THOU SHALT NOT COVET

In Exodus 20:17, the Lord revealed through Moses the last of the Ten Commandments.  “Thou shalt not covet they neighbour’s house . . . nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”  The dictionary defines coveting as, “To wish for greatly or with envy.”  Jesus said, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life consistently not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” (Luke 12:15)

Until just recently, I (Russell) never dreamed that just performing my missionary calling as a vehicle coordinator could lead a number of the young elders to possibly transgress the tenth commandment.  Almost all the vehicles in our mission are compact SUVs, but last week we got the first of several (hopefully) compact pickup trucks.  In a number of the rural north, east and south areas of our mission, many of the roads are not paved and trucks fare better than cars.  On Thursday we drove to Maryville, near the Iowa border, to exchange this new truck for the elder’s SUV.  I was amazed at how easy it was to make someone’s day and turn them into the envy of many of their fellow missionaries.

The last two weeks have been difficult ones for Eileen.  Like most of her weeks since arriving six months ago, the missionaries have had a number of health challenges, several serious.  But what has made the last couple of weeks abnormal is the number of contentious interactions she has had with a few very unhappy parents and Church medical professionals who opine from afar, having never seen or talked to the young missionaries whose lives they are affecting. 

One situation, which at first, I viewed as just tragic, I’m now inclined to see it as unfortunate but surrounded by a number of tender mercies; mercies and love extended by many.  On Thursday, during our drive to Maryville, Eileen got a call from a young missionary who was suffering with a serious issue.  I consider it a tribute to Eileen and her relationship with the elder that he would trust her enough to call.  To meet the needs of this elder, a number of senior and young missionaries were called upon to help on very short notice.  It was heartwarming to see the love exhibited to this elder by his fellow missionaries prior to his return home on Friday.

We drove  these elders to get some medical records. Elder Besaw (on the right) was very  friendly to everyone including the medical records cashier.  It was fun to see him in action. 

It seems like a ritual that missionaries find a way to mark their territory when they have served in a certain location. In Mound City it was a goat's skull. In Marysville it is a surfboard. It must have been here a long time as I didn't recognize any of the elder's names on the surfboard.

The Marysville apartment had two big Christmas trees.  This one was decorated with balloons. I didn't ask if they keep it up year round.

Elder Mortenson and Elder Johnson with their brand new truck. It even smells new inside. Here is hoping it doesn't get in a wreck anytime soon. 

These were on the road going home from Maryville.  They looked like something off a futuristic movie.

                                                          Elder Hunick and Eileen

Dinner at Olive Garden with senior missionaries after a temple session

We were able to attend a Super Bowl Sunday organ recital at the Community for Christ temple. 

  The pipe organ was huge.  This is with the perspective of the tall corkscrew spire going up from the auditorium. 

This organ recital has occurred every Super Bowl for the last 25 years. The organist was excellent. 

There were definitely a lot of Chiefs fans in the audience. 

Jan Kraybill was the organist and was extremely talented.  She did one song which was mostly done with the pedals in honor of the kicker for the Chiefs.  The beginning song had bits and pieces of Taylor Swift's songs. The audience loved it. Since we are not familiar with what songs Taylor Swift sings it went right over our heads.