EASTER SUNDAY

Today we celebrate the most important event in human history, the atonement and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Helping to share that message, the good news of the gospel, is the reason we serve as missionaries.  While our current calling to serve in the office and health care of the Missouri Independence Mission may not be at the forefront of preaching the gospel, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve those who do.

Next weekend is General Conference.  As I (Russell) thought about it, I remembered that four years ago on the Sunday before conference, we were flying back from our mission in the Philippines.  And 12 years ago, on the Sunday prior to conference, we were on the last leg of our flight to our mission in Indonesia.  Today I’m wearing the same suit I wore that day 12 years ago.  While the tightness of the waistband tells me I have expanded a bit, I hope that I have grown spiritually also.  At times it seems that what I am learning is really how much I don’t know, and recognizing just how much a struggling work-in-progress I truly am.

Last Fall, we had a rash of young missionaries who were suffering with emotional challenges, several of which had to return home.  Statistically, very few missionaries who go home early, come back to serve the remainder of their original call period.  This week we had the pleasure of picking up three missionaries from the airport. All three had gone home for medical reasons during our period here, two for operations and the third with a debilitating illness.  It was wonderful to welcome them back. 

Two weeks ago, Eileen started getting sick with a respiratory illness.  This last week she finally gave in and I took her to see a doctor.  It is great to live in a day and place where we can access good medical care.  While she still has a deep cough, she is feeling much better.  The curious part of this story is that during the last ten days, Eileen’s phone has rung far less.  We both began to wonder if the missionaries suddenly all got healthy.  Now that Eileen is feeling better, it will be interesting to see if the volume of medical calls increases back to normal.  Regardless of what happens, I will count the ten-day period lull as a blessing.

What a beautiful message we are reminded of this Easter weekend, that of the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Our daughter Heather sent us these Easter eggs with our family member's favorite scripture about Christ          and why we loved that scripture. 

I (Eileen) went shopping for a couch with Sister Creer.  We went to a warehouse near the office.  She needed to find a couch which was not quite so worn out by other missionaries. 

Sad tears at transfers. The sister in the black coat is going home early for a knee injury. 

It is getting warm enough that transfers were done outside in the parking lot.

Sister Noorda, Elder Clifton and Elder Wilhite beat the odds and all came back after having to go home for medical reasons. I was quite involved with their care prior to their return home.  It was wonderful to see them back. 

Newly arrived missionaries.  We send one group home and get the next group an hour later. It is not much rest for the Sommerfeldts.

New missionaries having just been assigned their training companions. I was pleased with the assignments and the inspiration which I knew went in to assigning each missionary their trainer.

 Inside our favorite local restaurant (Hacienda Vieja).  We try to go out  each Saturday night for date night.  We always bring back enough for another meal.

My BRIGHT IDEA?

Eileen has been sick with a respiratory illness this week and worked from home on Thursday and Friday.  So, I was kind of anxious to leave the office Friday afternoon and see how she was doing when I got a call from two sisters in Ottawa Kansas.  It was 3:40 and their car wouldn’t start.  They had driven it earlier to an appointment, but now the engine wouldn’t even turn over.  Since Ottawa is over 60 miles from the office and traffic on a Friday late afternoon would be brutal, I told them to try and get someone from the ward to jump the car, but if they were unable to find someone by 4:00 that I would drive down and help them.  Fortunately, they were able to get help from a member locally, but when that didn’t get the car running, and after having the car towed to a local Firestone and them also not being able to get the car to start either, I reluctantly became resigned to this being something that was going to take my Saturday to get fixed.

My plan was simple.  On Saturday, drive the extra car we had (it had just come out of the shop) to Ottawa, give it to the sisters, have two elders drive me back, and then have the car towed from Firestone to the nearest Chevrolet dealership where it could be fixed (and should be under warranty). 

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night around 3:30 am, don’t know why, and I can usually go back to sleep quickly.  But it’s a quiet time when I can think.  The thought came to me that rather than taking the car that wouldn’t start to the nearest Chevrolet dealership, why not have it towed back to the Chevrolet dealership in Independence?  That would get the car closer to where I could deal with it easily, and I could probably get a ride with the tow truck back from Ottawa, thus eliminating the need for the elders to have to drive me back. This was a better plan. At 8:30 am I was on the phone to the dealership when they opened, talked to the towing company, the sister missionaries who I was taking the car to, the elders from whom I would not longer be taking a part of their day, and was on the road by 9:00.  By 1:30, I was back home, and the troubled car was back in Independence with arrangements having been made for it to be fixed. My early morning idea was a much better solution than my previous day’s plan.

