We have now had a full two weeks with our new
Mission President and Companion, and we have
witnessed their commitment to serve thoroughly
and well, their careful leadership style,
and their support and love for the missionaries -
including us who work from the NH Manchester Mission office.
As the departing President and Sister Blair described
the process in the few weeks leading up to their handing over
of the reins for this important and dynamic work,
"This train is coming into the station and it is NOT
going to slow down."
This was President Blair's way of telling them and us
that the daily work, finding, ministering and operations
of the Mission would not allow for any kind of transitional period
that would allow time to "get used" to things in their new form.
"It's leap, grab hold and hang on!"
 |
| Pres. Beck, Assistants, Pres. Blair, Sister Blair |
The Becks arrived on a Friday,
stopped into the office to say hello to the staff there,
then were sequestered into the President's Office
to get "connected" via internet to Salt Lake "trainers"
who assisted the electronic transition for them.
An hour later, (or perhaps after their dinner together)
President Blair handed over the Mission affairs,
and that hour of information sharing is about all there was.
Of course, the Blairs assisted with pre-mission field arrival
questions, but it certainly is not a long face-to-face
training period.
(This Mission President service is NOT for weaklings!)
Four days in the week that followed their arrival,
President and Sister Beck set up "Meet and Greet"
appointments with each of the 7 zones on our mission -
from Vermont to New Hampshire to Maine - (phew!)
where they met each missionary, introduced themselves,
and asked the missionaries to tell them about
the NH Manchester Mission
("what do you want to be known for?"
or
"In the NH Manchester Mission we (fill in the blank)".
As part of their introduction to help us all know them,
they bore powerful testimonies of their own conversion
stories that helped them "come unto Christ."
Sister Beck talked about a conversation she had
as a young girl with her mother
who was converted to the Restored Gospel
when they lived in northeast Salt Lake valley.
In response to her daughter's inquiries, she firmly told her
that she needed to find out for herself, and to ask the questions
she had directly to her Father in Heaven.
President Beck spoke of his testimony foundation beginnings
as being similar to the account in the Book of Mormon by Nephi.
He was born of goodly parents, and learned and had
Gospel truth confirmed as he grew up under their influence.
They both bore witness of Christ's Atonement,
the Book of Mormon and prophetic mission of
Joseph Smith.
During remarks to the group we attended with in Nashua,
Pres. Beck said something that impressed me and
put oil in my lamp.
As I recall, he was talking about communication, camaraderie,
and cooperative efforts among all of us serving here together
as we try to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Referring to something from his hospital administration work
(from which he recently retired), he said they made an effort to always
"ASSUME GOOD INTENT".
Split away from it's business buzz word framework,
this phrase embraces many of the attributes advocated
in D&C Section 4 that the NHMM missionaries recite
whenever they meet as a group
(and which I chant as I walk in the mornings
so that I can learn it at the speed they recite it!):
. . . patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility . . .
I am committed to repenting (changing for the better)
with this in mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment