February 13, 2011

Dear Family and Friends, February 12, 2011

Last week when we drove out to Ciudad del Este the check engine light came on in the car. We made it home on Sunday with only a few problems with the accelerator seeming to not respond when being pressed. Monday we had the car checked at the dealership and were told that Mark had worn out the accelerator sensor. When we had the car picked up after being serviced the old accelerator was in the car in the box of the new one. We had a good laugh that the young missionaries wear out their shoes quickly and Mark wears out his accelerator on the car. I’ve never heard of that happening before, especially in a two year old car.

Tuesday we spent the day receiving 18 new missionaries at the airport in two different groups. The group of twelve elders from the Argentina MTC arrived at 10:30 am. The six (4 sisters and 2 elders)from Provo arrived about 4:45pm. The day was spent feeding, orienting, taking photos, interviewing and getting to know the new missionaries a bit. In the evening after dinner we had a testimony meeting. The elders stayed at the mission office and the sisters came to our home. Everyone arrived with all of their luggage and smiling faces! They are a good group who were ready to work. The latins had time to go out contacting because they came earlier and they were so happy to see how friendly the people are and how easy it is to talk to the people here.

Wednesday morning bright and early all the new missionaries and the ones leaving went to sign their legal papers so they are legal to be in or out of the country. Afterwards we met with the trainers and then all the new missionaries joined the meeting and were introduced to their companions. It’s always fun to watch the companionships come together. Two of the new sisters were put into threesomes this time. We have received 8 new sisters in the last 6 weeks and will receive 3 more in the next change in 6 weeks. In order for the newer sisters to be with the most experienced sisters the threesomes were the best options. All the sisters need to learn quickly and the new sisters seem to be doing well with their language so that is good! Everyone was off to their areas by 10:00am.Then Mark finished interviewing some of the 16 missionaries who were leaving this week. At one point there were five elders in my tiny office as we chatted about their missions and life after the mission. We took the leaving missionaries out to lunch and then to the temple for a session. After the session we were able to attend the sealing of a family taught by one of the leaving elders, Elder Ale and Elder Steren, who still has some time left in the mission. It was so sweet as they brought in the 7 and 2 year old boys to see the family so happy and the elders too! That is the hope of every missionary – to see the families they teach make it to the temple. What a perfect way to spend the last day of their missions! Thursday we went to the airport 3 times to say goodbye to missionaries. We sent home some great missionaries in this group! We will miss them but their goodness remains in the mission as Elder Woodruff was an assistant and taught many missionaries great things and Elder Roberts was in the office and kept track of records for the mission faithfully and was a solid force for good.

Friday we went to visit an elder whose grandfather passed away so we could share the news in person. He was close enough that we could do that and he received the news with faith that things will be okay for the family back home. I’m impressed by the mature way these missionaries deal with hard things. I know the Lord helps them! As missionaries spend every day teaching people about the great plan of happiness when things like this happen they are better prepared personally and know where to receive the help they need to deal with their loss. We enjoyed learning a bit about the elder’s grandfather as he shared with us some of his memories of him.

Thursday our oldest granddaughter had her birthday. Callie turned thirteen so we now have a teenager as a granddaughter. I can’t believe she is that old! She is a wonderful young lady and a great big sister to her four younger brothers. We know she is a big help to her parents and will continue to help when brother number five is born in July! We will have 11 grandsons and 3 granddaughters in July. Lot’s of future missionaries!

With all the new missionaries it will be fun to have zone conferences the next two weeks. We love our missionaries and are grateful for the way they are working so hard to share the gospel with the people here. We hope you all have a great week! Love, Mark and Sandy