THANKSGIVING TURKEY, HAM & VENISON (ALMOST)

This last week has been busy with the first five of over a dozen new cars having come in, the Thanksgiving-day holiday, another ER visit, and our first snow of the year.  According to State Farm, insurance claims for collisions with deer rise significantly in the fall when deer are mating, with November having the highest claim frequency. And deer tend to be most active around dawn and dusk, particularly between 6-9 p.m.  With our over 90-car fleet, statistically, it should come as no surprise that we would have such an accident. Wednesday, shortly after 6 p.m., I (Russell) got a call from two of our young sister missionaries. They were on a quiet country two-lane highway, saw the deer off to the side of the road, slowed down and watched it going away from the road; only to then have it turn back around and run into the oncoming light of their car’s headlights.  The sisters said they were okay, and that the car wasn’t really hurt too bad.  I asked if they had “bagged” their deer. To which they responded that they couldn’t find it or even any blood.  I think all three of us were pleased that the deer survived, but it did mean that we wouldn’t be having venison for Thanksgiving dinner.

 

On Thanksgiving Day, we had a fabulous dinner with most (19 of 25) of the senior missionaries.  One benefit of having lots of senior sisters is that they can cook well, really well!  We had eight kinds of pies. Eileen had been worried about the young missionaries cooking their own turkeys and thought she might be spending Thanksgiving evening dealing with cases of food poisoning.  We did have a few such cases, but it wasn’t from the missionaries’ cooking.  I chalk that up as a win.

 

Friday afternoon/evening, Eileen found herself back at an ER not far from Independence with two young missionaries.  Eileen came home that night frustrated, after taking the missionaries back to their apartment (they got there via ambulance).  She felt that the situation could have been easily avoided. The next morning Eileen was up early, making her medical notes about the past night’s ER visit in the Church’s Missionary Medical computer system.  Around the time she finished, another young missionary called her.  He was just reporting in following some medical challenges he had recently experienced.   He told Eileen that he was doing significantly better, which given the circumstances was pretty miraculous.  After the call, I could tell Eileen was still frustrated over the events of the previous evening.  I knew she was justified in her feelings, but also recognized her being upset wasn’t doing her or anyone else any good.  The thought came to me to ask her to focus on two blessings.  The first blessing being that one month earlier, Eileen had recorded in her Missionary Medical notes regarding the applicable missionary from the night before, that this very issue was likely to occur if corrective action by the missionary was not taken. The second blessing being the call she had just received from the young elder.   Both the timing of the call and the fact that he did report in (Eileen generally has to chase the missionaries down to follow up with them) was unusual.  Both events were blessings, easy to overlook, but blessings, tender mercies, nonetheless. My guess is that I often miss God’s attempts to bless/help me during my difficult times because I am too focused on my problem of the moment.

Two of our zone leaders, Elder Perry and Elder Smith.  Elder Perry cut his finger pretty badly on Thanksgiving. It wouldn't stop bleeding and the urgent cares were closed. We came up with our creative way to bandage it. He told me to say that his companion threw an exacto knife at him and he didn't catch it correctly and it cut him. In reality he was cutting his fishing line and cut his finger in addition.

                                                     Senior missionary Thanksgiving dinner.

                                                        The options were plentiful

We had Elder Fackrell (R) and Elder Dodd over to our home last week. I sure was impressed with them both.

The first snowstorm of the year. The 27 degree weather made us really miss our garage.

We went on a shopping spree for a young missionary who didn't come to the mission field with the clothing he needed. The Youngs joined us. It was a very nice outing and he seemed very appreciative. 

After a very frustrating evening the previous night in the ER, Russell was trying to cheer me up. We went and bought a replacement computer for the one I have been using which is on its last leg. We found this restaurant right around the corner. The restaurant was one of Russell's favorite in Houston where he spent a good part of his career. Chuy's is gaudy, loud and has delicious TexMex food. We were both surprised to find it, and my spirits were definitely lifted.

