Have I said it enough times---I dislike transfers intensely? It is a week to test the endurance of one and all. We prepare for it as best we can but it always hits like a tsunami and sucks the life out of you as it goes back out to sea and life goes back to "normal". 22 incoming and 21 outgoing. Add 18 inches of snow on Sunday and 5 more inches during the week which made it all the more interesting. Church was cancelled Sunday so the President declared it no driving day....but go shovel snow as service. Elder Taggart was getting calls all day "can we just drive to the houses we know need help?" (otherwise they are walking in blizzard conditions) What do you think NO DRIVING means? How many ways can you interpret those instructions? It was the 5th most snowfall in a 24 hour time in Chicago. One inch every hour was forecast but areas by the lake got much more. We hiked across the courtyard to have a combined dinner with Abbotts and the Elders next door and thought we would die. We have no snow shovel so I had the brilliant idea to use our Swiffer to just push or brush snow away. Dumb idea. It was heavy snow and about ruined Elder Taggart's shoulder. Dinner was wonderful with our combined efforts and then it was back across the courtyard (aka tundra now) in windy, drifting snowy whiteout. We needed a rope to help us back to our own 64 degree apartment. What an adventure.
Monday our 22 newbies arrived--one batch from the Mexico MTC was early but the Utah MTC bunch was delayed due to many flight cancellations across the country. As my husband was digging out the transfer van and trailer from the buried church parking lot (he finally flagged down a pick-up with a snow shovel on the front and paid him $40 to shovel the drifts of snow from in front of the vehicles) so he could pick up luggage at O'Hare and then circle for 1 hr. 45 min. waiting for the next batch to arrive, Sister Abbott and I were opening boxes in the office to find coats to be taken to the airport for those arriving from Mexico. They come from 80 degrees in Mexico with no coats to 18 degrees, get off the plane and onto the train to go to downtown Chicago. No office stop planned so when our nurse says, "We're opening the boxes. They need coats." I responded. The Pres. was then called and told by the nurse, "swing by the office and pick up these coats." He obeyed and gathered an armload of coats with names on them with address labels.
Meanwhile, back at the office, I'm fielding phone calls along with Sister Abbott.
"Has my son/daughter arrived yet?"
"Can my son use his debit card from Honduras in Chicago?"
"My non-member friend needs some shovelling done in Orland Park. Can you send a couple of missionaries over this morning?"
"We want to go to Chicago for our last P-day. The President doesn't answer his phone. Do you think it would be OK?"
"My daughter needs her endorsement from the Pres. to get into BYU. Why hasn't he filled it out yet and when can he get that in. It's due today."
"Sister Taggart, I lost my name tag shovelling snow yesterday. Can you order me a new one?"
"Macy's said my pants were shipped to the office. Were they?"
A box comes labeled Sister Williams. We have one. Which one is it?
The new Senior Sister coming in is stuck in Lexington, NE. She doesn't dare drive any farther in this storm. After counting 25 semi-trucks and 63 cars off the road, she stopped in a hotel.
"I lost my water bottle with a blue lid. Is it in the office?"
While I field these calls, Sister Abbott is fielding calls about flights, addresses for their new missionary, flu symptoms, back aches from yesterdays' shovelling, and typical cold symptoms where they think they need to go to the emergency room, and one or two bed bug scenarios thrown in.
I am also throwing freight on the shelves to make sure we have enough pass-along cards, pamphlets, large print scriptures, media bibles, and Books of Mormon along with DVD's and an assortment of anything else we carry. When they come in after the transfer meeting, it is like locust hitting a wheat field. Everything is left empty!!
Tuesday morning our alarm goes off at 5:30 A.M. Elder Taggart and I do our training on Tues. morning, Ipad, set up for 22 new Ipads, car safety training, referral training and how to fill out a baptism record. The Ipads won't cooperate so 11 missionaries need special help after transfers. I look into the faces of each of these missionaries and a sadness comes over me. I won't be here for all or even most of their missions. I will barely get to know these newbies. Who will help them when they need help? It's sad.
