Blessings

23 November 2014   Blessings

It has been a great two weeks.  We've been busy.  It is hard to believe that I have already booked flights for those departing in February and have letters, asking for information updates, ready to send to those parents whose missionary departs in April.  I live in two worlds......the present and the future.  We are losing so many of our great leaders in December, January, February and April.  I have grown quite fond of them all.  Elder Stringham has been busy with the finances.  It seems like a lot of the bills come due around the same time.  He gets interruptions when someone needs help on their computer, missionaries have problems with their apartments or when the Elders want him to help go teach.  So often he stays late to catch up.  

When we arrived last December, we were just getting ready for a transfer.  We gained a new AP at that time....Elder Weiss.    He has been an AP as long as we have been on our mission.  He goes home in 12 days.  I  can't even imagine the Mission without him.  We  have all come to rely on him for answers, help and  for leadership and just plain loved by all the missionaries.  He is as steady as they come. 

Baptism Day for Ajeng.  The Elder with dark tie is Elder Weiss.  AP since we got here.

Two Sister Missionaries came to the office on their P-day and set up our little Christmas Tree and Creche.   They are excited for Christmas and look forward to their packages from family and friends.  We have  several who will not receive anything from home.  Their families are from other countries and usually just send a little extra money if they can even afford that.  The Senior Couples will be watching to see who needs them and will make up boxes.   And there is a group of Sisters in Ames who ask for names and suggestions  for whom to  make up Christmas Boxes .  One of our missionaries has no family support -- financially or emotionally.  Some parents are unemployed and have younger children at home.  It is amazing to me that two of our missionaries who have not received anything from their families ... not even a letter... the whole year they have been out are the most humble, hard working and dedicated young men we have.  They do not have driver licenses , they are companions right now and they walk or bike everywhere.  And they are having pretty good success.  The President says they are always upbeat and smiling.  I hope you all will be mindful of missionaries serving near you.  Ward family and friends can really make Christmas a little more special for them.   I remember being on my mission in France many years ago and not receiving my Christmas package until February.  And even then it looked like it had been opened and rummaged through.  But, I remember getting little items, goodies and carolers from the members and our landlord and that made a big difference. 

We just had a sweet man from Lebanon, who was raised Muslim, baptized.  Surprisingly, some of the Muslims we have taught and baptized seem to be drawn to Jesus Christ as the Savior.  It surprised me to learn that the name Jesus is mentioned 5 times more in the Quran than is the Prophet of Islam.   They always address Jesus with respect in their Book of God.  I wonder how hate for Christians and Jews got started.

Sweet story:  a 95 year old man ready to be baptized this next week has been attending the Gospel  Principles class.  He comes in with his walker and is not afraid to make comments. He has strong opinions.   Last week he told us a little more about himself.  He comes from a strong Methodist family.  We love Methodists.  They are good people.  When he was a young man trying to get a college education, his parents and grandparents at a great sacrifice,  gave him money to study in a religious school to be a Methodist Minister.  He loved it, but for some reason which he didn't explain, he failed and was not able to graduate.  He felt they were so disappointed in him and he never knew how to make it up to them.  His parents/grandparents were very good people.  They loved Jesus Christ.  He has been taught by the Elders for several months and even though he felt the spirit tell him this was the Lord's true church on earth, he couldn't bring himself to be baptized for a long time.  He felt it would be a slap in the face to his family whom he had already disappointed.  His parents and grandparents have all passed on of course, but he believes he will see them in the afterlife and worried how they would feel.    Finally,  he has accepted the invitation to be baptized and now feels that his family would probably accept the gospel in the next life because they were such good and honest people.    I am not sure how many more years this sweet man has here on earth, but it won't be long before he will meet them again and can teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ.....if they haven't already been taught.  Hearing him talk, I felt such gratitude for the Savior and his plan to give everyone a chance to hear the gospel and  give them the chance to have their baptism and other temple ordinances performed by proxies in the temples. 

Well, the weather has been mild the last few days!  Not  bad!  We hear about all the snow up north and are feeling blessed that we can still get out and do our missionary work.   It is mostly windy right now.

I just want to tell my grandchildren how much I love their letters!  I read them over and over.  Some of them seem to be growing up too fast.   Sweet Jennibelle sent me a stuffed pillow she had made and stapled together because she's too little to sew .   I will treasure it forever.   My daughter-in law, Jenn knows how much I love the bubble lights and sent me a bubble night light.  We love it!  We love getting pictures, videos shared on Facebook and Instagram and all your updates.  How blessed we are to have all this technology! 

We will celebrate Thanksgiving this year with at least 13 others.  I am not quite sure how I ended up being in charge of it.   It started out with just the 10 Senior Missionaries here (which included the President and his wife) and now we have added 5 other missionaries who have not been invited by their ward.  I know it will be enjoyable!  Feeling blessed! 

Happy Thanksgiving!  We love you all!  And we love our mission!  And we love our Heavenly Father and our Savior!  