          This was a humongous and delicious piece of tres leche cake we split for two different meals. 

We went to pick up five new vehicles for our mission. I (Eileen) was really impressed with some of the gadgets and technology in the car. Since I sold my car before this mission and it was a 2007, I haven't seen some of the cool things cars can do now. Russell's car is a 2013. The missionaries are driving much newer cars than all of the senior missionaries.  It takes Russell about a half hour to transfer the driver monitoring device from an old to new car, but that is still a long time when the temperature is close to freezing.

THREE MONTHS IN MISSOURI

Eileen reminded me that it was three months ago today that we arrived here. While we had some very busy times in Indonesia and Germany, those occasions usually involved traveling to other places within the mission. Here the work just comes to us via our phones with missionaries calling us needing our help or reassurance.  Our predecessors told us it would be 24/7, but in truth it rarely starts before 6:30 a.m. or extends after 10:30 p.m.  Thank goodness the missionaries have to sleep!

In the past three months we have had five automobile accidents, the front ends of our cars tagging the other vehicles four out of five times.  The most recent altercation took place early Tuesday morning (see picture below).  After getting the car towed to the shop, I followed up with the missionary driver to get some additional information.  The sister asked me, “Do you think we can have our car back by Thursday for transfers?”

 

For the past two weeks, Eileen has been reviewing the files of the 23 missionaries that came in on Friday.  A number of them have medical issues that she followed up on by calling the parents to learn more about them.  A couple of the missionaries’ medical issues sounded quite challenging, enough so that calls were made to Missionary Medical to see if perhaps a mistake had been made.  Missionary Medical responded by agreeing with Eileen’s concerns.  We have had challenges with Missionary Medical over the last few months when they have looked at issues purely on a remote, emotionally detached basis, never seeing the missionary or taking into account the opinion of the missionaries’ presiding priesthood leader.

 

On Friday afternoon we picked up the new missionaries from the airport and Eileen interviewed each of them, discussing any medical needs or concerns.  It was interesting to me to see the change in Eileen after meeting the individual missionaries.  The missionaries went from being names on a piece of paper to her fellow missionary and someone for whom she had assumed responsibility; some combination of primary care nurse and mom (Grandma?) had just kicked in.  I can now understand better the role and perspective of Missionary Medical, but if I am ever in need of real medical help, I hope the mission nurse and mission president are the ones calling the shots. 

The accident that occurred earlier this week quite early in the morning. The car had 1400 miles on it. 

This little creature was in our office parking lot one evening. Russell and the grandkids think it is a fox.

President Sommerfeldt at transfers talking with the groups of missionaries before they saw who their next companion would be. 

    We had 23 incoming missionaries. They had all gotten up that morning at the MTC at 2:45 a.m. and were pretty tired.

                                         Some of the new missionaries with their newly assigned trainers.

                I love these missionaries, they just haven't mastered the art of making a heart very well yet. 
 

Forty turkeys were distributed on Thursday to the missionaries. Each zone will be cooking three turkeys for their zone. The nurse in me is concerned that Thanksgiving evening might be a very busy night with potential food poisoning. I typed up instructions on how to thaw and cook a turkey, with strict instructions on how long it could be out before being thrown away. The other senior missionaries thought it was pretty funny when they read my instructions about washing the turkey, I included that it should be washed with water only, no soap!  

The past week this lady drove her car into the bushes at the church, came out of the car with nothing but a robe on and her eyes covered with an eye mask.  She did her business on the lawn and then proceeded to drive a half mile up the road driving backwards at about 50 mph.  I called the police twice but they never came.

On Friday we went to the old courthouse. It was built in 1827.  We had a very interesting hour learning of the history of this building and also Independence. 

THE REST OF THE STORY

Recently, during a conversation with Sister Sommerfeldt, Eileen was reporting on a number of health challenges that she was dealing with the young missionaries on. After listening for a while to the long list of issues, Sister Sommerfeldt noted something that Eileen and I often forget.  She said the problem with our roles is that we usually only get to see the problems of the missionaries and that we rarely are in a position to see all the good things that are transpiring in the mission.  We don’t see very many of the good things that are taking place in the mission among the 80-90 percent of the missionaries that don’t have significant medical or driving issues.   

 

But occasionally we do see things that bring a smile to our faces, two situations come immediately to mind.  In mid-September, we found ourselves at a hospital one evening with a young sister missionary.  The recommendation from Missionary Medical in SLC and our Area Medical Advisor was that the sister should return home.  President Sommerfeldt and Eileen felt that perhaps there was more to the story and that trying to resolve the underlying problem here was the right approach.  Well, now it is two months later.  The underlying problem seems to have been resolved simply by the young sister taking an inexpensive over-the-counter medicine.  Had the sister never come on the mission and ended up in the emergency room, she probably could have gone on for years suffering with a health problem that once properly diagnosed was easy to treat.

 

The second situation involves the sister who was bit by a dog when she and her companion were trying to deliver a requested Book of Mormon.  About a month has gone by since then.  The sister has had the prescribed rabies shots, and her arm is healing from the bites.  Eileen was talking to the sister the other night and learned that they are now teaching the man to whom they were taking the Book of Mormon (and who owned the dog).  They haven’t gone back to the house; they meet and teach in a nearby park and the dog's fate, which was decided by a judge two weeks ago is never discussed.

 

The missionaries in these two situations mean a lot to Eileen and me, as we have seen more of the story with them than we usually do.  My guess is that there are many such situations going on all the time, we just don’t see them.  There was a radio program years ago by Paul Harvey titled, The Rest of the Story.  Paul Harvey would tell a story, take a commercial break, and then come back and tell an interesting additional fact or two that made the story far more interesting.  I realize I need to spend more time trying to get to know the missionaries better, to see them more than as just someone suffering a medical issue or a driver of one of the mission cars.

Our Elder getting casted for a broken radius and ulna. I was grateful he didn't need surgery.  Maybe there should be a rule that missionaries can not play capture the flag in the dark with glow-in-the-dark flags!

Eileen went with our missionary to concussion physical therapy.  The physical therapist wanted him to do visual exercises to the tick of a metronome using a metronome app. Since missionaries are limited on what kind of apps they can use, Eileen bought the missionary an actual metronome on Amazon and Russell hand delivered it to him. 

We found this garlic press in our kitchen and didn't need it. Our friends from the MTC who are serving in Kenya had told us that their predecessors asked them to bring a garlic press which they thought was ridiculous. We were going to mail this one to them, but were shocked to find out that the minimal shipping would be over $200.  They will have to settle for a photo instead. 

WHEN TWO OUT OF THREE IS BAD

Shortly after we arrived in our Centerville home a week ago Thursday evening, Eileen got a call regarding a serious medical issue with one of the missionaries.  That call reminded me that we can run (over a thousand miles), but we cannot hide.  The call also was an early start to the most difficult week, from a medical perspective, we have had so far on our mission.

 

You can generally count on Monday, the young missionaries preparation day (day off), to start off being relatively quiet of both medical and vehicle issues.  No one is going to try and go to the doctor or get the oil changed in their car when they could be doing fun things with other missionaries.  But as the day goes on and the consequences of those “fun” activities transpire, Mondays turn out to be the day of the week when most accidents occur.  Eileen tells the missionaries that things are serious if one or more of the three “B’s” are present, those being: bleeding; broken bones; and not breathing.  We had two of the three on Monday.  Both bones of an elder’s left arm were the casualty of a flag football game.  Another elder’s surprise head butting of an automatically opening church building’s heavy metal door led to bleeding and a concussion.

 

Earlier this week we had another missionary who had to go home suddenly due to a medical issue.  It was heart breaking to watch, being helpless to relieve the missionary’s suffering.  There are times in life when things seem so unfair, so unjust.  After serving diligently, to the best of one’s ability, to need to be accompanied home at the end of your mission is hard for even the most faithful.  It was an honor to take this young sister to the airport, and then to watch her as she met her father who had flown in to take her home.  As her father came through the doors where we were waiting for him, he opened his arms and his daughter ran to him.  Eileen commented to me, perhaps that is what it will be like when we pass from this life and meet our Father in Heaven again.  

 

The missionaries' mental health issues in this mission have been hard on Eileen, and President and Sister Sommerfeldt.  We are blessed to have a medical doctor and a therapist, both members of the Church, close who can help with the missionaries.  Eileen is great with physical medical issues, but emotional issues are something we have dealt with a bit in our family but never in her professional nursing life.  For the last 9-10 days, we have had the blessing of assistance from a retired psychiatrist, Dr. Anderson.  Brother Anderson has been away from counseling missionaries for a while as he has had some serious heath issues himself.  Eileen was hesitant to burden him too much with our missionaries’ challenges, to which he said something to the effect of, “ I’ll let you know if it gets too heavy for me. I figure God doesn’t need a psychiatrist on the other side, so maybe He will let me stay here so I could help the missionaries.”  I know that he will be of great value to the young missionaries he works with in our mission, and I also know his assistance is a great relief to Eileen.  He is an answer to my prayers and those of many others,

The first frost of our mission on November 1st. It certainly gets cold here with the humidity.

We received this note from a lovely, kind, thoughtful missionary.  Definitely a keeper memory from our mission.

It was a beautiful reunion between this missionary and her father. I couldn't help but think that it was similar to what we might feel when we go  to the other side of the veil and our loving Heavenly Father or older brother Jesus greet us with a tender embrace.

Our missionaries from the Paola district, Russell & I, and Sister Hunsaker having lunch together. There were two other elders in the district but one had spent the night before throwing up.  Russell went to the store and bought him several bottles of Gatorade and Sprite.

Smothered homemade potato chips with BBQ pork, cheese, guacamole and pico, fried pickles and sweet potato tots accompanied our BBQ sandwiches. Definitely not for those on a diet. 

HOME, OR GOING HOME?

With two missionaries going home early each of the last two weeks, I (Russell) really didn’t think things could get more eventful this week; but they did.  In addition to having three days of zone conferences this week, during which I and some of the senior missionaries dealt with cars in the pouring rain, we once again had two more missionaries return home early.  The first of the two, we were asked to escort to SLC where the missionary was met by parents and other family members.  We had only to wait a few hours after dropping off this missionary before Eileen received a call from Missouri, forecasting the first of this coming week’s challenges.

 

The sister missionary we accompanied home had been taken by ambulance to the hospital just a week before.  Others, far above our paygrade, decided it best that she return home, where she could better access the medical help she required.  Normally, only Eileen would have accompanied the sister missionary.  But since Eileen is having problems with her foot and in a boot, and the sister needed to have someone push her in a wheelchair, I got to go along. Although disappointed at having to go home early, the sister was delightful. By the time we got to SLC she was asking Eileen to come to her wedding someday (no current boyfriend).  As we approached the place where she would meet her family, I asked her if she wanted to continue in the wheelchair or be walking when her parents would first see her.  She said she wanted to try and walk.  Eileen helped her stand up and then the sister locked arms with Eileen, wanting her to be right by her side until she got to her parents.  After hugging her father, the sister sat back down in the wheelchair.

 

