It was another busy day at the office. For a few hours all of the couples were working in the office. Around 12:00 brother and sister Black who served here in 2008-2009. They trained Elder and Sister Collins and also served with Spencer Taylor who is now married to our granddaughter Taylor Taylor! They took all the couples out to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. The Collins and Blacks had a great time talking about their time together in the mission and catching up with what has been going on in their lives since then.

Soon after we got back to the office Elder and Sister McCormick from Washington state arrived to start their 18 month mission. They got to meet most of the couples and then we checked them in at the La Quinta Inn that is right next door. Later they were able to have dinner with President and Sister Anderson. Tomorrow they will head off to Marathon Key where the President has asked them to serve. By the time they get to their apartment they will have driven just about as far from their home they can get and stay in the 48 states.

We now have 140 young missionaries and 7 couples serving in the Fort Lauderdale mission. The work continues to roll forward and will until the Lord says it is finished.

It was a day of frustration and learning for me today. The first part of the morning at the office went smoothly but then I hit a wall that kept me occupied for about 4 hours. I actually reached a point where I just had to leave the office and come home for dinner. By the time I had eaten and spent some time thinking about the problem I was eager to get back to the office and give it another try.

Third time was not charm but I got some help from Utah and things started to fall in to place. I learned somewhat how the programs worked together and that allowed me to finally solve the problem but only after a lot of help. Along the way I remembered that I needed to trust the Lord more and that I still have a lot to learn about being the financial secretary.

By the time we came home I was feeling pretty good. And then Mary heard something dripping. It seemed to be coming from the air-conditioning unit so our first thought was it had frozen while we were away, But that did not make sense because we had it set at 80 degrees. So I contacted the office and they sent over a serviceman who found that it was nothing in our apartment. The water heater in the apartment above us had started leaking and since the tenants were gone for a few weeks.

He stopped the leak and then set up a fan and a dehumidifier to try and dry up the wet carpet and pad in our two hall ways. He promised tomorrow they would come and get everything cleanup and dried out.

  

One hall is being dehumidified and the other is being dehydrated…Mary is not letting any of this bother her while playing a game on her iPad. I continue to feed the turtles and today this large one decided to come and get his food instead of waiting for me to throw it to him. I gathered about 30 turtles of all sizes for the feeding. Not like feeding animals in South Africa but a lot safer.

Probably the busiest day of our mission for me – but looking back it was a great day because I was able to serve in many ways.

Transfer days are always interesting because about half or more of the missionaries gather together for a couple of hours. Companionships are changed with hugs between those who are parting and hugs again for those who are becoming a new companionship.  New missionaries are introduced to their trainers and trainers say goodbye to their sons or daughters before sending them off with a new companion.

   

Bikes and luggage have to be moved from one car to another. It is rather amazing how much some missionaries have accumulated and how others have less than they came with. Elder Grant who was born here in Fort Lauderdale has Elder Dayberry as a new companion – he is in good hands. Elder Plowman who was Elder Grant’s trainer now has Elder Marsh as his companion.

  

Sisters Andrus and Pack are a powerful pair of missionaries – a week seldom goes by without them having a baptism. Transfers is one of few times that this many sisters can gather together and talk about whatever sisters have to talk about. Sister Pack with her helmet – I told she only needed a shield and sword.

 

Elders Larsen and Free are new companions. I really do not know either very well but they looked like they should have their picture taken. Load it up time…within 30 minutes 90% of them are heading back to their areas to start going out to invite others to come unto Christ. Extra-ordinary missionaries of the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission.

After Transfer Meeting  Mary and I stayed to help with lunch for those who stayed for training – the new missionaries and their companions along with anyone who they came with – 24 elders and sisters who went away with full stomachs.

The rest of the day was filled with solving problems that seemed to keep popping up. Luckily I was able to take care of all of them – or at least was able to put a finger in the dike until permanent fixes could be made. What makes it all possible and worthwhile is seeing the missionaries and feeling their great spirits. They are so thankful for whatever you do for them. Spending our golden years with these golden young men and women – what could be better.

Today we had our Last Lunch to celebrate the end of this cycle and to give thanks to those wonder missionaries who we have had the privilege of serving with these last 6 weeks. One of those who will be leaving Fort Lauderdale Zone is Elder Beard who was at the first District Meeting we went to some 5 months ago.

  

Elders Beard and Rasmussen have been together for just one transfer but you can see they are sad to be parting as Elder Beard is transferring tomorrow. Elders Beard and Plowman just kept eating and had to have one last French fry before they left.

  

Mary found a comfortable place on the couch. She is with sisters Hong and Geest with Elder Plowman sneaking in a clown shot. I just realized that I did not get a picture of Sisters Geest and Hong together in as a companionship. Luckily I have a couple of pictures of them together as sister Hong is going to be transferred. Elder Beard wanted to take our sofa with him to his new area. He said the elders really never got a chance to just sit down and relax and loved to sit down and enjoy!

   

Elders Wilson and Taylor have been companions the last 6 weeks and these are their official companion pictures. Neither are being transferred so they will be around a while. Elder Grant is going to be leaving us this transfer – we will miss him.

   

Cindy and Mike sent Mary a beautiful corsage for Mother’s Day. We took the Assistants to Flanegans for lunch and Elder Giorgino ate a burger that must have been 6 inches thick.

A Florida Fort Lauderdale mission story shared by President Anderson in a recent letter to the missionaries…

“We were about to quit on the floor that we were harvesting on because everyone we had talked to on that floor denied us.  But we then decided to knock out the remaining doors (there was like 4) we knocked a couple still with no luck and then we knock on the last door.  This nice lady opens the door and says ‘Do you believe in Christ’ we said yes and she asked ‘only Christ? We said yes again and she said ‘good’ and let us right in.  We were walking in and she was telling her husband that she felt a spirit super strong when we walked in.  We blessed them and… We invited them to baptism. They accepted right off the bat, then we invited to church and unfortunately they couldn’t because of a beach party they already committed to. So we left absolutely pumped because we found this sweet family. We took the elevator down and got to the bottom when out running from the stairs was the grandma and her granddaughter and she told us that the granddaughter said she didn’t want to go to the party anymore because she felt something so great she wanted to go to church.. We were both like.. WHAT?!  It was awesome to see! So they came to church and loved it and are preparing for baptism!”

Our friends the Bells wrote on their blog about a missionary who was serving in their mission who was close to one of their sons in California. That got me thinking about missionaries who are serving here in the Fort Lauderdale Mission who have a few degrees of separation from us…

Last Saturday we met a sister from Utah who was a student at the middle school in Utah where our daughter is the librarian. She remembers Cindy very well because she spent a lot of her time in the library doing school work. When we talked to Cindy about meeting sister Packard she did not remember her…it was 4 years ago and a lot of students have gone through the library since then.

Elder Fitts is the son of Cindy’s Stake President and knows our grandson Tyler very well.

Elder Shipley goes to the same ward as the above mentioned Bells and knows them very well.

Elder Grant was a member of the Camden ward where our serial missionary friends the Taylors served their last mission. We served with the Taylors in Indonesia and they are now serving in Botswana as part of the Johannesburg  South Africa mission.

I will try to get pictures of each of these missionaries at Zone Conferences over the next couple weeks and plug them in here. Somewhere down below is a picture of Elder Grant because he serves here in the district we go to each week for district meeting. Come to think of it Elder Fitts is now one of the zone leaders for that district.

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In Africa and Indonesia we took pictures of exotic wild animals. In South Florida most of the time the animals we see are small and not too exotic…crocodile of course are not small and are exotic. The two lizards are special because they are black instead of brown or gray. I love the texture and color of the bark. Often when we walk out to our car or arrive home, these two cats are sunning themselves in the neighbor’s window. We also have a small dog as a neighbor that barks when we pass its window.

  

Ducks, ducklings, egrets and other birds are also our everyday neighbors. I have recently started feeding them and it does not take long before the different species gather to take part.

  

One of the fun things to do is to feed the turtles. For months we did not even know we had turtles in the lake but elder Sommerfeldt show a couple to me. Now when I go out to feed the ducks I throw some bread on the waters. Last night there were a dozen or more turtles at our feeding with one brave one coming up on the land to get his share.

   

Of course being with the missionaries – young and old is one of the great blessings of serving a mission. The end shot is the Fort Lauderdale district..Elders Taylor, Wilson, Rasmussen, Beard (DL) Grant and Plowman. We meet once a week at the Fort Lauderdale chapel which is an older chapel that has a very mature setting. The seniors get together now and then…this is a picture at The Olive Garden where we had a farewell lunch for the Steimles who started for home on the 27th.

  

One of the highlights of any mission is attending a baptism and feeling the spirit as some of God’s children start down the path that can lead to Eternal life. This family of three – with a forth joining them a week later – were fellowshipped by a member of the Weston Ward and taught and baptized by the assistants – Elder Hansen, Giorgino, and Kealamakia. Mary plays for the Weston baptisms. President and Sister Anderson – here with the Evans – go to as many as they can but with the whole mission baptizing most weeks they can only be at a few.

   

Because of the announcement of another stake in Indonesia and a chat I had with Curt Roper,  I went back and looked through pictures from our first mission. Elder Tuxworth was one of those missionaries who always always a joy to be around because he was just plain good natured. I took this picture of Elders Whitmore, Roper and Thiemann on the day before elder Whitmore was to start to head home after a well served mission. We got to know Elders Roper and Thiemann while we were in the MTC and got to serve with them when we arrived in Jakarta about 3 weeks after they got there. The last picture is of one of our wonderful Extensive English classes on graduation day. All pictures from 2007…mission memories.

I know I owe a whole lot of posts here but I have been lazy about posting but today we had an experience that I could not delay posting about so I will just put it in out of order.  Hopefully I will catch up the missing two weeks some time soon.

Man plans – God commands. 

We had planned to take a p-day drive up to Port St. Lucie to deliver a package but also just to get away from the house for the day. Of course when we woke this morning it started raining and it did not look like it was likely to stop. Since it is a two hour drive up there and another two hours back I was not excited about doing it in the rain. Just after we had decided that we would put our trip off for a more pleasant day, brother Silva from the Weston Ward bishopric called and asked if we could attend a baptism at 3:00 for a young man who’s family got baptized last Sunday. He asked if Mary could play the piano and if I would give a short talk on baptism. We of course agreed.

We decided to go shopping at Target to get some salami and other things and on the way home we stopped at the Bagel Store and had a breakfast/lunch. Mine was just OK and the next time I will go back to the chicken salad sandwich.

We went to the baptism and at 3:00 no one was there except ourselves, bishop Rampton and his wife and brother Silva. The assistants came about 20 minutes – elder Hansen was to do the baptism. Sisters Hong and Geest showed up a little later with a lady they had just met and invited to come see the baptism. While we were waiting for the family to show up bishop Rampton and I waited in the foyer and talked about different things. As we were standing there a man drove up and stopped opposite the doors and looked in to the building for a while before driving off. We thought that was a little strange and so when a few minutes later the car appeared again I went out to see if I could be of help.

I met Mark Zimmerman who said he was trying to decide if he should come in. He is a non-member who just got back from a conference of some kind in Salt Lake. I mentioned that we were there for a baptism and invited him in to watch. He said he was not a member and it was open for anyone to watch. So he came in and I introduced him to the missionaries.

A little later the family showed up and the reason they were late was because they were picking up a woman who is a good friend of the mother and they wanted her to see the baptism. 

The baptism service went well. There were 9 missionaries, 4 members of Weston ward, 4 members of the family who’s son was being baptized and 3 investigators. It made a nice size group. Mary played and I spoke about the baptism prayer and how special the words ‘having authority’ were! 

We found out before the service that it was originally set for 10:30 but if it had gone off as originally planned Mark Zimmerman and the investigator that the sisters brought would not have had the opportunity to see the baptism, feel the spirit and be introduced to the missionaries.

Men plan and the Lord commands.

 Pictures to be added a little later….

14 April 2012 – Saturday

I am sitting at the computer trying to think of what to write about for the week. Since I am not keeping up my journal on a day to day basis, some of the best experiences fall through the cracks. 