Then it started to occur to me, maybe it wasn’t my bright idea at all.  Perhaps it was help that I needed but didn’t recognize I should ask in prayer about.  On one hand it seems strange that God would be concerned with my trivial problems.  But on the other hand, it is comforting to think that he cares about me.  It also got me wondering about all those other brilliant ideas I have had in my life, and were they really all my ideas?  More likely I’ve failed to recognize all the times I have had promptings from the Spirit, and I’ve just pridefully patted myself on the back thinking what a bright boy I am!  I am very grateful for a patient Father in Heaven.

This past Sunday I (Eileen) went to our stake center with several other senior sister missionaries to listen to the Worldwide Relief Society Devotional. I always sit near the back in church meetings so I can have a quick exit if I get a call. The broadcast had just started when my phone rang. It was a young sister panicked because she was having severe chest pain and struggling to breathe.  She had recently had a bad orthopedic issue and will be returning home next week for surgery. My first thought was “I wonder if she is having a pulmonary embolus?”  There were no urgent care offices open near her, so my choice was sending her to the ER, or trying to have her do some self care at home.  I poked my head into the devotional and motioned for another senior sister to come out. Sister Platt is a former ER nurse who is serving in records preservation in our mission.   Sister Platt talked with the young sister missionary and gave her some suggestions. I advised the young sister missionary to check back in with me every 15 minutes, which she did. By the end of the broadcast, she was doing much better.  

One of the challenges as the mission health advisor is trying to triage situations over the phone.  I don’t want to miss something which could potentially be a serious health issue, but also don’t want to send missionaries to the ER needlessly. I was so grateful that Sister Platt was with our group and willing to share her expertise with me and the young sister that evening. 

This  missionary car is less than one year old but needed to be towed because it wouldn't start.

Elder Perry teaching Russell about finances. The Perrys are leaving in April and their replacements don't come in until June. Russell will be doing both cars and finance for a while.  It will take quite a bit of juggling of his time. 

I have never seen an elder who didn't like a donut.  Russell bought the donuts to thank them for their help, a dozen when we started and a dozen for when we finished.

We fit 12 people in the transit van to go pick up the new cars.

There were supposed to be 11 cars, but the dealership couldn't find the second key to one, so there were only 10 new cars. The Facilities Management lot is turning into a new car lot of identical looking cars. 

Difficult to see on the white car, but there were quite a few pock marks on the car from hail. The mechanic drew circles around the damaged areas which were all over the car. The estimate to fix them all was over $6,000. The church declined to have the body work done. 
 

SPIRITUAL BEINGS IN A TEMPORAL WORLD

During the last 24 hours I (Russell) have been blessed to attend several spiritually uplifting meetings.  I’m almost embarrassed to admit that it has been odd, because it is a reflection on me and the circumstances in which I serve as a missionary.  Last night Eileen and I were able to watch the Saturday evening session of conference from our stake in Centerville, Utah.  It was great to listen to the messages shared by our neighbors and local Church leaders.  This morning in Sacrement meeting, in addition to receiving the sacrament, we heard two talks from missionaries; one a young sister serving in the ward and the other a recently returned young man who had served in California.  Then soon thereafter we listened to the homecoming report of Elder and Sister Bradford as they spoke in their home ward in Oregon.  Each meeting was a spiritual feast, something I found to be refreshing and a much needed rejuvenation.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French philosopher, said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”  Too often I get caught up in the temporal parts of my assignment here in Missouri.  Being detail oriented has its advantages from an organizational perspective, but you can drown spiritually in the minutia if you’re not careful.  

This week we got word that a couple had been called to replace the Perrys.  Richard and Tracy Parker will be joining us in the office and are scheduled to arrive here in early June.  It turns out that the Parkers lived for years in the Jennings Lane Ward about a half mile from our home in Centerville.  When I was serving on the stake high council, I was assigned to their ward and have met them on several occasions.  It will be fun to serve in the office with the Parkers.  As Elder Perry is the Financial Secretary and will be leaving in mid-April, I’m going to have to learn that role before he leaves so that I can cover both positions until the Parkers arrive.

President and Sister Sommerfeldt presenting a poster signed by our missionaries to Andy Reid and his wife. Brother Reid is the coach for the Kansas City Chiefs who just won the Super Bowl.  He is a member of one of the wards within our mission. 

This is the impound lot where Russell needed to pay cash to get out our missionary impounded vehicle, it cost $380 in cash to get it out, note the office sign.

A tornado whipped through our area on Wednesday night, leaving baseball size hail. Storm photos taken from internet news.

Sister Creer is now training to become secretary to our mission president. She will replace Sister Kearns. Sister Welbern has graciously been filling in since Sister Kearns brain surgery. 

               Sister Creer, Eileen, Sister Campbell and Sister Martinsen at the RS Ward Birthday party

Some of the missionaries heading to the car dealership in the transit van 

Elder Wunderly and Elder Sturgis both quickly volunteered to drive the new truck back to Independence.