Baptisms and Cute Little Trucks

Baptisms and Cute Little Trucks   26 October and 2 November 2014 Mission Letter

It has been  kind of busy just catching up on all the work we got behind on when Shelleys were on medical leave.  There is a timeline that gets repeated every 6 weeks....all around transfers.  When one part gets behind it has a domino effect and we push to catch up.  Unfortunately for me, when we work a little faster or a lot longer I find I make mistakes.  Our President and his wife returned from a Mission Presidents Seminar with Elder Tom Perry and several other general authorities.  We will get a full report at our next Staff Meeting, but the little we have heard is the numbers will be going down.....for us we could go down to 200 missionaries in a year and they possibly will be realigning mission boundaries.  When we first arrived last December there were  close to 300 missionaries.  We have been slowly going down and are now at 267.  We have about 13 missionaries who have been released early, and are eligible to return.....a lot of medical.  The wave which the Brethren intentionally created by making several age groups eligible at once will even out.  Senior Missionary numbers are lower too.  We have lost 6 couples and only received two couples since we arrived.

Yesterday we helped the Shelleys move mission cars.  The Church replaces the cars when they reach 50,000 - 70,000 miles (depending on the car)and we  got 11 new cars.  We go help them move them from the dealer to our Stake Center  or office parking lot until they can get them out to the missionaries.  The dealer was in Ames, about 45 minutes away.   It makes me a little nervous driving  brand new Nissan Frontier trucks off the lot and into the Des Moines area traffic.  On the other hand I think I like that cute little truck.   

 Elder Stringham has been busy moving furniture from apartments to storage which requires driving a big trailer in the busy traffic and narrow roads. 

Elder Stringham is asked from time to time to help the Elders with teaching appointments.  One sweet man from Sudan was one of his favorites.  He is 40 years old, and has been a refugee here in the United States for 7 years.  Someone, awhile back, had given him a Book of Mormon which he kept in his car, or house, or brief case, but never threw away.   He had told them he was too busy and that he had to work a lot.  Then Elder Weiss and Elder Cleverley found him and talked to him about the Book of Mormon.  He remembered the one he had, found it and showed it to them.  He felt this was maybe a sign that he should listen and he did and was baptized last weekend.  He is very bright.  His is studying to become a U.S. citizen.  He is also very enthusiastic about the Pathways program of the church.  He has quite the personality.  When they mentioned his name in Sacrament Meeting he immediately stands up, looks around at the audience and waves.  He chose Elder Stringham to baptize him and that was special.  His first name is Ajeng and his last name is Ajeng.   He is one of those refugees that never knew his birth date so the Sudanese government assigns him the birthdate of January 1st and whatever year they think is the closest to when he was really born...so they can issue him a passport.  He did not know his parents birth dates either.  The tribes in Africa  just didn't record such things.

I am not responsible for referrals, but I hear all about them.  Apparently there is a group that keep calling the church to send the missionaries over.  Sounds good, except these people are Satanists and once the missionaries are in the house they reveal who they really are.  Not good!  That won't happen again as long as the Shelleys are here.  

2 November 2014

Sweet story.  A member of our Bishopric told about one of the busiest Sundays he had had in a long time.  He had a lot of important meetings to attend.  One of those was supposed to be a meeting with a lady who had terminal cancer.  She had asked him to play the bagpipes, which she loved, at her funeral.  Her friends said, "Why wait till the funeral?"  So he made an appointment to play for her.  He ending up having Stake Choir Practice at the same time.  He chose to visit the lady with terminal cancer.  As he was playing for her he could tell how much she enjoyed it and he felt such a deep love for her and gratitude for this opportunity to serve her and the Spirit was strong in her home.  Later, as he thought of all the meetings he attended,  he said he felt that playing for her was the most important work he had done all day.    

It has been cold the last few days ... down at night to 24 degrees.  Daytime temps are still ok....40-60's.  All the corn fields have been harvested and cornstalks are being cut down ! 

Here in Iowa they celebrate Beggars Night on the 30th of October and Halloween on the 31st.  Didn't need to buy candy.  On Beggars Night, it was mostly over by the time we got home from the office and no one came to our door on Halloween.  In our apartment building you get a Halloween sign for your door if you want trick-or-treaters.  Not too many kids out in the freezing weather, but lots in the stores.

Love you all!

Office Life Is Easing Up

5 October 2014 Mission Letter 

It has been a great learning experience the past few weeks.  We are so grateful to have the Shelleys back.   I have learned lots.  First, that I can do more that I thought I could.  With the other Office Couple gone I was forced to do more and didn't have the time to write down everything I did as reference.  But, I did quite well and don't think I messed up much.  Second, that young people can do the work in half the time.  They had the young Sister Missionary  come by and do some of the office work that I couldn't get to.  So I gave them lots of stuff to copy and put in Welcome Packets, New Missionary Binders and Trainee/Trainer manuals.  I had them do enough to keep me going through the next two transfers.  They were so fast I had them do enough for 4 more transfers.  Anything that I had them do they just whizzed through.  So I am now set with a lot of things until next April.  Third, I appreciate Elder and Sister Shelley more than ever.  She is so sharp and good with all the telephone calls and he is always on top of the vehicles.  Also, they have a certain way with the young people and they are loved.  We did the crucial things, but I am afraid they came back to a pile of things to get caught up on.  I feel  we did quite well, considering the fact that we had the Mission Vision (newsletter) and a Baptism Video that were extra stuff for us to handle.  Also, the printer gave us trouble and the computer nearly crashed with all the pictures coming in through Outlook.  We couldn't send anything out for quite awhile one day.  But,  I really can't complain because I think I was extra blessed when I needed it the most.  Also, I've learned that I have quite a knack for investigating things.  I've learned how to process undocumented missionaries (and you know how confusing the government can make things)so they remain here legally, how to resolve  problems about missionaries before they even get here, and solve questions for Stake Presidents about issues that no one has a clue.  Maybe I should have been a private investigator instead of a nurse.  The APs love Elder Stringham and his computer knowledge.  They are always asking him to help them set things up on the computer.  He has simplified my "B" report which is a big deal specific to this mission.  Well enough bragging.  Better be care about pride.  Like our Mission President said, "we have a whole Book of Mormon about such a thing."

