July 30, 2011

Today was another “catch up day”. I got into the office early and began reading missionary letters for the week. I made two calls to Salt Lake City to follow up on some missionary reassignments that are in the works. I reviewed a branch boundary realignment requested by one of the district presidents and reviewed the handbook on how to go about requesting approval for such a change. The assistants came in and offered to help me get the plane tickets for my trip to Vanuatu and my second trip to New Caledonia. I took them up on that offer. I tried to make hotel arrangements for my trip to New Caledonia. I contacted the place we had stayed last time and they told me they were booked up due to the Pacific Games that are happening there at the end of August. I found a hotel that President and Sister Ostler had in the contacts file and did get a reservation there. It was the last room available according to the internet site I used. (Whew!) I was able to finish the missionary letters for the week and respond to some who asked for input or advice. I dealt with e-mail from on parent of a missionary, fielded a call from another missionary who was feeling threatened by his companion, discussed an upcoming transfer in Vanuatu with the Senior Zone Leaders there, and late afternoon got a call from a pre-field missionary from Vanuatu who had been called to serve in the U.S. He had landed in Nadi around noon today and didn’t know where he was supposed to go. Fortunately, Elder and Sister Barfuss were in the office when the call came and we were able to determine, after several phone calls, that the service center had arranged for him to catch a plane from Nadi to Suva at about 2:30 pm and be picked up by a taxi to bring him to the temple patron housing. He had missed his plane and didn’t understand what he was supposed to do. We had our Nadi Elders (who are used to meeting people at the airport and getting them over to the bus to come here or to a connecting flight here although they are normally set apart missionaries either just coming or going home). They went to meet the prospective missionary and help he get to the domestic terminal and arrange to get on a flight to Suva. After we finished that fire drill, Jan and I drove over to a different grocery store nearby to pick up a few groceries. We were quite pleased by the clean and tidy store and will probably go back there often. I spent the evening working on translating some talks into French. I will be asked to speak a number of times at the district conference in New Caledonia in September and need to get more material ready.