This last week was transfers, a three-day process which takes place every six weeks of missionaries going home, new ones arriving, and many of the others getting moved to new locations with different companions. With the arrival of Elder Parker, the role of driving the truck and trailer during the process is no longer my responsibility. This transfer all I (Russell) had to do was be a backseat driver, telling Elder Parker where to go and when to do things. Getting used to not driving will not be a challenge.
Looking back on my last ten months as the vehicle coordinator, I find my self wondering what, if anything, I was supposed to learn from the experience. Or was it just a task that needed to be done and I drew the short straw? My guess is that it is the former, leaving me with the question, did I learn and do what God hoped I would? Frankly, I am not sure. The pace Eileen and I have had on this mission so far has not left a lot of time for reflection.
What will I do with my time now that I am no longer on call seven days a week with no scheduled missionary duties on Saturdays? On Tuesday night I was set apart as an ordinance worker in the Kansas City temple. I will be working the Saturday afternoon shift each week beginning in July. It turns out that picking up my white temple jacket and shoes when we took a missionary home to SLC last fall was not a wasted effort.
P.S. (by Eileen) Can I just say how wonderful it is to not have Russell at the office all days of the week and that we only have one person rather two people on call? It is a pretty great feeling.
The unhappy saga of feeding the homeless....The senior missionaries had a project of feeding the homeless in KC. I (Eileen) signed up for veggies knowing they would be simple to do, then Russell suggested we sign up for the main dish. We were supposed to bring goulash (if I tripled the recipe it would feed 30). I have never made or tasted goulash. We purchased all the ingredients prior to the evening serving and I cooked all the meat and veggies. Unfortunately the night it was supposed to be served we had 3 disasters; 1) our two can openers did not work for opening the 16 cans which needed to be opened 2) after we got the cans opened and had all the ingredients in the pan it turned out that our pan had a hole in it. If you have seen chocolate fountains, we had a tomato fountain going all over our counter and the cupboard. 3) our noodles weren't cooked even though I turned up the heat to 500 degrees. Needless to say it was one of the more unpleasant experiences of our mission. I tried though........; Thank you to the Dennisons for being so supportive when they knew I was so done with goulash.
Our missionaries have been asked to sing The Star Spangled Banner at the KC Royals game in August. Sister Sheffield, who has produced events on a large scale basis, practiced with the missionaries prior to transfers. She asked the missionaries if anyone had ever sung the song in parts. There were 12 missionaries who responded. It sounded awesome considered they had never practiced together. Next she filled in with the large group below. Triple awesome! I am confident that by August they will be really prepared.
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