Week 7: "A" for Anniversary, Apostle & Awesome

This week (Monday) Van and I celebrated our 31st Anniversary.  What an incredible journey, and the adventure continues.  We went to a place called Boat House 19 for dinner.  It's right down by the Puget Sound.  Great food.  We'll go there again.

Zone Conferences were this week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; each at a different part of the mission.  Van had to do some Safety Training and inspect missionaries' cars each day.  Busy week for him. 
Look at what our missionaries drive --!  Just kidding.  This is a truck owned by Elder Bingham who is over mission finances. Van is an admirer.
The Wednesday conference was here in Tacoma so Sister Harwood and I helped Sister Weaver with the lunch that day. Always a treat to be with the missionaries. They sang to us at the end of lunch.  They are so appreciative, but it made me cry. Also got to see Sister Whitney Jenkins that day.

Sister Jenkins & Sister Brady

Big event this week was a special mission conference on Saturday morning.  Knowing that an apostle was to come speak, we've been anticipating this event for a couple of weeks.  As we arrived at about 9:15 a.m. I as really impressed with how quiet it was in the chapel -- despite it already being full with missionaries. No one was chatting. Wow! If we could be that reverent and focused in all our Sacrament Meetings, the spirit would not be restrained. 

We didn't know until we were at the chapel which apostle was coming.  At about 9:20 a.m., President Weaver announced that he'd just received a text that Elder Neil L. Andersen, accompanied by Elder Craig C. Christensen a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, had just arrived at the Seattle airport and were on their way. He requested that we take 30 minutes to read, ponder, and prepare ourselves.  

Elder Anderson had everyone come up to shake his hand before the meeting began.  Elder Christensen, President & Sister Weaver and a Brother Call gave brief remarks.  Then Elder Andersen spent an hour talking with the missionaries. He talked about many things, but I'll mention two points that most impressed me.

One, each of us will experience, in our lifetime, some kind of trial, difficulty, disaster, tragedy, heartache, etc. No one is immune to life’s experiences, not even the righteous and faithful.  He emphasized that through it all, Jesus Christ is the ONLY source of peace and strength.  He said something like:  “If you will seal in your heart a testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, you will have no issue with the message of Joseph Smith and the restoration. – It is this firmly planted faith in Jesus Christ that will get you through life’s experiences and difficulty. He talked about the mercy, merits, and grace of Christ.

Two, what I’ll remember most is what he said about the seen vs the unseen.  He used 2 Corinthians 4:18: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:  for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

As we serve the Lord and become more sensitive to his spirit, we see and discern things that are unseen.  We should focus on the things that are not seen.  The atonement is not “seen,” but it is very real.  We can sense through the spirit (the unseen) what is real. We are here to learn to understand things through the eye of faith.

I think he might have been trying to tell us (me) that we need to learn to rely on the spirit more.  We need to learn how to discern through the spirit what is right, not necessarily rely on what we see, touch, etc. That's my take on it.  

Wish I had a picture of Elder Andersen, but I wouldn't have dared try that one.   Anyway, it was an "A" week for sure.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Week 6: Sweet is the Work!

Focused on the Road

Tuesday was especially memorable.  It was Transfer Day and a day for new arrivals.  Van and I were asked to go to the airport (SeaTac) to help pick up 14 new missionaries.  We drove a ten-passenger van and pulled a trailer.  (That alone was an adventure).  The freeway (I5) between here and Seattle at 9 a.m. is not a fun place to be, let alone be traveling in a huge vehicle pulling a trailer.  But, Van's an excellent driver, and I'm a pretty good navigator; we made it.  It was fun to greet these new missionaries and then be with them when President & Sister Weave took them to a beautiful spot overlooking the Puget Sound.  

A van full of newbies

Blue Sky on the Sound

Then we took these young elders to the Tacoma Stake Center where we had lunch and began their orientation.  Later in the afternoon, all the Washington Tacoma Missionaries came in for Transfer Meeting.  The new missionaries met their new companions/trainers.  Other missionaries who were given transfers met up with their new companions.  Then they all gathered in the chapel; it was full of missionaries--about 220 of them.  Senior missionaries and visitors had to sit in the over flow.  The 11 missionaries who were to leave on Wednesday were given time to share their testimonies.  Some of them had me in tears.  Here are some things that were said that I hope to remember:  "Let the mission change you." "Be grateful for the time you get to wake up and put on that badge."  "Don't hurt yourself today by anticipating a bad tomorrow." "Don't die with music still left in you."  A wonderful meeting, a sweet day.

Elder & Sister Jones left for home on Wednesday.  That leaves just us and the Harwoods in the office now full-time. There are two local residents who serve as part-time service missionaries.  Elder Bingham takes care of finances & Elder Quiton is over bikes. It can get quiet in the office, but never boring. The "To Do List" grows. (Yes, I'm still keeping lists; it's a hard habit to break.)

Elder Hadlock has yet to have a dull moment either.  In the nearly four weeks we've been here, he's had to deal with four accidents involving mission cars.  Nothing serious, thank goodness.  Seems like they usually happen at night though.  Tuesday after transfer meeting, a car with Sisters was side swiped by a semi as they were traveling home (that made for a really long day!).  Last night as we left a Ward Party (Soup & Bread!), we got a call from Elders who had hit a deer.  No one was hurt, but their car is out of commission. Van will have to deal with that one tomorrow. He has about seven cars waiting to go "into the shop" and now two more!

There are some challenges, but we're loving it. P-Day was especially "sweet" this week.  We went with our neighbors, Elder & Sister Quillon, to the Almond Roca Factory whose headquarters are located right here in Tacoma.  We didn't get to tour the factory, but the Outlet Store was almost as fun! Free samples and bargains not to be passed up!