In making the Baptism DVD, I saw pictures of all those individuals whose baptismal record I submitted to Church HQ.  That was a special treat for me!  One that particularly touched me was of a young Russian couple.  Sweet story.  Many months ago they were approached by a couple of Sister Missionaries.  She was quite interested, but her husband was not so they stopped having the missionary lessons.  One of the Sister Missionaries who taught them was transferred and  after 6 months in another area, was transferred back to Clinton, IA.  She was not happy.  That meant that she would probably spend her whole mission in only 2 cities.  She complained...more than once.   The Mission President told her that he considered several times of putting elsewhere, but that the feeling was strong that she needed to go back to Clinton, IA.   She did, grudgingly.  The first thing she did was to look up this Russian couple.  They were so excited to see her and did not know how to get in touch with the missionaries.  The husband was ready to learn more.  They were re taught all the lessons and were baptized.  Their new ward loved them.  This next transfer this Sister Missionary and the Russian Couple will leave Clinton, Iowa.  The Sister Missionary goes home and the couple are returning to Russia.  The Lord knows where you should be at any given time and if you heed that prompting,  your life will go as He planned which will bring you the most joy and peace.

On Friday, the missionaries were privileged to see the "Meet the Mormons" movie that will soon be out in theaters.  It is delightful.  It will make you laugh, but bring some tissue with you, too! 

I am very grateful for medical reasons that I am in this Mission.  There are a lot of Med schools around and I think I found a great doctor who will treat my liver and gluten problems.  About 10 days ago I had routine endoscopy and US and all is well.....except for one tiny little issue with varices.  But, this doctor knows of a new procedure to treat them and it is supposed to be very noninvasive. 

We love our Mission President and his wife.  They are great with the youth!  They know how to show them love.  Even those of us in the office get little "love notes" left on our computer or little gifts with Thank You notes.  President Jensen is the best speaker and we laugh and cry in each of his talks.

Us with President and Sister John Jensen

Well, we need to get ready for General Conference!  So much to learn from our Prophet and the Apostles and the other great men who serve the people of this Church! 

We love you all so much!

Late Nights at the Office

Late Nights At the Office

14 September 2014

Hardly know where to begin.  Just when we thought we had a good handle on our jobs things kind of turned upside down.  First, our Mission Tour with a General Authority got postponed .... less than  a couple of weeks before it was scheduled.  That means cancellations and rescheduling of buildings, planning a last minute Zone Conference.  We are losing a lot of Senior Couple with no replacements. 

Second, we have had quite a few medical releases of our missionaries.  One of them was required to be escorted home and so Elder Stringham needed to take a little day trip.  Left at 6:00 am and returned at 10:00 pm......had only enough time between flights to grab a package of trail mix to eat.  Bedbugs in some of the apartments.  The Church spends a lot of money in this mission for exterminators.  Parents calling with concerns. 

Our other Sr. Office Couple had an emergency medical problem.  The Elder has had heart problems since he got here (actually had a heart attack and open heart surgery while on their first mission) and they up and drove home to Utah to his own doctor.  Don't know how long they will be gone.  So we are trying to handle the office on our own.  Elder Stringham walks between his computer and the vehicle computer trying to keep up on the most crucial things!  We have spent several late nights just trying to catch up and get it all done.   They have another Sr. Couple coming into the office for a couple of hours a day to do mail.  That is a big help!   Can I just tell you how much missionaries love mail!!!!!!!  From anyone and everyone....a long letter to a postcard or little card!!!

Occasionally, I take a break from the computer, check my personal messages on my phone and take a peek at Facebook.  I love that when our little Jackson has a procedure done I can get a text before it starts and right after with all the updates and pictures. I love seeing what all the families were doing on their family vacations!  And all the "first day of school" pictures!  I love technology!!  (Well.... except when I need to use it in the office and it gives me grief!)   We are happy to be busy!  I think it keeps us young!

The mission is still doing well in their missionary work.  Lots of converts.  That means I have a lot of baptisms reports to submit to Church HQ. 

We have a sweet older man move into our ward who joined the church when he was about 13 while he was living with a foster family.  He loved this family.  He stopped going to church when he left the family to move out on his own.  He moved to the Phillipines  and got married.  He is retired and has moved back to the United States and waiting for his wife to get all the requirements done to be able to immigrate here.  He decided he wanted to come back to church.  He got a little emotional talking about his foster family and how much love he felt in their home.  There is so much he is still learning!  He wants to progress in his Priesthood responsibilities and go to the temple.   His wife is a member of another faith, but he still felt drawn to come back to "his" church.  Hopefully his wife will be here in the United States soon.

