Socials, Seminary,
etc. could be held at his home. Needless
to say attendance at all the meetings greatly improved.
Still fascinated with the weather in Iowa. It is cooler than usual for July, we
hear. Next week it is predicted to break
records for the coolest weather for July. I looked at the Seattle weather and noticed
they were having a heat wave! The weather can change from cool and stormy to
hot and humid in just a few hours!
The Bishop gave us some names of less active persons to
track down and see if we can offer any help.
No one answers the door, the phone or answers emails. We did learn
that one family had just moved and now we have their parent's address
and phone numbers.
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| A few hours after a big storm! |
We love it here!
Happy to be of part of the missionary work!
Love you all as always!!
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