Let's begin with the theme of
"traveling" and transfers; assignments and
re-assignments; ONE good thing, and an abundance
of good things" (that is, these young missionaries)!
A future "pleasure" trip north into Maine for us became
a DO-IT-NOW trip with mission business attached:
a rental car hired to transport "transferred"
Elders to Ellsworth, Maine needed to be retrieved to
Manchester within the one-week rental period.
(Here, below, are Elders Larsen, McBride, Sears
and Greene, sharing a formerly two-man apartment.)
Our itinerary was quickly planned around light houses
and a re-visit to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
(Here, below, is my 'evidence' that I was actually
there on the spot at Portland Head Lighthouse -
a picture everyone shoots, and effortlessly succeeds
in capturing its picturesque beauty.
More about light houses another time.)
With Cushing Island off in the distance, below, here's a single
primrose blossom among the millions we saw this
July day during that Portland Head Lighthouse visit!
And this below is Nepeta Subsessillis cluster flower
that seems to be composed of tiny snapdragons,
shared on FB by friend Andrea.
Our June 29th week began on the fly as we were
enlisted to 'stand in' for Pres. and Sister Beck
to help pick up Elders and Sisters during
the Tuesday 'mini-transfers' arrival of mostly re-assigned
missionaries coming to New Hampshire Manchester.
It was my first time to the Manchester Boston Regional airport,
though Vince has helped with pickups and drop-offs before.
We got to go inside and wait (Elder Warner found some
interesting interactions to keep him busy!) . . .
. . . for the almost-a-dozen who arrived in the evening.
(Three others were picked up that evening in Boston,
and two had arrived earlier in the day in Manchester.)
This is Sister Alexander who had been 'in transit' by this time
for more than a day, flying from where she was living with
her family in Hong Kong, via Hawaii, thru to New Hampshire.
This is the group of ACTUAL NHMM-assigned missionaries
(with Pres. Beck in the background) who arrived July 1st.
We had twenty-one new missionaries come this week.
This is an extra large number, certainly. But we have
been having the 'mini transfers' occur at two-week intervals
for some time now, and have a very large missionary contingent.
As I prepared 'grab-n-go' snacks for those involved
in picking up arriving missionaries,
one of my tasks was to pluck grapes and package
in baggies for easy snacking. This cluster of
succulent but tightly-bundled grapes made me think
of the way the missionaries are now 'making do' in
threesomes or foursomes across the mission,
to reduce housing expenses to 'some' degree.
Earlier in the week, we had to say farewell to
Elder Jarvis, shown here on the parking lot during
Tuesday's mini transfer with some of
his missionary buddies (with whom he could NOT share
good-bye hugs because of the virus spread threat):
Elders Gabbitas, Crawford, Edstrom, Penrod, Anderson,
Allison and T. Smith.
In the few minutes that we had to say goodbye to him,
I enjoyed hearing him speak his mission assignment
language (French) while I listened with rusty understanding.
Elder Jarvis did not use his French as much as he would
have liked. But seeing his "Eglise de Jesus-Christ"
name tag, below, prompted me to think about and share
more about this important aspect of missionary
preparation and outreach.
As a side note, Elder Jarvis was keeping track of the days
the Mission has been operating in ISOLATION!
(The early variations of this photo showed a big frown;
this version was right before he flew out toward Boise
where the Isolation countdown won't affect him any more!)
The two other languages that we have regular missionaries
called to speak are Spanish and Portuguese.
These are Portuguese Sisters to whom
the above tags belong.
These tags are in Spanish, worn by Hermana T. and . . .
. . . Tufunga (from Tonga).
We now (and in the past) have a host of missionaries
who have trained to share the Gospel message in other
languages, either as "visa waiters" (in the past, while
their international papers were clearing all hurdles), or
now when they have been pulled away from their foreign
missionary service. They will work here in NHMM
until their service period is ended, or their called-to
missions open for them to return.
Below is re-assigned Elder Franson's tags who was serving
in Tahiti French. (We are ordering new tags because
the 'white' lettering of his originals has discolored a bit.)
This tag is for re-directed Sister Omer who language-trained
in Korean, and will hopefully get a chance to serve there
if conditions can improve in the next 10-12 months.
This is a tag for re-assigned 'green' Elder Orr who
was language training in Russian.
This is Sister Taylor, who was language trained in . . .
. . . Japanese. She arrived when Sister Omer did.
We have a couple of other languages represented as well,
including Elder VanGorkum who trained in German.
Of course, we also have around 200 missionaries right now
who can speak and share in English.
(These are from the four Lowell Sisters.)
As we traveled into Maine this weekend, and listened
to the electronic voice of 'Sister Garmin' providing us
directions about which way to turn and which lane to be in,
we wandered once again off the freeway near Yarmouth, ME
to check out a rest stop, right where the Garmin folks
have their headquarters building, with the iconic
world globe. (We had stayed in a hotel on
the same road in December.)
While her 'language' is not actually 'our' language,
we understand what she is trying to convey.
In Doctrine & Covenants (modern scripture) 20:9, comes
prophecy that "every man shall hear the . . . gospel in
his own tongue and in his own language."
My lamp is continually filled when I think about all these
young people who commit to learning a language
and then put themselves RIGHT OUT THERE
in public to speak about what they believe.
It is a pretty amazing and inspiring thing!
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