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.

 If you have been following this blog, you will know that one of the special events of each week for us is the opportunity to go to a district meeting with the missionaries of the Fort Lauderdale district. However this transfer things just kept coming up and today was the first time we were able to go. As always it helped recharge our spiritual batteries to sing, pray, and learn with these great above average missionaries.

  

We were among the first there with only sisters Lake and Bean as well as elders Andelin and Burt being early. Singing – other than sisters Bean and Lake – is not this districts greatest strength but we try very hard. Mary played the piano while elder Jones led and his companion elder Van Wagenen sang along.

  

The Zone Leaders – elders Smoot and Hunt – were a little late because they were at another district meeting before this one and had to make a stop at the mission office. Sister Lake and elders Andelin, Burt, Thorne and Rondo were ready to sing when they arrived. Later sister Andrus and Dunford came in and picked up their own mail as well as that for others in their area. Sister Dunford got a package with lots of great ideas, talks, etc that she was excited to use in teaching.

  

After closing the office we went to the post office and then back to the Fort Lauderdale chapel. I took this picture of Bishop Brown and his desk. He actually knows where everything is on his desk – he only has a problem if someone else moves things around. Pink thing was given to him to take care of by a sister who was leaving the area. It is supposed to be until she comes back – if she comes back. The WMC meeting is always good because the bishop makes sure that it is centered around the actual investigators and new members. Elder Gust was on an exchange with elder J. Brown – the bishop thought that was a great last name – brothers Acevedo and Hafen are in the background.

  

Sisters Stegelmeier and Herrera seem to be regular visitors at the mission office. Today it was about some problem with their car. Sister Stegelmeier loves to be in pictures and I have found that she can not talk without using her hands. Sister Herrera is the stabilizing influence in the companionship. Together they continue to find, teach and baptize on an almost weekly basis in the Davie area.

  

Elder and Sister Bare have family visiting and I got this picture before they headed off to Monkey Jungle. Hola to elder Lamb. Elder Lamb came in between transfers because his Spanish was good enough that they did not need to keep him in the MTC for the full 6 weeks. He will be serving with elder Fisher down in Coral Reef.

Here are three of the experiences President Anderson shared in his letter this week…

“There’s one specific moment this week that I really saw how incredible it is to liken the scriptures, we were teaching this girl named Antoinette. She had such a pure heart and her greatest desire is to follow Christ and help others follow Him. During our lesson she was talking about no matter what commandments God gives her she will follow and how all she wants is to be an example to her family members…she is the youngest in her family…so what she was basically saying is “I’m just like Nephi”. So we read with her about Nephi in 1 Nephi 3:7 and shared with her that Nephi,  just like her, wanted to follow God and in turn was placed as the leader over his siblings and was able to lead in righteousness. It was an incredible lesson and she is one of those pure hearted people that just wants to do whatever God asks her too…it’s great finding those prepared to receive the Gospel.”

 

To invoke our testimony of “power and authority” with faith as it pierces others hearts by the Spirit:

 

“We knocked on Dee’s door, and he wouldn’t let us leave a blessing, we continued to testify, and he continued to turn us down. Finally we asked if we could just leave a card with him. He again told us no, he’s not interested, so we left. We went and harvested across the street to some complexes there, and as we were walking upstairs we heard, “SISTERS!” We looked and guess who it was? Dee! He asked us if he could join us at church the next day and wanted to know more. It was amazing to see the change in his heart, from just minutes ago.”

 

Astonish them with powerful faithful testimony:

 

“We harvested this guy who accepted baptism, and then asked if he knew anyone who we could talk to. He said that his neighbor had just gotten out of prison and that we could try next door. So we went and knocked next door, and a guy answered. He was less than thrilled about us and he didn’t want to pray with us. So, we told him (very tactfully) that his neighbor had sent us over and that God had sent us there to see him. He let us pray with him and then we invited him to be baptized. He told us that he had just gotten out of prison and that he was going through a hard time…and when we invited him to be baptized, he accepted. President, I wish you could have seen his face.”

 After going into the office to play catch-up with some things that needed to be done, we went by the temple site to see if there was anything new to be seen.

  

Since the outside of the temple is pretty much finished, most of the work is going on inside. They have started working on the landscaping but it will be months before they actually do anything interesting.

