It is such a pleasure to work with the missionaries.

We’ve had a mixture of rain and sunshine this week but it is always “sunny” when I’m with the missionaries. They bring with them an enthusiastic spirit and a joy for life.

 Wednesday was Valentine’s Day and I gave and received a lot of hugs and love. 

It was the mission leadership training also on Wednesday. We fed 80ish people for lunch before the training began. Elder and Sister Crump made BBQ pulled pork for sandwiches. We had two salads to choose from: macaroni and potato and on the side carrots and bowls of fruit (grapes and strawberries) assembled by Sister Barker. I made brownies for dessert. I didn’t get pictures of the tables and missionaries eating but I did get a picture of Elder and Sister Barker and Elder and Sister Crump working in the kitchen.

Thursday we had Santa Clara Zone missionary interviews in the office.

Waiting to be interviewed by President Cornelius

Friday we went to Corvallis for that zone’s interviews. I didn’t get any pictures. The day was full and long. 

After the interviews in each zone we have a restoration devotional. There are musical numbers and presentations by President Cornelius and some of the missionaries along with the testimony of a recent convert. Each devotional is a spiritual experience testifying that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church that the Savior created during his ministry. The Church was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith.

Saturday morning I helped clean the chapel and then I went grocery shopping and to lunch with my friend Diana Lamboy. 

I walked by the river on Monday and Tuesday but the other days I walked in my neighborhood. It is hilly so I got a good cardio workout!

3 weeks ago, I posted this picture of a bench and a tree to the side that were inundated by a swollen river.

Tuesday a picture of the same bench and tree now again on the bank with dry “feet” as the water has dropped a lot.

Not much news to share this week. It has been busy but mostly routine. Had a few cases of stomach virus, colds/flu, and monitoring of injuries from past weeks. Doctor appointment to help set up and a report to prepare for the week. 

As I said in the beginning, no matter the weather or the work, it always makes me happy to be serving here in the mission. One of my favorite hymns sums it up pretty well.

There is sunshine in my soul today,

More glorious and bright

Than glows in any earthly sky,

For Jesus is my light.

[Chorus]

Oh, there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

There is music in my soul today,

A carol to my King,

And Jesus listening can hear

The songs I cannot sing.

[Chorus]

There is springtime in my soul today,

For when the Lord is near,

The dove of peace sings in my heart,

The flow’rs of grace appear.

[Chorus]

There is gladness in my soul today,

And hope and praise and love,

For blessings which he gives me now,

For joys “laid up” above.

[Chorus]

Oh, there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

I pray that you will have a glorious week full of love and sunshine.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.

 

Every day brings change in one way or another.

Saturday President and Sister Cornelius invited me to attend a baptism with them on the coast in Newport. It was a wonderful opportunity to have a spiritual note and an adventure too. It is about an hour and forty five minute drive to Newport driving north almost to Corvallis and then west to Newport.. 

The baptism was for a man in his 70’s who is a Vietnam War veteran. He is a native American born in New York and is an Iriquois Indian. He was very interesting to talk with. He had a lot of stories to share.

After the baptism, we drove along the coastal highway to Florence before cutting east back to Eugene. Before leaving Newport, we stopped for lunch. I had a nice bowl of clam chowder. Delicious!

We stopped in a couple of places for pictures. 

We stopped at the Heceta Head Lighthouse. The big white building is a B&B that was originally the lighthouse keeper’s home I believe. The trees hide the lighthouse itself out on the point.

We drove a few miles down the road and looked back and then we could see the lighthouse.

It was a fun way to end a busy week.

Monday morning I walked in the rain. I never mind the rain. It is actually quite refreshing. Everything is so clean and beautifully green.

Monday evening Sister and Elder Barker came over for dinner. Afterward we played Azul. Fun game!

Tuesday morning we had the weekly office meeting to go over the schedule and plan for the week Afterward, I worked on following up with missionaries to make sure that they had the medications they needed and also continued to prepare for the new missionaries who would arrive on Friday. I was invited to lunch with Sisters Crouch and West at Gotcha Burgers. What a great way to get two rays of “sunshine” in the middle of your day!

Thursday was transfer day where the missionaries are moved to various areas around the mission. Not everyone moves every transfer (transfer period is 6 weeks) but a good number of people change locations. 

The office becomes a lively place as missionaries wait for the change and incoming companions. Others wait in their areas too far away to come to Eugene.

Waiting in the parking lot 

Sister Barker prepares bags for the new missionaries who arrive on Friday. Each bag contains a mattress and pillow cover and a blanket.

Thursday evening was dinner at the mission home where President and Sister Cornelius live. They provide a dinner for the departing missionaries who have completed their mission. This transfer only 4 missionaries went home. They will be missed!

Me and the departing missionaries:

Sister Hadfield

Elder Hansen

Elder Nelson

Elder Varty

Friday we received 12 new missionaries. 5 of the 12 will be here temporarily while they wait for visas to go to their assigned foreign missions. As you may recall, we serve them lunch and then the president interviews each missionary. I interview them also to get a current health history from each one. It is exciting to meet these new missionaries who are so enthused (and I think a little frightened) at a new beginning.

Tables set up and training missionaries waiting for their new companions

Lunch – meatballs, garlic bread and salad

Sisters Cornelius and Crouch waiting the arrivals

Sister Sutherland and our traditional “silly” pictures that happens when we see each other. LOL

The newly arrived – finally!!

Sister Barker says “Let’s get the food on the table”

Sister Ables (new arrival) and Sister Maile (trainer) already giving service

Lunch is served

This week I was talking to a missionary and as we chatted, a BYU devotional speech that I had read some time ago came to my mind. We all struggle. That is a given. We all need to heal. That is our desire. Healing is not always a physical ailment that we are healing from but can be a spiritual or mental ailment that needs to heal. 

“Healing is much more than “getting better” or “having our problems go away.” Healing is growth, development, and maturation. In a word, healing is change. It takes time and energy and struggle, but healing teaches us.” 

Jonathan G.Sandberg was a professor in the BYU School of Family Life when this talk was given in 2014. It is titled Healing = Courage + Action + Grace. 

He begins: 

That brings me to today’s topic: healing. We all need healing. For some of us that need is great today. There are likely among us those who are brokenhearted because a relationship has ended badly. Others are in pain because their parents have decided to divorce or a loved one has renounced the Church. Some have learned recently that they have a chronic illness, and others have just relapsed into addictive behavior for what seems like the hundredth time. I would guess that there are some today who have wondered if depression or anxiety will always be a suffocating influence in their lives, while other students are going through a loss that seems both unfair and unrelenting. Others are drowning in loneliness and isolation while still others are constantly placed on the margins.

My hope today is to encourage you that healing is possible if you apply the principles that lead to healing. I will try to explain clearly—and I ask for your prayers that we can understand one another by the Spirit—three principles that can lead to healing and to knowing that all healing is a gift from Jesus Christ, for, as Isaiah said, “with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

My talk is entitled “Healing = Courage + Action + Grace.” And in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., who was recently listed in Ted Stewart’s The Mark of a Giant2 as one of seven people who changed the world, I start with an example from his life that so clearly highlights these principles. Look for courage, action, and grace as I read his words:

Almost immediately after the [bus boycott] started we had begun to receive threatening telephone calls and letters. They increased as time went on. . . .

One night . . . I couldn’t sleep. It seemed that all of my fears had come down on me at once. . . .

. . . I had heard these things before, but for some reason that night it got to me. . . . I went to the kitchen and . . . I sat there and thought about a beautiful little daughter who had just been born. . . . I started thinking about a dedicated and loyal wife, who was over there asleep. And she could be taken from me, or I could be taken from her. And I got to the point that I couldn’t take it any longer. . . . With my head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud . . . : “Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right. I think I’m right. I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now, I’m faltering. I’m losing my courage. Now, I am afraid. . . . I have nothing left. I’ve come to the point where I can’t face it alone.”

It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: “Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And lo, I will be with you. Even until the end of the world.”

I tell you . . . I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on. He promised never to leave me alone. At that moment I experienced the presence of the Divine as I had never experienced Him before. Almost at once my fears began to go. My uncertainty disappeared. I was ready to face anything.

Can you see in this example the pathway to healing? Courage to face a difficult situation and stand for truth, acting in faith by turning to God in prayer, and peace and strength from the Lord through His grace—courage, action, grace.

This talk has a wonderful message full of instruction and hope. I would encourage you to read it. 

I pray that you will have a great week ahead 

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.

I love working with missionaries!

Do I look like my maternal grandmother, DeSena Sorensen Andersen 1883-1959? One evening as I FaceTimed with my son, Jim, and his daughter, Ellie, he mentioned that with my hairstyle that day, I reminded him of my grandma. What do you think?

