GENERAL CONFERENCE

Last weekend Eileen and I had the opportunity to watch all five sessions of General Conference.We are blessed to live in a time when we can hear God’s direction to us through His prophet, apostles, and other Church leaders.  I approached this conference hoping to gain insight as to what Eileen and I should do following the completion of our mission here in Missouri.  As I listened to the speakers, I made notes regarding my impressions.  I came away from conference with the clear message that I needed to do a much better job of submitting to the will of God and trusting in Him.  As I looked back over the addresses given, I can see Elder Ulysses Soares’ talk, Aligning Our Will with His, and Elder D.Todd Christofferson’s talk, Burying Our Weapons of Rebellion as being directly on point with that direction to me.  But during the conference, I came away from each session feeling like the message to me from most of the talks was to stop trusting in my own understanding and wanting things “my way,” and just trust in the Lord and submit my will to HIS.

During the past week, I was provided several examples of others putting their trust in the Lord.Two of our young sister missionaries, who are assigned to a YSA branch, have been trying to find young women to teach.  Earlier they had asked Eileen where young single women hangout here in Missouri.  Which of course neither Eileen or I had a clue.  They decided to go to a small local college, set up a booth and try to talk to young coeds about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  When asked them about how well that went, they said they had plenty of interest from young men but not from the young women on campus.  They then described to us what they regarded as a gift/blessing from God in directing their missionary efforts.  They said they usually only get one or two referrals per six week transfer period in their area, and they had just received eight, all for young women.  One of which, they are already talking with about baptism.

Last week a family, both parents and older children, were baptized.  They were from Guatemala, where they had talked to missionaries prior to their immigrating to the U.S.  For some reason they decided to come to Kansas City.  One of our Spanish speaking members, who is an Uber driver, saw them on the side of the road.  He decided to stop and ask them where they were going.  Upon learning that they had no home, he took them to his house and let them stay there until they could begin to get established here.  During that process the parents noticed their host was a member of the church they had met the missionaries from back home.  It did not take long for them to be taught and baptized.  All which started from an Uber driver following a prompting from God.

A week has now gone by since conference.  I’ve been praying to know what God would have me do.  I don’t have any better direction of my thoughts of doing things with family members following our return, and then possibly serving again.  But in just the last 24 hours, Eileen and I have both been impressed that God wants us to do something with Nina, a single mother with four kids.  Exactly what and how, I have no idea.  She and her children need the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His church’s organization in their lives.  It will be interesting to see how this one unfolds.

My 15 year old grand daughter has a wonderful artistic talent. She drew this picture of the SL temple while she watching conference.

A grandson studied maps of the world and made a list of where potential temples might be announced prior to conference. He guessed 10 of the 17 announced which we think is quite remarkable. Maybe someday he will work in the temple department. 

                                

Sister Kington  and Sister Anderson didn't get any females who were interested in their displays at the local college. Lots of males were interested. They said God must have been seen their desire to find young women for the YSA ward, because they recently got 8 referrals. They were very excited.

                                                       

Fungus on the hand. Icky.

The seniors did a service project on Saturday. We did 150 handwritten cards to go with Meals on Wheels dinners for Thanksgiving.

Very cute card with a nice handwritten note written upside down. We won't hire Sister Creer anytime soon to work for Hallmark cards-which incidentally has it's headquarters in Kansas City.

Sister Sheffield came up with the service project.  We hope the cards bring joy to those who can't get out with loved ones on Thanksgiving. 

Our granddaughter Bree is celebrating her 16th birthday this week. We are so grateful for the miracles that have occurred in her life. When she was born, she weighed under 2 pounds and was born without a heartbeat.

This giant woodchuck has made its home underneath the 4 air conditioning units at the office. . Elder Draney put out a trap and caught it this past week.  When someone asked Sister Creer where the woodchuck had been relocated, she replied "I am sure it will be some place heavenly."

It has been quite hot this past week. Our office was getting warmer and warmer. Turns out the AC wasn't working because someone had clipped the copper off of the AC units. We were told they probably got $15 for the copper and it will cost $24,000 to replace.  Bummer. 

