Transfers, Departing Missionaries and Goldens!

Monday (7.11.16)

We were caught at the office for a bit after our regular Monday office meeting. As soon as we could we shot off to Phresh, that great place owned by members that gives missionaries free haircuts!  They always do a great job and try to make our hair look as good as our stylin’ brothers from Tonga! After we finished with our hair cuts we went to an office staff Family Home Evening at the Mission Home. It was great to have dinner and share a spiritual message with the office staff. They really are like my family and it is such a blessing to be with them. When the Family Home Evening was over we jetted off to the airport to pick up the Tasmania Missionaries who were coming back up to the Mainland for transfers. And that was that for a very nice P-day!

Tuesday (7.12.16)

We were able to start off our morning today in the house of the Lord. It was super special. We are just SO LUCKY to be able to attend the temple as missionaries. I cannot wait to be able to go to the temple WHENEVER I want to when I come home.  As missionaries we don’t hear about too many current events but the bits and pieces I hear from people seems to me that most people feel the world is slowly deteriorating around us. I don’t despair though, I know the Lord will give us peace as we keep our covenants and I find it such a blessing to be able to seek refuge in the temple which is a literal Heaven on Earth! It was a special experience to be in the temple with those missionaries that I love so much who are going to be departing tomorrow.

After we finished at the temple we were off to the “Train the Leaders” and “Train the Trainers” meeting and the continued transfer madness! As APs the best way we can serve the missionaries and President and Sister Vidmar during transfers is to be available in the office most of the day working out logistical problems. We deal with missed trains, lost luggage, and this transfer we also experienced a few missing Elders! We didn't lose them for long though! On transfer day we wake up in the morning really just wondering what adventures and problems we will have to solve later that day! But it is all good and everything works out because this is the Lord’s work and He is in the details. I have seen evidence of that many, many times on my mission!

Meet the newest Tasmania missionaries!

We worked on transfer issues in the in the office from about 1:00 pm until  5:00 pm and after that we had the Departing Missionary Dinner! It was a bit of a surreal experience knowing this was my LAST departing dinner before I will be going home in August. However, as soon as that thought hit my brain, I quickly pushed it out and thought of something else! I love my mission SO much it is really going to be hard for me to leave it. After dinner we finished the night with a wonderful testimony meeting. Following the testimony meeting, Elder Jensen and I got the departing Elders and Sisters to the various flats they would be staying at for the night and then we hit the sack in preparation for an early morning. 

Wednesday (7.13.16)

Today’s airport run with the departing missionaries was a bit different from what we usually do.  Normally, we rent a 54 passenger bus so we can get all the missionaries and their luggage to the airport but we just didn’t have as many missionaries leaving in this group. There were only six of them so we just took both of our vans. It turned out to be a mess parking at the airport BUT because this is the LORD’S work he ALWAYS provides a way for us to get done what we need to get done. We got everyone to the Airport and then we had to say our goodbyes to Elder Eyring, Elder Lee, Elder Xiao, Elder Eilers, Elder Kelsch and Sister Wairepo. 

Elder Eilers was my MTC companion!

So hard to say goodbye to missionaries I love.....but so glad I am staying! 

Can I be a missionary forever?

I have served closely around each of these missionaries my whole mission and I love them all. It was quite the sobering thought to see them go! It was actually pretty hard to say goodbye to Elder Eyring (my first companion as an AP) but he was super excited to go home so that made things not quite so bad for me. 

After we got the departing missionaries to their gates, the Vidmars, Elder Jensen and I took a little Maccas (McDonald’s) break while we waited for our new batch of missionaries to come in! It was great to be able to see them and it dawned on me that this was the last batch of Goldens (brand new missionaries are called goldens not greenies in the Australia Melbourne Mission) that I would be picking up. Another sobering thought that I hurriedly pushed to the back of my mind. We loaded up the tired Goldens in both our vans and took them to the mission home for some lunch. After lunch we all went back to the mission office so we could complete the Golden Orientation. Normally after taking departing missionaries to the airport and picking up Goldens we have a bit of time where we regroup and ponder everything that happened.  But because we had a departing Chinese missionary with a later flight tonight we went BACK to the Airport in the evening to drop him off!   There was certainly a lot of back and forth time at the airport today but it was all worth it because I am serving the Lord by serving and taking care of His beloved missionaries! 

