I had been anxious about where I might be called to serve and this felt so right. I have always enjoyed working with family history, although I didn't know what a document preservation specialist is. I don't tolerate the heat well, so that part of the call wasn't exciting, but I was happy that I would be close to, not only, Scott and Julie, but their daughter, Ashley and her husband, Jason, and their baby girl, Emma, who live in Prescott AZ. Also, my brother, Dennis, recently moved to Prescott.
Senior missionaries have much more leeway, both in ability to travel and in their "spare" time, than young missionaries I have since learned that I will be serving in the Mesa Resource Operations Center (ROC) Monday through Thursday from 8:00 to 4:30 and half a day on Friday. I will have the weekends "off." I will also have one additional Friday off each month.
I have also learned that I will be working with documents that have been filmed/micro-filmed, etc.prior to being released to FamilySearch. These are birth, death, marriage records and census records, as well as other types of records, from all over the world. I don't understand what I will be doing but it will be working on a computer, which I am comfortable doing.
This will be a new adventure for me, however, not as unique as when I served in the Baltic Mission from 2008-2010, where the culture and architecture and everything else was so completely new and different to me.
I'm looking forward to meeting new people and learning new things. I'm thankful, at age 82, that the Lord is giving me this opportunity to serve him.
I will miss spending time with family and friends, however several have already made plans to come and visit me.
21 July 2019
A week ago tomorrow, I entered the MTC for the 3rd time in my life. For some reason, I had some fear and trepidation but that was quickly dispelled with my first contact. Everyone was so welcoming and ready to direct me to "the next place." They are so organized there that things really go smoothly.
I think there were about 200 senior missionaries joining the 2100 "junior" missionaries. I am not assigned to a companion for this mission (by choice), however, Penny Tolman from Farmington entered the MTC the same day I did and will be serving at the Mesa ROC for the same period of time. We met Monday morning and were friends before the morning ended.
I feel very blessed to be serving with her. As a part of the training at the MTC, we were assigned to teach a few times and working with Sister Tolman just seemed natural and comfortable. We had some choice experiences.
Each companionship is assigned another companionship for certain times. We were assigned to work with Elder Michael and Sister Diana Ralphs from Ferron UT. They will be serving as CES missionaries (teaching and working with college-age young people)in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was a professor in the Science Department at Utah State and she was a teacher and then went back to school to become a Principal. They are a very humble and sweet couple and we enjoyed getting to know them. Sister Ralphs' 98-year-old mother is in a care center in Mesa and Sister Tolman and I plan to visit her there.
One of the ways we are taught to teach the Doctrine of Jesus Christ is to visit with people (in our case, Elder and Sister Ralphs) and get to know them in about 15-20 minutes and then working together to determine a need they have that we can invite them to do. We were able to ascertain a need for the Ralphs and then, seeking the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord, planned how we might invite them to do something that might help them. Elder and Sister Ralphs were doing the same thing with Sister Tolman and me.
The next day we were to follow-up to find out what they had learned as they fulfilled the invitation. Sister Ralphs shared with us that they had gone to the Temple the night before and she received a very strong impression that they needed to call one of their daughters, which they did as soon as they left the Temple. The news wasn't good. It was a very tender time as she shared and I felt inspired to share an experience from Elder F. Enzio Busche's book, "Yearning for the Living God." I am praying for them and for their daughter and we will keep in touch.
Our District in the MTC consisted of 3 couples and Sister Tolman and me. One couple is going to a Naval base in Florida. He is retired Military and they will be support to military families there. Another couple will be serving as CES missionaries in Atlanta, Georgia, and the third couple, also CES missionaries, will be serving In the New Jersey Morristown Mission.
Tomorrow morning (the 22nd) I will drive to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB) for training about my specific duties. Sister Tolman and an Elder and Sister Johnson will be there, too, as will a Sister Siders from Colorado who is going to serve in the St. George UT ROC.
Thursday, 1 August 2019
My daughter and I drove from Bountiful to Kingman AZ on Monday, and then to Mesa Tuesday morning. We made good time and enjoyed the time together, grateful for A/C, especially when the car thermostat registered 124 for a minute, then dropped to 122. Fortunately, it continued to drop--to 115.
I had a surprise as we pulled up to my home for the next 22 months. I had googled the address and saw a large, lovely, 2-story home with a small concrete block home next to it. I had been told that 4 young missionaries lived in the "big" house and I would have the "casita" next to it. I told Julie that the house looked nice and she said, "Mom, I think yours is the converted garage in the back." She was right.
My two Julies were such a blessing (my daughter-in-law, Julie K who, with my son, Scott, lives in Gilbert, and my daughter, Julie S who drove me to Mesa). They unloaded the car and helped me put things away and get settled in. I have excellent A/C and a fan in the living room and bedroom. I'm actually wearing a windbreaker this evening because they are so effective.
After we had pretty well put things away and, because I wasn't going to be able to begin at the ROC on Wednesday (because the lead missionary was in the hospital and he was the only one who could set me up on my computers at the ROC), the Julie S and I were going to spend the night with Scott and Julie. We opened the door and saw the Monsoon had arrived in full force. We waited a few minutes (Julie said they don't last too long) and then decided to go. Julie S ran out to my car and got 2 umbrellas and I put my raincoat w/hood on, and we made a run for the car. We got drenched but it was so warm and we just laughed and counted it a part of the adventure. Of course, by the time we drove a block, the rain stopped.
The next part of the adventure was trying to get internet service. Julie S. called Cox Communications and made all the arrangements for the service person to come Wednesday afternoon, which he did. He looked around everything, inside and out, including the attic, and determined that, because this is a casita and, therefore, the address (620 1/2) is not recognized, it would take the landlord to consent to the necessary work. I had a call into the landlord but still have not heard from him. My son, Kevin, suggested I might be able to use my cell phone as a hotspot. My son, Scott (through whose plan I have cell service) called Verizon and had his plan modified/changed and I have internet!
I have met the 4 young missionaries in the "big" house. One is from England, one from Houston TX, one from Highland UT and I forget where the 4th one is from. They don't have a car and I admire their faith and commitment to go out each day in this heat. I don't know how they do it, other than that the Lord blesses them. I have surely felt His love and help for me.
Tomorrow, I will begin serving at the ROC. I'm excited to learn all that I will be doing and to meet the others with whom I will be serving.