THE PASSING OF GURU HUNT

As we serve on missions we meet and serve with other missionaries that we remember for years.  Even though we may never see some of them in person following our mission, the shared experiences seem to create a bond that is not forgotten.  On Friday we learned of the passing of Larry Hunt.  I (Russell) knew him as “Guru” Hunt, he was our primary instructor when I was in the Hawaii Language Training Mission (LTM) in late 1974 and 1975.  Elder Hunt was a member of the first group of six missionaries that entered Indonesia in January 1970.  Following his mission, he attended BYU Hawaii and taught Indonesian at the Hawaii LTM when the first group of missionaries to receive language arrived in early 1974.  While we have met in person only a couple of times since then at missionary reunions, I still have vivid memories of him as he taught us, not only the language but also about the people and country that we were to later serve in.  Little did imagine that less than 40 years later I would be serving there again with Eileen.

Although Elder Hunt was five years older than me, we are close enough in age that his death reminds me of my own mortality.  I would like to think that I have plenty of time to become a better person, to repent and change, as we have been encouraged to do by Church leaders.  I need to do a better job of changing today and not procrastinating.

I am so grateful to know of our Father in Heaven’s eternal plan for us, and for our Savior’s role in that plan.  I am grateful to know that I will someday again see loved ones who have passed on, and that relationships formed here on earth can survive death.

For Eileen, this past week has been both very busy and eventful.  The personal nature of her work makes it hard to appropriately describe fully most of the situations she deals with, but here are few highlights.  She sent one missionary to the ER.  After three hours in the waiting room, the elder asked Eileen if he should give up and go home.  They agreed to give it another half-hour.  Five minutes before the appointed hour, the elder was seen and then released three hours later. Following up on that ER visit, Eileen was able to get some assistance from a previously unavailable source, which was an unexpected blessing.  Another missionary was struggling with her new medication for a serious problem. After a few days of holding on, things settled down and now the missionary loves how she feels with the new medication.  

With each group of new missionaries, Eileen reads through their papers and does follow up calls with the parents if she needs more direction.  It is interesting to see in some of the situations how reality differs from what is noted in the papers.  The overstatement and understatement of problems have both been  issues with some.  And then there are a few situations, where neither the parents, Eileen or the Sommerfeldt’s can see how the missionary will be able to survive in the mission field.  Sometimes they don’t make it, but some do.  And when that success happens, it is wonderful and amazing to watch.  Miracles happen!

Russell has nurtured these flowers through a very hot summer. We love seeing them on our balcony.

 The two dots are not freckles but how long the elder's blood clot is.

We haven't had waffles since our grandkids were here. It seemed like a wonderful way to start the morning prior to the conference sessions. It is such a blessing to be able to hear conference live.

This missionary wiped out the basketball hoop. When asked if he was hanging on the rim he said no.  I think he recognized his mistake and that is why he looks like a little boy who just got in trouble. 

SEPTEMBER'S COURSE CONTINUES

Last week I (Russell) mentioned that September this year was beginning to look a lot like the challenging September & October period last year, during which the young missionaries experienced so many difficult health situations. This week was a continuation of the seemingly seasonal trend with two cases of heart problems, an ovarian cyst, and a blood clot mixed in with the usual less serious medical issues.  For me personally there actually is an upside to this in that I can help Eileen by driving her, and sometimes the young missionaries, to their medical appointments.  I find joy serving with Eileen on a common task.  And as our mission president recently pointed out during a staff meeting, my official call is not as an “Office Missionary” like the others in our office, but as a “Couple Mission Health Advisor” (AKA, assistant to the mission nurse).  At times I see it as justification for sharing my opinions on medical issues.  It is probably safer and more appropriate if I confine my medical role to that of being a driver.

