WEEKEND AT "HOME"

Since I brought a whole basketful of sewing/quilting projects with me, I decided I'd better stay home last weekend and work on them.  It felt good to piece a quilt top while listening to a book on tape.  Only problem is that the quilt top was a project I purchased here, and the UFO's are still in the basket.

I was also able to finish my mission/Fair Oaks chicken puzzle, with some help from Sister Thompson.  The first part of the puzzle was really hard; the middle part kinda fun, but the last of it was purely annoying.  I was down to fewer than 30 pieces of solid black background that didn't seem to fit anywhere.  I was considering flying either Jill or Chloe out to finish it, when Sister Thompson came to the rescue.

I Would Gather Thee

Today we received 27 new missionaries--the first batch of younger ones.  They arrived at the Mission Office around 11:00 a.m.  By 4:00 p.m. they'd been fed, photographed, interviewed, and trained.  We have their driving records and their medical records.  They have more information than they can possibly remember.  Elder Cherrington has devised such a detailed flowchart plan that, rather than being overwhelmed and overworked, we were almost bored.  They had been awake since 3:30, and they still had dinner at the Mission Home ahead of them before they could go to sleep...on mattresses placed on floors throughout the McKay House, where the Assistants and Office Elders live.  Because of the increased number of missionaries, the senior staff is no longer invited to those dinners, which is a relief to me.  It always made for a long day.  Tomorrow morning is my favorite day, when they receive their companions, their assignments, and their shiny new bikes, and are turned loose upon the world.  They may be young, but this group seems particularly sharp to me, even the elder I came upon who was leaning against a wall, nearly asleep.      

LOOKING HOMEWARD

Last Saturday I attended the Folsom Quilt Exhibit.  It was wonderful--exceeded my expectations.  One group had created wall quilts, each having a red ribbon running through it.  Then they hung the quilts in such a way that the ribbon connected them.  Pretty cool.

(Wish I could do as well aligning them as the quilt hangers did.  This picture won't move up.)

On Sunday I held my annual Chinese New Year party and invited the Cliftons, the Cherringtons, Pete and Alta Hart, and Sisters Porter and Thompson.  We ate potstickers and compared notes about our Chinese zodiac signs.  The next day at the office I found a beautiful potted orchid on my desk with a Curious George thank-you card from "Alta, the monkey."  Good people.  Nice evening.

I enjoy the names I input from the baptism records.  Today's favorite was Tonia Sunshine Day.  Doesn't it make you happy to know there are people in the world with that outlook?

My replacement will arrive April 8, a transfer week.  I'll train her for a few days, then start for home by the end of the week.  I read a long email today from my MTC companion who was sent to an Indian reservation to set up an RN program at the local college.  After 9 months, living alone on the reservation in a trailer, she is being called into the mission office to complete her mission.  The Church is abandoning the program because of lack of involvement and follow-through by the proposed recipients.  She's disappointed at her lack of success in what she was called to do, but wrote that the Lord knew best and she didn't regret her effort.

I feel somewhat the same way.  The mission has not been what I expected.  But though I'm not entirely satisfied with my performance, I don't regret the effort.  I've been tested.  I've grown some, learned some, and I think contributed some.  The Lord knows best.

KEEPIN' ON

Not much to report.  We're still gearing up for the end-of-month onslaught of new missionaries.  At a planning meeting on Monday we spent two hours working out new housing, new cars, etc., when suddenly the President said, "We need a lot more phones!"  I'm sure we still haven't thought of everything.  Two missionaries arrived yesterday and another will come on the 19th, so the total for the 26th is down to 30.  Normally the flight from Salt Lake gets them here around 1:30.  President asked to send them on an earlier flight.  Can you imagine trying to interview 30 missionaries in one afternoon and be able to make companion assignments to begin the next morning?

The mission was audited last weekend.  We passed with flying colors.  The auditor remarked that he couldn't estimate the cost of paying for all the administrative work that is done on a volunteer basis...but he knows the Church could never afford to pay it.  With the increase of the young missionaries, there will be need for many more senior missionaries.  That's a qualified plug for missionary service....make sure you take your own companion.

Speaking of seniors, in April we'll receive 4 single senior sisters under a new program designated as Ward/Auxiliary Support Missionaries.  Working with stake presidents, they will be assigned to specific wards, I suppose much like the innercity missions in Utah.  In other words, they're callin' in the Relief Society, big time.  One of the sisters is 75 years old and has served 7 previous missions.

I've taken on additional duties.  The new car czar doesn't want to deal with bicycles, so he gave the job to me.  I guess that makes me the "wheeler dealer."  I've been coordinating bike sales between departing and arriving missionaries.  I'm still spending time with Sister Langi, of the broken kneecap.  She's a lot of help to me in the office.