I know from comments and phone calls that a number of parents are interested in what is going on in the mission. Here are a couple of other blogs that post letters from their missionaries for others to share. I think you will enjoy reading them.

http://eldercoltonpond.blogspot.com We know Elder Pond very well because we had the opportunity to serve with him here in Fort Lauderdale. As you read his letters home you will catch his enthusiasm for missionary work.

http://elderchristianhoole.blogspot.com We do not know Elder Hoole as well as Elder Pond but we have had a number of chances to talk to him. He is one of our Creole speaking elders.

http://fullmerinflorida.blogspot.com Elder Fullmer is another missionary we do not know well but I find his blog interesting reading.

 Monday’s mail included over 70 packages and over 70 letters for the missionaries. The packages were checked in and then divided into zones. Senior missionaries who were going out to different parts of the mission took the packages to the zone leaders for distribution. What ever did not get out on Monday was taken out by the Assistants and the seniors on Tuesday. the picture below is the packages that came in for just 4 of the 8 zones on Monday.

Just so you know it is not all work and no play for the senior missionaries, on Monday night we went with E/S Bare to the Japan Inn for dinner. It was a lot of fun and the food was good, but the company was even better. After serving in Indonesia I decided that a senior mission is the best and least expensive working vacation you can take. You get to see and know parts of the world as they really are. You meet, make friends, and love people that you will try to stay in contact with for the rest of your life. Senior missions are truly blessings from a loving Father in Heaven.

Some of the experiences that President Anderson shared in his weekly letter to the missionaries.

As representatives of Jesus Christ, you understand the importance of working hard and know that hard work will help us “to do the will, both of the Father and the Son”:

 

“One awesome blessing I saw this week was Wednesday after transfer meeting.  Just like you said, after the meeting we got to the area and got to work   We only had 4 blessings, and set a goal to get 7 more in the hour and a half we had set aside to harvest.  We went out with enthusiasm and fire and ended up leaving 13 blessings!  That was an awesome introduction to the area, and kept us motivated throughout the week.”

 

As representatives of Jesus Christ, you invoke the Spirit beyond testifying and proclaiming your purpose to soften their heart in order “to do the will, both of the Father and the Son”:

 

“My companion and I can sing well together so if the blessing doesn’t soften the heart of the people enough, we sing a Christmas hymn before we leave and they become way more receptive. I’m excited to sing more this upcoming week because it really invites the spirit, even if the people are hostile right from the start. For example, one man in particular we found last night accepted to be baptized after the blessing. However, he gave a bunch of excuses when we said that we were going to come back to his house the following day. Instead of trying to force an appt., we sang for him and he felt the spirit really strong. Right after, he said that he wanted us back and he set up the appt. for us to come by. It was super cool to see how a hymn could soften the heart of a person.”

 

As representatives of Jesus Christ, we talk and invite everyone to repent and be baptized in order â€œto do the will, both of the Father and the Son”:

 

“We were walking out of an apartment complex and we saw a guy walking down the street so I ask him if I can give him a picture of Jesus. He says sure and then goes on to tell us he really wants to quit smoking. I then went on to tell him to do it he needs to rely on Christ, repent, and be baptized. He did not seem to like the idea to much. I then testified to him of the blessings of baptism and the atonement and invited him to be baptized! He hesitantly accepted and we got a return appointment. We went over the next day and blessed his home. He loved it and accepted to be baptized! He also came to church yesterday and is now preparing for next Sunday! It was such a testimony to me that we must talk to everyone and be centered in our purpose when we do! It was a huge miracle!”

 

 The Fort Lauderdale missionaries continue to have weekly baptisms. We had the opportunity to give one of them – Lewis – a ride to Church today. We then stayed for his baptism along with two young women that had been taught by Elders Taylor and Rellaford. Mary was asked to play the piano for the baptism.

  

Elders Shipley, Avila and Rippstein with Lewis. They were then joined by Shaq Armsby who actually did the baptism. I have to say that Shaq did an excellent job baptizing Lewis. Elder Taylor had the opportunity to perform his first two baptisms since he came into the mission. The elders are shown here with Daniella and Catiana who followed the example of the Savior today.

 The Fort Lauderdale Stake put on 3 performances of the first part of Savior of the World that is about Christ’s birth. They had put on the second part dealing with the events of the crucifixion just before Easter this year. It was the stake’s gift to the community. We had the opportunity to be ushers at the last performance on Saturday night with an audience of about 350 members and non-LDS. It was a lovely experience and reminded everyone what Christmas is truly about.

  

Elizabeth and Zacharias as he prepares to go to serve in the temple. While at the temple the angel appears and tells him that they would have a son. Zacharias does not believe him so he struck dumb for his unbelief. The performers where excellent and you could feel their spirit as the acted out this very special play.