Last Sunday I sent a short email to a friend, Randy Wright, who had recently begun a mission with his wife in Samoa.  I was surprised to get a FaceTime call back that evening (Monday morning for him).  Modern telecommunications are amazing.  I was able to see their apartment, which reminded me of the challenges  missionaries have with housing in some parts of the world.  Missionary life here in Independence is spoiling me, not only do we have good heating and cooling in our apartment, but we can get to a Walmart, Sam’s Club and a Costco within a few minutes drive.  How quickly I forget what life is like for most of the world and just take for granted the comforts of life I enjoy.

I (Eileen) went here for a medical appt. I was bugged by the name of the facility. Couldn't they think of something that doesn't make you feel like you are walking into a nursing home?   I mentioned my suggestion to the nurse and she said "well, it used to be a nursing home."

We took the APs, Elder Hymas and Elder Timpson out for lunch. Elder Hymas returns home next transfer. They have been great APs.

Fancy meeting other missionaries at the doctor's office.  Seven missionaries had doctor appointments just on Thursday.  It is a luxury when I actually get to sleep through the night without missionaries calling.

Saturday the senior missionaries went to the Battle of Lexington State Historic Site.  The site was the location of a Civil War Battle in 1861. A decade prior to the Civil War taking place, a steamer carrying a number of LDS pioneers exploded and 26 pioneers who were on their way to the SL valley were killed. Russell was serving at the temple yesterday and didn't join us.

Prior to serving in Missouri, I never realized the importance the issue of slavery was in this state. This map showing the number of slaves in each county was at the museum. 

It was sobering to read of slaves being sold as property as part of an estate. 

Senior missionaries in front of the Anderson House.  This home was initially owned as a private residence, then it was taken over as a  hospital for those with small pox and requiring amputations. It changed hands from North to South forces 3 times.  There are still bullet holes which can be seen in parts of the building.  The winding staircase in the middle of the home goes up several flights.

Sister Creer and Eileen at the  site of the Battle of Lexington, Sept 18-20, 1861.

This missionary needed to go to the doctor for treatment after receiving 4 yellowjacket stings the previous day. 

ARE YOU SURE?

In our blog entry last week, we made mention of Eileen’s statement that this has been her favorite mission.  As fate might have it, events this week have made her question that (only temporarily, this too will pass).  Last year, September and October were very hard months on the missionaries’ physical and mental health.  And now it is September again!  Just two months ago, Eileen was commenting about how calm thing seemed to be going (health wise) in the mission.Earlier this week she had a 4:45 am call preceding an early morning trip to the ER.  Then Eileen had a young sister call her at 9:45 pm saying she was having a significant health issue, and that in fact the sister was on hold with her doctor’s answering service already.  But then the young sister declined to call Eileen back and tell her what the doctor had said.  The next morning, neither Eileen nor the doctor’s office could reach the sister because she was playing pickle ball. Yesterday, Eileen had several calls before I left for my temple shift just before noon, and today she had calls from three sets of missionaries before we left for church at 8:30 am.However, among the challenges of the week were a few gems; and it is important for us to not let the chaos of the week cause us to forget the good things that happened.  

As I (Russell) was sitting in the ER waiting room with the two companions of the sick elder, I heard one whisper to the other, “What should we do while we are waiting?” The other said, “We could have companion scripture study.”  After which they promptly bowed their heads, said a quiet prayer and commenced with their daily routine, improvising the best they could under the circumstances.

The morning Eileen was trying to track down the sister who had called her late the night before, Eileen got a call from the missionary’s mother.  The mother said she had just received a call from the doctor’s office saying they were unable to contact the missionary.  The mother had no idea what was going on.  Unlike some parents who call and vent their frustrations on Eileen (it seems like people feel that can pick on a nurse when they are afraid to voice their feeling to a doctor, a mission president, or their child), this mother was wonderful.  My guess is that young sister will get a talking-to tomorrow on P-day from her mother.

Eileen’s presentation at zone conference was on the health issues with the caffeine in energy and pre workout drinks.  The morning after one zone conference, Eileen got a short video from two sister missionaries showing them pouring six cans of energy drinks down the kitchen sink.That made her day.