The second missionary that went home this week was an elder that we have both grown to greatly respect.  He had been diagnosed several weeks ago with a problem that could require him to go home.  The doctor here felt the problem needed to be addressed soon, while our Area Medical Advisor and another doctor in the Missionary Department thought it could wait until after the elder’s mission was finished.  The decision was made to try and see another local doctor for second opinion.  When we went with the elder for the second opinion appointment, the office couldn’t find his appointment that Eileen had made.  As the elder and his companion had driven an hour and a half to get there, Eileen was not happy.  The office suggested that we see a different doctor the following week at a location in Kansas.  While Eileen was frustrated, the elder said that he felt after praying about it, that he was going to have to go home, and so he was not as much frustrated as resigned to that expected result.  The next week, we and the missionaries made the long trip to the appointment on the other side of town. We were seeking the second opinion from a partner of the doctor who gave the first opinion.  This doctor had a unique specality directly applicable to this Elder’s situation.  He told the elder and Eileen that he disagreed with his partner, that the situation was actually more serious than first diagnosed, and that it did need to be addressed as soon as possible.  The doctor knew that this was a second opinion, and when told where the elder was from said something to the effect of, I know of a doctor at the University of Utah who specializes in this.  With his referral, the elder’s parents have been able to arrange to get the elder in quickly following his return home.  Eileen was commenting how she felt the Lord had led them to the second doctor, which would have only occurred if the first scheduled second opinion appointment had not taken place.  It was as if God was saying, “Good job Eileen in seeking a second opinion, you’re just not seeking it from the right doctor, let me help.”

 

As we were driving away from the SLC airport Thursday evening, Eileen asked me, “Does it feel to you like we are coming home or leaving home (in Independence)?”  It was strange that both of us felt like home was in Missouri.  Even after sleeping in my own bed for a night, I felt like I needed to get back home to deal with problems there.  Yes, there are problems ahead, and no, I still don’t love cars; but it is the concept of “back home” that pleasantly surprises me.

 

We did get to see our son Jon for a few minutes.  He is doing a great job of taking care of the house, for which we are very grateful.   

For our Monday Senior Missionary FHE, we went to the Midwest Genealogy Center. I was told it is the largest public genealogy library in the world. There are mounds of documents and microfiche there. I (Eileen) found it quite fascinating. Russell was not able to attend due to work.

I found this 1955 phone book from Boulder, Colorado. I lived in Boulder from 1964 until marriage

This book is over 100 years old and is one of the books our records preservation missionaries are scanning.

Elder Christiansen, who is one of our missionaries working in this library, showing other senior missionaries a book from 1914.   Elder Christiansen served as a young missionary in Indonesia about the same time that Russell did.

When we first got here, I was dismayed at how many missionaries did not respond to my requests regarding their health. I figured instead of being negative, I would label certain missionaries gold star missionaries. Russell thinks it is like being in primary, but indeed our missionaries are only 6 years out of primary.  When they truly take the effort to be diligent about their health and report back to me when requested, they become a gold star missionary for that transfer period.  I write them a customized note praising their effort and they get to pick out something out of my gold star box.  One missionary grabbed the bottle of Tylenol PM in the box and said excitedly, "I need this so badly."

                                         Our young missionary returning home. 

 

 

TWO EARLY RELEASES AND DOG FLEA BITES

Yesterday morning as we were cleaning the apartment, Eileen asked me if I had any ideas for the blog this week.  At that point the week had looked a lot like the prior week.  We had two more missionaries return home early and a visit to the emergency room.  We now have had 25 percent of the missionaries from the group that arrived shortly after we did go home early due to health reasons.  

 

On Thursday evening, we had just gotten back from the gym when Eileen got a phone call from a distressed sister missionary. She was justifiably concerned about her companion’s health and Eileen recommended that she call an ambulance (how was that for my being non-descriptively discreet?).  After getting cleaned up quickly, we headed out for the hospital, arriving just as the ambulance did. While Eileen was in the room with the sister, I was out in the waiting room with her companion.  After talking for quite some time with her, I realized that the two young sisters had, one now and the other previously, the same rather rare health issue.  Both Eileen and I were rather amazed thinking, what is the chance that these two sisters would be assigned to serve together?  As Eileen wrote to our mission president, “I don’t think that it was just a coincidence that these two sisters are companions.”  And what she didn’t say to our mission president, or the young sisters was, and what is the chance that those two sisters would have a nurse that also had experience with that same health issue.My role here with the vehicles is not one that lends itself to a lot of spiritual experiences.  However, Thursday night, in an emergency room, I had one; clearly seeing God’s hand in taking care of His missionaries.