21 September 2014

Well, we received the update on our other Sr. Couple.  It was not what they hoped for.  Because of the damage done the doctors cannot do angioplasty or splint.  They will be trying new medications.  They reevaluate after two weeks.  How I miss them!  I don't think I realized how much time she spent on the phone with missionaries, their parents, referrals, people from the community.  I guess I will be figuring out how to order supplies now, too.  And they are so fun with the missionaries!!  

All of the work for the cars have been put on hold!  Yesterday another Senior Couple dropped by and he said he knows a lot about cars and is comfortable with computers.....I will definitely let the Mission President know about that!  

I also got a little behind on my work.  Two Sister Missionaries called yesterday morning and offered to come help if we needed.  I asked them how soon could they get to the office.  In two hours they accomplished  so much for me and were so fun to have around.  The Lord is seeing that we have the help that we need.....reminds me whose work this is.  We will be using some Elders to help us unpack and stock the new supplies and clean up an apartment that we are closing. 

One of the hardest things about being away on a mission is that people I know and love are suddenly called to the other side.  I feel sad that I will not see long time friend and grandpa to some of our grandkids, Neal Kidd; sweet Keenan Galloway who was such an example of Christ-like spirit  and who was always smiling; and brother-in-law, Rob Campbell whose family had entertained the Stringhams for a day or two on our yearly trips to Idaho.  We have such fond memories of him.  Now, I have just learned that my Uncle George Conley has passed away!  I'm sort of reeling with the thought that so many I care for are now in the next life!  This is when I feel that Iowa is soooo far away!

Well, the weather in Iowa has been absolutely perfect.   Sunshine and blue skies, temperatures mild, and just enough rain from time to time to keep everything green.  It is beautiful here. 

Sorry to be so late on this letter.  It was just kind of pieced together a little at a time.

We love everyone!!

Fairs and Temples

11 August 2014

It was the biggest group of arriving and departing missionaries I have dealt with so far....49 total.  It is quite exciting to see them come in and sad to say good-bye.  The arriving group, even though very large is more quiet, sit on the sofa, and feeling exhausted.  The departing group is laughing, playing the piano and up moving around.   Sadly within 3 days two of our new missionaries had gone home.  .  

 I feel I have gotten the hang of all there is to do.  Sometimes the Mission President will ask me to play detective and find out why something has or hasn't happened....i.e. why he received notice of a certain visa waiter to be transferred to Brazil....the mission he was called to.....but then so much time had passed and we had yet to receive his passport/visa or flight itinerary.  Usually our work is the same routine from transfer to transfer,

We went to the Iowa State Fair this past weekend.  This fair is geared toward farmers....mostly.  Lots of tractors....new and restored.  I found a small Ferguson tractor like my dad had and I used to drive on the farm.  We could never afford the big John-Deere tractors which is what you see in Iowa and the Case II.  Huge ones!  Also, they have all the animals and 4-H groups you could think of.  Big horses, miniature horses, sheep, pigs, cows, etc.  Pork is big in Iowa.  A lot of the food stands had some kind of pork to see.  Bacon was baked with  fries, chips, eggs, around the steak and pork chops.  We were there about 3 hours and then we got tired of walking so went home. 

This Idaho farmer never had a tractor like this!

Old restored Ferguson tractor like my dad had.  (to my brother, Myron....this was the kind of  tractor I was driving on "that"day!)

Cool sand sculpture at Iowa State Fair (you can see how important pigs, corn, soy and Mcdonalds are to Iowans)

17 August 2014

We are having a Mission Tour (with Elder Godoy of the Seventy) in September .  It's a big deal for the Mission....I hear.  He send us his agenda.  They have a couple of Zone Conferences to be able to meet with all the missionaries, he goes out with some of the missionaries doing their work (that would be awesome and scary at the same time).  He chooses 4 missionaries from each Zone Conference to interview.  The office staff and APs  meet with him for a short while.   His job is to encourage and uplift the missionaries.  Sounds good!

This mission is doing well in finding people who want to be baptized.  I think people really are looking for more in their life and seeking for truth. 

Elder Stringham and I visited the Winter Quarters Temple, visitors center there and also the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs.  It is very humbling to visit these places.  The temple has art work depicting the pioneers as they crossed the plains....on the walls as pictures and also in their stained glass windows.  There is such a reverent feeling there.  The temple grounds contains the cemetery where many pioneers were buried, having never reached the Salt Lake Valley.   Two names that stuck out were a 90 year old woman and a 1 day old baby boy.  Some buried there were never identified.

Outside Winter Quarters Temple

 

Reading names of those buried there.

A special tribute to the "unrecorded dead".  For some reason this choked me up a little.

This statue to me symbolizes the hardship and the sacrifice made by so many!

Here is a sweet story sent to me by the couple that we replaced in the Mission Home, Elder & Sister Gardner: (Sandee...you met them when they stopped in Colorado)

If You Think The Lord Isn't Aware Of His Children, You Gotta Read This!