We had Karlene and Gary Young over for dinner last Sunday. The Youngs were here as missionaries for the first six months of our mission.  They  helped us significantly with the vehicles and also allowed missionaries to stay  with them  when a missionary had to fly out spur of the moment for mental health issues. 

Some of our senior missionaries enjoying lunch at Zone Conference.

We were fascinated by the way this service missionary was able to keep his yoyo going all during presentations at ZC.

The moon was incredibly beautiful this week. It is tough to get a good shot through a windshield.  The photo above was with my iphone. The one below was published in the Kansas City Star.

I was grateful this Elder was ok.  He received excellent care in the ER. He even made it to Zone Conference after his discharge.

Used with permission of the sisters. I was so impressed that after my presentation they poured their energy drinks down the sink and sent me a video.  Zone Conference presentation shared on previous posting..

This missionary wears a size 16 shoe and this is only a size 13 boot. We are working on getting him a bigger one. 

MEDICAL CARE PROTOCOL AND ENERGY DRINKS

THE REST OF THE STORY

Last year on our blog entry of September 3, 2023, I (Russell) wrote about an experience with an elder who had lost his car’s key fob.  Elder Wunderly returned home this last week after having served a great mission.  Because of the experience we had together, I wanted to make sure I saw him at transfers on Wednesday before he and his group of missionaries left.  On Tuesday we received 24 new missionaries.   Wednesday morning Eileen did some training prior to the missionaries receiving their new companions who will be training them.  I accompanied Eileen so that I could see Elder Wunderly and say goodbye prior to his departure home.  While welcoming the new missionaries to our mission, Eileen said something unexpected.  She spoke about receiving our call to the Missouri Independence Mission and how we anticipated we were going to be called somewhere else.  She then related how this mission has turned out to be her favorite of the five full-time missions we have served together.  

While I have known that Eileen has been happy serving here, it was still a surprise to hear her say it so confidently and publicly.  Eileen’s statement and my hope to say goodbye to Elder Wunderly in the next hour caused me to reflect on the event with the lost key fob over a year ago.  In the blog entry over a year ago, I mentioned how early in the morning, the day after the key fob was found, I was prompted to recognize that both of us missed the greater blessing: that the key fob did not work that one time!  What I failed to disclose about that prompting was something that I have not told anyone, other than Eileen once a month or so ago.  As I was thinking that morning about how I had missed the greater blessing of the car not starting, another thought came: that I was missing a lot of God’s interventions on my behalf, including being assigned to this mission.  I remember feeling/thinking, “Do you know how much effort it took to not have you assigned to one of the missions you had requested?”  The six preferences we had put down in our missionary papers were all good fits for us and for the needs of the prospective missions.  But none were what God wanted for us at that time.  God knows what is best for us and He will lead us if we are willing to follow.  One again I’m being taught that lesson, I’m just a slow learner. 

The Sheffields invited us over to dinner. The wives sat at another table across the room. The wives were mentioning that occasionally members of our church mistake our husbands for General Authorities.  L-R, Bishop Causse (Elder Sheffield), Elder Uchtdorf (Russell), Elder Bednar (Elder Dennison).  

Sister Williams went home this past week for medical issues. I (Eileen) sure love this sweet sister. The flowers she gave me 2 weeks ago are still alive on my desk. I keep thinking they will soon be dried flowers. 

We had the wonderful opportunity as a senior missionary district to watch the broadcast for President Nelson's 100th birthday. He is such a remarkable man with so many great accomplishments.  He seemed to be especially chosen for this time leading the helm of the church during the pandemic and leading with love at a time when there is so much conflict associated with politics, gender and race.

Sister Parker told the remarkable story of a newly returned missionary from Mexico who was in Kansas City helping his sister move.  The truck they were using ended up getting stolen. His precious scriptures were in the truck. When the car eventually was towed for illegal parking, it was full of beer bottles and drug paraphernalia.  The police were contacted and they found this young man's scriptures in the truck. The police officer recognized the scriptures as being something very personal and brought the scriptures to the Independence Visitor Center. Sister Parker was then contacted. She tracked the owner of the scriptures down on Facebook.  He was no longer in Missouri however his sister came to pick them up.  I wonder how many angels it took to make all these miracles happen?

