There are no coincidences!

June 21, 2015

Elder Ismael Martinez, an area authority from the 70’s, visited La Perla Stake today.  He related the following story which continues to confirm how our Heavenly Father knows each of us personally and plays a part in our life.

Elder Lee was disappointed when he read his mission call.  He lived in the United States, was of Japanese descent, and yet his call was to Colombia.  He spoke Japanese and thought a call to Tokyo would be more appropriate. He questioned the call and wrote to President Kimball about his concerns.  A return letter assured him that the call was correct and he should go to Columbia. 

He wrote another letter that questioned his call.  By this time, Elder Lee was already in the MTC in Provo Utah.  This letter was answered with a personal visit from President Kimball who once again assuring the anxious Elder that the call to Columbia was correct.  Elder Lee finished his training and flew to Columbia.

Towards the end of his mission in Columbia, Elder Li was approached by an elderly Japanese man.  This man explained that he was a leader to 76 Japanese families living in Columbia.  He explained that the group had just started to study religions.  He further said that he had an old religious book that talked of men named Moroni and Alma and wondered if this Elder knew of these men of whom he mentioned.  The older gentleman also explained that most of his group only spoke Japanese and wondered if Elder Lee could speak that language.

Elder Lee and his companion baptized 26 families from this contact.  As Elder Lee finished his mission, this group of newly baptized members wanted to have a good by dinner.  At that dinner, the older gentleman brought the worn book he had spoken of earlier.  He asked Elder Lee to write his testimony in the book.  Elder Lee opened the book and discovered a testimony carefully placed inside.  The testimony was that of Elder Lee's father, placed there several decades before.  How the book ever arrived with this older gentleman was a mystery.

I call it the "crazies!"

June 12, 2015

I call it the “crazies”.  It’s that little space of time between Monday and Wednesday during transfers.  It’s almost impossible to get it all done, and yet it all happens whether you are prepared or not!  By the way, don’t feel sorry for us as you read this.  At times Keith and I are dragging ourselves along; however, we have been blessed to keep going even when dragging! 

Monday:

• Get to airport by 9 to pick up Elder from Guatemala.
• Be at office by 11 for the 10 Elders/Sisters arriving from CCM (Mexico MTC)
• Start training, feeding, and interviews.
• Load up the mail so it can be delivered to missionaries the next day.
• Be back at airport at 3 to pick up Sister flying in from Utah
• Continue training, feeding, and interviews
• Back to the Airport at 7 to pick up an Elder flying from Ohio.  He gets stuck in customs, we get worried, we call Ohio, Elder finally gets found, we call Ohio so that the parents can now relax.
• Bed down 10 Elders at the mission office and bring 5 sisters home to sleep.
• Keith is up until 1AM placing new missionaries with trainers and then collapses in bed.

Tuesday:

• 8 AM: We (and the 5 sisters) are off to Neza Stake Center for the changes.  We drive both cars so we will have more room.  We hire a van to transport the new Elders staying at the office.
• Office staff picks up one Elder coming in from Argentina at 7:30 and will bring him to Neza (This is the first Elder that we haven’t been able to be at the airport to pick up – felt bad.)
• Load up all “departing” sisters luggage in our cars – they will be sleeping at the mission home tonight.  Load all “returning” Elder’s luggage in a rented van to be taken back to the mission office where they will sleep that night.
•  Over a hundred missionaries gather for changes – new companions, trainers, zone leaders all cheer and sing.  Everyone with changes bring their luggage so the front lawn of the church is covered.  The meetings are very lively and “Pres” has to often put his finger to his mouth to quiet them down.
• Following the meeting, slowly, but surely, we get them to leave Neza by taxi or another ride and go back to the apartments and missionary work.  We load up 7 departing sisters in the cars to come to the Mission Home for a final dinner.  The other 14 Elders will need to catch metros to get to the mission home for dinner.  7 sisters with luggage leave very little room in the cars! (We did fit in one sick Elder who we brought to the house and put to bed for the day.)
• Dinner for 25 (enough said) and a sweet testimony meeting follows.  We then load up the Elders who will be sleeping at the mission office.  The sisters start checking bags for weight and deciding what will be left behind.  Home (filled with sisters) by 8 PM.

Wednesday:

• We leave the house at 2:45 AM with both cars.  We have 3 Sisters with us and we drive to the office and pick up 3 Elders.  (Most of the Elders have been awake all night long talking and reflecting.) Unfortunately the group is split between 2 terminals, so Keith drives one way, me the other.
• By 4AM we are checking in missionaries.  Keith’s three in Terminal 1 goes well and he heads over to Terminal 2 by about 5.   Sister Taylor is not so lucky in Terminal 2 – they say she doesn’t have a reservation.  We can buy another ticket but she won’t leave until 4 PM.  I call SLC and they tell me it isn’t true – try again.  Several phone calls and 30 minutes later, she really does get to go home on time.  Elder Hammond checks in easily.
• We are back to the office for a one hour nap in the car.  “Fully refreshed” we head back to the airport to take Sister Bennett
• Back to the office again, we order pizza for the remaining 12 returning missionaries.  After a few minutes of laughs and relaxing, we load up 12 missionaries’ luggage in our 2 cars.  With no room for “humans” we tell them to catch taxies to the airport and meet us in Terminal 2, Parking lot floor 4.
•  All show up in the parking terminal but 4 Elders – where are they?  We are also missing Elder Garrett’s luggage.  Did you load it Elder Garrett? (We are asking someone who has not slept the night before….hummm).  A quick call to the office reveals what we thought – we ask the office to load the missing bags in a taxi, and head for the airport.  Meanwhile, our missing Elders have no cell phone so we can try to find them – all we can do is pray and move forward.  They do show up in about 30 minutes – their taxi took them to the wrong terminal and since they are not familiar with the airport, they didn’t recognize that.  However, they were smart enough to figure it out when they couldn’t find us.
• We check in 12 missionaries and head towards those security doors.  With ample tears and hugs, we send them back to the arms of their loving parents.

Drained and exhausted we make it home before 5 PM.  It will take a few nights of rest to be back at full speed but we will have to recover quickly – we have 5 apartments to break down, Stake Conferences to speak at, and the start of 7 zone conferences next week.  I had a friend recently send a wish that my body would feel one half its age.  That is a very appropriate wish!