It took a lot of volunteers to pick up 10 new cars. Originally we were told it would be 13. The cars will all stay in the "lot" until Russell can get them ready for drivers. They need real license plates and monitoring devices in them. 

Russell starting the work on preparing all the cars. It is tieless Friday. Most elders take advantage of the opportunity to go without a tie. 

A TRIBUTE TO THE FALLEN

This past week I (Eileen) have had a number of things which I have been grateful to have been able to observe.

On Tuesday Sister Perry and I went to visit Sister Kearns. Sister Kearns was our mission secretary who had a large brain tumor removed last week. After seeing her health deteriorate from November to when it was eventually operated on,  it was wonderful seeing her able to walk with some assistance and carrying on a thoughtful conversation.  She was very grateful for the many prayers offered on her behalf. 

Over the years I have become quite assertive, especially when it comes to obtaining medical care.  This came in extra handy this week with  two sisters who needed immediate medical care.  One hurt her knee playing pickleball. The earliest appointment for a MRI was 9 days out, the other was a sister who needed surgery for a large  kidney stone.  The second sister was told she would get a call for surgery in 7-10 business days.  The squeaky wheel theory paid off. The MRI was done within 24 hours of initially attempting to schedule it, as was the surgery for the kidney stone.  After the surgery when I thanked the doctor for getting our missionary in quickly, he said he told his scheduler that if he had to come in on his day off he would.  He shook my hand to say goodbye, clasping both of his hands around mine, and told me "God bless you. Thank you for your work."  Every person we interacted with on the surgical day was so pleasant and positive with us.  The experience brought back many memories of working in the PACU (recovery room).  I  really loved my work, especially when I retired from the hospital and did humanitarian work with Operation Smile. I know I am doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do in this stage of life, but I was a little bit nostalgic missing my days of working in the PACU.

On Friday I attended the funeral of Cody Allen, a 35 year old police officer and a married father of two young children. He was shot while trying to save the life of a court employee, who had also been shot, while serving an eviction notice.   Our office was closed that day as the funeral was held next door at the Church of Christ auditorium and all streets were closed off except for those going to the funeral.  The funeral was open to the public.   I thought I might as well support the family in their time of grief, and get to see the inside of the auditorium which is seldom ever used.  The events of that day were some of the most moving I have ever experienced. 

The auditorium seats 6,000, with about 5,000 seats filled that day.  It was unlike anything I have ever seen. about 70% of those in attendance were law enforcement from Missouri.  All were dressed in their dress uniforms. It was obvious that there was a lot of love and camaraderie the officers had for each other. They were all seated by their area where they serve.  As the funeral was ready to begin, several bagpipers came up the aisle followed by dozens of Independence police officers. All the other officers in the building stood and saluted as their fellow officers walked by.  The family members were each accompanied by a police officer.  The service was filled with memories of the slain officer and words of peace and comfort offered by the chaplain.  There were several references to verses in the Bible including John 15:13, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. The chaplain mentioned that Cody was in a better place, watching over the rest of us as a guardian angel, preparing the way for us to go. The police Chief spoke and said with great emphasis, "Independence Police Officer Cody Allen you are eternally relieved from duty."

After the funeral a very large procession traveled 30 miles to the gravesite. Traffic stopped on both sides of the road, including on the freeway honoring the fallen officer. It was a reminder to me that there are many who are good and kind in the world, willing to fight the forces of evil. 

Saturday, Russell and I drove to the temple for our monthly senior missionary endowment session. On the way there, he received a call from two sisters saying their car had been stolen. While I went in for the temple session, he stayed in the car trying to figure out what had happened to their car. It turned out that they didn't have the required permit on their car and it had been towed. It won't be a cheap endeavor to get the car out of the impound lot--and it must all be done in cash.

After the temple the seniors usually go out to eat.  There were 14 of us who went to the Red Robin restaurant. At one point the server handed me a note. I was kind of confused and we passed the note around the table. Someone had already paid for our meal and our tip. We were all astounded. When I tried to figure out who it was the server smiled and said that  they wished to remain anonymous. Sister Christensen grabbed a piece of paper and she and I wrote a very much appreciated thank you note to the generous donor. It wasn't even the money that mattered the most, because we all gave a generous tip to the waitress. It was the fact that someone looked at us and wanted to do something kind for us.  On our way out of the restaurant I found myself looking and smiling at everyone wondering which group were the unselfish donors of our free meal. 

Law enforcement in front of the auditorium (top) and the Church of Christ temple (below)

The note given to me in the restaurant

This is what a senior missionary's car looks like  when they are ready to go home.Stuffed to the brim. 

A BUSY SUNDAY

Last week I (Russell) decided to write the blog on Saturday rather than Sunday because after our church meetings in the morning we were planning on taking a car to a location that would take up most of the rest of the day.  While I am glad we did that, neither of us would have guessed that 24 hours later we would have had so much more to write about. 

