FLAGSTAFF & PRESCOTT ZONES GO DIGITAL 10/13

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In the afternoon, we welcomed two new Zones to the training.  About 50 at a time are coming to train with us.


It was like an early Christmas with the boxes full of iPad minis!

 You should have seen them all polishing the screens and loving them!

 Lots of happy faces, eager missionaries!

 The goal of having these digital devices is to help us fulfill our purpose to "Invite others to come unto Christ"through having tools at our fingertips to organize our time better.
IT IS ALL ABOUT PLANNING!
As we plan better, and the devices are programmed to help us do that even better and more efficiently, we should have more time to be teaching and serving others.

Here are another about 50 of our missionaries ready to take it DIGITAL!
They are trusted, they are obedient.  This is what the prophet has asked them to do and they are ready and willing.  It is not easy...it will be A LOT OF WORK to program in 5 years worth of paper area book records...but they are willing to do it!
You have incredible children/friends to be able to take this on.  Thank you for what you have done to prepare them!  This experience will bless their lives as they know how to appropriately manage their time online, how to keep things clean and organized.  I know that they are a chosen generation saved for this time and for this purpose!

Cottonwood and Deer Valley/Glendale North Zones go DIGITAL! 10/13

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We held the first of our 5 Digital Trainings today with 1/5 of our mission.  It was pretty intense!


If you are worried about your child using digital tools, relax a bit.
They have been asked to do this through the prophet himself.  This has been prophesied that we would have the resources we need to take the Gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.

It is a blessing for them to think of Facebook in a different light than pre-mission...to learn to manage their online time and how to use different tools to accomplish the work of the Lord.
We feel it will prepare them for making better decisions after their missions as well.

 We learned about the features we will have on our iPad minis.
They are specially programmed to have only certain features that help missionary work, and not other distractions.

One nice thing is that if a device is lost, we have finding capabilities and we can also request lockdown so the device is essentially useless to the thief.

So, if someone tries to take one from a missionary, the missionary can honestly tell them, "This device will be locked down and be like a brick for you."

If threatened, we lose the iPad though!  Not worth the chance of anyone getting hurt!

We had a lot of delighted missionaries learning how to program and then how to use the tools of the iPads.


Click the link to see if there is a shot of your missionary.  I did not get all of them, but many.

 We had Zone Leaders from Glendale who have been testing these digital devices for about 6 months now.  They were on hand to show how to use the area book features with the help of Tracy Watson from the Missionary Department.

It was great to have them hook up and do some "Hands On" work with demonstrating now it works.

 They have been instrumental in helping work out bugs in the systems over the past 6 months so that these iPads are better than the original programming.
We are so blessed to have their wisdom.

 You can see that 1/5 of our mission is no small thing.  We are almost up to 250 missionaries...by next week we will be at about 260.

This last slide is worth reading.  It tells us what NEEDS to happen for the Hastening of the Work.
Members and Missionaries need to work together.
Well, it has always been our duty as members, but I think we really have not caught the vision of our responsibility.
Pray every day for missionary opportunities.  Talk to your Bishop or Ward Mission Leader and ask how you can help or for ideas.
INVITE to anything and everything.
It is an exciting time to be a Member and to be a Missionary!

GOING DIGITAL!!!

 PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THE HIKE AS WELL AS THIS DIGITAL TRAINING

It has happened.  We have known about it for a while, and kept it secret from the missionaries.

As a test mission for both online proselyting and digital devices, we have been asked to go COMPLETELY DIGITAL!!

 We were told we would be digital by February, but received word last month that our date was actually the end of October...and here we are!

So, President Taylor, who loves a good surprise, arranged to have Lee Donaldson of the Missionary Department, hide out in another room while we got our leadership council meeting started.  Then he got on Skype as if to do a video-conference training from Lee, who rather than being in Salt Lake City was in another room in the building. After visiting for a while, Lee started walking as he skyped and came into the back of the room where we were...holding an ipad box and announcing that he had over 200 of them for our mission.

