Week Five

Our 19 new missionaries with the Mission Pres & his wife.

This week we saw our first transfers, which including 22 new missionaries who arrived on Monday in two groups. The first 19 (shown in picture) left the MTC around 5 am and had a cancelled flight to Orlando, so got rerouted via California to Philadelphia, where they got onto a connection arriving in Orlando Monday night. 

Sisters striking a creative pose.

   

We served them dinner at the church, after which the Sisters went to stay at the Mission Home and the Elders stayed at some other places. Three more, visa waiters, arrived later that night with different routing. One of our Portuguese visa-waiters finally got his Brazil visa and left today.  Our little Sister comes from the same town in Idaho where Jan was raised. The next morning they went to the church for interviews, assignments to their new "Trainer" companions and travel to their assigned areas.

Loads of baggage for the incoming & outgoing.

On Tuesday there were 16 Elders finishing their missions with final interviews, going to the Orlando Temple, and then coming to the mission home in the evening for dinner and farewells. We continued to have daily afternoon deluges of rain, which dampened the shoes, but not the spirits.

Shoes drying at the Mission Home

Jan & Sis B visiting with the departing Elders

Farewell Cake

Enjoyed much visiting, singing, testimonies, and last good-byes for dear friends. 

Last dinner at the Mission Home

Wednesday was filled with medical and office work, which also gave some rewarding visits. Jan & Sis. S gave a Book of Mormon to the physical therapist they've been working with. Thursday we received a new Sister to work in the employment resource center & helped move some furniture, recorded month-end vehicle records and received 6 more cars to replace those being sold-off or otherwise replaced. We also had a call from my former work colleague that he and his wife received their Brazil visas this week and will soon leave to work in the Porto Alegre Temple. 
Friday we continued to pick up sick and injured missionaries to take for medical tests and treatments. Received more bikes for new missionaries and shipped out some old ones to returning missionaries. Saturday we had a nice visit with the cable guy who came to fix the internet/cable receiver in our apartment. After seeing the family picture on our wall, he talked about his family and we talked about the church proclamation on the family and the values it teaches. We sent his address for followup by our missionaries.

Saturday night we talked to a man in the grocery line who noticed our missionary tags and said he was LDS. We gave him meeting times here, and he said he'd be there tomorrow. This morning we went to his ward to possibly meet him, but instead of finding him there, we were introduced to an incredible Brazilian member of that ward, with whom we enjoyed dinner this afternoon, and learned of many more Brazilian members and friends whom we had not previously identified. Also gained a better insight of Portuguese language interactions with Hispanic- and English- speaking members and investigators.