"A member of our ward shared this amazing experience that he had this week. He was in an airport and was trying to find a kiosk that would allow him to charge his phone. He still had plenty of battery strength, but felt he should charge it nonetheless. He found several kiosks, but they were all full. He finally found a place and was sitting across the table from a young Chinese woman who seemed visibly upset. She was on the phone with an airport employee trying to explain her situation. The problem was that she spoke very little English. He heard her repeat the word 'Mongolian'. The employee did not speak Chinese Mongolian. My friend wanted to help, but did not speak Mongolian either; however, he had a friend who had served a mission where he had to learn the Chinese Mongolian language. My friend (Russ) called his friend (John) and explained the situation and asked if he would be willing to help translate so that this young woman could get her problem resolved. John agreed, so Russ gave his phone to the young lady (YL) & said "Mongolian" and pointed to his phone. The YL hesitantly took the phone and soon began chatting very rapidly while Russ just looked on. After a few minutes, the YL began crying almost hysterically. Russ was wondering what John could have said that made her cry, but just waited, knowing there was nothing he could do. The YL would stop crying and seemed to gain control over her emotions, only to start crying once again. Russ was totally bewildered! The conversation lasted about 15 min. & a smiling, teary-eyed YL handed back the phone to Russ. John was pretty emotional too as he explained to Russ that this YL was a girl he had taught while on his mission and he had baptized her and her whole family! She was on her way to the MTC in preparation for a mission!!! He had also helped her resolve her airport problem. "

Missionaries are noted for collecting special conversion stories .

We love you all!

27 July 2014 Pageants and Corn Fields

It's been a great two weeks.  We were able to attend a zone conference in Nauvoo and see the Nauvoo pageant and the British pageant.  They were both excellent.  I think I enjoyed the British pageant the most because some of the personal stories were new to me.  The Nauvoo Pageant tells of what a great city Nauvoo had become after the Mormons settled there.  Because they were so industrious and so willing to sacrifice they even were building a temple.  Nauvoo was the second biggest city in Illinois next to Chicago.  It breaks my heart to hear how hard they worked to build the temple and were only able to use it for a very short time before they left Illinois to go West.  If they stayed in Nauvoo they would have had to fight a war with those who felt threatened by our religion.  Even though Nauvoo isn't very prosperous now it is considered sacred ground to us.  The British Pageant tells of the missionary work  and the difficulties the converts in Britain had joining the Church and then emigrating to America and on to Nauvoo.  At the end of the British Pageant, the theme being "Truth Will Prevail", they had all the full time missionaries attending come from both sides of the stage and from the back and fill in with the cast members.  When I heard that we would be singing "Called to Serve", I thought that we had just about worn that song out on our mission.  However, it was very powerful and I was moved to tears.  Here I was standing with 100+ other missionaries, standing next to my husband and the Mission President and his wife and trying to sing and not sob.  At the end of that song, they transitioned into "Redeemer of Israel" and that did it for me....at that point I was just lip syncing.  It is amazing how much we can feel a part of this work even though we spend the majority of our time paying bills, managing apartments, doing reports, communicating with worried parents, submitting baptisms records to Church Headquarters, preparing training manuals, submitting travel plans, etc.  

This is a little before they had all the missionaries file up to the stage and sing.

Also we traveled to Carthage and saw Carthage Jail and the visitors center.  Another sacred historical spot.  The statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith is touching and remind us how to truly love your brother.  It was the most beautiful grounds and structure in the whole city.  There were lots of people.  One lady of another faith, asked how could they afford to keep up the grounds, pay for the guides and have such a beautiful center.  It didn't take long before one of the Couple Missionaries there explained about what service missionaries do, our volunteer services and how the church accomplishes so much worldwide.

One sweet story.  A couple of Elders were teaching a family.  The 9/10 year old girl was afraid of water.  The day of the baptism she backed out, the others were baptized.  She was feeling pretty sad about the whole thing.  So the next week the missionaries thought of how they could help her get used to getting her head in the water.  They brought a bucket, filled it with water, and each of them took turns putting their head in the bucket of water until the young girl was comfortable enough to be immersed in the water.  That weekend she was baptized and it was a total success.    The Mission President commented that these are two Elders who followed the spirit and found a simple solution.

Iowa is beautiful this time of year.  The farms go on and on.  You see mostly corn fields, then a lot of soy fields and also some hay fields.  The corn is very tall, but not quite ripe.  Luckily for us the weather has been almost perfect.  The temperatures are mostly in the mid-80's with an occasional 90.  It is more humid here, but not unbearably so. 

We love all the mail we get and the emails.  We try to get on facebook to keep up with you all!  We're happy to be here and are working hard and doing our best!

Lots of love to everyone!! 

13 July 2014 "Oh Dear, Bedbugs and New Phones"

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.

"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. 

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.  

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!!

22 June Mission Letter or "Foot in the Door"

22 June 2014 Mission Letter "Foot in the Door"

It has been awhile since I have written.  My laptop broke and the hard drive was gone.  It took awhile for us to get a new one ordered and all our information transferred over. 

We've had some sweet experiences.  We have more new missionaries.  This group is amazing.  All of these young men and one young sister seem to have real strong testimonies and I can see them working hard and being outstanding missionaries.   We only had one Sister returning home.  She was the only member of her family and in her town.  She has a family from her ward that has been her strength and encouragement the whole time.  She is black and the African community in Des Moines and in Iowa City have loved her dearly.  What impressed me is her cheerful attitude and her enthusiasm.