Each week is basically the same yet entirely different. I usually get calls for help with cold/virus symptoms, twisted ankles, knees or fingers after a preparation day basketball or volleyball game, or feelings of anxiety/depression. Even though these all seem repetitive, none are exactly alike and each missionary’s needs are unique. This week I also got a stubbed toe that took a thick layer of skin off a toe, poison oak rash on the face causing swelling of the eye and then the rash appeared on other body parts. That poison oak/ivy is nasty stuff!! A few other rashes of non-specific origin and the list goes on. Not complaining but trying to give you a taste for the work I do. I have resources I can call on for help to identify problems and treatments and I value these support people most highly.

I have enjoyed walking every day this week. The weather has been on the cooler side for the most part. There have been some sunny days though which we all welcomed with open arms and faces tilted upward.

Monday morning sunrise along the river walk

Foggy Tuesday morning Sisters Barker and Crump

Saturday morning was sunny and beautiful. Sister Barker and I walked later than usual because we didn’t have to be at the office.

This tree never lost any leaves. It has been green all winter. My phone plant identifier told me it is a buttonwood tree but when I looked at other pictures of a buttonwood tree, I am not sure I believe my phone. I do think from what I read on line that it might be from the mangrove family of trees. Just a guess….

Tuesday was an interview day in Grants Pass which is just over a 3 hour drive south. It was a very long day as there was a dinner and a missionary meeting in the evening with the stake and ward members in the area who help with the missionary work. 

Sisters Crouch and West bought me a gyro for lunch. Tasty food and great company.

I think we fed about 90 people at the dinner. The relief society set up and cleaned up and President Cornelius brought cheesy potato casserole, smoked brisket and coleslaw. YUM!

Wednesday I inspected two apartments for Sister Barker. Then I took the sisters involved to lunch at The Dough Company for scrumptious calzones.

Sisters Richins, Walters, Tripp, Lerch, Campbell, and Zollinger

Thursday I worked on creating an Excel document. I need to know which missionaries are taking prescription medications and when and how they are getting them refilled. I know about the missionaries who have come to the mission since I arrived in April last year but I am finding surprises with missionaries who have been here longer than I. I decided that I would go through every missionary file and make a spread sheet so I could more easily watch over the medications and the missionaries. It will really help me. Since I interview each missionary when they arrive, I know who takes medications and will be able to add to the Excel document and I can easily delete those who finish their missions.

It is just taking some time to go through all of the pre-mission histories and make note of missionaries on medications. I am about half way through the list of missionaries. Hopefully, I will be able to finish the document before next Friday when we get our next set of new missionaries arriving. 

Friday I worked a little more on the Excel document and then began to gather information for my Saturday report to the area doctor. Each week I report on the calls taken and sickness/condition of missionaries. I report any who have gone to Urgent Care or the ER. I also follow up on previous week reports with current condition of a missionary is he/she is not well enough to take off the report. Doing this report really helps me to keep track of missionaries who have had follow up doctor appointments and such things. It takes time but I appreciate knowing or following up to see how missionaries are progressing. I am happy when we can remove someone from the “sick” list. 

Friday evening, I took Elder Varty and his companions to dinner at the Coberg Mongolian Grill. Elder Varty is finishing his mission next Thursday and will return home to Canada. He has been an assistant to the president so I have traveled and worked closely with him the last few months. 

Cooks at the grill

Elder Varty with his bowl (the fuller one LOL) and my bowl on our way to the grill

Waiting for our food to go to the grill Elders Petersen, Fawson, Walton, Varty

Saturday after walking and doing a few things around my apartment, I went to lunch with Sister Bullock and Chatwin. Always a delight to share a meal with missionaries!! After lunch I went grocery shopping, filled my car with gas, and did among other things, a couple of loads of laundry. 

Sisters Bullock and Chatwin

After our dinner on Friday evening, Elders Varty, Fawson, Petersen, and Walton gave me a lesson/message about the importance of having a living prophet. From the Church library: “As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to be led by living prophets—inspired men called to speak for the Lord, as did Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Nephi, Mormon, and other prophets of the scriptures. We sustain the President of the Church as prophet, seer, and revelator—the only person on the earth who receives revelation to guide the entire Church. We also sustain the counselors in the First Presidency and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators.

Like the prophets of old, prophets today testify of Jesus Christ and teach His gospel. They make known God’s will and true character. They speak boldly and clearly, denouncing sin and warning of its consequences. At times, they may be inspired to prophesy of future events for our benefit.

We can always trust the living prophets.”