   

Mary and her mother discuss her betrothal. The betrothal ceremony. The angel appears to Mary and tells her she has been chosen.  The staging was beautifully done and those who handled the lights are to be commended.

  

Joseph learns of the coming birth. The wedding scene was quite touching. There were lots of youth in the program – both singing and acting.

  

The angel appears to the shepherds. This is a view of the whole stage with the heavenly choir singing to the shepherds. The shepherds come to visit the stable.

  

Mary and her new son and then visited by shepherds who tell their story. Elder Bishop was asked by President Bethel to give the invocation. I snapped a quick picture just at the start of the prayer without really looking at what was being taken. I was very surprised to see this ‘shaft of light’ that pretty much hid the two of them on the stage. I am pretty sure this was not planned.

 We went to Vista View Park which is just East of the temple site and went to the top of the hill to take pictures. I am pretty sure that the hill is a well settled landfill or what is affectionately called a ‘trash mountain.’ Whatever is under the ground the hill is probably 100 to 150 feet high which makes it perfect for taking pictures of the temple with a gated community in the foreground. Lots of water, trees and grass allowed for these great looking (he says modestly) of the temple.

  

  

After taking pictures at the park, we went down to the temple site and got shots of the beautiful detail of the windows on the steeple. The detail is amazing and should be even more beautiful when lighted from the inside at night.

This is the North side of the steeple with the window and Moroni against a darkening sky.

We have had some calls asking if Christmas packages shipped this coming week will get to the missionaries by Christmas day.

The basic answer is anything that arrives at the mission office by Friday the 21st will be hand delivered by the senior couples and the assistants by Monday. This means if you have not sent the packages for your missionary, you will need to send them via one of the express services offered by FedEx, UPS or USP. If the missionaries are close to the office packages delivered on Monday the 24th have a good chance of being delivered but it all depends on when the mail is delivered and who is available to get it out as most senior missionaries will already be out making deliveries.

Here is our post from 2011’s last minute Christmas delivery…it truly is one of the joys of serving a Senior mission.

Yesterday – the 23rd – 27 Christmas packages for missionaries came in to the office. The office couples decided that for part of our P-day we would play Santa’s Helpers and deliver them to the missionaries so they would have them on Christmas morning.

We took the Southern route with Hialeah, Homestead, Miami and Miami Beach zones because we had never been that far South before. Although even with a GPS we managed to get lost a couple of times and found out that you do not want to get in the express lanes on the freeway unless you want to go 5 or 6 miles out of your way, we had a wonderful time delivery our packages to the grateful missionaries along the way. Truly one of the joys of serving a Senior mission.

  

 I have tried to write on this post three times and each time it has crashed. I am beginning to think that I should just let the pictures speak for themselves but anyone who knows me can tell you I always talk/write too much.

Thursday the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission had their annual Christmas Conference. This is the only time that the whole mission has gathered together since last Christmas. It is a joyful time for the missionaries as they get to see and hug former companions. It is really an amazing time and being a part of it is one of the joys of being a senior missionary couple.

I took 125 pictures but managed to whittle it down to just the 50 I posted here. There is no way I can identify each missionary but I imagine if you have a son or daughter serving here you will find them in at least one of the photos.

  

The conference was held in the Fort Lauderdale building. A lot of hard work went into setting up the tables, chairs, and decorations – I was not part of that. Sister Anderson and the other senior sister missionaries cooked and assembled much of the delicious food that was served. Sister Anderson could easily set up a catering serve after her mission – she often is responsible for 3 to 5 dinners and lunches in a week! Here she is being helped by sister Sommerfeldt our wonderful mission nurse.

  

After gathering in the chapel for some opening exercises – including an amazingly spiritual reciting of our purpose by over 150 missionaries – dinner was served. The sister of course got to go first and I caught a couple of pictures. Sisters Quiocho and  Chavous look very festive going through the line.

  

Sister Carnes and Holyan strike a pose for me. The elders waited patiently – I caught Elders Doman and Shaffer who served in a district with us waiting for their turn. Elder Bennett obviously saw the camera and wanted to say ‘hi mom.’

  

The assistants, elders Avila, Rippstein, and Shipley put out the pies. The senior couples got to serve the missionaries and then eat. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream was served by some of the elders to the rest of the mission…it was easier than having them line up. One of the things we really appreciated about the missionaries is that you can ask them for help and they cheerfully pitch right in. Today we asked them to bring in the mail – lots of packages to be distributed, clean up trash, pass out dessert, and the put away all the chairs and tables. All was done quickly with smiles on their faces.

    

The cultural hall was filled with lots of chatter and laughter as the food disappeared. After dinner some of the tables were put away and President Anderson explained the rules for the white elephant gift exchange. 10 tables with 15 to 16 missionaries around each were piled with the gifts.

