Here are all the sister missionaries in our mission. There are 107 of them (the young ones). Plus another 20 or so senior sisters. We had a sisters retreat on Saturday. We had a guest speaker, Sis. Elaine Dalton, the just released General Young Women's President. She was amazing. Plus a social worker who talked about self esteem, and our mission president and his wife spoke also. His wife is really a neat lady. She planned the day (with the help of the Sister Trainer Leaders), gave a talk, and prepared all the food all by herself (Café Rio salads for 120 people!). She looks very tired all the time, and its no wonder. She is on the go constantly. They only have a few more weeks before their mission is over, and she is very tearful every time she speaks.
The Sister Trainer Leaders put on a skit that was hilarious. They did a little piece about each Disney Princess, singing songs they wrote the words to based on the songs in the Disney movies, and had costumes and props all related to how each sister is unique and special, and has an eternal destiny. It was so incredible. Everyone was laughing so much it was hard to hear all the dialogue, but was really fun. They are a very talented group.
Sister Dalton was very funny also. She was up there giving her talk when her phone in her purse rang. She said, "I'm just going to see who it is." She went to her purse, looked at the phone, and answered it, right in the middle of her talk. It was her son. She told him she was in San Jose giving a talk to a group of Sister Missionaries. She then put him on speaker phone, and we all heard him say, "You're in San Jose? I was going to ask you to babysit tonight!" She told him she had him on speaker phone, and asked him to say a few words to all the missionaries. He said, "Just tell them to stay happy and keep smiling." She then said, "Well, I'm kind of busy, so I'll call you later." When she hung up, she said, "He'll never call me again!" Isn't that incredible??? She then went on to tell us her "Be a Pro" program. It has 4 elements: pray twice a day, read the scriptures every day, be obedient, and smile. She made amazing promises to us if we would just do those 4 things.
Sis Watkins, the mission president's wife, told a story about when she was in college. She had been studying the scriptures a lot, and trying to know the gospel so well she could someday serve a mission. She and a friend went to a protest one day, where a bunch of people were protesting the church. She was confident she could talk to someone and help them see how wrong they were, so she got into a very animated discussion with a young woman. This gal had been dating an LDS guy, and when she told him she had read the Book of Mormon and knew it wasn't true, he broke up with her. She became very bitter. She and Sis. Watkins "Bible bashed" for about a half hour, and they each became more and more frustrated. She finally realized she wasn't getting anywhere. Her friend finally stepped forward, took the lady in her arms and hugged her. She told her that Heavenly Father loved her, and wanted her to know the truth. She said, "Won't you give it another try? Open your heart and read the Book of Mormon once more, and then ask again. Will you do that?" The lady burst into tears, hugged her back furiously, and said, yes, she would. That taught Sis. Watkins that love speaks louder than words, and is more powerful than all the knowledge we think we have.
We had a very busy week, training the missionaries in 4 Stakes how to start our Mid Single Adult outreach, and visiting some of them ourselves. It's good to be busy.
The heat has broken, and it's back to being in the 70s. Feels good.
Glad to hear that Rob is posting on Facebook. Dad and I really need to get back on there so we can be friends with our family!
Hope to hear from everyone this week. Have a great one! We love and miss you all.
What ended up being your plan for the outreach program? How many singles is that again? Sounds like you are very busy, and I don't suppose that is going to let up any time soon, right?
ReplyDeleteBoring here again, but in a good way. Most exciting thing that happened is that Ripley let me trim a couple of her toenails the other night. Yes, that is exciting! She has nails like marble and they don't really wear down like Rocky's do (he spends all day outside running around and she is more of an indoor dog). And she had a bad experience having them trimmed at the vet, so we have to have her sedated to get them done now and it is very expensive. Hopefully she is trusting me enough now that I can do them a little at a time. She is such a sweetie but is very wary about having her feet touched.
I planted some cosmos seeds yesterday, and surveyed a little in the garden. Most of our perennials need to be redone. It's been 7-8 years since most of them were planted so I guess that's normal? Normal for here maybe. But it is going to have to wait until we get back from vaca. Just 8 more days! Yay!
Love to all!
Our plan for the outreach is to send the young elders and sister missionaries out to contact each person on our lists (about 1500) in person at their homes. They are taking invitations to a barbeque at that "estate" I have talked about that is on Monday. They are inviting them to Church and social activities. They are finding that a lot of them have married or moved, but are actually finding some, too. The single adults have a magnet ward, where all singles 31-45 are invited to attend in one place, instead of the 30 or so wards that are in the 4 stakes. It helps them meet others their ages. That ward is hoping to double the number of people who come there through this effort. Sure hope that works!
DeleteGlad Ripley is letting you take care of those hard as rock nails! She sounds like Dad, as far as foot touching (hehe). I'm glad Dad can cut his own toenails!
I love cosmos - hope they grow well up there. I think I was replacing my perennials every 3-4 years on Swanbridge, because they would get out of control. I wonder what they look like now?? The tomato plant we put out on the patio is growing fast. It has lots of blooms, but no tomatoes yet.
Can't wait to hear about your cruise. We are a traveling family, aren't we? Hope we hear all about Amy's trip when they get back. They return, and you leave!