I’m now officially the mission health advisor

Sister Cornia, the previous nurse, and me just before she left the mission.

I’m settling in this week – kind of.  I’m not in my permanent apartment yet but by next week, I should be moved in and I’ll be up and running.  The place where Sister Cornia was living has a main level with kitchen and living room but the bedroom and bathroom are downstairs.  

The mission is trying to get apartments for all senior missionaries with no stairs so they had been working on getting a place ready for me for a few weeks.  There have been some hang-ups in their progress but have now got everything arranged for me to move in sometime this week.  I’ll keep you posted.

Sister Cornia spent some time with me on Monday and Tuesday orienting me to the way the mission runs and on specific health issues with missionaries.  I have had only a few calls from missionaries but I have spent a lot of time this week going over records and becoming familiar with the missionaries.  

I had some reports due on Friday so I spent most of Thursday and Friday following up with missionaries and making sure that their problems had been addressed so I could send in my report.  I love communicating with the missionaries!!

In my previous missions, I have worked from home but here I have gone into the office.  The mission president uses an office in his home so I use his office within the mission office.  There is a door on the room so I can close it when I have a privacy issue talking with missionaries.

The president’s office that I call “my  own” 

The mission office outside and inside

It is fun being in the office.  There were meetings and other things going on this week so there were usually a few, to quite a few, young missionaries in the office.  I enjoyed getting acquainted with them.  They welcomed me and made me feel welcome!

I have enjoyed getting to know the senior missionaries in the office as well.  Sister Mackley is the mission secretary and Elder Mackley is over finance.  Sister Klaass is the assistant secretary and Elder Klaass is over cars and bikes.  They all work together on renting and maintaining apartments and assisting each other.  They are a great team and I am happy to join them.

Monday evening, Sister Mackley invited me and John to go with the “office staff” to a “farewell” dinner for Sister Cornia before her departure on Wednesday.

Left to right:  Sister and Elder Klaass,  Elder and Sister Mackley, Sister Cornia, me and John

John and I ate out each night before he left on Thursday morning. I really enjoyed travelling with him and appreciated his company in driving to Eugene.

    

 I checked out of the hotel Friday morning and moved over to Sister Cornia’s as I mentioned earlier.  I still have all of my stuff in my car except for my suitcase and a few things I need to get along but it is nice here.

I thought that you might like to know a little about Eugene.

The Willamette River divides Eugene running south to north so I am always crossing the river it seems when I need to go places. 

From Wikipedia:  The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is 187 miles long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley, a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem, and the state's largest city, Portland, which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at the Columbia.

There are parks along the river throughout the city.  Wednesday I walked at one park by our hotel.  Saturday I went to a different park where I parked on the west side of the river, crossed a bridge to the path on the east side and then crossed back to the west side at the 2 mile mark so I got a good 4 mile walk.

I had originally headed for Wild Iris Ridge Trail which is close to where I’m staying but the trail was so muddy, I opted for a paved trail along the river.  I’ll get back to Wild Iris Ridge another day.  BTW, in case you didn’t know, it does rain a lot here.  Just saying….  I really don’t mind rain.  Once I get settled in, I will be able to walk more dependably rain or shine.  Right now my rain gear is packed in a suitcase in my trunk and I don’t want to dig it out until I have a place to put things.  That’s my excuse anyway.

A bit more about Eugene:  Eugene is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about 50 miles east of the Oregon Coast.  

Eugene is home to the University of Oregon, Bushnell University, and Lane Community College. The city is noted for its natural environment, recreational opportunities (especially bicycling, running/jogging, rafting, and kayaking), and focus on the arts, along with its history of civil unrest, protests, and green activism. Eugene's official slogan is "A Great City for the Arts and Outdoors".  It is also referred to as the "Emerald City" and as "Track Town, USA". The Nike Corporation had its beginnings in Eugene. In July 2022, the city hosted the 18th Track and Field World Championships. 

I love the trees/pines and flowers that are all around.  The beauties of nature make me happy!

Sunday I attended the Eugene 1st Ward where I will be going while here in Eugene.  It is next door to the mission office and close to my apartment.  The people were most welcoming.

Easter is a special time for all of us to acknowledge the sacrifice, Atonement and resurrection of our Savior.  I love and appreciate my Savior every day but I enjoy the music of Easter and the message/reminder of what He did for us.  Elder David A Bednar says it well in a BYU devotional address given in October 2001 titled “In the Strength of the Lord.”  (Click the link to read it.)

In the opening remarks of his talk, he referred to a statement by President David O. McKay who summarized the overarching purpose of the gospel of the Savior in these terms: “The purpose of the gospel is . . . to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature”

I quote from Elder Bednar:  “If I were to emphasize one point this morning, it would be this: I suspect that you and I are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the Atonement than we are with the enabling power of the Atonement. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us. 

I think most of us know that when we do things wrong, when we need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives, the Savior has paid the price and made it possible for us to be made clean through His redeeming power. Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. 

I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient and worthy and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. I frankly do not think many of us “get it” concerning this enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities.

The Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. There is help from the Savior for the entire journey of life—from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.  

The redeeming and enabling powers of the Atonement are connected and complementary; they both need to be operational during all phases of the journey of life.”

I know that my Savior lives and that He loves us.  The Atonement of Christ strengthens us to do things we could never do on our own. After all we can do, through his love and grace, we can return to his presence.

I love my Savior. 

I love you my family and friends.