August 3, 2011

This morning I put together agenda’s for a couple of missionary training meetings that are to take place in each of our three countries over the next month. I also interviewed our two new sister missionaries called to serve in Vanuatu. Our shipment from Arizona was delivered and Jan and the two new sister missionaries worked the rest of the morning unpacking boxes. Shortly after lunch, we had our orientation meeting with the sisters to go over with them what we expect from them as missionaries and what our mission culture is all about.

Our mission scripture:
3 Nephi 5:13
Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.

Our mission motto:
Faith is the Power
Obedience is the Price
Love is the Motive
The Spirit is the Key
Christ is the Reason.

Our Purpose (as stated in Preach My Gospel)
“Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.”

We also recite D&C 4 and then sing the mission song. The following are the words to the song:

Fiji Suva Mission Song

We are marching in the service of our Lord
Endowed with power from on high
Armed with Faith to teach His Holy Word
For the Lord is Nigh – oh

We labor in the service of God
With heart, might, mind and strength
Ever onward, holding with faith the Iron Rod
Ever onward, forward with faith we serve… our…God.

Faith’s the Power and Obedience the Price
To serve our Savior valiantly
Love’s the Motive and the Spirit the Key
Through eternity – oh

We labor in the service of God
With heart, might, mind and strength
Ever onward, holding with faith the Iron Rod
Ever onward, forward with faith we serve… our…God.

In district meetings, zone conferences, zone leader training councils, and leadership training meetings, these items comprise our Mission Rally which we recite to start the meeting.

The missionaries really get into the song and spice it up with several harmony parts. I think that most of the missionaries appreciate the message in each element of our Mission Rally and find some sense of comradery and motivation when we review it.

After the orientation, we gave each sister their letter indicating their first stewardship assignment and the name of their trainer.

Following our orientation with the sisters, they went down town to shop for things they still need for their mission. Jan stayed back to prepare dinner. I went back over to the mission office where I had a meeting with Elder and Sister Sunderlage. They had spent the last couple of weeks on the island of Tuvalu. Tuvalu is the 5th smallest nation in the world. We have a branch of about 80 active members there. They came to report back to me how the meetings went there. Following their report, I slipped back over to the mission home and helped Jan with final preparations for our welcome dinner. At 6pm the two new sisters, the assistants, Elder and Sister Barfuss and Elder and Sister Sunderlage joined us for dinner. The evening was very pleasant as we hope the sister missionaries felt of our love and desire for their success.

After the dinner and everyone had left, Jan and I unpacked several more boxes and we rediscovered what it was we thought might be needed in Fiji back in early May when the shipment was packed up. Generally, we overdid it. But, we’re glad we have our things now and can get them stored away and get on with life.

August 4, 2011 – Today was somewhat more calm than normal. I was able to get caught up on e-mail communications and provide a District President with some training on how to call a new Branch President. I finalized research on how to apply for a change in branch boundaries and communicated those instructions to our District President in New Caledonia. Since I had to communicate the instructions in French, it took me quite a bit longer to draft that e-mail. We had our second staff meeting this morning. Each person in the office had been given the assignment to study the office administration manual for one to three areas of responsibility. In this meeting, each reported back on the main bullet points of responsibility in each area. They were to highlight the key responsibilities and anything we were not currently doing. It was quite a good exercise for everyone. No one had previously seen the office administration manual (I had requested it in electronic form from a contact in Salt Lake.) I think we should be on track to make a few improvements in how we work in the office. This afternoon, I began preparations for my training responsibilities in the upcoming Zone Leader’s Training Council and the Leadership Training. The finance secretary and car czar both met with me to review some processes we would need to follow in order to allow the Elders in Vanuatu to buy some bicycles.

Jan took the new sister missionaries to the 4:00 pm temple session. While they were there, I was reminded that we had purchased tickets for a fund raising dinner for a young man preparing to go on a mission. The dinner was to start at 6:00 pm and last until 10:00! Two of the elders in the office were planning on attending but didn’t anticipate getting there until after 7:00. I figured that once Jan got out of the temple we could go down. Since the dinner was in downtown Suva and I don’t yet have much confidence in my driving (especially in the dark), I had arranged for Elder Barfuss to take us down. Jan, not remembering the dinner, had taken the sisters into the Matron’s office after the temple session to give them some additional counsel about the temple. About 6:30, I went over to the temple and got a message to her about the dinner. We got to the dinner about 7:00 pm and they were just getting ready for the blessing on the food. We timed it pretty well! We ate and spent some time talking with a few people at the dinner. We then hitched a ride back to the temple from one of the Senior Couples (Elder and Sister Larsen) who are working in the Church audit area. We got home and talked a little about our upcoming fireside. After all, the day was pretty full.