Transfer week again!

 

I was ready to pounce on someone! LOL

It’s amazing how quickly time flies. It seems like it was just yesterday that we had transfers but it has been 6 weeks already! It was a little less hectic this time. Last transfer we had 26 new missionaries arrive. This time we had only 14. Thursday is the day transfers occur when the missionaries already in the mission are sometimes transferred to different areas and new companions. We have a transfer van and truck with a cargo trailer that goes from Eugene south to various pick up points where missionaries are dropped off and others picked up. It takes about 8 hours for the round trip. 

We had 8 missionaries finish their missions and 5 who received their visas who had been here waiting to go to their assigned missions. So we lost 13 and gained 14 missionaries. It is a domino effect when missionaries arrive and leave. President Cornelius spends at least a week assigning people to new companions and areas. The changes are announced on Tuesday evening so everyone has a day to say goodbye to people in their current area and to pack and prepare to move. 

Thursday evening was a dinner at the home of President and Sister Cornelius for the departing missionaries. 

Friday the new missionaries arrive. We have lunch and then interviews and training before they head out with their new companion/trainers to their assigned areas. It is a busy but fun few days. At least it is fun for me because I get to see the missionaries and meet and interview new people. Maybe not so fun for those who have to pack and move and fly from SLC to Eugene. I believe they leave the MTC in the wee hours of the morning to get to the airport in SLC. I’m sure they get little sleep. The new arrivals are so tired and a little or a lot stressed at all of the “newness” around them.

Sister Cornelius leading the newbies in from the airport

Sister Roskelley came to the mission Friday. My eldest daughter, Katie, and her husband, Jeremy’s, brother-in-law was sustained as the new bishop in his ward in Herriman, UT. After Sister Roskelley gave her farewell talk that same day, Jeremy's mother messaged me to tell me about the talk and the sister who would be arriving in my mission soon. Small world!

Monday, on Christmas Day, I went over to the chapel with a basket of oranges and apples to meet with the Eugene Zone. They planned a potluck Christmas lunch with ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, etc. We have some pretty awesome cooks among these missionaries. I didn’t stay for the meal but they are a wonderful group of young women and men. I love them dearly.

That evening, I hosted a dinner (breakfast foods as they had already eaten a “dinner”) for a few of the missionaries who had not been invited to eat at member homes. I made French toast strata and buttermilk syrup. Sister and Elder Crump brought whipped cream and sliced strawberries to top the strata. Elder Barker cooked bacon, fried or scrambled eggs, and hash browns. It was fun and delicious.

Wednesday Sister and Elder Germaine came to visit me. Every mission has an area medical advisor. Elder and Sister George were the AMA (Area Medical Advisor) when I arrived here but their mission ended on 23 December. Elder and Sister Germaine have come to replace them. Whenever I have a medical question I can’t address or a situation that needs emergency help/advice, I call the AMA. Our area AMA is responsible for 12 missions in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska and some areas in Canada. 

Elder and Sister Germaine are from Mesa AZ. They live in the same stake as Sister and Elder Barker and their sons have played high school sports together so we all went out to lunch to share memories and to become better acquainted. It was a very pleasant day. I look forward to serving with them.

I walked every day but it has been dark and misty, so I didn’t get pictures. Saturday, I didn’t walk until afternoon because it was raining early in the day. I just walked in my neighborhood instead of driving to the river. I ran into this flock of turkeys.

Sunday, New Year’s Eve, I invited Sisters Campbell and Zollinger to have dinner with me. I made red beans, cornbread, and salad with greens in it. It is a traditional southern meal eaten on New Year’s Day to bring good luck and prosperity through the year. I just happen to like red beans, rice, cornbread and salad. We played some Azul after dinner. 

I saw a rainbow Saturday after the rain. Didn’t see the pot of gold but I am blessed and lucky as it is.

The New Year always brings resolutions and setting of goals to make our year and ourselves better than the last year. I read an article in the January 2019 Era Magazine titled Setting Realistic Goals You Can Accomplish. Some helpful advice:

It’s January! The time of new beginnings, fresh starts, and writing down long lists of goals you’re going to try really hard to reach and then forget about or give up on by the middle of the year and promise yourself that you’ll “try again next year.” Sound familiar? Why is it that we want to change and become better, but sometimes, we just can’t stick with our goals? Well, it’s all determined by how realistic our goals are and how much work we’re willing to put in!

Here are a few tips on how to set realistic goals you can accomplish this year: 

• Write your goals down. Keep your goals somewhere you can see every day! The more you’re reminded of the goals you’ve set, the more likely you are to keep working toward them.
• Be specific. If you have “Learn something new” on your list of new year’s resolutions, it’s definitely a realistic goal, but it’s not specific! What sort of thing do you want to learn? A new instrument? A new recipe? Maybe a new hobby all together? Be specific about what you want to accomplish!
• Set short-term goals. You can set a major goal for yourself, but in order to achieve that goal, you need to set little milestones to hit on the way. For example, you can say you want to run a marathon this year, but in order to work up to being able to run for 26 miles, you need to start small. Set a goal to run a few miles every week, and slowly increase your distance each week until you reach 26 miles. You didn’t learn how to walk without taking baby steps at first. 
• Make time for your goals. A lot of time, we want to work on our goals, but because life gets so busy, it can be easy for them to get lost among school, jobs, friends, and family. But, if you set aside a specific time to work on your goal each day, each week, or however often you would like, you are more likely to stick with them. 
• Don’t do too much. The beginning of the year is a time when everyone makes long lists of New Year’s resolutions—sometimes so many that you can hardly remember everything that you’ve planned to do. If you start with only a couple goals, instead of throwing yourself headfirst into forty at a time, you will feel less overwhelmed and more confident in your efforts to reach your goals. And when you achieve one, you’re more likely to achieve another! Small things lead to big things.

I read a quote by President Thomas S Monson that fits well here:

“Seek heavenly guidance one day at a time. Life by the yard is hard; by the inch it’s a cinch. Each of us can be true for just one day—and then one more and then one more after that—until we’ve lived a lifetime guided by the Spirit, a lifetime close to the Lord, a lifetime of good deeds and righteousness.”

I know that the Lord will help us as we strive to do better in all we do. 

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends and pray that you will be well, happy and blessed.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I saw this idea posted on FB. I like it!