Last Sunday started for us with Eileen getting a 4:00 am call from a sick elder.  I agreed to go give a blessing to this elder with his companion.  Before I even got back, the elder called with more severe symptoms and Eileen had them head to the ER.  At 6:30 am Eileen got a call from a sister missionary with acute abdominal pains.  This time we were both dressed, so when Eileen sent that sister to the ER, we went so Eileen could be with her.  Watching the sister walking in the waiting room to manage the pain and seeing her with severe nausea symptoms, I told Eileen that it looked like a kidney stone to me.  It was also apparent that Eileen would need to stay with her and that I should look for another person to drive one of the two vehicles to Brookfield.  I ran over to Sacrament meeting, and then called Elder Dennison (a new senior elder) to see if he could both go with me to deliver the car and also drop by the hospital to give a blessing to the young sister who by then had been diagnosed as having a 7 mm kidney stone.  The morning left me grateful for several things: the power of priesthood blessings, access to good medical care, and a wonderful spouse who truly does care about the welfare of the missionaries here.

After dropping off the car, we went and found the site of the accident.  I was curious to see the “bump” in the road that the elders had hit that caused them to go airborne.   Turns out that “bump” was a steep 8–10-foot sudden rise in the road and then a drop just as steep on the other side of an otherwise straight road.  To me it looked like a man-made barrier on either side of the small stream to shelter the fields and distant homes should the stream overflow.  Conveniently, no pictures had been provided to me by the elders of the hill which functioned as their take-off ramp.  The car flew 2-3 car lengths before hitting on its’s nose, flipping and then skidding on its side into another hill which knocked the car back upright.  It is amazing what becomes clear when you see the scene of an accident.

During the two-hour drive back home, I got to know Elder Dennison better.  Perhaps it is because of the shared purpose of our work and the relatively few other adults we meaningfully associate with, that I began to feel comfortable disclosing a few personal things to him.  I also asked if he would be willing to give me a priesthood blessing once we got home.  Before Christmas I has a single episode of frank bleeding.  After seeing two doctors and having multiple tests, I was going in for a more invasive test/scoping the next day.  The test was looking for bladder cancer and Eileen has been quite concerned for the two-and-a-half months we have waited for this more definitive test.  I am grateful for the blessing and the findings the next day that no cancer was evident.

On Sunday, our District Leader, Elder Bradford and his wife spoke in the Riverview Branch sacrament meeting.  The branch is the Church unit in the center of Kansas City, perhaps the least prosperous area of our mission.  The Bradfords are going home this coming week, and this was their farewell to the branch.  During the middle of Elder Bradford’s talk, one of the friends/investigators present decided to stand up and declare that he was Jesus Christ and was called to convert the residents of Missouri.  Having served in the branch for a year, Elder Bradford was not as surprised as I would have been.  He simply thanked the man for attending and then continued with his talk.  Two young missionaries and a member of the branch presidency escorted the man to the foyer to discuss the matter further.  Inner city congregations can be interesting.

Every other Monday evening the senior missionaries gather for a dinner and FHE.  Monday evening, I presented on the humanitarian projects we were involved with in Indonesia.  Eileen helped me gather almost a hundred photos for the presentation.  I think the seniors enjoyed the pictures more than hearing me talk, so I kept it moving and we were done in half an hour.  But then the questions started.  I think it could have gone on for an hour if we had let it. 

Tuesday morning, I drove the truck into the office.  I needed to load it for the zone conferences we would be having Wednesday through Friday.  It was a good thing I didn’t wait to drive with Eileen, as she had 14 calls and text messages by 8 am.  It was a busy morning for her.

Oh, and we had two more wrecks this week.  One was while backing up in a parking lot.  Yes, the companion had been standing, as required, in back of the car; fortunately, a little off to one side. Because while the elder standing in back was distracted by another car, his driving companion couldn’t see in his mirror because of “sun glare.”  The second accident was just another deer encounter, one in which both sides lost.

Sister Campbell with Russell and Elder Dennison after getting a blessing.  She has a big kidney stone, the guy on the other side of the curtain in the ER also had a kidney stone and was moaning and swearing. At one point she called out to him and said "I will pray for you, it sounds like you are in so much pain."  He actually responded with a thank you to her. At that point she was in a significant amount of pain herself, but was quietly suffering. I was very impressed that she would reach out to someone else, even when she was hurting so badly. 

Russell, Eileen and Elder and Sister Bradford. He was our district leader, they both helped with cars every Zone Conference, and they were our eating out buddies. They go home this week. We will miss them!

Elder Albrecht and Elder Karren. Elder Albrecht makes a matching tie for each companion.  The two elders went to Hobby Lobby the night before Zone Conference to buy some fabric. Then Elder Albrecht made them before the next day.  I (Eileen) was very impressed.