While Bon Jovi lyrics and missionary blogs may not be frequently associated, the connection here is too strong to pass up. With prayer as our constant companion, we have now served as missionaries nine months with nine months to go! We really love our service and as we noted in an earlier post, the days are really long but the months are flying by.
In this week's edition, I thought I would go through the days of the week and pick out just one of many association for each.
Sunday: Weekly Report
Every Sunday night Vivian, with the help of her intrepid assistant, puts together a weekly report for area and mission leaders. It includes both numbers and observations and always ends with a weekly miracle, either about a missionary or personal. Here's a sweet one from last week she included:
"I had a sweet tender mercy miracle this morning on the train. I have a little more anxiety than I would like about talking to everyone. This makes me a little less dynamic as a missionary but a little more understanding when working with missionaries who also struggle with some social anxiety. As a result I work on other ways to invite conversation about the gospel. One of those ways is to keep a pass along card with a picture of Jesus Christ in my clear phone case so others can see it when I am looking at my phone. Today I was sitting quietly with my eyes closed thinking (not sleeping) when I heard a young voice say, ”Look mommy, that phone has Jesus Christ. I love Jesus!” I opened my eyes to see a young girl looking at me. I gave her a pass along card with a picture of Jesus. She gave me a big hug and went on excitedly talking about how she loves Jesus for quite a while and how she would show people at church. It was a sweet tender mercy to see her delight and to think about my own enthusiasm, because I also love Jesus!"
Monday: Family calls
One thing we love as senior missionaries is the ability (within both the rules and the technology) to stay connected with our family. Each week we manage to visit with each of our children and parents and often (to the limit of their attention spans) with our grandchildren. For them we try to read weekly stories on Marco Polo which their parents can share with them when the timing is right.
Of course one of the most challenging parts of this is meshing their schedules, our schedules, and the time zones. And when one of our children (most often Sage!) is in Europe, there is no hour of the day that is 'decent' to get us all together. It is hard to be far apart and hard to navigate, but staying connected really helps.
Tuesday: District Meeting
We don't do everything that the young missionaries do, and Vivian winds up having sessions during many of our district meetings, but I'm able to join most weeks. It is fun sitting back not in charge of anything and seeing the junior leaders run these meetings so well.
Wednesday: Institute
I have shared quite a bit about this in other posts, but Wednesday night is one of the highlights of the week as I spend time with 20 or so beautiful YSA, missionaries, and others. We are three weeks from completing our study of the New Testament, and beginning September 4th will be starting a new term focusing on the Presidents of the Church.
Thursday: Mission Health Councils
As well as loving the missionaries, we love their mission leaders! Each month we meet with seven sets, five of whom are new as of July 1st. We see miracles all the time in these councils (and all that happens between the formal meetings) as experts work together to ensure that the missionaries stay safe and healthy, medically, dentally, and mentally!
Friday: Missionary Self Reliance Group
Oh how we enjoy our video meeting with fourteen missionaries from across the mission each week on... 1: Building Emotional Strength in the Lord
2: Healthy Thinking Patterns
3: Our Bodies and Emotions
4: Managing Stress and Anxiety
5: Understanding Sadness and Depression
6: Overcoming Anger
7: Managing Addictive Behaviors
8: Building Healthy Relationships
9: Providing Strength to Others
10: Moving Forward with Faith
I just wish we could share the experience of the bright faces, minds, and spirits of the missionaries as we work through these challenging topics!
Saturday: Swim and Shop
We are so blessed to live in a condo community with a gorgeous pool. On Saturdays (and usually most others before heading to the office) I am able to get in a swim of somewhere between 400 and 1400 meters. It has been very good for both my mental and physical health.
That mental health boost is important due to another Saturday activity that just about wipes it out: grocery shopping. It is such a different experience from what we're used to. We take our own grocery cart and walk or ride the bus to the store, fight huge crowds, and then pack up everything and bus home.
Gives an insight to your days while you serve. That is a beautiful pool and glad you are able to keep up on your cadio! Ya'll are wonderful! 💟