The day after I last wrote, Rick suddenly zoomed to the highest stress level he'd experienced so far- describing it like trying to juggle 200 balls all at once, dropping all of them, and only occasionally catching one as they bounce all around him. So often, we feel we are just running to take care of the next most pressing matter and never really get ahead of anything. Or so it seems. It's never done, we're never ready, yet it's enough. God takes the rest and it's a miracle to watch it...
TODAY IS OUR ONE MONTH MARK! I am taking the time to record something now before we meet with Elder Beheshti later tonight and start a 3 day mission tour on Monday with our Area Mission Specialist, Lee Donaldson. We'll be grateful when we get to so something for a second time (thereby having some experience doing it) However, what we just passed through this week was an epic accomplishment of one huge anticipated first, filled with massive amounts of stress and superior highs-a pattern I'm noticing always seem to go together. And it feels good to take a breath and reflect...
Somehow we made it through our first transfer with 30 brand new, well-prepared missionaries arriving who, with the exception of all those potentially leaving to their originally assigned countries when they open up, will be ours through their entire mission! 
Thanks to the airlines this whole batch arrived sporadically and scattered, coming to us in 4 groups spread over 2 days! All our plans were obliterated, luggage was scattered to far flung locations and companions were left alone. Transport vans and drivers were stretched over extra days scrambling to plug the holes, but it actually worked out beautifully in the end. I need to have more faith that this will be the case in the future when it comes to doing God's work, but I'm still learning to trust.
All 30 were to have arrived together. but only 15 came as expected. The first half of a group of 14 arrived two hours late and the next day brought 1 more who had been stranded in Idaho Falls just in time to join our group of outgoing missionaries for the evening. Her solo arrival put her here at the precisely the time we were hosting the 13 departing missionaries for dinner, holding an evening devotional and sleeping in our mission home. The final 7 who had been stranded in Dallas for a day 1/2 arrived around 1:00 am. and we were up again at 4:15 that same morning to get the departing missionaries up to go home. We fed them in 3 waves as they left for the the airport and then roused the new missionaries who had come in after midnight, got them fed, trained, fed again and delivered to their various assignments across the mission a day later than planned. 
As we collapsed last night into bed after only 2 hours of sleep, we felt an overwhelming gratitude that all the missing luggage and people had been delivered where they belonged and that they had not only been prepared, but had been watched over by angels and the generosity of a stranger…
After over-hearing they’d been bumped off their flight in Dallas and would be forced to wait it out until the next night at 10:30 pm. a man identifying himself as one, “not of our faith” insisted on giving them $200 dollars cash to get them by. Despite the gracious refusal of the missionary, he explained he’d been helped by members of our church in the past and it would be his honor to pay it forward in their obvious time of need!
What a tribute to those nameless Latter Day Saints who had served him before and how comforting it was that the result of it was shared with a group of new missionaries fixed on their purpose who conducted themselves in such a way as to remind him of that kindness. How fitting it would come to a group of young men and women headed to a mission where service has been such a significant focus over these past years!
God really does look out for his missionaries! "And whosoever receives you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." D&C 84:88
Additionally, 13 really stellar missionaries went home, which was one of the sweetest experiences of our mission so far. I had been unnecessarily worried about how they would receive the news that we were holding a devotional and testimony meeting after the special dinner rather than sending them to play volleyball for the night like the last MP had done. So much so that I texted my boys, one nephew and called a friend (a former MP wife) to calm me down and assure me we were providing a fitting end to their missions. In deed it was! I shutter to think what we all might have missed without this opportunity to reflect and share with each other!
How I wish we could have just bottled up the lessons that were shared to pass to any missionary who needed a reminder of why they do what they do! For Sis. Clawson, whose arrival the day before had been severely delayed in Idaho Falls, her sweet attitude was rewarded with spending an evening surrounded by missionaries ending their missions, reflecting on all the ways God had been in their work! As she put it- It was a privilege to begin her mission with the end so firmly in mind. Their expressions of faith and growth through the Savior will remain a huge motivator to help her persevere and finish strong -despite the obstacles she will encounter. She, and we, were reminded how worth it this all is! While we will continue to stress over things we cant control and over people who we have this brief stewardship for, I have every confidence that we will continue to have bright, joyful experiences where angels minister in the form of strangers, capable young mission leadership, caring missionaries who serve one another and offer us their forgiveness and love!
When I started this letter, I could hear Rick on a young missionary-lead leadership training call where they were involving him in a creative game of jeopardy to reinforce the leadership principles they are teaching each other. As I'm concluding this letter, I'm hearing them ask him to share his feelings about the principles they are teaching and allowing him build them up and lift them in love. It's sooo sweet! He is telling them that he knows perfectly the overwhelm and inadequacy that many of these newly called leaders are expressing and bearing His testimony that they will supported in their efforts to lift each other and carry their load of responsibility. They'll never understand just how much he sacrifices to be here for them. That is impossible to imagine! But I know they do feel his love, our love...
This morning we awoke to a garage door covered in paper heart cutouts with beautiful hand written notes expressing love and telling us we "inspire" them to be better, thanking us for being close to the spirit, telling us they know we love Heavenly Father and them, and that they love spending time with us. They may never know how much of ourselves we loose to help them find themselves, but they will also never know just how much it means to us to be with them!
Thank you for all you do to spread your gospel light and love in whatever sphere you are in.
