One of David’s favorite pass times, BARBEQUEING
Today is David, our third son’s birthday. We so enjoy him and his family. David has always tried very hard to keep his family included in his life. Not only his wife and our grandchildren, but his brothers, sister and Roy and I. We appreciate and love that about him. Our family always calls each other on our birthdays, and sure enough today, when we called David he was at lunch with his brother Dan, our 2nd son. Dan is helping David set up payroll for his law firm. We love that our children stay close to each other. That is so important.
Today was transfer day, again. We met at 9:00 and the new missionaries got some training and instruction about what goes on the mission. Then we met in the chapel and had an opening prayer, talks and each of the new missionaries bore their testimony and then the outgoing missionaries bore their testimony. Even though Elder Boehrer and I have only been in the mission for a month, we have grown close to some of the outgoing missionaries and it is hard to see them go, but we know that they have grown so much on their mission and it has prepared them for life and they are excited to be back with their family and friends. I so appreciate a quote that President Henry D. Moyle, of the Northern California Mission stated. It was the fact that missionary standards remain for life. He said that “No matter how good you are, in every mission there are young men who take their callings as missionaries altogether too lightly. For every act of indifference – and this is pretty severe doctrine, but none of the less true – for every degree of laziness, for every failure to live up to the highest capacity which is ours in the performance of our missionary duties – there is a penalty. That penalty is that when you leave the mission field, you take with you the standard that is going to be yours all of your life. If any Elders feel that they can rise above the standard you fix for yourselves while you are laboring in the mission field after you get home, I am sure you are in for a very, very sad disappointment. I have had the privilege of watching returned missionaries come home from the field for over fifty years, and I have yet to see the first case within my experience where a missionary ever did anything better than he did he missionary work. It is very popular throughout the world to seek to get something for nothing. As far as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concerned, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no room for such philosophy therein.” I see these young missionaries come out to serve and it is so gratifying to see what most of them make of their missions, but, yes, there are those who don’t use their mission time wisely and it is hard to watch. I pray that when our grandson’s go on missions that they will use their time wisely and learn and grow and teach the gospel to the best of their ability. It will affect them the rest of their lives. I am so grateful our children served missions. Both Elder Boehrer and I know it set the standard for their lives. It, of course, is up to them to use what they have learned in their lives, but we know it gave them tools to do so.
After our meeting this morning, we went back to the mission office and then over to the President’s home for dinner and a meeting afterwards with President and Sister Belliston and the departing missionaries. Wow, that was so inspiring to hear about the experiences the missionaries had out in the field and it affected them. They are excited to go home, but they already miss the experiences they have had the past 18 to two years in the field. I am sure it will be an adjustment for Elder Boehrer and I also.
The Departing Missionaries with President and Sister Belliston
You cannot imagine all of the ‘stuff’ that had to be packed up, shoved into cars, sorted out, including bikes, suitcases, bats, balls, weight lifting items, food, etc. Oh my gosh! I tried to give a sense in my pictures of just what a transfer of missionaries and getting the departing missionaries all set to go. NOTE: Transfer is when missionaries are changed from one area to another. This entails moving them and also, it means a change for the missionary as far as who their new companion will be.
The dinner was awesome. It is nice to see the missionaries enjoying themselves just visiting, eating and relaxing.
