On Monday we had 36 new missionaries arrive; 22 sisters and 14 Elders. This is the largest group to ever arrive at the same time in our mission. In addition to the mission 12 passenger van, I had to rent two other vans just so we could pick them all up. We also used the president's car and the truck and trailer. It is so fun to see these new, young missionaries so full of energy and enthusiasm ready to tackle the world.
On Tuesday we had the transfer meeting where all of the new missionaries found out who their trainer would be and what area they would serve in initially. Because most of the sisters were English-speaking this transfer as well as the last one, many sisters who arrived just 6 weeks ago became trainers to brand new missionaries. We had almost 100 missionaries at the transfer meeting because of all of the areas that were changed. 17 new areas were opened up to accommodate the new arrivals. I assigned 12 brand new Chevrolet Cruzes to areas as well as shuffled 5 other cars so that higher mileage cars could be assigned in the city rather than in rural areas. I also assigned 17 new cell phones to areas.
Monday morning I went to Costco and bought $140 of snacks, veggies, etc so that when the missionaries came into the office after the transfer meeting on Tuesday we would have something for them to eat before going out to their new areas. We had 2 veggie trays, a cheese platter with crackers, a big bag of tortilla chips and two bottles of salsa, potato chips, peanut butter pretzels, snack mix, pudding cups, mixed nuts, granola bars and misc other things.
Most of the missionaries stopped by the office Tuesday afternoon to get supplies, etc for their areas. The last ones left at 6:40 pm and everything edible in the office had disappeared. The last 10-15 in the office were also given some Mentos and Airheads (thanks Linda G) because they had waited so patiently. We then went over to the mission office for dinner and a testimony meeting with the missionaries who were returning home on Wednesday.
We love having the missionaries come into the office. It gives us a chance to visit with them, to feed them something (young missionaries are always hungry whether they are male or female), and to encourage them as the work is challenging at times. We also enjoy being able to surrogate grandparents to them.
We had three late nights this week. By the time we got home on Wednesday night we had already put in 39 hours and were wiped out. And we hadn't put in as much time as the other couple in the office. Two of the missionaries coming in from Mexico misplaced their international papers and so were not allowed on the flight with everyone else. So they were put on a later flight. To make a long story short, the other couple went to the airport to pick these two up; their flight ended up being delayed. Once they arrived, the two of them just sat in the airport waiting for someone to come get them. Meanwhile this couple had paid for parking three times so they could search the terminals, they out 60 miles on the van circling the airport and finally found them sitting in a corner talking to each other at about 1 am. I don't know why they didn't have the sense to step outside to see if someone was there to pick them up. The other couple finally got to bed at 3:30 am after delivering these two late arrivals at there destination for the night.
None of the senior missionaries set their alarms on Wednesday night and no one showed up at the office until after 9:30. What are they going to do, fire us?
Our son, Todd, sent us an article this week showing that Chicago is officially the most dangerous city in the United States. At least there are more murders here than in any other city. There were 500 murders in Chicago in 2012. New York had 419 and was the second most murders. But the population of New York City is almost three times that of Chicago. This was very comforting news, NOT! While driving 86 miles yesterday just to run some mission errands, I noticed that 705 people have died this year so far in freeway accidents. They have reader boards on the freeway that keep a tally of those. There are typically 1,000 freeway deaths per year and about 30,000 injured in freeway accidents. So now you know why Sister T refuses to drive in Chicago.
I an glad we had a relaxing weekend last week, just the two of us because it seems like that was a long time ago now. We really do love our mission and each other but transfer week is always long and crazy on senior couples. Our old bodies just don't bounce back like they used to.
Have a wonderful week. Make time to smile and say hello to people. Invite others to know what you know about Christ and his gospel that brings such joy, happiness and peace into your life.
We love you,
Elder Taggart
No comments:
Post a Comment