Nearby is the LeMay Car Museum.  Of course, we couldn't resist that either. Four floors of vintage, classic, and custom made cars.

Candy, Cars -- and missionaries, sweet is the work!

Week 5: Birthdays, Baptisms, Bye Bye

This week's main events included celebrating Van's 59th birthday, attending a baptism, and attending a "going away dinner" for Elder & Sister Jones.

Van has caught a nasty cold -- the one I brought with me from the MTC.  He coughs a lot, and now that my hearing is better following the operation, I hear him either coughing or snoring all night.  Poor guy.  But, he continues to plug along as usual.  We did get to celebrate his birthday this week though.  I took German Chocolate cake to the office for the occasion.  Then in the evening we went to a movie--"Ender's Game".  We really liked it.  I'd say it's one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen in a long time -- and a little thought provoking.  The theater we went to had huge recliners to make our viewing all the more pleasant.  Popcorn wasn't great, but they did let me put my own butter on! -- Probably not a good idea.

Plenty of things to do at the office in preparation for new missionaries who will be coming in next week.  Van will be trained soon on the new program the Church is going to be using to track mission vehicles.  In preparation for that, he has been asked to input a ton of data.  That has consumed most of his time this week.

On Friday night several of us went to dinner at the Red Lobster.  This was a "going away dinner" for Elder and Sister Jones who will be leaving next week.  Elder Jones has been the Housing Coordinator, and Sister Jones has been the other Office Secretary/Receptionist.  I really hate to see them leave; just love 'em to death despite knowing them just a few weeks.

Elder & Sister Harwood arrived this week to take the Joneses place.  We look forward to getting to know them.  Had them and the Joneses over for clam chowder after church today.

Didn't do any touring this weekend, so not many photos to share.  Needed some time to clean, do laundry, get groceries, and catch up on bills & paperwork (some things don't change!).  We did visit the YMCA and two other fitness gyms in search of a place to go exercise.  Van is especially anxious to get a good work out. I'd be happy if I could just find someone to walk with.  I really miss that routine and those friends I walked with in Vernal

On Saturday night we attended a baptismal service at our ward.  An elderly gentleman, Victor, was baptized as well as a young boy.  The spirit was strong.  I particularly felt it when Victor was baptized.  He is not in good health, but has recently seen a bit of improvement that made it so he could be baptized.  I guess he and his wife were both scheduled to be baptized a while back, but then she passed away.  He was determined, though, to follow through.  After the baptism, the Sister missionaries asked us to take one of their new investigators home -- a young man named Rodney.  He has had a rough life, but has been searching for something better.  He wants to be a good example to his family.  We pray that he will continue to progress in his knowledge of the Truth. There really are people who are hungry for the truth.  God bless us all in our efforts to find them.  And bless them to embrace it.

Mt Rainer in backgroud.  Rare view. Usually overcast.  Terrible pix, but .....

Elder & Sister Trotter and Sister & Elder Jones

Week 4: Halloween to Hallowed Halls

Still plenty to do and learn at the mission office.  It's all good.  I'm loving it.  Van has been getting the hang of what it takes to keep a fleet of cars on the road.  But then this week he received training on a new computer program they're implementing for mission vehicles.  Computers may be the death of him!  He got to deal with his first "accident" this week.  Some sisters were in an accident.  No one was hurt, but they were pretty shook up.  They had to come in to the office to fill out a report, etc.  It was kind of entertaining to watch the Elders (other senior missionaries) as they dealt with the emotions (tears, drama, worry, ... ) of the two young sisters.

On Saturday, a few of us Sisters went to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma to see Dale Chihuly, a world-renowned glass sculptor, who grew up in Tacoma.  Here's a link so you can read more about him: http://www.chihuly.com/.  If any of you have every been to Abravenel Hall, you've seen the huge orange glass sculpture near the entrance.  It was done by Dale Chihuly.  Anyway, we got to see his "team" work on some glass pieces.  We toured the museum and walked on the Bridge of Glass (but not for long, because it was very cold and windy)

Sisters Clark, Jones, Trotter, and me -- on Bridge of Glass

The men didn't go with us, but joined us for lunch.  Van is such an awesome husband.  While I was gone, he did the laundry, vacuumed, and changed the sheets.  Then later that night he took me shopping for clothes, and put together a computer desk for our apartment -- not an easy or fun task.

The highlight of the week, however, was getting to spend time with the young missionaries.  Between about 3 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. the missionaries were to be with there Zones at a Ward or Stake house.  They were not to be out proselyting or anything.  I guess in some areas of the world there have been problems with people dressing up like LDS missionaries and then getting into trouble.  President and Sister Weaver wanted all our missionaries to be at a safe location and be accounted for.  We were glad to join the group at Gig Harbor when we got out of the office. They'd already had meetings, an activity, participated in the trunk or treat, and had supper.  We were able to watch Ephraim's Rescue with them.  Great movie, of course.

Then on Sunday we drove about 1 hour south to Chehalis for a Missionary Fireside at the Centralia Stake Center.  Van took some of the missionaries in the mission van.  I took a few sisters in the Yukon.  What a treat.  The entire fireside was done by missionaries in the southern part of the mission -- lots of music, lots of testimonies.  There were group musical numbers and some by the missionary choir.  Because the Elders out number the Sisters, a few of us Senior Sisters were asked to sing with them.  It was amazing to be with them.  Not only are these young people talented, but they are also enthusiastic and eager to bear testimony.  The sound was incredible. My favorite part was when we sang the "As Sisters in Zion/Armies of Helaman" medley. -- Just imagine the sound and spirit of about 100 missionaries as they sang this song and others -- including Called to Serve.  Unforgettable.  I felt so "enlivened" that I was almost tempted not to take an Excedrin to keep me awake on the way home.  Life is good.