Mission tour by Elder and Sister Gary B. Sabin

Sunday dinner with Sister and Elder Barker at the home of Sister and Elder Crump 

I started the week with a beautiful early walk along the river on Monday morning. The white geese were out in force and the goslings are almost as big as their parents.

The week has been so busy that I was not able to walk again until Friday morning. Beautiful Canadian geese and their goslings in the pond at Alton Baker Park.

Saturday morning was a little rainy but rain or shine, Sister and Elder Crump joined me with a walk through Meadowlark Prairie. The spring wild flowers were enjoying the showers.

The blue heron is hard to see but he is standing on the side of the creek in the water. A little blurred because he was so far away.

I went to lunch with Sisters Weeks and Wensel on Monday.

This week Elder Gary B. Sabin and his wife toured our mission. We had two zone conferences: one in Eugene and one in Medford with about 100 missionaries at each conference. The conferences started at 9:00 and went until 4:30 with a lunch break mid-day. When I heard last week that the conferences would last all day, I wondered how we (the missionaries in particular) would be able to sit that long but it was amazing. Elder and Sister Sabin taught in such a way that we were all wrapped up in what they could teach us. The time flew by! I have some pictures but not in any particular order.

The drive down to Medford on Tuesday evening after the Eugene conference was a lovely drive.

Silly Sister Bullock

Silly Sister Roskelley

President Cornelius has a great sense of humor! I love it!!

Sisters Eastman and Chatwin (Sister Eastman finishes her mission this month)

Sister Roskelley helping with the lunch preparation on Thursday for mission leadership training

Sister Withers helping to set up the tables and sample the food to make sure it is safe to eat LOL

In the conferences, Elder and Sister Sabin taught us many things such as the principles of the Gospel, how to be good missionaries and ways to invite others to come unto Christ, and more. But the topic that stood out to me was that both of the speakers focused on or led us to know that our Father in Heaven knows and loves us and wants us to find joy in this life. 

Elder Sabin gave a talk in General Conference in October 2023 titled Hallmarks of Happiness. In this speech he says:

“Today, I would like to review a few essential principles for true happiness that seem to elude so many in this confusing world, where many things are interesting but few are truly important.

…my first observation is that building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ is essential to our happiness.

My second observation is that it is crucial to our happiness that we remember that we are sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father.

The third hallmark for happiness is to always remember the worth of a soul.

My fourth happiness hallmark is to maintain an eternal perspective.

…my fifth and final observation, which is you will never be happier than you are grateful.

I promise you that if we build our lives upon the foundation of Jesus Christ; value our true identity as sons and daughters of God; remember the worth of a soul; maintain an eternal perspective; and gratefully appreciate our many blessings, especially Christ’s invitation to come unto Him, we can find the true happiness we seek during this mortal adventure. Life will still have its challenges, but we will be able to better face each with a sense of purpose and peace because of the eternal truths we understand and live by.”

We have in our mission, a missionary who is a recent convert to the Church of fewer than 2 years. With the missionary’s permission, I want to share his story. When this young man joined the church, his family disowned him. He was told and reminded frequently by the father through calls and messages that he had made a stupid decision to join the Church, to serve a mission and to never return home as long as he remained a member of the church. This made the elder sad but he endured.

On Mother’s Day, he sent a message of love to his mother who responded with one word: “STOP”

This was so hurtful to the missionary. He had endured his father’s rejection but when his mother rejected him, it threw him for a loop. He called me on Tuesday after Mother’s Day to let me know that he was so debilitated that he couldn’t work and was even wondering how he could stay in the mission field. (As the mission health advisor, nurse, if a missionary can’t go out to work for a mental or physical reason, they must call me.)

We talked for a time and he talked with the mission president. He worked and stayed in the mission but he was heartbroken.

At the end of each zone conference, Elder Sabin set aside time for a question and answer session so that missionaries could ask questions about any subject. The elder raised his hand and asked how a person can get through trials that seem unsurmountable. Elder Sabin answered essentially, (I can’t remember the exact wording) that we make Jesus Christ our foundation. We must work hard and serve others and be grateful and we will be blessed. We can have hope and know that He will provide a way in all we do so that we can learn and progress. 