 Smiles were everywhere as they handed out ipads to every member of the council.

 It is pretty exciting to be on the cutting edge of missionary work.


Do you see the big binders on the tables near these elders?  Those are AREA BOOKS.  They contain the teaching records and contact records for their ward areas that they cover.  There is one big binder for each ward.
All this information will be programmed into the ipads and be carried around by each missionary.  They will update it as they go all day long.

Their MISSIONARY PLANNER will also be completely online.  Their ward mission leader will be able to see exactly what they have going on...as will their Mission President.  They can be scheduled by those leaders as needed through their planners online.

Here is a pretty excited group of mission leaders, who will be training their own zones later this week.

Brother Amistad helped train along with Brother Donaldson.  They got everyone all set up and running.  The hard part will be getting all the information transferred to the ipads by the end of the year.  It is a long process, but eventually will give them so much more time to really be teaching!

   We had one NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY to celebrate in the council this month.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER WARDLE!
I owe him a cake!  I forgot to bring it since we usually meet at the Mission Home for this meeting.

It meant I brought lunch to this meeting and we had rather a working lunch.

 Brother Donaldson showed the missionaries the graphic that President Taylor sent him showing where in the world we have already proselyted online.  The Missionary Dept. is using his slides of the US and World in their presentations now.  Good job President Taylor!!

President Taylor is in his element during this training.  He has always been tech savvy and will be a great leader in how to stay consecrated as we HASTEN THE WORK OF THE LORD.

Please understand that the need for OBEDIENT missionaries is greater than ever.  These tools are a great benefit for the work, but only obedient missionaries can pull it off.  We are so grateful for your children/friends that are obedient servants.  They know how to have fun and be obedient at the same time.  Help us as we need help in staying focused on the work.  If you have suggestions, please let us know.
We know that as more and more missions go online, you will see examples of less than consecrated missionaries in some missions with less expectations.  Our expectations will be HIGH.  We expect and TRUST that our mission will use these great tools appropriately and with an eye single to the glory of God.   CONGRATULATIONS APM!!!

MLC HIKE!! 10/28/13

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This is the view we had as we arrived at our scheduled Mission Leadership Council Hike.

We have 10 Zones with 2 Zone Leaders each, we have 2 Assistants to the President, and we have 8 Sister Training Leaders.  These along with the Mission Presidency make up the MISSION LEADERSHIP COUNCIL.

Once a year, when it cools down enough, we take the Council on a hike somewhere.  This year we went back over to Thunderbird Conservation Area so we could hike near the new Phoenix Temple Site.

I played photographer and President Taylor led the way.  This was a hike with purpose.

 As we got going, we had several stops along the way to share thoughts on the Doctrine of Christ.

At the base of the first mountain, I presented some thoughts on FAITH.  Faith is an action of trust, and of love.  We were following President Taylor out of faith.  I am grateful that we have to have faith...that all the answers are not just laid out for us and that we have to stretch and grow!  I thought it was pretty neat that we were hiking, and how that relates to exercising our faith.

 We follow the path laid out for us by prophets and apostles and have the scriptures and their counsel as our guide along the path.

 Next we headed up what we call "REPENTANCE HILL."It is a long haul up, pretty relentless.
Partway up, President Taylor had everyone stop and drop a rock he had asked them to pick up earlier in the hike, into a backpack we had brought.  The rocks represent burdens that we bear.

 Then he gave the backpack to Elder Wardle to carry for us the rest of the hike.  He did not have to say anything for everyone to realize what this represented about the power of the ATONEMENT.

 We made it up the long REPENTANCE trail and President Taylor told his thoughts about how repentance is something necessary, and a blessing in our lives to bring peace and happiness.  He reminded us all that we need to teach repentance.  We cannot brush over the importance of repentance.


Up at the top of the next hill, we stopped and took a large group photo and talked about BAPTISM. How appropriate that baptism is considered a GATE along the path of our lives, that enters into the straight and narrow path back to God and eternal life.  Baptism and the Holy Ghost are how we completely repent.  The ORDINANCES in our lives are critical in our journey.

