It was our last full week at the office and it was one of our busiest weeks also. It always feels like the work of a mother--mothers work SO hard and accomplish a lot, but their work is never done.
We were excited to see how transfers would go with President and Sister Ahlander. They were to do transfers after only four days in the mission, and we wanted to help them as much as possible so that it would go smoothly. We thought about them all morning as they picked up the new missionaries at the airport and then went to the mission home to have breakfast and take the famous first pictures that I would then mail to the parents. They and the assistants told us that it went well, and they were even on time to the Alexander building where we meet them to start their orientation.
I was impressed immediately with opening talk given by Pres. Ahlander. It was so upbeat and positive and it seemed like he had already been the president for so long! Sis. Ahlander was the same way, with such a wonderful and encouraging smile on her face. Every interaction she had with the missionaries was endearing.
I follow Pres. Ahlander with my presentation and pass out the new missionary handbooks that I have made to the 22 new missionaries. Sis. Sudweeks follows me and then Glen follows. Sis. Ahlander follows Glen. His last powerpoint presentation and it was kind of sad!
Our new missionaries were at the MTC the same time that the Ahlanders were and they were at the Marriott Center to see the amazing Missionary Worldwide Leadership Training meeting, which they were so excited about! They are pretty tired at our training because they got up at 3:30 a.m. at the MTC to catch their plane to Las Vegas. We served lunch after the morning orientation and it's always fun to talk to them as they fill their plates with pizza and salad. This seemed like a great group. We then clean up the kitchen and head back to the office to continue working while they are being trained by Elder Dana.
We come back at 4:30 with the mail and packages and to pick up the papers that I left with them to fill out. We knew it was VERY HOT outside, but check out the outside temperature that registered on our car!
Pres. Ahlander interviews all 22 missionaries during the orientation and then at 5:00 he presents the new missionaries to their trainers and all the missionaries who have come to transfers. It was our last time to sing "Called to Serve" with these missionaries--it was so emotional! I looked out across the cultural hall and knew every face and every name--and compared it to our first transfer when we were so overwhelmed and only knew a handful of missionaries! I was just filled with wonder at the change that had taken place. The transfer went smoothly and it was amazing to us that the Lord's work just goes on with a new mission president!
We said goodbye to three of our missionaries who are departing this month and we will really miss them: Elder Seaman, Elder Ringer and Elder Pulsipher. We drove home at 7:00 with a lot of feelings and knew that we would miss being at transfers as much as anything!
On Tuesday, as usual, the zone leaders came in and my heart was full knowing that this was our last day to experience that as well. This is a typical scene around my desk, where the missionaries gather and enjoy each other.
We gathered for our last picture of them and expressed our love to all of them. They are Elders Murry, Dowdle, Herlin, Parker, Perez, Tews, Jones, Butler, Sister Hanson, Sister Christensen (sister training leaders), Elder Park, and Elder Wilcock. We will miss Tuesdays at the office too!
Elder Kredt and Elder Ririe, Mesquite's zone leaders, came in later too after their drive into Las Vegas.
On Tuesday night, Elder Manning and Elder Wilkerson (Redrock's new zone leader--Elder West had been in our ward for the last 6 months and now Elder Wilkerson would now take his place) came over to our condo to pick up his camera and we had a wonderful visit.
On Wednesday I worked as hard and as fast as I could to finish the new leadership letters to the missionaries and the letters to the parents of the newly arriving missionaries. The week after transfers is always my busiest week and this one was busier than usual because we had to talk to Pres. Ahlander about a lot of things and I was showing Sis. Sudweeks how to do a lot of things.
On Thursday we celebrated July 4 by first going to our ward breakfast and flag raising ceremony. Can you see Elder Yee and Elder Madore with Glen on the far left?
We went outside for the flag raising ceremony and it was really good--and really hot.
We were told by our ward members that there was a "small town" parade held about half a mile from the church known as the Summerlin Parade. Of course we wanted to go see it! We walked with them and Elder Manning and Elder Wilkerson where they had staked out a spot at 5:00 a.m. and put up a canopy. This "small town" parade lasted over about two hours and had the neatest floats, military groups, Governor Sandoval (Nevada's governor) Senator Dean Heller, and all kinds of other entries, and was absolutely unbelievable! We loved it and had so much fun there with the Judds.
Even Star Wars!
An amazing group of Native Americans in native dress and doing a dance. It was awesome! Possibly Shoshones? We're not sure.
Even though it was so hot, we were so glad to be able to see it. We loved it!
After it was over I went back to the office for a few hours to finish the letters that needed to be sent. It was so funny because the assistants were also there getting their work done and so were the Sudweeks!
That night, the Larkins had invited us to their home for a barbeque and swimming. So sweet! Here is Melanie Larkin with her daughter Jane who made these red white and blue dipped strawberries. So cute! Melanie prepared an amazing meal. Isn't she the cutest lady?
They had rented a slide for the kids and a lot of the adults went on it too. We couldn't resist going down either! It was so fun. We had such a great evening with them and were able to meet a lot of Wayne's family, who were so warm and friendly--especially his 86 year old mother who was an incredible lady!
On Friday I was invited to go to lunch with Sis. Hanson and Sis. Christensen who are amazing missionaries. We went to Pollo Loco and talked about what experiences they had that helped them decide to go on a mission. We had so much fun talking!
On Friday night we went out to dinner with Jay and Valerie Chapman at Garfield's, which was located on the edge of a small reservoir near Lake Mead Blvd. It was a gorgeous setting and we had a great time. Valerie even gave us a plaque and Willow Tree figurine. So sweet!
All day Saturday we cleaned and packed and put the furniture back to it's original place and cleaned and packed some more--12 straight hours! What a crazy feeling to pack up the last year of our lives!
We were thrilled to be invited over to have dinner with Ron and Nancy Yocum--we sure needed the break! It was a yummy dinner and we had so much fun talking--and then they gave us a gift of chocolate and lotion, body splash etc. from Bath & Body Works. So sweet! We have loved all these wonderful people from the Buffalo Ward and will miss them so much. They will be on our eternal friend list. And today we will go to our last Buffalo Ward meetings. So sad!
