We experienced another first on Sunday, April 26th. Sure, we had virtual Nursery with the grands
and home sacrament just the two of us, but we also had a mission-wide
devotional. Pres Bell continues to look
for new ways to inspire the young missionaries during this time of physical isolation. Where ever they were around the mission, they
connected by video conference to share another experience together. I’m pretty sure this mission-wide Sunday
devotional was another first—and we were there.
(By the time this is over, I’m pretty sure we will all be Zoom
subscribers.) Pres Bell invited his two mission
presidency counselors and their wives, the Mahaffeys and the Slezaks to share
some information about who they are and their testimonies. They are great people, and a great bridge
between the mission and the local membership.
They made the mistake of telling Pres Bell that they would be willing to
help with the apartment cleaning and inventory project this week. They may be sorry. Missionary apartments can be surprising, good
or bad.
On Monday, the plan was for RaDene to go with me across the Missouri
River to St Charles and, wait for it, clean and inventory an apartment. But we realized as we were getting ready that
morning that that was optimistic thinking.
RaDene really couldn’t be away from the office. She is the communication hub in so many
ways. And with prospects for
missionaries coming, zone conference on Tuesday, reports to write (partly
because they weren’t done on Saturday because of a cleaning project), she
really needed to hold down the fort.
But, I had the trained housing assistants and I recruited a couple other
elders in the area to come help. We went
in like a white tornado. It seems like I
scare each missionary that watches my decision making for the first few garbage
bins, but pretty soon, they catch the vision and happily pitch along with me
stuff that has accumulated over years of member donations, care package
contents, and countless missionaries and that now has no discernible
value. And so the week would go.
Tuesday, April 28th was zone conference. Ordinarily it would be over three days at
three stake centers, but like last time, we held one video conference across
the entire mission. For some, I know the
experience is painful watching a small phone screen for hours at a time. But on the whole, it works remarkably
well. The Spirit is not bound by present
senses.
On Wednesday, the assistants and I headed out for Macon, Missouri, a
good three hours from St Louis. I knew
that the apartment was in tough shape, which is why I assigned it to myself, in
addition to it being such a far trek.
Otherwise, the work was about how my descriptions have gone above. But there was one tender mercy involved. While we were enroute, one of the
missionaries we were meeting to help us asked if I could give his companion,
Elder Buck a blessing when we got there.
I responded that of course I would, not knowing what the problem
was. When we finally arrived, we went
inside to find Elder Buck red faced and in tears. I asked him what was wrong and he shuddered
that his grandfather had died recently.
I asked how recently, and he said, earlier that morning. President Bell had just the hour before
called Elder Buck to give him the news.
Elder Buck and his companion, the housing assistants, and I all sat down
and quite literally cried with each other for a while. I could not help but recall losing my own
Grandpa Reed while I was a world away as a young missionary. We talked about Elder Buck’s memories of his
grandfather and comforted him that his grandfather was now beginning a mission
of his own. Finally we circled together
and gave Elder Buck a priesthood blessing.
Looking back, I am so glad that we took time to really listen and take
some time to mourn with Elder Buck. And
as we got to work, Elder Buck seemed to be in much better spirits, working
cheerfully alongside the rest of the day.
Not long before we left, Elder Buck came to me and showed me a picture
on his phone and asked if I knew an Amy—his mother had said that I might know
an Amy. I didn’t know what he was
talking about, but I looked at the picture, and it was David and Amy Rawson and
their boys. Elder Buck’s mother is Amy’s
cousin. Elder Buck’s Grandfather Ken is
Amy’s uncle. I told Elder Buck that I
was related to Amy—she is my sister in law—which made me a relative of Elder
Buck too, I reasoned. He seemed
contented to know that someone from the family had been there for him in his
morning of sorrow. Tender mercy indeed.
A cleaning on Thursday was remarkable for what happened near the end of
the project. Elder John had been invited
to participate in a baptism going on in the Bear Creek Ward in Columbia, where
he had come from the week before. His
former companion was baptizing a young lady and we together paused our work and
witnessed the ordinance by video conference.
Only about five people were at the baptism in person. But, this was Elder John’s 16th
convert in Bear Creek. What a
remarkable, humble missionary. It was a
beautiful thing to watch him talk and share his feelings by video, something
that would never have happened now that he had been transferred without the
COVID changes to missionary work. And
lucky for me, it was the first baptism I witnessed in the Missouri St Louis
Mission, and it was by video.
Interesting times.
Saturday, May 2nd finally arrived. We have worn out many brushes, rags, and
senior missionaries. Our friends the
Evertons have been particularly hard working.
We could not have made it this far without the work of many. And now, there was one last vacant apartment
to work on in Mt Vernon, Illinois. I had
really wanted to take the housing assistants because by now, they were well
trained in what an apartment should look like.
But there were so many things that needed to be delivered in various
areas that we could not stay together and do it all. By Friday night, I had made a list of places
for the assistants to make deliveries.
At least it was Saturday, so RaDene could go with me to Mt Vernon. Thankfully, the apartment, although getting
up there in age, was in great shape. The
last senior companion there, Elder Robb, got messages from us giving him the
prize for best kept apartment. We only
removed two garbage bags of clutter and a bag of clothing donations. Three garbage bags was a winner, by all
accounts. After doing a bit of polishing
and door repairs (I must rehang doors in virtually every apartment I visit) we
could check the last vacant apartment off of our list. Elder Johnson, who met us to help clean and
inventory, had made apple scones that morning and shared with us. A treat for sure.
When we arrived home, we knew we needed to get caught up on a bunch of
office work. We struggled with whether
to stay in P-day clothes or put on missionary attire. We opted for the latter, grumbling a bit, and
RaDene even had me turn the car around and go back so she could change, not
feeling like she was dressed well enough.
We had not been there more than half an hour when President and Sister
Bell and the APs came in to set up for a Zoom conference with the 19 incoming
missionaries on Tuesday. President Bell
invited us into his office to participate in the conference. We had completely forgotten about it, which
is odd, because it was Sister Hatfield’s bright idea in the first place. We needed the chance to orient and get
acquainted with these missionaries before they even got on the plane because
everything was happening so fast in their lives and in ours. They and we had received their reassignments
late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
President Bell gave us the chance to introduce ourselves and make a few
remarks in the conference. Well, we were
sure glad that we had gotten dressed in missionary attire before we went to the
office. We stayed very late that night
while, after the conference, RaDene set up interviews with the missionaries for
Sunday and Monday. We realized that with
things moving so fast, and social distancing being a concern, we didn’t really
have the luxury of having upwards of 80 missionaries, 40 cars, house keys, and SIM
cards to exchange and transfer while waiting through the expected four hours it
would take for regular intake interviews with the President and mission
nurse. The interviews needed to happen
before the missionaries even got on their flights to come. RaDene communicated with everyone and made it
happen. I think we are about ready for
our first post-COVID missionaries reassigned after serving in foreign
countries.
No comments:
Post a Comment