 Front kneeling/sitting: Sisters Holmes, Taylor, Neary, Hansen, Beck & A Walker. Elders Gerritsen and Cardoso. Row 2: Sisters Dayton, Pickett & Vallejo. Elders Knabe, H. Peterson, J Wade, Bryant,(Standing) Bangerter, Zayas, Hughes, Gorham & Parsons. Back: President Taylor, Elders Lower, Knobbe, P. Wilson, E Jones, Wardle, Brothers, B. Jones, Bartleson, O'Neal, Weiler, Baker.

 Down the hill, President Taylor gathered the group once more to talk about the GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, that constant companion that guides us along our trail back to Heavenly Father.  What a precious blessing we have.  We do not want to know what it would be like without it in our lives.

Here he had Elder Wardle dump out his burden of the rocks he was carrying for each of us.  This was a representation of the burden that the Savior carried for each of us through the ATONEMENT. It also represents how we are to share the burdens of others as we take upon ourselves the covenant of baptism.

 Out last stop was up at the top of the last hill before we headed down.
You can see in the background our own PHOENIX TEMPLE.  It is coming along so beautifully.  They are finishing up parking lots and starting landscaping and fountains.  We still do not know when the temple will be complete, still also hoping it is while President Taylor and I will still be here.
We talked about ENDURING TO THE END.
How important that we are constantly working on keeping the commandments and the JOY that brings into our lives.  It does not mean that our lives will be easy or trouble free.  What it does mean, is that we will have all the resources we need to be able to deal with whatever we need to...that we can have JOY IN THE JOURNEY.  That we need the ordinances of the TEMPLE in order to have the power to overcome and truly find joy now and forever.  We understand that more than ever in our lives.  The promises of the temple are sure.  Our family is bound together through OUR obedience to the commandments and we find great peace in knowing that.

Our wonderful friends, the Call family from our stake here, and the Kings and President Morris from the Mission Presidency had a wonderful hot breakfast waiting for us when we arrived at the temple site.

What a view to have as we ate!  We are so blessed to have your incredible children/friends with us on their missions.  This is a great place and we are teaching others how to have joy in their lives as they come unto Christ.  The Gospel is meant for everyone.
If there are any questions in your life that you think the Gospel does not address, or that it is not for you, think again.  Please let us know how we can help you as family or friends of these missionaries.  We know without a doubt that this is Christs Church restored once more to the earth in completeness.

CATHEDRAL ROCK 10/13

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Occasionally we take time to go to a ZONE ACTIVITY.
We encouraged the COTTONWOOD ZONE to schedule a hiking activity so we could join them this past preparation day.
Parents, for your info, missionaries are able to have 1 ZONE ACTIVITY and 1 DISTRICT ACTIVITY per month.  The activity must be WITHIN THEIR ZONE BOUNDARIES. Depending on where they serve, they have different locations to hike or go to a zoo or whatever fits within appropriate activity.

Our destination ended up being CATHEDRAL ROCK in SEDONA.  As you can see, it is breathtakingly beautiful up in Sedona!

 It was the perfect day, clear and cool, just perfect!

 We had a dozen missionaries along with our Assistants who were helping us with some planning on the way up and back as well as bringing up a car that needed to head up North.

 Here is the base of the ascent.  Looks pretty steep, but much was gradual, and a few spots I wondered if I could make it without a boost!
Believe me, no one wants to have to boost the Mission President Wife!!! Awkward!

We scrambled up the best we could and really enjoyed the challenge.

There is nothing as refreshing as being out with missionaries.  They are so genuine and excited to be relaxing, but never forgetting who they are.  It is the BEST!

 From this view you can see how steep parts really were...we were wedged into this crack going up this wall of rock.

President Taylor was the best photographer ever!  He knew just where to be to take great shots.  And for me, it was nice not to worry about the camera for a while!

 And, as missionaries, we took time to stop and talk with everyone!
This gal was from Spain, so we got to practice our Spanish on her.  We met some wonderful people on the hike!

