Yesterday, in the Saturday morning session of conference, we were delighted to hear about/from three men that have had a significant influence in our lives as missionaries. First, our former stake president, Michael Strong, was called as a General Authority Seventy. Elder Strong set us apart as missionaries for our first and third full-time missions. He was also the catalyst for getting us to set a date of when we would first serve when he challenged all the High Priests and their wives to do so in a meeting he conducted about 15 years ago. Second, Juswan Tandiman was called as an Area Seventy. We became aquatinted with Elder Tandiman during our mission to Indonesia. And third, Elder Alexander Dushku spoke on how our testimonies are not usually based upon a single revelatory event but are built over time through a series of small or less dramatic experiences with God. Elder Dushku, in his former role as our former stake president, set up apart as missionaries for our missions to the Philippines and Missouri. We may address more on conference next week, once we have had time to hear all the talks and ponder them.
This week we again picked up more vehicles, five cars and seven trucks, which will be driven by the young missionaries. The young elders love helping pick up the vehicles, particularly the trucks, since the don’t yet have Orbcomm (aka TIWI) devices installed in them. We were able to get all but one of the trucks out to the missionaries on Thursday. The last one I (Russell) delivered Saturday morning to Clinton, MO, an area at the southeast corner of the mission 60 miles from Independence. That still leaves us with 21 Nissan Rogues sitting, just waiting for license plates to arrive. Presently we have those plus 10 vehicles waiting for transport to auction in the Facilities Management (FM) lot. It’s getting a bit crowded down there and I may be wearing out my welcome with the FM personnel.
Yesterday, I arrived back home just 15 minutes before conference was to begin. I was greeted by a call from two of our missionaries about 100 miles due north of Independence, in another very rural area. They had a minor accident with their truck, a vehicle they picked up on Thursday. Eileen is surprised that as I talk with the missionaries after an accident that I’m so business like and lacking in emotion. I believe getting frustrated just won’t help, them or me. Hopefully the case study I’ve prepared for zone conference this week on the accident in which a car was totaled will.
Eileen had two experiences this last week that touched her heart. While she endeavors to help each missionary, a few stand situations out and make her feel grateful for the opportunity to serve.
The first involved a young elder who has struggled with a challenging illness which started last fall. He is a talented runner and received offers of several scholarships before his mission. When first diagnosed, his illness was quite concerning to the doctors here, to her and to the nurses in Missionary Medical in SLC. Missionary Medical strongly advised that he return home until his symptoms resolved. A video conference with Eileen, the missionary, his parents, the local doctor and our mission president and wife took place a few months ago. It was decided that since he was still functioning adequately and he wanted to stay, that he would be allowed to so for a few more months while his symptoms were monitored. This past week a CT scan was done of the effected part of his body. The elder called Eileen on Thursday morning to say it was all clear and the doctor told him he needed no further follow-up. Both were ecstatic and grateful. The elder told Eileen, “Sister Healy, thank you so much for being my advocate during this difficult time.Without your help, I would probably have been sent home.” Actually, the credit goes not just to Eileen, but to the doctor, our mission president and more importantly the Lord. But his comment did make Eileen feel good.
The second incident took place on Friday. There are times when you know you are inspired in making certain decisions. This was one of those experiences for Eileen. She had a missionary call and say he was hurting. This elder had a very serious accident before his mission and has had a number of surgeries, one side effect being his high level of pain tolerance. He asked if he could come in and talk with Eileen. Eileen said her first thought was to have a specialist here look at him. Then the thought came to her that we don’t want a doctor here to mess with his previous surgeries and cause a complication. She set up a conference call with his parents. In talking with his parents, the elder became quite emotional when his mother asked if he was hurting. His injury is causing significant pain. He knows there is another major surgery looming in the future, which if needed soon, would require him to return home. He has worked so hard to get here, and really does not want to go home yet. Eileen asked if the parents could contact the doctor who did the multiple surgeries prior to his mission. Within moments she had the parents, the doctor and the missionary on a group call discussing the situation and possible ways forward. The missionary also had some questions about the possibility of being a service missionary should he need to return home early. Eileen was able to contact the service missionary coordinators (Elder and Sister Cooper) for the local service missionaries so that they could explain how under a fairly new program, missionaries could return home to be transferred to a service mission regardless of how much they could physically do. Sister Cooper did a beautiful job of explaining how this program might work for the elder if it is decided that he needs to return home early for surgery.
Eileen spent three hours with this missionary talking about his medical situation and the various options available for him. As he is looking at a nine-month recovery period when he has his next surgery, I think he was grateful that he had a mission nurse who could relate to his situation. Eileen told him that when she was his age (19) she spent seven weeks in the hospital after having had back surgery (46 years ago today) and had to postpone her wedding.
Eileen contacted President Sommerfeldt and then suggested the elder ask President to give him a priesthood blessing. They also discussed this weekend being conference and seeking both strength and guidance from the Spirit as he prays and listens to Church leaders to help him understand what God wants him to do. Hopefully he can get some guidance as to how best proceed.
The Dennisons assignment is to work with the Young Single Adults. They have been lifesavers in helping Russell with the vehicles. They have gone with us numerous times to pick up new cars.
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