At the end of the discussion, the elders challenged me to read and study the conference talks from our Prophet and counselors in the first presidency given in the last general conference in October. They asked me to write down and ponder the message I felt from each talk that was meant for me.

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for President Nelson. When I was a student nurse, I had a maternity/delivery rotation at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. I cared for his wife for a few hours while she was waiting to deliver their last child. 

He had children who attended East High School when my husband was principal there. I often saw him at school events. 

When I was a new nurse working at LDS Hospital, I worked on the pre-op floor preparing patients for their pending surgeries. Dr Nelson came to the floor prior to each surgery he would be performing to check on his patients. He was always a gentleman. He was kind and considerate of the nurses. He never caused me nor any of the other nurses to feel like a lessor person even in his great presence. 

My second day in the mission field in the New Zealand Auckland Mission, President Nelson and his wife, Wendy, and Elder and Sister Gong made their first stop in their Pacific Area Tour. I was blessed to shake his hand and to feel of his spirit.

Our mission. I am about in the middle above/behind President Nelsons left shoulder. White hair and black blouse.

May 23, 2019

I value the message given by President Russel M. Nelson in the Sunday afternoon session titled Think Celestial! President Nelson begins the speech by reminding all that he has just celebrated his 99th birthday. He relates that may people have asked what is secret is for living such a long life. He goes on to say: “A better question would be “What have I learned in nearly a century of living?”

Time today does not allow me to answer that question fully, but may I share one of the most crucial lessons I have learned.

I have learned that Heavenly Father’s plan for us is fabulous, that what we do in this life really matters, and that the Savior’s Atonement is what makes our Father’s plan possible.”

President Nelson had injured his back and addresses his thoughts about that injury: 

“As I have wrestled with the intense pain caused by my recent injury, I have felt even deeper appreciation for Jesus Christ and the incomprehensible gift of His Atonement. Think of it! The Savior suffered “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind” so that He can comfort us, heal us, rescue us in times of need. Jesus Christ described His experience in Gethsemane and on Calvary: “Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore.” 

My injury has caused me to reflect again and again on “the greatness of the Holy One of Israel.” During my healing, the Lord has manifested His divine power in peaceful and unmistakable ways.

Because of Jesus Christ’s infinite Atonement, our Heavenly Father’s plan is a perfect plan! An understanding of God’s fabulous plan takes the mystery out of life and the uncertainty out of our future. It allows each of us to choose how we will live here on earth and where we will live forever. The baseless notion that we should “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us” is one of the most absurd lies in the universe.”

Here is the great news of God’s plan: the very things that will make your mortal life the best it can be are exactly the same things that will make your life throughout all eternity the best it can be! Today, to assist you to qualify for the rich blessings Heavenly Father has for you, I invite you to adopt the practice of “thinking celestial”! Thinking celestial means being spiritually minded. We learn from the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob that “to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.”

Mortality is a master class in learning to choose the things of greatest eternal import. Far too many people live as though this life is all there is. However, your choices today will determine three things: where you will live throughout all eternity, the kind of body with which you will be resurrected, and those with whom you will live forever. So, think celestial.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, how and where and with whom do you want to live forever? You get to choose.

When you make choices, I invite you to take the long view—an eternal view. Put Jesus Christ first because your eternal life is dependent upon your faith in Him and in His Atonement. It is also dependent upon your obedience to His laws. Obedience paves the way for a joyful life for you today and a grand, eternal reward tomorrow.

When you are confronted with a dilemma, think celestial! When tested by temptation, think celestial! When life or loved ones let you down, think celestial! When someone dies prematurely, think celestial. When someone lingers with a devastating illness, think celestial. When the pressures of life crowd in upon you, think celestial!”

I’ve quoted a lot of the speech but it is important to me to make wise choices. I want to live eternally with my husband and family. I want to be a citizen of the Celestial Kingdom. Reading and pondering this talk has given me the determination to think more clearly about the choices I make. President Nelson discusses that when we are trying to think celestial and make choices that will affect our eternal life, we will be given opposition and he gives examples. 

He also discusses ways that we can receive help to make eternally wise choices such as praying more sincerely and more often. We can seek guidance from people we can trust such as from prophets, seer, and revelators and from the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. I will work to increase my capacity to receive personal revelation.

This is a wonderful talk and I invite you to read, watch or listen to the prophet’s words and guidance. 

I know that President Russell M. Nelson is a living prophet on earth today to help us in every way possible to reach our full eternal potential. I know my Savior lives and loves me. He loves you too. May your coming week be full of joy.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends. 

THINK CELESTIAL!!