After the conference was over, Elder Sabin interviewed a preset number of missionaries. This troubled elder was one that had been chosen prior to the beginning of the tour to be interviewed by Elder Sabin. Elder Sabin gave the elder a Priesthood blessing.

Later that night, the elder called me. He was a different person than the one I had consoled just a week prior. He numerated all of the things he had learned throughout the day/conference. He told me of the Priesthood blessing and how he felt lifted and supported in ways he couldn’t describe. He bore his testimony that he knew the Lord had answered his prayers and had sent tender mercies to him throughout the day ending with the blessing. He left me with this thought: "The difference between the worst day in your life, and one of the hardest days in your life is Jesus Christ. If you consecrate your trials and afflictions to the Lord, you will grow closer to Him as he heals your broken and wearied heart, and that is ALWAYS worth it."

His faith is strong. I am amazed at the strength and courage that this young man has to face such obstacles to join the church and to remain faithful and serve a mission. 

I know that the Lord lives and loves us. He knows our needs and is standing beside us to help when we ask.

I love my Savior

I love you my family and friends.

Waffles, Waffles and more Waffles!

 

As I mentioned last week, at our interviews this transfer period, we had waffles instead of the traditional candy and chips. I think that the missionaries enjoyed the opportunity to make their own waffles.

Sister Cornelius and I listened to their memorized scripture of choice and visited with them while their companions were being interviewed by President Cornelius.

We traveled to Klamath Falls early on Tuesday morning. It is very green in the northern part and central area of the mission but a little more desert like in the south. It is drier and reminds me a bit of Southern Utah. I think that I read that the terrain around Klamath Falls is considered “high dessert”.

Here are a couple of pictures of the area as we get closer to Klamath.

Here are a few pictures of our day in Klamath Falls.

The chapel in Klamath Falls is older an building unique in that it has the Thirteen Articles of Faith on the outside wall of the building. I have never seen this before.

After interviews we grabbed a quick dinner at a Thai restaurant before the evening Restoration Devotional. After the devotional we drove about an hour and a half to Medford. The sunset over the lake was beautiful. President Cornelius pulled into a picnic area along the highway so I could take pictures of the sunset.

It was a VERY long day!

Wednesday was interviews with the Central Point Zone missionaries followed by another devotional.

Sisters Sorenson and Bullock

Sisters Sorenson and Felila

My waffle: ¼ Nutella with strawberries, ¼ PB with strawberries and ½ maple syrup

Thursday was the Medford Zone interviews. That evening we had a dinner and what President calls a Huddle with the Medford Stake presidency and high council and all of the missionaries, bishops, elders quorum presidents, ward mission leaders and relief society presidents in the stake. President Cornelius brings brisket, potatoes, and coleslaw and feeds the crowd before talking with them and helping them to know how to help and include the members in missionary work. There were just over 70 people attending the dinner meeting.

Sisters Withers and Roskelley slicing the brisket and Sisters Cornelius and Hopkins looking on

Friday morning we left early for interviews and an evening devotional in Grants Pass.

Elders Inman, Darrington, and Melville 

A “work of art waffle”

Sisters Jeffords and Wells

With Elder Atwood’s permission, I show you this picture. At every interview we had at least one spill of waffle batter.

Elder Nilson is happy with his waffle.

As we left the devotional, President Cornelius stopped into the kitchen to thank one of the women who helped with the refreshments at the devotional. He complimented her for the cookies she had baked and she literally piled his hands full of cookies and wouldn’t take no for an answer. So President had a “cookie monster” truck to drive home.

As you know by now, I enjoy being with the missionaries so it has been a good week.

I walked by the river on Monday. I didn’t get any pictures at the river but two beautiful sisters stopped by the office so I count them as the beauty of nature that I saw on Monday.

Sisters Wensel and Weeks

We left for Klamath Falls too early to walk on Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings Sister Cornelius and I walked around the neighborhood where the hotel is located in Medford. Saturday morning I walked by the river again.

Didn’t see any live herons but found this chrome heron and even got a pic with him!

This red rhododendron is about my favorite color. 

It is so very vibrant.