 

Brother Barry is in charge of the construction for the Church and he has been very reluctant when it comes to having his picture taken or for saying much about completion dates, etc. We kid each other about me getting inside and taking pictures. I kidded him that he put up the visitor sign especially for me. He and his lovely wife are fully committed to building temples for as long as they can. He explained that the landscape contractor does not want to put it in too early or he would have to keep it up until it was time to turn it over. But he also does not want to wait so long that he must hurry to get it in. I am hoping that when we go home in three months there will be at least something worth shooting.

  

In the afternoon I went for a walk and took some pictures from around the complex that I think are self explanatory.

  

I took some pictures at Church this morning. I did not remember having any pictures of elders Thorne and Rondo in their suits. Notice how elder Rondo’s great looking purple tie goes so well with Mary’s jacket. We received a call from elders Burt and Andelin asking if we could pick up some of their recent converts and of course we said yes. These three young people really wanted to come to Church but their usual ride was not available.

  

I have mentioned that I have had a hard time getting a picture of elder Van Wagenen and his trainer elder K. Jones. They have been together over 3 weeks and it was not until today that I was able to snap a shot. They are Creole missionaries and so they basically their district covers the whole Fort Lauderdale area. The last picture was taken almost 4 years ago when we were serving in Swaziland. Elder Katende is the one on the right and he just told us that he paid the lobola so he and his bride can plan for a temple marriage in the fall. It is great to see the returned African missionaries plan to have eternal families.

 

On Friday morning when I walked outside a single duck came walking up looking for a hand-out and so I gave it a slice of bread. Since I have not fed the ducks for over a month, this one must have a great memory. Then it was back to serving in the office – my desk looked like there had been a yellow snow storm of post-it-notes. Sisters Stegelmeier and Herrera came to say hello and pick up some supplies. They are doing a great job in the Davie’s area.

  

Today was the first Friday of the month so that meant Zone Leader’s Council was held this morning at the Mission Home. Then about 3:00 most of the ZLs came in to pick up supplies that their zone needed. Elders Edwards and Osborn were the first to check in. Elders Torres and Beer build up a big stack for their zones. Some also had to pick up some bicycles, talk to elder Bare, and drop off baptismal records. By the time they left the big stack of Books of Mormon in English and Spanish were basically wiped out so Mary immediately order more.

  

I like to take pictures of missionaries at the office window.

  

Elders Gust and Skousen show off their best poses while elders Plowman and Shipley rest up after a mind stretching council. One of the things that everyone wants are chapel cards. Mary printed the sheets to order and then the missionaries had to cut them out or take the sheets to their zones and let the missionaries cut their own out. Elder Gust became a master chapel card trimmer…well at least he cut out a lot of cards.

 One of the perks of being senior missionaries is that you can ask for a few days off when family come to visit. Our son Jim and his family had made plans to spend a week at Disney World and President Anderson gave us permission to take three days to be with them. This was especially special for us because our youngest grandchild Colin was born after we were on our mission and so we had never been able to see him in person. Also they live in the Chicago area and so we do not get to see them as often as some of the other children and grandchildren who live in Salt Lake and Provo.

  

As I looked at the picture of the trolley and main street with the castle at the end, I realized it could have been taken 57 years ago when I went to Disneyland for the first time as a 17 year high school student!

  

Charlotte and Oliva liked to be with grandma and grandpa. One of the big things for the children was collecting the autographs of the Disney characters.

  

When we were waiting for the train to come in, a mother duck and 5 little ones came down the station tracks just when a train was about to come in. The station people hurried them along and they made it to safety before they were run over. When we were having lunch this adorable 14 month old walked up and seemed fascinated by Charlotte.

  

I took this series of pictures of Colin and his sippy cup! Good memories for sure

  

On the last day as we were getting ready to leave so we could make the 3 1/2 drive back to our apartment before it got dark, Olivia and Charlotte wanted to ride with us on the People Mover. After that we got lots of big hugs and Olivia did not want to let us go. On the way out I took a last picture of the castle. It was a cold day so Mary wanted to sit in the sun while we waited for the last bus ride back to our resort.

  

On Saturday the Waves invited a couple of food trucks to drop by at lunch time. Since we are great fans of the ‘Great Food Truck Race’ we went by to see what was being offered but did not find anything we thought was worth the prices. The favorite truck was the one serving snow cones or perhaps better to call them snow bowls.