At Stake Conference we had a visiting general authority, Elder Michael Reall from the Seventy.  He gave the best talks.  At one point in one of his talks, he paused, then said if felt impressed that there was someone in the audience to needed to hear something.  Then he proceeded to tell the whole audience that there was not one person in this audience who couldn't qualify for the Celestial Kingdom if they continue on the road of repentance.....something we should all be doing every day.  Then he said that there was a person he could see in the audience who refused to look at him through that whole part of his talk and he repeated just for him/her that same message.  What a sweet feeling there was there. 

Our Mission President spoke at two meetings and spoke of his love for the missionaries and this work.  He shared an experience of a Sister Missionary who had heard Elder Holland,  an apostle, really give encouragement to the missionaries.  He admonished them to be bold and to "stick their foot in the door".  He was speaking figuratively.  This sweet Sister took it to heart and in her tracting door to door she found herself at a door of some people who did not want to hear her message.  They started to close the door in her face and she literally put her foot in the door.  That did not make the homeowners happy and they threatened to call the police.  She told them to go ahead.  When the police arrived she told them who they were and what they were doing.  She also said that if they hauled her off to prison that she would be in good company because they also stoned the prophets and put them in prison.  Well, the cop was kind and told them he was not going to haul them off the prison, but not to do that anymore.  When our Mission President heard of the incident, he was a little taken back.  So you can imagine that at the next Zone Conference they taught the missionaries how to be bold but, not overbearing and to not to infringe on other's freedoms.  I had met this Sister before she was released and she is such a sweetheart, but I could see her doing that.....she could be dramatic!   

This past week I submitted baptism records of a mother and son who are from Iraq.  They were raised as Muslims, but really didn't practice much in their country.  Before the missionaries can teach a Muslim, the Muslim investigator need to be interviewed by the Mission President.  This is mainly for their (the Muslim's) protection.  I only know that they gave us their legal names to put on the baptism form and then they gave us their "preferred names", the names by which they will be known in the church.  Often people will just shortened their name as their preferred name, but these Iraqi's gave us totally different names -- American names.  The Elders said that there are more in the family which are being taught!  The gospel  of Jesus Christ is for every nation and tongue!

We attend the Gospel Essentials class in Sunday School.  I am so impressed with the new converts.  They tell us how much the gospel has changed their lives and that life makes sense to them now.  Remember the convert, the man who was in so much pain he wanted to die?  He is a joy to have in the class.  Today he told us he loves being there and learns so much because can ask any question he likes.  The Bishop wanted to meet with him during the class and he asked if the Bishop could interview him at a different time because he didn't want to miss the class.  We have a convert who we only see from time to time because he is a truck driver and is on the road driving interstate so much.  He comes in his truck clothes,  talks like a truck driver and he makes me smile.  We have a young couple who love the church so much and get quite emotional about the joy it brings them and how much it has changed their lives.  They have a young daughter in YW and they see her making so many good decisions....something they feel they did not do when her age. 

Well next month at the end of July and the beginning of August we have 24 missionaries going home and 27 (so far) arriving.  I really don't know how we are going to get them all here and get them all home.  There is a of work involved.   We are at the beginning of the releases of a lot of the big waves of missionaries after the age change.  So for the next several transfers we will be so busy.  We will be losing so many of the outstanding leaders. 

Well, we love our missions.  It feels good to be serving.  It seems that when we are happy the feelings are so joyful it is hard to contain.  But, just as surely as we have ups we also have downs.  Satan doesn't want us to be successful and he finds our weaknesses and tries to discourages us.  Luckily, we have prayer and scriptures to keep us balanced and focused on the important things. 

Some Sister Missionaries visited us in the office.  When they left we found this on the inside of our restroom door......hearts and fun riddles!  

We needed to make a trip to Boone, Iowa to check out an apartment that was a concern for some Sister Missionaries.  Boone is the city that Mamie Eisenhower, late and former First Lady of the United States was born.  She was the wife of  President Dwight Eisenhower.  I remember him as President and as a General in the Army.  I liked him.  The house was quaint and fascinating.  She was born the same year as my Grandma Merrell and so many things in the house reminded me of my grandma.  The missionaries do a service project just before the Historical Site opens for the season.  They do cleaning and yard work for them. 

Can't close without a comment on the weather.  It has been beautiful!  There has been enough rain that the corn and soy farms are really growing well!  It looks beautiful on our occasional drives!  But, there are still some pretty exciting thunderstorms from time to time.  The last one that was kind of severe we heard the tornado sirens go off. .  So I got my flashlight, robe and good sturdy shoes by the side of the bed and waited.   I looked out the window and not a leaf on the tree was even moving.  I got out the Ipad and looked at my app for severe weather.  I guess there was wind somewhere that was between 70-80 mph and it was headed here so they turned on the sirens.  After about 5 minutes all heck broke loose.  Buckets of rain, howling wind and lots of thunder and lightning.  It was pretty impressive!  It lasted off and on for a few hours and then was gone.  Next morning there was blue skies and sunshine, but we saw trees that had fallen on roofs, branches all over, flooded roads and lots of roads closed!  Apparently there were some tornado touchdowns and this storm left quite a bit of devastation.  But no missionaries were affected!  Feeling blessed.  It has been very warm even with the storms...high 80's and occasional 90's.   I felt very warm and sticky at church today.  The home and office have air conditioning and I am so grateful for that!

