August 23, 2011

Today I did quite of bit of administration in the office. I spoke with my 1st counselor for over an hour discussing issues he wanted to raise regarding needs in Vanuatu. I met with several members who came in for various interviews including a temple recommend and discussion of other needs in branches. I finalized an application to request a boundary change for two branches in New Caledonia and send that off to the area presidency for approval. I slipped home for lunch and took the opportunity to call mom and chat for 15 or 20 minutes. It was really good to talk with her and learn how things were going. This afternoon I read my letters to the president from the missionaries. I really enjoy this time when I learn neat stories that happened to some, respond to questions raised by others and generally get the pulse of how things are going in the mission. I hope to get a better percentage writing each week. Both Jan and I have been surprised that I get letters from less than half the missionaries on any given week. By mid-afternoon I took a break and took Jan to the grocery store to pick up items to help feed the 26 missionaries coming to our house tomorrow for leadership training. Since we drive on the left side of the road with a steering wheel on the right, this is always an adventure. I still feel like I’m driving in a mirror. Today was quite traumatic. I was confident I knew how to get to Jan’s favorite butcher shop. When I got there I was shocked to find it located in a different spot near the round-about than I had remembered it. I told Jan that I have lost my confidence in what I thought I’d already learned about driving in SuvaJ.

I knew I had a first time temple recommend scheduled as a phone interview from New Caledonia at 6 this evening. I was nervously waiting for the missionaries in New Caledonia to chase down a copy of the temple recommend questions in French. They knew when I had to have them. At 5:50 pm I got the e-mail with a scanned copy of the questions. (whew!) The call went very well and the interview was successful. I got home a few minutes later than I had suggested to Jan. Dinner was ready and waiting and we enjoyed that time together. We then spent about an hour discussing issues we might want to raise with the missionaries tomorrow. Jan remember a couple of food items that we had forgotten to get that afternoon so we took a quick trip to the store before we set up the living room/dining room area with two extra tables and all the chairs we have in the mission home. We will need to bring 2 chairs from the mission office to complete the set up for 26 missionaries and Jan and me. The room is really quite a good size and allows for some pretty large groups to come to the mission home for food and training. I am looking forward to seeing so many of our missionaries tomorrow!