I am hugged and hugged. I hear, "I love you Sister Taggart" as I go into the foyer where 75% of our missionaries are gathered. 3/4 of our companionships will change today. Now that's what I call apple cart upset. That's Where's Waldo on steroids!!! The new missionaries march in as we sing hymns in the chapel. They look eager, nervous, scared and more. The President has the trainers come up and describe the area they are assigned to--then the new missionary is called up, they hug like long lost friends, then go sit together as a new companionship.
Sister G says, "Well, for this area, bring your pepper spray and let's go to work."
Elder M says, "In Hebron, IN the driveways are white and ready to shovel."
Elder C says, "Pres. can I tell him what Morgan Park is really like?" (the Pres. frowns and shakes his head NO!!!)
Elder M says, "Our area is great. There are lots of baptisms coming up---we just have to find them."
Then the 21 missionaries going home march to the front and sing "Hope of Israel". I lose it. We have been here for their whole mission. These have become ours. My heart aches to think they'll be gone. Then they march out and Elder Taggart starts the shuttle to the temple. They attend a session before testimony meeting tonight. I hurry back to the office. We feed between 60-70 missionaries a quick lunch before they drive to their new areas. Four 5-quart crock pots of soup, platters of crackers, 6 loaves of french bread hoagies, mega bowl of orange wedges--GONE!!!
I brought an extra loaf of bread for PB&J's and in 2 minutes it too was gone. My supply shelves were the same---GUTTED. I had on my desk requests for 40 name tags, 8 letters of proof-of-residency and a pile of referrals they got while riding the train from the airport to the city. The last ones left by 4:30. We vacuumed, did dishes, emptied garbages, in a hurry, because we're all supposed to be at the mission home by 5 for the farewell dinner and testimony meeting. My husband didn't make it until 6 because of all the shuttling he did to and from the temple. We are told how much we will be missed. We are told by many they plan on coming to our house in American Fork to hang out while they go to BYU or UVU. We are told by 2 sisters they want a marriage just like ours. Several give us cards or letters of appreciation and many want a picture taken with us. I let the tears fall as we hug for the last time. It's time for them to leave the mission and move forward with their lives but it hurts. We will never see our Italian Sister again in this life. I was teary for 2 days. (does this sound like someone who is "trunky"? I know some of you think we are getting that way but these are our grandkids and this is our focus..TO THE END and BEYOND)
Got home late but Elder Taggart had to be up by 5 AM and to the mission home to take the first 17 to the airport. No rest. Today we have a Senior Sister coming in from Idaho. She was snowed in at Lexington, NE. We have the military missionary couple going home and the new military replacement5 come in. We have a new office couple come in. (not our replacement) We come home one night, finally having a chance to do 3 baskets of laundry, only to discover our laundry room would be closed for painting for 3-4 days. UGH!! I dream of having my own washer and dryer again. If that is trunky then so be it. I hate laundromats.
Saturday was the wedding and baptism in the Chicago 2 Spanish Branch. I put a name in the referral system months ago. He was less active, wanting to come back. He now had a wife, a non-member. I sent the Spanish speaking missionaries in that area to their house. Two sweet Sisters taught the young wife, her mother and the mother's boyfriend. They needed to be married before they could be baptized. The wedding and the baptism were all in Spanish yet it was beautiful! We tried to sing the hymns in Spanish. Fun. You can feel the Spirit in any language. One of the Sisters came up to me after and said, "He was our diamond, Sister Taggart.." A talk I gave a year ago is still having an impact on these missionaries. I didn't write the talk, the Spirit did so I guess it's good they remember it.
The Christensen's are coming over for dinner today. They are one of the new office couples. They are pleasant to be around. They have served for years at the Utah State Prison so they are vets. I love working with these couples with so much Church experience. Old soldiers are we in this troop of young soldiers.
I have rambled too long. I wanted you to feel what we have felt this week. Wouldn't trade it for the world. We love what we are doing. It keeps us young. Photos are snow from just one day. I love my companion. This will always be one of our treasured experiences in life. We try to make the most of every single day. A good policy ,we have found.
Love,
Sister Taggart
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