The Ranes are going home this week. They have been serving doing Records Preservation. Sister Ranes keeps all of us at the office supplied with plenty of treats. We love them and will miss them.

This week we had transfers. There were 24 new missionaries who arrived, all but 4 were elders. 

We love our amazing APs Elder Hymas and Elder Timpson

Elder Wunderly has been a great missionary. We will miss him and wish him well on his pursuits in the future with his education. 

Sister Creer and I took a walking tour on Saturday of historical sites in Independence related to the LDS people. This mural showing the trails of those going west is on the side of a building here in Independence.

This is another mural painted on the outside of a building. It shows scenes of Harry Truman. It is difficult to see in this photo but it shows his quote "Its good be back home in what I call the center of the world-Independence.  I think it is the greatest town in the United States."

This building was the first courthouse in Independence. It was built in 1827 and eventually moved to this location. A gentleman on our tour was actually a descendant of the man who built this courthouse.  

President Forsyth who is the mission president of the Historical Sites Mission led our walking tour. He is standing in front of  the current courthouse for Independence. It is estimated that in the  mid 1800s, 1000 wagons left/month to head west from this location.  In 1833 Bishop Edward Partridge was tarred and feathered in front of this courthouse.

Elder Hamas and Elder Timpson took the time to get Russell his favorite treats and bring them to the office for his birthday.  They even hand chose the Disney bag specifically for Russell. 

BEING PROSELYTIZED

A couple of weeks ago, we had our neighbors over for Sunday dinner.  While talking to them about our being missionaries and the gospel of Jesus Christ did not seem appropriate at that first meeting, I (Russell) have been trying to think of ways to follow-up and perhaps take our discussion in that direction.  The only thing that came to me was maybe I could get them a watermelon.  It seemed kind of a random thought.  The next time we went to the store, Eileen wanted a watermelon, so I got two.  While bringing our groceries in from the car, I dropped one off at our neighbors.  Theotus was both surprised and appreciative, but nothing more has come from that simple act.

In the Mansion Apartments, mail is not delivered to each apartment.  You and over 400 of your neighbors each have a mailbox in a single central location.  We never have anything sent to it, so we rarely ever open it.  When we do, it is stuffed full of ads and other junk mail. Yesterday Eileen decided to check the box for some reason.  This was perhaps the third time we have done so since moving here.  In amongst the many things that quickly found their way to the garbage was an envelope with “From the residents of 2503 to the residents of 2504,” handwritten on the outside.  Inside was a tract from the Jehovah Witnesses.  As it was not near the top of the stack of mail in the box, and it did not address us by name, I believe it must have been from Theotus and Lola, from a time before they knew our names.  We the missionaries were being proselytized!  They probably looked at us and thought we were a nice young couple (relatively speaking), and they could do their part to spread God’s Word. I can now understand better why Lola looked so nervous when she first came over.  She was probably concerned that the discussion would go towards religion because of what they sent us.  And here she was eating dinner at a table over which hung a four-foot framed quote of Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  It is nice to live in a community where there are many good people trying to live their religion and sharing it with others.

This beautiful sunset photo taken at our apartment complex was taken by Elder Parker.  We have beautiful sunrises and sunsets here in Missouri.

Although the missionary department encourages all missionaries to get a flu shot, many were unwilling.  Instead of holding a flu shot clinic at Zone Conference, we are going to reward the missionaries with a Crumbl cookie if they take the initiative to get vaccinated.  Sister Beach and Sister Dow were the first to respond.

There were at least 2 dozen geese wandering around behind the mission office. 

This plaque is over our kitchen table. 

I took Sister Dean and Sister Williams out for lunch and was asked to wear light blue.  It was kind of like a family photo. Sister Williams is returning home tomorrow due to some health issues. She has been an amazing missionary. 

We celebrated Russell's birthday and Sister Creer's half anniversary by going out for Italian.  Russell and I ordered something with a wallop of garlic in it.  I was tasting garlic all night long.