Monday April 9 – turned into a busy day because things kept coming up that had to be taken care of. We are now opening the office at 8:00 or close there to and are closing it up between 4:30 and 5:00. Mary continues to learn how to be mission secretary I continue to learn the ins and outs of being financial secretary. 

Besides that I take care of the phones, help elder Beagley when I can and do odd jobs as they come up. 

Tuesday April 10 -  we went to District meeting which not only moved from the Plantation to Ft Lauderdale chapel but also it seems moved from 10:30 to 10:00 without us knowing it. So we arrived after the meeting had been going for 30 minutes. Elder Hanson was there with Elder Castillo as was the new zone leaders – elder Rippstein and Fitts. Elder Beard is the new district leader and he was his usual positive self in getting the district pumped up to be successful by setting meaningful goals for baptisms and baptismal dates for the transfer. It will be interesting to see how it works out.

Wednesday April 11 – was busy in the morning but by the afternoon things were very quiet and seemed to go on forever. At times it seems every couple in the mission except the Beutlers are in the office and then there will be no one except Mary and I.

During the day I worked with Elder Beagley to try and get his vehicle records in sync with everything. I also made new gas card and vin # lists for him to try and make it easier to find out who has what when he can not get to a computer.

Thursday April 12 – was interesting because I got a call from the father of a missionary about his son’s personal credit card. Since the father and son could not talk directly I got to be the middleman as they tried to work it out with the bank. It went on most of the day and when I went home I was not sure what if anything had been settled.

The other excitement for the day was that all the couples went to Olive Garden for lunch to say goodbye to the Steimles who will be leaving at the end of the month. Even the Collins came in despite elder Collins back still hurting. 

Friday April 13 – in the morning I called the father and found out that he had worked out the problem with the bank and then I called the elder to tell him not to worry any more. The only other excitement for the day was we got back some checks from a landlord who was getting paid by both ourselves and Orlando for an apartment. It turned out that the financial secretary in Orlando did not realize one of the Stuart apartments were still on his batch payments list and approved the payment when he should have put it as ‘do not pay.’

Friday afternoon as I was working with Elder Hansen he mentioned that he thought missionaries coming into the field today were much better prepared to teach and become successful than his group from 2 years ago. I mentioned that my neighbors was one of those involved in changing the teaching program at the MTC that made this possible.

I heard elder Kealamekia say that we led the English speaking missions in number of new investigators last week. As President Mann always said, you have to keep putting people into the top of the hopper if you wanted to keep having people to teach and baptize. 

I almost forgot to mention that on Monday we got the news that new couple will be coming to the mission in May. The President did not know they were even called but will be happy to get them. It seems that when your mission is being successful, you get blessings you do not expect. The McCormicks are coming as Member and Leadership Support missionaries. It will be interesting to find out where President Anderson is inspired to use them. If they were up in Stuart or down in Homestead, they could cut down on a lot of travel by Elders Sommerfeldt and Evans. Wherever the President puts them it will be where the Lord wants them.

Back to Saturday April 14 -  P-day and we spent it alternating between cleaning the house and just relaxing. Since Wednesday I have been reading through the conference talks on the computer and pasting important thoughts into a study journal. After I am done I hope to go through it regularly and catch the spirit that I felt as I watched and then read the talks by the Lord’s chosen servants. 

President Uchtdorf’s great bumper sticker – “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.”

I have been feeding the ducks and other birds that show up around the apartment pieces of bread. Today I got not only ducks but the white ibis and a smaller brown bird that I have not been able to identify. What really surprised me was how easily the ibis’s long beak could break up even the toughest bread. I do not know how it has enough strength in it’s jaws to put that much pressure on the middle of it’s beak.

The small birds arrived late to the party and would snatch pieces away from the ducks and ibis. Then when the bigger birds would try to get it back they would just fly away to eat their prizes in peace before coming back for more.

In the evening we had the Sommerfeldts and Evans over for a pizza dinner. After dinner and good conversation the Sommerfeldts had to leave to help the elders in their area so we and the Evans played a rousing game of Five Crowns. Elder Evans won easily and I managed to not be the high score by 2 points over sister Evans. A good time was had by all.

To be entered…