Out with the old, in with the new

Last Saturday/Sunday we received 19 inches do snow, which has made driving conditions really sloppy most of the week.

Monday morning started with me having to dig out the transfer van and the utility trailer so I could drive to the airport to pick up luggage for 22 newly arriving missionaries. When I got there to hook the trailer up, all of the mission vehicles parked there were buried with at least 3 feet of snow because the guy who plows was too lazy to turn his blade so the snow would go away from them instead of creating a 3 foot berm in front of them. The trailer was in the last parking stall at the back of the lot, so it had snow 12 feet by 4 feet in front of it. I dug the van out thinking I would certainly die if I had to dig the trailer out. Fortunately a guy with a plow on his truck stopped and I gave him $40 cash to help dig it out. Two weeks earlier, I had moved all of the spare vehicles to a different place in the lot because they told me if I did they wouldn't get buried.

After finally getting the van and trailer connected, I met the assistants to the president and the sister trainer leaders so that I could drive them to the airport to meet the new missionaries. Before I left the office initially, I checked the arrival times for both flight, one coming in from SLC and the other from Mexico. It said that one was on time and the other one would arrive 10 minutes early. I dropped those meeting the missionaries off and told them I would circle until they called me. To make a long story bearable, I circled for 2 hours because both flights ended up being delayed. I loaded their luggage and drove it to the mission home as they got on the train for the traditional trip downtown on their first day. After picking them up at the train station later, I realized that I had spent 5 1/2 hours in the van that day just transporting missionaries, luggage and seeing the sights of O'Hare as I circled and circled.

Tuesday morning, we were at the church at 7:30 to have everything ready to set up 22 iPads and for both Claudia and I to do our training of the new arrivals. 11 of the 22 iPads wouldn't set up properly because Apple was blocking us from setting up that many Apple ID's all at once. So after the transfer meeting I spent the rest of the day helping missionaries one by one to get their iPad set up and ready to use. I must say that I love and also hate technology.

That night we had dinner with the 21 amazing missionaries who would be leaving for h e the next morning. After a testimony meeting where we heard from each of the 21, we took pictures and said farewell to each of them. The farewells get harder with each transfer because we have served with all of the sisters their entire mission and with the elders for most of theirs. It is like saying farewell to our kids and grandkids when we left them to come here. We know we will see them again, but the separation is hard.

We had 2 senior couples arrive on Friday and a senior sister arrive on Thursday. They are replacements for those who have either already gone home or who left on Friday. To date, we don't have a replacement couple for us. But since Claudia has a pre-op appointment with the surgeon for knee replacement on May 13, we will leave for home on May 3 whether or not our replacements have arrived. We do hope to be able to provide them with more training than either of us received.

The rest of the week was filled with picking up 2 cars from the body shop so I can sell them, entering the month-ending odometer for each of the 74 mission vehicles, helping missionaries deal with and know what to do for the 7 accidents that occurred between Tuesday and Friday, and attending three baptisms yesterday.

Through all of the challenges, stress, etc. I can testify that God is in the very details of our lives. I so appreciate His sustaining strength and help. He knows us and loves us each and every one. I see His hand in my life and know that you can too. If he knows and loves me, he certainly does you. Trust Him and acknowledge His hand and influence in your life. I love you.

Elder Taggart