Getting Ready for Transfers

Transfers are next week on May 19 & 20, and we are amazed at how fast it has come around again.  Since we were so new six weeks ago, we didn't know what to expect or what we were doing.  But this time, we feel the pressure of all that has to be done to prepare for next week. We have 12 new missionaries coming, two of which are here only on a temporary basis.  They don't have visas to go where they have been called, but no clue where that is.  Then, we have 10 missionaries going home.  

Rich is busy at transfer time because he has to get debit cards with money on them for the new ones coming. He also trains them on financial matters and on what things their money is to be used.  He also collects the cards from the missionary that are leaving, and they need to settle up with him for things on which they owe money.  

Rich is forever pulling his little red tin cash box from the safe to hand out money here and there from the petty cash fund.  He pays cash for things that can't be paid with a check or that don't have an electronic transfer.  Some rents on missionary apartments need to be paid in cash, so that money comes from his fund. If an apartment needs a fridge, or a bed, or whatever, then it comes out of his petty cash too.  He is always "balancing the drawer".  When he first started handling the money on his own (when his trainer left him), he was manufacturing money.  He was always over-----and sometimes by a large amount.  Nothing has surfaced yet showing where his overtures should go.  At least he is not short all the time.  He also pays some utility bills.

One of my responsiblities at transfer time is to prepare binders for the new missionaries.  The binder contains a colored picture of the President and his wife, a welcome letter to the missionary, maps of the area, a history of the mission, plus information on finances and health, and some printed talks by some of the General Authorities.  It also contains a cook book that Sister Argyle put together of some simple, healthy, and tasty recipies -- easy for missionaries to prepare.  I worked hard on assembling these binders today, and got them all done.  Whew!!

The missionaries returning home receive a packet upon leaving.  I am in charge of putting that together, but Elder Clegg still needs to teach me what to do.  So that's on my "to do" list this week.

I am, also, in charge of our supply room.  It is stocked with pamphlets, DVD's, copies of the Book of Mormon and Bible, forms they use, plus a multitude of other things needed for missionary work.  Order forms are filled out by the missionaries and I fill their orders. Then, the goods are taken to zone conference and distributed at that time.  After 10 zone conferences, our supply room is wiped out.  Then I place an order with the Distribution Center, which is located out by the temple.  The supply room is restocked, ready for the next round of zone conferences.  On it goes, over and over!

Missionaries in our mission only get mail every six weeks.  We keep their letters and packages and send them out with the supplies being delivered to the zone conferences.  There really isn't any other way to get their mail to them.  Everyone is so spread out and far away, and forwarding it on to them through the local mail service wouldn't insure that it would arrive. This is the safest way to get things to our Elders and Sisters.  I handle the mail too.

This is Edith Lichtenstein.  Her parents were from Germany, and she married a German (now deceased). But she is an Argentine.  She has a really pretty singing voice.  She asked us to be in the choir. When we first got here, we saw about 6 people practicing a hymn and they were just standing around the piano in the chapel.  We thought it was just a musical number practicing their song.  It turned out to be the choir.  The first day we went to choir practice, we sang the song we were practicing in church that day.  It was a hymn that is not in the English hymn book.  I thought it was strange that being in the church my whole life I had not heard that hymn.  My friend, Sister Norton, insisted it was in her English hymn book, but later told me that indeed it was not.  I have to laugh about me being in the choir because it is so hard to find the alto note when I am concentrating on pronouncing the word in Spanish correctly.  I just fake it a lot.  There are only about 3 men that sing.  The women all think Rich has such a wonderful voice.  He just sings out no matter what.  But not me.

 

Maria Vecchiarelli joined the church with her husband about three or four months ago.  She is a counselor in the Relief Society Presidency, and her husband was just ordained an Elder and is now in the Elders Quorum Presidency.  They need leadership so badly, that once a member, they put them right to work.  She is the one who made the cake that the Elders surprised me with on my birthday.  They are both from Italian decent.  

For priesthood meeting, the Elders and High Priests meet altogether.  One week, Rich was asked to teach the lesson.  They just assign different people each week.  Well, after one week of hearing Rich's lesson, he now has the job of teaching the two lessons from the Joseph Smith manual each month.  The missionaries were so impressed with how he did and said that he would probably end up being the permanent teacher. But so far they have just given him the Joseph Smith lessons.  I'm sure he is entertaining and puts the points over in ways that the members haven't heard before. He has had lots of positive feedback from his lessons.