 
 
Thursday night we welcomed elder and sister Ellis who drove in from the MTC. They are from Idaho Falls and have served two prior missions. The first was to Bulgaria for 23 months and the other was a Temple Square mission for 13 months. They will be serving as the Family History missionaries for the whole mission. They came in on Friday to get acquainted with the office and spent some time with elder Bare getting their Tiwi and gas card as well as a Sunpass for their car so they can travel the turnpikes as the go throughout the mission encouraging family history and temple work.
 
 
Sisters Holyan and Dougal came into the office to pick up some supplies and chapel cards. They serve the Nova YSA branch and are doing a wonderful job at building it up. In the middle picture they are looking for the chapel cards behind sister Ellis. Earlier sisters Bean and Lake came in to get supplies and had some questions for elder Bare. Now that he has both bikes and vehicles to worry about elder Bare is probably the busiest of the senior elders but elder Collins, the housing co-ordinater is close behind as he and his wife need to find homes for all the new missionaries who will be coming in over the next two transfers.
 
 
Sister Stegelemeier came in to see elder Bare – she actually came in their car and not on the scooter she is trying out. As we were talking she mentioned that she had a mission blog. I was surprised because I try to keep up with which missionaries have blogs. A quick look at her blog made me realize that families who have missionaries serving here would enjoy reading her letters home so I added her blog to my blog list. The assistants were in much of the day working on their planning and checking in with missionaries. They spend a lot of time on their phones talking to or texting other missionaries. At about 4:00 they were done and could leave to do ‘real’ missionary work in their area. The gardeners trimmed the hibiscus tree outside our door but they managed to leave one bud untouched that bloomed into this gorgeous flower. We will miss all the beautiful flowers that are available here year round.
I just got caught up again with you blog. Can’t believe that you will be finished in three months – where has the time gone! We agree about the joy district meetings are and really missed attending them in South Africa. The enthusiasm and spirit felt as we met together in Florida was so amazing. Usually I made cinnamon rolls and let them raise in the car as we traveled our 30+ minutes to reach the chapel and then bake as soon as we arrived. Such fun, wonderful times to remember. Have a great week!!
Thank you so much for your blog. What a blessing and oh so fun to hear about the mission from you. We loved seeing all the pictures and loved hearing more about Sister Stegelmeier, and the rest of those amazing missionaries in the FT. Lauderdale Mission.
With Love and Gratitude,
Daren and Marcelle Stegelmeier
I am sorry that it took so long for me to approve your comment – somehow I missed the notification. We love sister Stegelmeier and her great energy. She is certainly an above average missionary who knows that she is truly a representative of Jesus Christ and is not afraid to let others know that she has been sent by Him to change their lives.