Hope you all are having a great summer!  We love you all soooooo very much!

Elder and Sister Stringham

26 May 2014 Mission Letter

26 May Mission Letter

It has been kind of quiet and relaxed the last 10 days or so.  Elder Stringham and I were able to take a “real” Pday.  That means on Saturday we had time to travel a little and see Iowa.  The first spot we went to see was Pella, Iowa.  It is known for its’ Tulip Festival, Dutch windmill, streets lined with tulips, Pella Windows Company and Wyatt Earps home.  The residents plant tulips between the sidewalk and the curb.  It is very pretty.  Here is a picture of the Windmill.  It is the biggest Dutch windmill in the United States.  The tour takes us to the top to see the actual vanes close up.    On the way down we stopped at different floors where they show how to grind different grains into flour.  On another floor we saw where the miller lives.  It is one room that includes the kitchen, a table, a chair and a bed that is 4 feet long and has doors.  We really enjoyed our visit there.

Dutch Windmill Pella Iowa

The grain mill

The miller's bed - just 4 feet long.

Miller's living quarters

Eating area

 

This past weekend we went to Living History Farms.  It is right close in Urbandale.  Our son and daughter-in- law, Jason & Jenn got us a gift certificate to this Museum for Christmas.  It consists of a 1700 Ioway Indian Farm, 1850 Pioneer Farm and a 1875 Town of Walnut Hills, complete with a Blacksmith, General Store, Print Shop, Chapel, Millenary, Lawyer, Doctor’s Office and Machine Shop.  It was fascinating.  Loved it all!

Nice-sized chapel in Walnut Hills

View of the street from the Chapel

The old farm machinery was fun for me.  Remember the disc from my dad's farm. We used both a team of horses and a tractor to pull the disc.

All the children there loved this...sow with 9 piglets,  There was a runt who kept being pushed away and he would keep climbing on top trying hard to find his dinner.  He didn't have much success so he will probably always be the runt. 

It is summer and therefore we are getting a more than usual number of missionaries assigned to our mission to come the end of July and middle of September.  If we get more than we send home, we need to open new areas.  That will keep Elder Stringham busy, because he needs to open new apartments, take care of the leases, see that they are decent enough for missionaries and then see that they are furnished. 

Last Sunday the missionaries serving in our ward had some converts visiting.  I seem to notice the reverence or lack thereof more when we have visitors.  There were at least 3 babies who were just having a hard time.  I said a quiet little prayer that they might be calmed and the visitors could enjoy the meeting.  Not to be!   So I prayed that the speakers would bring a spirit that could be felt even above the noise.  Yep!  That one got answered.  A sister talked about her family’s conversion.  The mother joined first.  Some of the older children were then baptized.  The dad was noted for being a real challenge for the missionaries.  For several years he teased and questioned almost everything.  He eventually was baptized.  The Sister speaking said when she was older she asked him why he joined.  His answer:  “I knew it would make your mom happy”.   She asked him when did he know it was true.  He answered, “I became converted by living the commandments!”  The speaker said soon after her mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and in time was unable to care for herself.  The dad became the caretaker of the children and his wife and continues to this day.  He tells his daughter that it is his love for his wife, the knowledge of the Gospel, knowing his purpose here on the earth and that families can be together forever that sustain him.   

Sorry I am a week behind.  I get started and then the computer decides to act up. 

Love you all very much!

12 May 2014 Mission Letter

12 May Mission Letter

 You probably think everything I do revolves around transfers or the weather and that is true. We just finished another transfer. This one was extra busy because the weekly and monthly reports came at the same time, plus we had a visa waiter to get to Brazil. We had a travel problems when the 4 elders who had finished their missions and were at the airport to go home. Because of severe stormy weather their flight was late getting there, the pilots needed sleep so the airlines needed to find others flights for them. The best they could do was send them to Minneapolis, then to Seattle, then to SLC. Their original flight was supposed to get them home at 1:00 pm or there abouts. The second flight got them home at 9:30 pm. Some of these elders had family celebrations awaiting them, appointments with their Stake President for their release interview and a lot of people waiting for them at the airport. They were so bummed! The Mission President’s wife said they were so quiet! But, then because they know how to handle disappointments, they snapped out of it and decided to just have fun.

 Here is a picture of them, with the 2 Assistants to the President, the night before at the Mission Home goofing off. They were such a great group!

Some of our best!