Here we are at the top of our climb.
Front:  Elder Knobbe, Sisters Taylor, Probeyahn & Barlow, Elder Blackburn.
Middle: Elders Bartleson, Taylor, Zayas, Swift, President Taylor, Sister Coleman, Elder Judkins.
Back: Elders Hall, Gorham, Clay Peterson and Clay.



Looks like a Christmas Card Photo!

 Out into a ledge of rock is Elder Hall...it is really wider than it looks, don't be nervous Mom!

 And President and Sister Taylor check it out to prove it really is not that bad!

 More beat spots up there by the top...scrambling out onto another rock formation.

 And heading back down, which was much faster, but a bit more slippery.

We are blessed with a beautiful world created by a loving Heavenly Father.  We pray that you enjoy beauty every day in some form.

THANK YOU COTTONWOOD ZONE FOR A GREAT START TO THE WEEK!!!

Prescott/Prescott Valley Interviews 10/13

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Whew!  We finished up three weeks of INTERVIEW DAYS with all our 235 missionaries!  We are exhausted, but happy!
Our last stop was Prescott/Prescott Valley Zone on Wednesday.  We started the day with discussion on the power of CONFERENCE TALKS and we invite you to join with us in studying the talks between conferences and look for a couple things:

 1) COUNSEL
2) PROMISED BLESSINGS
Ask your missionary the schedule of the talks we are studying so you can join in sharing favorite ideas.
Next we introduced the new ADJUSTING TO MISSIONARY LIFE booklet to all our missionaries.  This is a new program for all incoming missionaries, but a resource for pretty much EVERY PERSON.  If you have ever had major change in your life, you could benefit from this booklet.
If you are interested in seeing it for yourself, click on this link and then it will ask you to log into your LDS ACCOUNT in order to view it.
 https://missionary.lds.org/m-content/bc/PDFs/AdjustingMissLife_Booklet-LowRes_6-7-13.pdf

Our fearless Zone Leaders O'Neal and B. Jones led a discussion on DRESS AND GROOMING...remember...only DRESS SLACKS, no Dockers, cotton type pants.  And, we are being asked to have all new missionaries use only SIDEBAGS now.  So, I have been giving away a couple sidebags to each zone to encourage the change.
Sisters, no tight clothing of any kind.  Please check lds.org Missionary Dress and Grooming before you go Christmas shopping!

 We had a great FOCUS discussion on how we use our PURPOSE, our MISSIONARY HANDBOOK, the EXAMPLE OF CHRIST and GOOD, BETTER, BEST as the lens to focus all our missionary activity.
In keeping with this, we played a role play game as if one in each compaionship was a member trying to get the missionary to participate in something that maybe was not the best use of time or purpose.  They did a great job with handling some pretty tough situations!  WAY TO GO!

 Next it was GAME TIME!
There is always purpose in the time I spend with missionaries as well, and game time means we are learning something important in a fun way.  Today it was MANNERS SOCKBALL!

Team captains of the TIES and NO TIES teams squared off to try to whack the correct manners answers all over the gym.
You can see our Elder and Sister Templeton going for the sockball...no mercy!

And it was always entertaining to see the Elders and Sisters avoiding each other like the plague!
Oh yeah!
I never could bring myself to make real strict rules...they just had so much fun!

 We celebrated our SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS:
Sister Matuauto
Sister A. Walker
Elder B.Jones
Elder Bolinger

Here are your fearless Missionaries after the game.  I promise they all learned something!























We finished the day by discussing our ONLINE PROSELYTING.  This is a great tool, but we are pioneers in trying to find ways to make it an effective use of time.  We thank you for supporting us in helping your missionary stay consecrated online...no messages from home or distractions to their work. We are as strictly obedient online as we are off, and so grateful for the great work ethic of your sons and daughters.  They are truly great people!
We encourage you to take the challenge to INVITE someone WEEKLY whether over social media, or in person, to do something to learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We have what it takes to be truly happy, so let's share it!