 

Senior missionaries sat one or two to a table and got to take part in the present exchange. At the table I was at Sister Stegelmeier got a handy sledge hammer for knocking on doors. As I went around taking pictures there was lots of laughter at what was being given.

 

Sisters Quiocho & Tuai were near elder Fanaika.

  

More white elephant pictures. Sister Beck gets a great looking pineapple santa that got sister Bare laughing.

  

Elder Bennett gets a T-Shirt. President Anderson is checking out the gifts…maybe he was looking for the one he wanted? Elder McCormick holds up his prize.

  

Elder Hanna makes his selection as sister Sommerfeldt looks on. Elder Burt got a great looking elf hat. I am not sure who was sitting next elder Doman with the storm troopers helmet. President Anderson told him that he could not wear it as a bike helmet.

  

After the white elephants came the talent show. Each zone was responsible for some entertainment. Most went for singing – either the whole zone or just a few. That is what Homestead on the left and  Hialeah in the middle did. Miami Beach did a rather interesting song and dance routine that got some laughs – but they really should not give up their day and night jobs.

  

Fort Lauderdale Zone – one of the largest in the mission was represented by sister Chavous and Bean and elder Rellaford. On the other hand Coral Springs got everyone singing with sister Aloi and Bagley up front. Elder Torres seems to be the only elder who is really enjoying himself.

  

The Stuart Zone elders spread out across stage while elder Edwards led and sisters Sheffield and Dougal provided the accompaniment. I caught elder Rasmussen with his shiny coconut owl. After the entertainment came a mission picture that I hope to add later and then there was a short devotional. After that Santa and Mrs Claus set up shop with all of the missionaries asking for the same thing…a white 150 baptism Christmas. Sisters Brown and Quiocho get their gifts from Santa.

  

Elders Hunt, Maki and Rugg take their turn

  

Elder Smoot makes his case as do elders Edwards and Bjorling. Elder Duncan came with the last transfer but still gets his turn.

  

 

All the sisters got together for a picture…why I have selected 4 pictures is that there was not one picture that shows all the sisters looking at the camera…of course a dozen cameras were clicking away and senior sisters kept joining the group. President and sister Anderson’s beautiful and gregarious granddaughter Cordelia was there with her parents for most of the conference. Cordelia loves the missionaries and likes to have her picture taken…say cheese!

 Today Fort Lauderdale zone met together and Mary took some pictures of companionships that I was not able to get on transfer day.

  

Sister Stegelmeier is training sister Herrera in the Davies area. Sister Pickup is being trained by sister Escorbores in the Hollywood Hills West area. Sister Lake is training sister Bean in Riverside Park.

  

Here are two pictures of elders Smoot and Bishop the zone leaders. Elder Smoot was born in the Fort Lauderdale zone and we had the opportunity to get to know him from then. It is good to have him back and serving with elder Bishop. The first picture is a little blurry – the second one is sharper but obviously elder Bishop did not expect Mary to snap the picture quite so soon. As mentioned below the couples in the mission – except for E/S McCormick got together Monday night. The Evans are in front with president and sister Anderson. In the back from left to right are the Bares,  DeGraffenreids, Sommerfeldts, us, the Collins, Boices and Barrys.

The second Monday in the month is the morning for our staff meeting. All the senior couples and president and sister Anderson have a meeting to discuss how all the different areas that are necessary to keep the mission running smoothly are doing. Finance, phones, referrals, cars, baptism and other records, mail, genealogy, employment, meetings, dinners, lunches, and housing are all need to be running smoothly so the above average missionaries can invite others to come unto Christ. Every mission has these needs and that is why senior couples are prized by every mission president.

I spoke to the financial secretary of the Jacksonville mission and not only does he take care of the finance and his wife is mission secretary, but they also are in charge of housing. I have no idea how they are able to do both of those callings. Elder and sister Collins keeps very busy fulfilling the need for housing, furniture and other items that every missionary needs.

But it is not all work as Senior missionaries. This evening we all got together – except the McCormicks who had important meetings down in the Keys – for our Christmas party. This is our second party and we had a wonderful night. First we feasted on a delicious ham dinner and then we exchanged White Elephant gifts.

  

Sisters Evans, Boice, and Sommerfeldt wait with elder Boice for the feast to begin. Ham, green beans, ‘see you later, ‘taters, green salad, rolls and strawberry short cake. No use counting calories around Christmas. While the food was wonderful, sitting around the table talking with the other missionaries is even better. The Boices and the DeGraffenreids sat warming themselves by the roaring fire – on the TV!

  

The best White Elephant gifts of the night – at least the ones that got the most laughs were Elder Bare’s ‘Woman on the Go’ essentials pack that no one wanted to take from him and a headlight that went from sister Collins, to elder DeGraffenreids to end up with sister Evans.

We ended the night going to a house not far from the chapel where Christmas fills a yard each year.