Choice Young People

 I don't think SK and I could ever start a new career as truck driver and assistant GPS.  This is our third day traveling to help with the young missionaries being delivered to their new assignments.  I know Dave and Deb are trying to move as few as possible.  But if you have ever had anything to do with making visiting teaching or elder's quorum home teaching assignments (now called ministering), you know you simply can't just move one.  And if you are suddenly missing 12 people, the it becomes almost a logistical nightmare.

Over the last three days, we have covered around 600 miles.  That is a slam-dunk for us in the U.S.  When we go to visit Lia, we cover 700 miles in a day with ease.  But we were in and out of London this week, and while it is exciting and kind of fun to be there, negotiating our way through traffic is less than exhilarating.



The elder in the sweater, Elder Green is the new elder to Newbury, Elder Fernandez on the right is staying in Newbury, and Elder Perkins rode in the back of our little car for six hours up to Ipswich!



Today, we traveled west to Newbury to pick up an elder, and we drove down into the northern outskirts of London to drop him off to another driver.  The other drivers were the couple from Cambridge.  They are wonderful, and in similar circumstances to us.  They went home on the same plane that we did in March.  And they returned to England a month and a half later than we did.  But their visas have plenty of time left on them.

They have a car similar to ours, which is compact.  I think the couple in the office who oversee all these travel assignments just didn't realize how small our cars are.  When we arrived at the rendezvous point, the Cambridge couple had an elder and his luggage in their car, ready to take him north to Ipswich.  Their assignment was to wait for us, so that they could take the two elders together.

But there was simply no room to add another elder (our elder from Newbury) with two large suitcases and some carry-on items.  We all got out and looked over the situation and decided the only solution was for us to continue on with our elder and his luggage.  We would both meet in Ipswich with our elders, who would then settle into their apartment and go to work.

Happily for us, we then drove the 2 1/2 hours home, while the Cambridge couple drove down into London with a sister missionary, taking her to her new assignment.  As it was, we left home at 8:30 a.m. and got back around 6 p.m.  We are tired.

But it was a sweet day with the missionaries.  We had nearly 6 hours in the car with this tall lanky elder.  We talked about all kinds of things.  You can really get to know a person so much better when all you have to do is talk.  He talked about the mission work in Newbury, where he had served and what he loved about this country.  He laughed out loud when we told him how much we love fish and chips.  His brother is serving in Finland, and when he has the opportunity to visit with him, they find their experiences are much the same, and so very different.

Being around these cute elders of course drew my mind back to Ally and her friends.  They were/are such good young men.  And the four who are alive today are helping and supporting one another through this tragedy.  I am so grateful for their faith.  Ally posted this today:




Comments

melissa said…
That’s a lot of driving!! It’s unfortunate it’s stressful, because it’s such a beautiful place to be!
November 21, 2020 at 7:44 AM
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