An interesting story. I received a phone call from a young man who said he had talked to some missionary and he thought he remembered that one of them was an Elder “so and so”. He said that he just brushed him off, but after thinking more about it, he thought he should listen to his message. I explained that I could not give out his number, but could reach him and have him call back. He said, that he did not have a phone, that he was traveling a lot, was from Nevada, but that he had a friend with a phone and the Elder could call that number. To make a long story short…..that person was actually from his hometown, someone he had worked with who wanted his phone #. Well, that’s a big “no, no”. And this elder is an obedient missionary so he let us know immediately what had happened. We may have to put a block on that number if they try phoning him again. But, I realize how easily I am tricked. Guess I need to be more suspicious! Mother’s Day was as good as it could be out here. Loved all the skyping, phone calls, etc

Best Lesson Ever

 Our Bishop taught our Relief Society lesson after the Bishopric fed us ice cream with every topping you could think of. YUM! He talked about his grandmother. She had been abused by her father. It was nothing for her to show up to school with a black eye, bruises broken arm, or a cut lip. As soon as she could, she left home and when the missionaries knocked on her door a few years later, she was touched and immediately joined. He remembers his grandmother never talking about her childhood, but always bearing her testimony about the love of God in her life, because He brought her the gospel of Jesus Christ. Instead of carrying on the tradition of abuse, she instead became the epitome of love and gentleness. The Bishop is on the right.

Mother’s Day ended with our very first ever tornado warnings …… in fact 2 of them…..with the sirens and everything. The sirens were a little far away and I couldn’t see anything. It was a stormy night with hail, rain, wind, lightning and the loudest thunder I had ever heard. It left my ears were ringing for a few minutes. However, the only close tornado that touched down was about 35 miles away. The storm kept me awake all night though wondering if I should sleep in my P day clothes and be ready to run down to the first floor….we are on the third floor. I had my purse in sight with my little flashlight and some shoes nearby. I was tired all the next day. Elder Stringham slept through it all. He said he thought he heard one thunder!!!! (Of course he sleeps with a CPAP on that muffles most noises)

Mother's Day Iowa Tornado - Far enough away we didn't worry!!

 Someone said I should include more photos. So here you go. Need to learn how to take better pictures I guess....not so blurry.

 Love to you all! Elder and Sister Stringham

28 April 2014 Mission Letter

Finally figured out how to post these to my blog.  Before I was trying to log in with an incorrect password.  So I have posted all the mission letters up to now.  This is one of my missionary journals.

28 April 2014 Mission Letter

There are wonderful things happening out here.  Attended 4 wonderful baptisms this weekend and 4 last weekend.  One of the touching things is to watch the work unfold.  I am aware of each areas and the elders’  progress.  I do reports every week which shows in each area how many investigator lessons, how many with members present, whether these come from members, from the missionaries’ own contact, from referrals, how many of their investigators come to Sacrament Meeting, and etc.  In our ward we have two sets of missionaries.  They come early and wait to see if any of their people show up for church.  My heart goes out to them, especially when no one shows.  But, I see the joy when investigators show and later become baptized.  This weekend, the man I talked about in a previous letter who had been in such pain and wanted to die….Sisters were walking the neighborhood, stopped by and ended up saying a prayer with him.  He and his 8 year old daughter were baptized.  He attends our Gospel  Essentials class and spoke of how he knew he wanted something more in his life and how “the pieces of the puzzle” just came together for him when he heard the gospel.  His enthusiasm and excitement is almost tangible.  His daughter is beautiful.  As this man was being confirmed today, he was told that the Lord was pleased with the love and care he has given his daughter.  He was visably touched.   As his daughter was being confirmed she was told that if she remains true to her covenants that she would influence many of her friends.   She asked me before her baptism if she would now be called “Sister Patterson” and her dad, “Brother Patterson”….because we are now members?  The work is moving forward here in Iowa and we are glad to be a small part of it. 

I took a referral this week from a mother whose daughter wants to go to BYU.  They researched it, loved the conservative atmosphere and she wanted to know if she could attend one of our Sabbath meetings and learn more of our beliefs.  She is Catholic and says she is very happy with her church, but wanted to make sure we weren’t teaching anything weird.    The elders set it up for her to come and to visit with her afterwards to answer any of her questions.

One of my responsibilities is to see that those missionaries who come from outside the United States keep their passports up to date.  I have a sweet elder who is what we call an “undocumented missionary” and if he were to go through airport security or do something that gets the attention of someone who doesn’t like him, he could be deported.  So the church got him a deferred  visa for two years to be safe.  His parents actually live in Minnesota, but they have green cards to work here.   Well his passport is due to expire this summer way before his release date.  My job is to get him to a Mexican Consulate for renewal.  Well, the two nearest consulates are in Omaha, Nebraska and Chicago, Illinois.  So the Mission President has to give me some direction on how he wants that handled.  To leave his mission, even for a short time, requires approval from the Mission President, and the In-Field Representative.  The church knows where your sons and daughters are at all times and keeps them protected as well as they can.

Just got through a pretty exciting thunderstorm!  The members of our ward assured me that they rarely get a tornado in Des Moines!  But, then I looked at the weather forecast on my IPAD and there it was in big, bold red letters, “Tornado Watch”, Polk County, and Des Moines!  Well, it got pretty dark, heavy rain off and on, lots of noisy thunder/lightning but no tornado.  I think we are safe now for the near future.  

Here is a suggestion for those of you preparing your sons and daughters for missions.  Teach them how to care for a car.  The Church often gives them cars.  They are required to care for them.  We struggle with some getting them to get their oil changed at the standard mileages,  checking their oil and tire pressure each time they put gas in their car and keeping them clean.  Also, tell them that a new noise means there is a problem.  Each car is a little different so they need experience with more than one type of car.   And of course, remind them to SLOW DOWN! 

Love you all!   Elder and Sister Stringham