The Weightier Matters of the Kingdom

Dec. 7, 2014
Why am I counting Mondays? Let me share this last Monday with you.......

Phone Call 1"I am moving from Arizona to Chicago. I will arrive tomorrow morning. Can you have 4 missionaries there to help me unload my truck?"

Phone call 2: "Sister Taggart, what is my Social Security number?"

The mailman arrives bringing 70 letters to be readdressed and 150 Ensign Magazines to be labeled individually, separated by zone, bundled together to be taken by Zone leaders to each missionary.

Phone call 3: "My son is coming to your mission. He is my first missionary. How do I set up an account for him if his account is now with a local credit union?"

Phone call 4: "Sister Taggart, I need to order more name tags."

Referral System: someone needs to meet missionaries at the library and not at her house. Her parents would not understand. Find the missionaries and call them with a heads up.

Phone call 5: "What does my daughter want for Christmas? She comes home in February so I wanted to buy tickets for her and her companion to a museum. Which one is best? Which one would they enjoy?"

Phone call 6: "My name is Sister _____. I am mailing a box of Christmas decorations today. How soon can you get it to my daughter? Tell her to open it as soon as she gets it."

Phone call 7: "Sister Taggart, did I get a letter today?" (no) "How about yesterday?" (possibly)
"Who was it from?"

Phone call 8: "Sister Taggart, there is a person in Mexico who needs a blessing today. I know the name of the man and the hospital and the zipcode. Could you e-mail all the missions in Mexico so they can find him?" I could but there are 33 missions in Mexico and it would take me all day. I ask him to get me a few more clues---like the name of the city in Mexico. My first attempt failed but that mission emailed me the correct info--Guadalajara Mexico Mission--and the man received a Priesthood blessing.

30 boxes arrive in the mail. Three are marked  DO NOT OPEN TIL CHRISTMAS. Are you kidding me?

Text: 12 more referrals for me to enter into the system and assign to missionaries.

Text: Do you have a good sugar cookie recipe? I need it for our baptism.

Abbotts leave the office. A landlord doesn't understand why we don't have missionaries stay forever. Why will this Senior Sister go home in Dec. and another one come in January?

Phone call 8:  "Sister Taggart. I have a missionary serving in your mission. Could you give me the name of a family in Chicago that our family can sub-for Santa for?"

I work on referrals. I assign some to Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Indiana, the Philippines and one to Mexico, with the name of the city.

A couple comes in to bring me 2 baptism forms. I trace their right hands so they can be on the quilt I'm making. They leave in January and I'm starting to feel like there is a mass-exodus of Senior missionaries out of the mission also.

And so my time goes. nothing earth-shattering, just a live person on the other end of the line.

Yesterday we went to a baptism of epic proportions. A family from Liberia, mom, Dad and 7 children. They live in a one bedroom apartment and are grateful for "all they have" and to be living in this country. The 16 yr. old daughter had been baptised 2 years ago....now today, there sit 7 of her family in white, waiting to be baptised. They are baptised by one Senior missionary from Oregon and 3 Elders. (one from Nepal, one from Montana, one from Sandy,Utah) We have an investigator there who has had several lessons and is trying to decide if baptism is for him. Our German Elder explains things to him through the service. Tears fill my eyes as the parents are baptised first and as in Mosiah 18:11, the children "clapped their hands for joy." That usually doesn't happen in our baptism services but it was so appropriate today. They were baptised in birth order, down to the youngest little girl. It was an awesome experience. The only one of the family not there was their 18 year old daughter. She had been baptised 2 years ago but Chicago has not been a good influence on her and her choices have taken her away from the gospel.

So I close with three questions:
1) What are the weightier matters in your life?
2) Am I an influence for good in what I do daily?
3) What direction are my everyday choices taking me?

Have a great week.
Sister Taggart