Unity in the Mission

 Not to sound too dramatic, but time is marching on.  Dave and Deb are down to less than four months, and I know they are working harder than ever.  There was a zone conference today that lasted 4 to 5 hours.  Dave and Deb train the first hour and then they interview missionaries one at a time for about 10 to fifteen minutes each.  Our zone interviews were nearly three weeks ago, and it takes the whole six weeks between transfers to get all of the interviews done. 

Now that we are finally getting new missionaries in, that increases their workload even more.  But they take great joy in what they are doing, and they love these missionaries with a passion.  They want so much for them to succeed - at everything.  Like our mission president in Denmark, they will stay in touch with them for the rest of their lives.  

President Sederholm - our mission president in Copenhagen has yearly reunions, sometimes twice-yearly, and seems to know and keep up with everyone.  It also helps us all keep up with many of the other missionaries we served with.  

I mixed up my days this morning and got all dressed up and tuned into the interview training.  SK was doing other things.  I sat there through all of the opening things and then listened as Dave gave a marvelous training.  He told of an experience he had when he was a young elder in California.  It was far too lengthy to retell here, but it was a sweet experience.  Deb trained on prayer.  I loved it.  

About an hour and a half in, I scrolled through some twenty pictures of young missionaries who were in attendance, and realized that none of our zone missionaries were there!  It wasn't our day.  I knew a lot of those missionaries, but they are not currently in our zone.  So, when they took a break, I just slipped off the call.  

We took our walk, covering familiar territory, sticking with more commonly traveled thoroughfares.  I was pretty sure we have walked at least three miles, but when we got home, it was about 2 1/4.  I know walking is so good for us, but we both sometimes have to talk ourselves into it!

 We joined the Oxford Elders in the afternoon to have a class on "Come Follow Me."  It was a very nice discussion.  One of our elders will be leaving in less than two weeks.  His two years are just about over and he will be returning to his home in South Africa.  He is a great elder and I hate to see him go.  He and his companion demonstrated how to make Chinese dumplings on Facebook the other night, and then delivered some to us.  They were wonderful.  Tonight, they came by with M&M cookies.  We stood outside in the dark visiting.  They are such good young men.

I think of Lauren in Paraguay, and all these young people that I love and pray that the Lord's angels will be with them every step of the way.

A woman from Denmark called out of the blue this evening.  She was in our little branch....a single woman in her sixties.  We visited her in her apartment several times, and she came to see us in our flat as well.  She called to tell us that she thinks of us often and that she remembers all those good times.  She expressed her love.  That call left me with a feeling of reverence - for how we touch each others' lives, with reverberations echoing throughout the course of our days.

SK and I have spent some time today preparing a training for tomorrow's district council.  We have been asked to train on unity in a companionship.  We haven't done too well, because we've been arguing about what to teach.  (Just kidding - checking to see if you are still awake.)  I think we'll have a good time with it because we will be leading a discussion mostly, and I know these young people will have some great insights.

Facetime and Marco Polo keep us connected with our children, for which I am truly grateful.  We are blessed.

The temple will be opening for more ordinances next week!  That is such exciting news.  It looks like there will be a slow opening up of the world here in England, but there are still news people who urge extreme caution.  I think everyone is tiring of all this caution.

We ended our missionary day with our zone and "Game Night."  They have a good time with these games and I think it helps bring some unity to the 12 of us.

Comments

melissa said…
I’m awake! Haha! And yes, I think everyone is tired of the caution!!
March 7, 2021 at 4:33 AM
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