 

I (Russell) decided that I wanted to go see where the missionaries are living outside of the Greater Kansas City area.  I also wanted to see what driving conditions were like out in the country. Driving a truck with an Orbcomm device (aka TIWI) in it, would let me experience what they are going through every day. Eileen was interested in seeing what the health care was like out there, so I drew up six one-day trips that we will take over the next few weeks. Our housing coordinator is also new and wanted to join.  On Friday we took our first trip to Atchison and Leavenworth, both in Kansas.The trip was both informative and fun as we took the missionaries out to lunch.  Eileen and Sister Hunsaker (housing) were quite surprised when making a turn at 5 miles per hour, the Orbcomm device’s woman’s voice shouted out at me, “Watch your speed!”  I really don’t like that lady.

 

Once a month we go with the other senior missionaries to an afternoon temple session.  It was great to both not have my phone tethered to me and to experience the wonderful spirit in the temple.  As I was sitting there I thought, maybe I could do like several other senior missionaries and serve as a temple worker, maybe a Saturday evening shift.  Eileen and I have both been told by our predecessors that since we are on call 24/7 that we could never do that.  That thought stayed with me as I left the temple yesterday and persisted for about an hour, at which point I got a call telling me that two of our sister missionaries had been in a car accident.  For the next several hours I dealt with the ramifications of the event which ended with our meeting the tow truck at a body shop where we left the vehicle.  I’ll go on Monday morning and get the repair process started.  I am grateful that neither of the sisters were hurt.  But the apparent message in answer to my pondering of could I serve as a temple worker on Saturday nights was loud and clear – NO!

 

Shortly after we got home about 8:30 last night, Eileen got a call.  It was from the sister missionary who was bitten by a dog last week and had a visit to the emergency room. Turns out she and her companion had been to a new member’s home.  That member also had a dog, not one that likes to bite people, but one that has fleas that like to bite people.  The sister was covered with bites and was calling for medical advice.  After telling the sister how she should deal with the bites, Eileen suggested that the sister best avoid dogs altogether.  

We visited the elders in Atchison, Kansas, birthplace of Amelia Earhart. It seems quite rural, so when I saw a sign for a hospital we decided to check it out. I was excited to see not only a helicopter pad, but a medic-vac helicopter coming in for a landing just as we arrived. 

                      Sister Megan and Sister Anderson are currently serving in Leavenworth.

We have 4 missionaries stationed in Leavenworth, Kansas. As we passed this building I wondered what it was. Turns out it is Leavenworth penitentiary,  The walls are 40 feet high and 40 feet below ground. 

TWO EARLY RETURNS AND A DOG BITE

The past two weeks have been difficult ones for Eileen, our mission president and his wife, and several of the missionaries.  She wanted to talk about one situation last week but I told her she needed to wait a week, until after that young sister had returned home. I (Russell) did not contemplate that we would actually have two return home early in the same week.  I have heard it said that 80 percent of a mission president's problems are due to 20 percent of the missionaries.  From what I see it is more like 90-95 percent due to 5-10 percent as being more accurate.  The vast majority of our young missionaries are happy and hard working, truly striving to do their best.

Last week I said that the medical issues of the missionaries here were about 50 percent physical and 50 percent emotional/mental.  Upon closer review, recently, the physical medical issues are more like just 30 percent.  The emotional toll involved with these cases are not just limited to the individual missionary, but also their companion, the mission president, and my companion.  It is hard to watch all of them struggle with these difficult issues.  While I am not directly involved, I do see and hear a lot. Last week we had two sister missionaries come to our apartment to talk to Eileen.  After they were on their way, Eileen got another call from an elder who had similar serious emotional issues that needed immediate attention.  Since we couldn't be in two places at once, Eileen had to call the mission president and ask him to deal with the second case.  My guess is that I may be writing about that situation next week.

