December 3, 2023

Somehow the week got away from me without taking many pictures. I don't know how that happened. But, it has been a good week, pictures or not! Maybe it is because so many of our activities are on a regular schedule so there seems to be no point in taking pictures. For instance, on Tuesday we had Spanish Zone Conference where we fed a group of 35-40. We host these every 6 weeks so not much new about them except this time we have the story of feeding the 5,000. Well, not really 5000 but let me tell you about our hamburger and chicken that will never end. Last Spanish Zone Conference when I was out of town with Matt's family Sister Larson made tacos, both ground beef and chicken. When she told me how much meat she was going to purchase I "encouraged" her to buy just a little bit more. Turns out it was way too much and there were lots of leftovers. Being the thrifty souls we are we didn't want to waste it so we froze it and used it to make taco soup for our next MLC. Even then we still had more ground beef left, quite a bit actually because at one of our away zone conferences they sent us home with (2) gallon ziplock bags of ground beef, so we still needed to find a way to use it. In the end, for this Spanish Zone Conference we made Enchilada Casserole, taquitos, quesadillas, and salad. The plate was quite delicous looking and I am sorry I don't have a picture :).

The week was busy for Elder Rowan as he worked on exchanging new cars for old ones, picking up a few other new cars, and finally sending off the Silverado truck. We also figured out what to put in the new Accident Packets and feel good about them since we are following our prophet in being passionate about using the correct name of the church. Everything in the old Accident Packets referred to websites with lds.org rather than The Church of Jesus Christ.org. We can't have that!

Thursday night we were blessed to have District Council for the last time with our current District. We have really grown to love these young Elders and Sisters but with transfers coming this next week we know that we are losing many of them. We have (4) of them going home this transfer and others who have been here a long time so more than likely they will be transferred.

The (4) going home are (2) of our Assistants, Elder Weaver & Elder Henrie, (1) of our Social Media sisters, Sister Wilson, and (1) of our Sister Training Leaders, Sister Garrett. And yes, if you think Sister Garrett is tall, she is! She is 6'3" and we love every foot of her! They are pictured below.

At District Council our District Leader asked us and the Larson's to give suggestions to the departing missionaries on how to endure to the end. But what they really wanted to know was how to stay strong after they get home. They are sincerely worried and it makes me so sad that it is a legitimate concern because so many do fall away. Elder Rowan and I talked about the simple things that they already know like staying on a schedule, setting goals, continuing with scripture study and prayer, dating the right people, don't lose the changes they have made on their mission, and going to Institute. But Elder Larson really brought the point home when he shared two sets of letters between him and his daughter. The 1st set of letters were written the week she was coming home from her mission where she bears her testimony and commits to doing all the right things when she gets home. The 2nd set of letters were written exactly two years later when she had just announced she was leaving the church. The letters are heartbreaking and shows what can happen when you forsake everything you know.

This next week, on December 6th, we will mark 9 months on our mission. That is the halfway mark for us. In the old days the missionaries had rituals for these kinds of anniversaries. They would burn a tie, or a shirt, or something. Not sure what we will do to honor the day. It is with bittersweet thoughts that we begin the back side of our mission. Elder Rowan was talking to the Vehicle Coordinator in the Portland Mission this week. It was their last day and they were going home. There are no replacements for them. He was the Vehicle Coordinator and she was the Mission Secretary. No one is in the MTC on their way and no calls have been issued for their replacements. Young missionaries will do their jobs for now. It will be really hard to leave when the time comes if there are no replacements for us. We need more Senior Missionaries!!!

Tomorrow night we have a Christmas party at the Phillips for the Office Staff. We are supposed to bring a white elephant and you are not supposed to buy a gift. I am finding that challenging since we only brought the items with us that we really thought we would need. We decided to go to the Mission Storage Unit to see what we could find. There are items there that have been left behind by departing missionaries. I think we have some ideas! While we were there I took some pictures because I don't think I have posted any pictures of the Mission Storage Unit and we will want to remember it because Elder Rowan and Elder Larson go there on a regular basis :).

Our weekend was good with a trip to the temple to do Sealings on Saturday and a Sister's Devotional this afternoon. Our Sister Devotionals are in different locations each time and this time it was at a beautiful location up in the hills outside of Banks. The Sister Training Leaders who plan the Sister Devotionals are AMAZING! They always have such good ideas. This transfer they concentrated on the spiritual gifts they have noticed in each other throughout the transfer. They would write them down on little slips of paper and put in a special little jar for each sister. Then each sister was presented with her jar today as a reminder of the gifts she has. Then it was all tied into the gift of our Savior's birth & Atonement and we watched The Christ Child to set the mood for the Christmas season. It was a wonderful Devotional!

For the past little while I have been struggling with a problem that at times has made me angry, frustrated, and impatient. Yesterday I was reading the December Liahona, specifically the article by Elder Gary E. Stevenson, "Christmas Means Hope, Peace, and Love." As I read this Apostle's words, I felt the Spirit wash over me, confirming the truth when he said, "it doesn't seem possible to feel joy when your child suffers with an incurable illness or when you lose your job or when your spouse betrays you. Yet that is precisely the joy the Savior offers. His joy is constant, assuring us that our 'afflictions shall be but a small moment' and be consecrated to our gain." Immediately I felt all that anger and frustration drain out of me. This problem was my "affliction" and I could turn it over to the Savior! Why had I not thought of that before? I can learn and grow from this "affliction." I felt a renewed sense of hope! I can do this! I can be more patient, more loving, more kind. This is my miracle for this Christmas season!