Thursday (7.14.16)

Today started bright and early so we could take Elder Elkin to the Airport. He is a super lucky Golden because he is starting his mission in Tasmania! Elder Jensen and I counted up and it was our fourth time at the airport in four days:) Right after we got back from the Airport we went right to the Maroondah Zone Interviews. I love Zone Interviews! They are a great way for us to talk with all the missionaries and see how their work is going! We were able to train them on the importance of keeping our Weekly Goals in our Minds for the the WHOLE WEEK! In addition, we really stressed the importance of Updating the Area book DAILY! These simple things will help all missionaries with their success. Zone Interview days are always pretty long days because the interviews last ALL DAY LONG!  But we had a wonderful way to end our day. We had an appointment to teach Mason! Thank you so much for all the prayers and fasting for him because he is doing GREAT! He is so ready to be baptized and is he really just loves EVERYTHING that we teach him. Tonight we taught him the Plan of Salvation and he LOVED the doctrine behind being able to live with his family forever and be baptized for his ancestors. I want to make sure I always remember (even when I am not a full time missionary) how blessed I am to have Gospel and the understanding and peace it brings to my life!

Friday (7.15.16)

Today we had the Braeside Zone interviews scheduled for about half the day. Braeside is the smallest zone in the mission. There are only 13 missionaries in it and it still took from 9:30 am until 3:30 pm. After the interviews were finished we went back to the office to discuss missionary car issues with Elder Linder. When we finished with Elder Linder we went to the Afghan Restaurant to track down Rahmit. We found him there and it was so great to see him!!  He was so happy to see us and he even bought our dinner!  He still really wants to be baptized but he has just been so busy and the adversary is working on trying to fill his schedule with so many things to try to prevent him from meeting with us or going to church. But we will overcome the adversary!  After we left Rahmit, Elder Jensen and I went over to the Danielsons for another yummy dinner! We always love to visit them and spend time in their home so it was a wonderful way to end the night. 

Saturday (7.16.16)

We went on exchanges with the Maroondah Zone Leaders today! They told us they have been struggling to find people to teach so we just joined forces with them and went and found for them people for them to teach and it was a great day! I LOVE GQing and it was so great to be back in the Box Hill area that I love! 

So happy to GQ in Box Hill today with the Maroondah Zone Leaders!

We were there for about six hours and then we went to the Goodalls again to have dinner with them and Sister Goodall’s nonmember Sisters and their families. We were there to help them understand what Hannah will be doing when she begins serving her mission in Perth next month. We sang a of couple hymns and explained a bit about how they can relate Hannah’s call to be a missionary to when the Apostles were called by the Savior to be His Apostles. They seemed to understand Hannah’s mission call from that perspective.

Sunday (7.17.16)

We had a great day at church today. It is the best feeling to bring people to church! Hopefully everyone remembers that and invites their friends to church! Mason is going to be an amazing member. He had to work the night shift last night and he got done with work around 8:00 am and then he was at church at 9:00 am, He had not even gone to bed but he KNEW he needed to be at church to get baptized and he was ready to sacrifice sleep for church and to take the sacrament. After church, we went to Toko’s house for a lunch appointment and were able to talk about the Armor of God with his family. I love them and they are doing great. After lunch, we went to get some baptismal clothes for Mason and we rushed to a baptism in Footscray with the Vidmars. Following the Baptism we stopped by the Deer Park Stake Center so President Vidmar could meet someone for an appointment. Another great Sabbath Day in the land down under!