Through out all this, the other senior missionaries have been very supportive.  One couple took the sister who came to our apartment midweek and let her stay with them for 24 hours until transportation home could be arranged.  Another recently released senior sister missionary accompanied the young sister on her flight home the next day.  Normally Eileen, as the mission medical advisor/nurse would have accompanied her home.  But President Sommerfeldt nixed that idea quickly.  We have too many other similarly critical cases/situations right now and he would not consider letting Eileen leave.

Thursday we had a sister get bit by a dog.  They were delivering a book of Mormon that had been requested.  The bite required stitches and involved a lot of emotional angst suffered by the missionary and her companion.  Eileen spent quite a bit of time with helping the sisters and talking to the missionary's parents. After much discussion and review of the situation it was determined that the sister should receive the rabies vaccine, which she is now getting.

This was a very nasty dog bite. Frightening for the sister missionary and her companion. 

             It's amazing how missionaries manage to get flat tires. This was pretty unbelievable. 

             I guess you know rain is a novelty when you have never seen bags to hold wet umbrellas.

Twenty three new missionaries arrived  on Friday. We were supposed to have four more, however the other four were visa waiters and they had their visas arrive before their departure from the MTC.

                                   

                                                       Newly arrived missionaries

Lots of packages were waiting for the missionaries from home. If it does't fit in the suitcase I guess the parents ship it. 

We went to the 200th year celebration of Moroni appearing to Joseph Smith. This photo shows copies of the Book of Mormon in different languages with President Forsyth there to answer questions. He is the president of the historical sites here in Missouri. There were displays and speakers by other denominations who also believe in the Book of Mormon. 

    Books of Mormon were on display from throughout the decades. Also a replica of the golden plates.

Polynesian dancers entertained at the celebration. We are not sure what this had to do with the 200th anniversary, however the dancers were very good. 

PROGRESS

We must be adapting to our work load.  This week we were able to go to the gym four times after work, and then on Saturday morning go to Adam-ondi-Ahman for a few hours.  Now that is not to say all was quiet during those times.  Eileen received a call just as we walked into the gym before she started her workout Thursday. She ended up returning to the apartment and spending the evening working with missionaries. I got a call Saturday morning after being on the road only five minutes. But that is still progress!

Today during sacrament meeting, both our phones rang.  We are supposed to have them with at all times so we can be available to help the young missionaries.  Eileen's call was about a young elder and then a text about a young sister. Both were important.  My call regarding a vehicle was not urgent, but the caller thought it was.  

In the Philippines it seemed like the bulk of Eileen's work revolved around physical ailments of the missionaries, here it seems to be about 50% physical and 50% emotional challenges. While reading the medical histories of the 28 new missionaries we have coming next week, Eileen noted how that many have a history of emotional issues.  That prompted her to look back at the current missionaries we have serving.  It turns out that approximately 40% of our missionaries had something of this nature noted in their pre-mission papers.  Combined with those who have been first diagnosed here in the field, it seems half of our young missionaries have had or are currently experiencing emotional challenges.  We figure that more are sent here because we have access to Church Family Service's counselors next door to our mission office. I believe we are fortunate to live in a time and place where such resources are available.

It was one of the Church Family Service's counselors that called Eileen this morning during church.  Last week that counselor mentioned to Eileen that it used to be that young people first experienced being away from home while away at college or in the military.  Now with young men serving at age 18 and young women at 19, the mission field is where many are first experiencing living away from home and having to deal with its related challenges.  I used to think it was odd that missionaries seemed to have more emotional issues now than when I served decades ago.  It is probably just a result of both missionaries serving at a younger age and emotional issues being better identified and openly addressed than when I was young. 

Sister Louder (L), Eileen, Sister Gillette, these sisters are our sister training leaders. They are awesome!

The area known as Adam-ondi-Ahman is located 70 miles northeast of Independence, Missouri.  It is 

a place of beginnings, departures and returns. This is where Adam and Eve first dwelt when they left the Garden of Eden.  Three years before his death, Adam called his posterity together, blessed them , and the Lord appeared unto them.  It is the place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient  of Days shall sit as spoken of by Daniel the prophet.  (Taken from the Ensign Peak Foundation website)

Signs are posted on many of the trees warning of poisonous snakes

                                                 

                                                    We saw several deer while at the site.

