BIRTH OF TWO BABIES

Christmas for a missionary can be a very different experience.  On one hand, you are away from and missing loved ones with whom you normally celebrate the holiday. And on the other hand, without the distraction of normal holiday decorations and commitments, you can focus more on Jesus Christ and the many blessings that we enjoy because of Him.

 

A few nights ago, Eileen looked contemplative, so I asked her what she was thinking about.  She told me of a woman she had seen that day.  Nina is a single mother of three, due with her fourth child later this coming week. She is estranged from her parents and none of her children’s fathers are involved in her or her children’s lives.  The circumstances of this woman’s daily life are difficult and without much hope for a positive resolution.  We decided to buy Nina a large box of baby diapers and a Walmart gift card as a baby gift.  While I know that what the woman and her children need most is the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives, we have to start somewhere and trying to be her friend seems a good place to begin.

 

So, this Christmas, Eileen and I are celebrating the births of two children.  Both born into humble circumstances, one being our Savior and the other a child few will even notice having been born.

 

Last week, I (Russell) mentioned that a senior missionary had been diagnosed with a brain tumor.  At the time we had not heard back from the missionary about her willingness to have her mentioned by name in our blog. Sister Kearns is our mission secretary, a full-time live-at-home missionary.  This last week she shared with us and all the members of our senior missionary district the details of her diagnosis.  It was just six weeks ago at zone conference that she was commenting to Eileen about her headache.  In just a few weeks, she has gone from there, to seeing several neurosurgeons and awaiting a surgery date sometime in the next two or three weeks.  I am impressed with Sister Kearns’ efforts to continue working as long as she possibly can, and her positive attitude of accepting whatever God has in store for her.

 

On a more humorous note, the missionary bound for Mexico that I went looking for last week, is the son of a General Authority Seventy.  This last week, Eileen and Sister Kearns were coordinating with Church Travel to get his medical and travel arrangements made quickly. Unfortunately, Church Travel would not commit to when they would have him travel and Eileen was trying to schedule appointments for the elder to get his prophylactic rabies vaccinations.  He and his companions had driven to the office so that I could exchange out their car for a new one.  When Elder Gerard heard Eileen say that she didn’t know how to proceed with coordinating the vaccination with his tentative travel schedule, Elder Gerard proposed an idea that no one in the office would have dared suggest.  “Why not call my dad?”  Elder Gerard’s father is in the Europe Central Area Presidency.  Eileen let the young elder call his dad and it was almost funny to see how fast Church Travel reacted to a General Authority’s request to set a firm schedule that Eileen and Sister Kearns could then work around.

 

On Friday, I (Russell) drove to Tipton Missouri, a two-hour (one-way) drive east of Independence.  I was having trouble scheduling a time with the elders to have them trade out their car for a new one.This being the last of 14 new cars, I was anxious to set the last of the used cars up for transport and sale.  So, I drove the new car to them, changed the Orbcomm device from the old to new car, oriented the device and then drove the old car back to Independence.  When I drove up to the address of the elder’s house, I didn’t think I had the right place.  The house had a garage and a covered carport, but no mission car. Come to find out, the elders don’t park in the driveway because that would require them to either back out of the driveway or back in when they parked their car.  Since missionary driving rules require them to have the non-driving companion standing behind the car every time it backs up, the missionaries try to park in such a way to never require them to have to back up.  I firmly, but politely instructed them to start parking the new car on the driveway under covered parking.  My guess is that my instruction remained in their memory as long as, but probably no longer than, I was in their sight.  

Photo of Sister Kearns MRI. Posted with her permission. The golf ball looking circle in the middle, is her brain tumor. We feel so grateful that it was found as quickly as it was.  She is still working 7 days a week to catch up with her work before she goes in for surgery. 

Our grandson is serving a mission. Today the primary children had the opportunity to decorate the missionaries as if they were a Christmas tree. A local member took the picture and sent it to our daughter.

Floor to ceiling boxes throughout President Sommerfeldt's office. Sister Perry has done a great job of figuring out which missionaries don't have any packages yet.

This is just 1/3 of the boxes. There are two more walls covered with boxes. The missionaries don't know that they are hidden in here.

We visited the historical Bingham-Waggoner Mansion estate on Friday evening. It is only a few blocks from our office. Despite the fact that I (Eileen) received 3 calls during our tour, it was lovely to see and hear about the history of this beautiful building. 

The Youngs are good missionary friends of ours. Unfortunately for us, they leave to return home in a few weeks. They made this cutting board with an engraved logo of the Missouri Independence Mission. I told them this will never be used as a cutting board. It will be a memento of them and our time here in Missouri.

This is a photo of some of the Healy family getting together this past week. The Healys do not normally take photos, but I was grateful that they got this photo and it was shared with us.