I took a stroll through the budding and slightly blooming rose garden. Stay tuned for the full effect in coming weeks.

Saturday I did a few things around my apartment and finalized my weekly report. I invited Elders Fawson and Petersen to have dinner with me. They chose to have gyros.

I ended my day at the evening session of stake conference.

It has been a good week. As we drove from place to place, we have been listening to President Russell M Nelson’s book, Heart of the Matter. It has been wonderful to listen to him tell of his days as a heart surgeon. To hear where and how he studied and practiced and helped to develop the heart by-pass machine. He spent time in the Army in MASH units in the Korean War. He is the father of nine daughters and one son. His first wife, Dantzel White, and one daughter have passed and he is now married to Wendy Watson.

His life has been full and busy but I love his positive attitude and the love that he gives so generously to his family and to all of us.

I hold a special place in my heart for him. While I was in nursing school, BYU had a satellite campus for a few nursing students at LDS Hospital. I actually lived in a dorm that was part of the hospital. (The area of the hospital where the nurses’ dorm was located is now an auditorium I believe. It has been a long time since I was there.)

While a student, on the labor and delivery floor, I was assigned to take care of Dantzel Nelson one morning while she was in labor. My shift was finished before the baby (their son) came, but it will be a memory for me forever.

After I graduated from nursing school and passed my boards, I worked at the same hospital where I had studied and where then, Dr Nelson, performed heart surgery. I worked for a time on the pre-op floor where patients waited prior to surgery. The surgeon would come and check in with his/her patient before going to surgery to make sure all was in order.

Whenever Dr Nelson came to check on his patients, he always took the time to talk to the nurses. He was kind and appreciative and if he had a little extra time, would entertain us with some of his life stories.

I particularly found his stories about his time in the MASH units interesting. Perhaps it was more “real” to me because there was a popular TV series, MASH, playing at that time.

The thing I remember most though about his visits to the unit was how thoughtful and caring he was to patients and nursing staff.

Now as our prophet and leader, he guides us and gives us advice that will help us to find joy and happiness in our lives. Because I knew him in his professional life and saw how he lived, I know that he represents in his own life, the things that he teaches this day.

In his book, Heart of the Matter, he tells of a time in his training:

“During my surgical internship many years ago, I assisted a surgeon who was amputating a leg filled with highly infectious gangrene. The operation was difficult. Then, to add to the tension, one of the team performed a task poorly, and the surgeon erupted in anger. In the middle of his tantrum, he threw his scalpel loaded with germs. It landed in my forearm!

Everyone in the operating room—except the out-of-control surgeon—was horrified by this dangerous breach of surgical practice. Gratefully, I did not become infected. But this experience left a lasting impression on me. In that very hour, I promised myself that whatever happened in my operating room, I would never lose control of my emotions. I also vowed that day never to throw anything in anger—whether it be scalpels or words.

Even now, decades later, I find myself wondering if the contaminated scalpel that landed in my arm was any more toxic than the venomous contention that infects our civic dialogue and too many personal relationships today. Civility and decency seem to have disappeared during this era of polarization and passionate disagreements.”

In his conference address in April 2023, President Nelson gives us some wise advise:

“Brothers and sisters, the pure love of Christ is the answer to the contention that ails us today. Charity propels us “to bear one another’s burdens” rather than heap burdens upon each other. The pure love of Christ allows us “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things”—especially in tense situations. Charity allows us to demonstrate how men and women of Christ speak and act—especially when under fire.

Now, I am not talking about “peace at any price.” I am talking about treating others in ways that are consistent with keeping the covenant you make when you partake of the sacrament. You covenant to always remember the Savior. In situations that are highly charged and filled with contention, I invite you to remember Jesus Christ. Pray to have the courage and wisdom to say or do what He would. As we follow the Prince of Peace, we will become His peacemakers.

At this point you may be thinking that this message would really help someone you know. Perhaps you are hoping that it will help him or her to be nicer to you. I hope it will! But I also hope that you will look deeply into your heart to see if there are shards of pride or jealousy that prevent you from becoming a peacemaker.”

May we all be peace makers. I pray that you will have a good week ahead and that you will feel the love of our Savior in your life.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.