Down a path from Tower hill there is a very large stone perched on top of another stone.  We don't know if this has any meaning other than being unusual.

Adam - ondi - Ahman is the only mission in the church which is presided over by the prophet. There are several full-time couple missionaries serving here, they are responsible for taking care of the grounds and making sure they always look beautiful.

THE LAST WAGON

We thought this weekend would be the first during our time here when one or both of us didn’t have to go into the office and work.  We actually went to the gym and made it to 10:15 AM before things happened which required Eileen to go into the office.  Fortunately, we were able to pick up what she needed quickly, and she has been working on the ‘project’ most of the day yesterday and today. 

 

We were able to watch General Conference, and yesterday two talks resonated with me (Russell).  Elder Bednar referenced a talk given by Elder J. Ruben Clark in 1947 which centered on those he called “they of the last wagon.”  Elder Clark “praised these anonymous and uncelebrated heroes who, day after day, week after week, and month after month, choked on the dust stirred up by all of the wagons rolling in front of them – and who overcame the relentless obstacles they encountered along the way.”  

 

Perhaps Elder Bednar’s talk resonated with me because over the last six weeks I have thought of myself more like the Street Sweeper character from the cartoon Peabody and Sherman.  It’s funny how I remember things from when I was very young.  The image of this cartoon character following behind the parade, sweeping up the mess the parade made, depicts how I see my current role at times.  However, in the cartoon I don’t remember this character ever saying anything; unlike me who has done more than my share of ‘murmuring’ to my companion and muttering to myself.  I need to repent.

 

Elder Rasband’s talk at the end of the afternoon session yesterday also struck me.  Instances where a General Authority has commented on senior missionaries in General Conference are fairly rare and an Apostle just devoted his whole conference talk to all to it.  The story he recounted of his parents serving a mission and helping to bring a family into the Church was touching. Having had an experience during our last mission of doing something similar, I could relate.  And appropriately, he addressed the fact that most senior missionaries are called to do a wide variety of things, many not directly associated with bringing the gospel to non-members.  Elder Rasband said, “Dedicated service to Jesus Christ will inspire and bless one’s family, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”  That promise alone, from an Apostle of Jesus Christ, makes this worth it.

 

I’ve mentioned to Eileen that our roles here in the mission are in someways similar to utilities, which if they work properly nobody notices.  My role being a bit like that of the electric utility, which if it does not work properly is a great annoyance to all and hindrance to the missionary work.  Eileen’s role is more similar to that of a water and sewer utility, which if it doesn’t work correctly is a crisis and mandates a relocation. As I read my grandson Andrew’s letter to his family yesterday, I thought of Friday afternoon when I was taking a car to the shop because some elders had hit a few cones on the highway and I was also dealing with another missionary’s gas card that had fraudulent transactions on it, I found myself hoping there would be someone who would similarly help him as he serves in Wisconsin.

 

                                              Russell feels sometimes like this street sweeper

Twice a month we have a senior missionary FHE with a guest speaker. This month it was Brother and Sister Freestone. They had some very interesting stories about their time as mission leaders in Greece.  The photo below shows the location Moroni in Greece.  Brother and Sister Freestone are now serving in the Kansas City Temple presidency.

I (Eileen) brought work home for the weekend. We have 28 new missionaries coming in on the next transfer. Seven are waiting for visas to other countries. I go through every single missionary recommendation and set up doctor appointments for those who need to have medical management, document any allergies or concerns and then call the parents if I have questions.  Fortunately we have an LDS doctor who has been great to work with and will see the new missionaries and do Telehealth visits when they get transferred. I make the appointments online for the missionaries even before they arrive in the mission field. I definitely don't want a missionary to run out of meds or have a serious medical issue shortly after they get here and not have them set up with a primary care physician. I didn't realize Russell would be taking a photo of my desk as I stepped out of the room, sorry it is such a mess.