   

On Monday I noticed that there was a line of 5 anhingas along the edge of the pool. The second one from the right seems to have been slightly out of sync with the others. When I got in the van to do some errands, I noticed that the odometer had turned to a perfect 40,000 miles and thought it was worth a picture. Sister Collins seems to be buried in boxes and the other mail that came in Saturday and Monday. She does a great job getting out the mail and writing welcoming letters to the new converts. She also goes out with her husband to find new apartments, clean out apartments, buy furniture and whatever else is needed to make sure the missionaries have safe and comfortable living conditions. They are a truly dedicated couple of missionaries who have been serving as service and full time housing missionaries for over 3 years.

 The mission had Specialized Training meetings on Thursday for the North part of the mission and Friday for the Southern part. We went to the Friday meeting in the Miami Lakes chapel. Missionaries serving in the Miami Beach, Hialeah, Miami and Homestead zones were taught about how to use the Book of Mormon and personal testimonies to answer the needs of their investigators by President Anderson and the APs. Before that sister Anderson talked about the need for listening to and following the spirit. She included a personal story that was very touching and powerful.

  

Elder McCormick and I went to the local Little Ceasar’s and picked up 38 large pepperoni pizzas. It brought back memories of South Africa and the many times we helped serve pizza to the missionaries at conferences and transfers. The sisters got to serve themselves first. I kid sister Anderson about her being able to open a catering service when she is released from their mission. The truth is she enjoys cooking for lots of family and others.

  

Elders Curtis, Maki and Dean seemed were at one table. Some elders found that they would rather share their meal with some of the sister missionaries. Sisters Smith, Hymas, Lira and Schneider serve in different zones but shared a table. After the meeting there was a special sister’s meeting but we had to leave early so I did not get any pictures of all the sisters together.

  

Missionaries everywhere seem to like pizza. There was enough for each missionary to have at least 1/2 of one. Elders Brough and Plowman found one of the far away table and were enjoying their food in peace.

  

They were then joined but the Boices who are serving as Employment specialists. Notice how getting their picture taken does not slow down the eating of most missionaries.  The Andersons ate very healthy – all veggies. Myself and the Evans had veggies but also managed to sample the pizza.

 

One of the things that missionaries love to do – besides eating – is to talk to each other. Elders Bennett, Patino and Benitez shared some thoughts as did sister Andrus and elders Fullmer, Welch and Beer. Early on elders Benitez, Johnson, and Harper were sitting with sister Brown while her companion sister Quiocho was just about to sit down.

  

I love this picture of elder Shipley which shows not only his dexterity and strong teeth but the plate of pizza and lots of good vegetables. His Mother would be proud. Sister Quiocho always likes to pose for me. While elder Shipley was eating his companion elder Gust was sharing some wisdom with other elders.

  

  

We had to go back to the office before the meeting was finished. It was time for the mission finances to be audited for 2012. When we got there sisters Herrera and Stegelmeier came in and I got them to pose with elder Collins who shares the office with me. The middle picture is not from today but from a week ago when elders Hunt and Smoot came in for a visit. After the meeting at Miami Lakes was over the Sommerfeldts came by to check in. It does not seem possible that they only have a couple more weeks before heading home to Canada. The whole mission will miss them greatly.

 Every Wednesday night the missionaries assigned to the Fort Lauderdale ward meet with bishop Brown, brothers Acevedo and Beille for a missionary correlation meeting. It is one of the most enjoyable MCM that I have ever been to – including some I conducted. Not only does the bishop and the other brothers stay on top of what is going on with missionary work and plans to keep up the retention rate, but everyone has a good time.

  

Sister Stegelmeier is not assigned to Fort Lauderdale ward but since she dropped into the office during the day I took a picture of her talking to Mary. Elder Andelin looks on as elder Burt leads the music and bishop Brown sings. Elder Thorne always has a big smile – even when I am not taking his picture.

  

Brother Hafen who often goes out with the missionaries also often joins the meeting. Brother Beille Proust with elder Andelin in the background. Brother Proust has been called to work specifically with new members to see that they get home teachers, callings, and the new member lessons. Hopefully this will increase the retention figures for the ward and the mission. Elder Hunt, one of the zone leaders, was on exchange with elder Jones so I did still have not got a picture of elder Jones and his companion and new to mission elder Van Wagenen. Elder Shipley was also at the meeting as the APs are assigned to one of the areas in the Fort Lauderdale ward.