Out With Sisters- December 2012!

 I had the best time going out with Sisters Hawkins and Young last week!  I got to do three activities with them and it was ALL GOOD!
We first had a lesson with Joni and Tom, who are being reactivated into the Church and who have such a love for the Gospel and the goal of the temple!  It was a great visit.

Then we stopped by this darling family that they have been working with and helping.  They love the sisters already and it is mutual!

They agreed to take our picture as well before we left.
They are learning the love that God has for them through their brothers and sisters in the Gospel.

Last, I got to go to a ward correlation meeting with them, which was so interesting for me to see.

I am learning so much from the Sisters as I go out with them.

 This past week I went out with Sisters Anderson and Baumgartner.

We visited the sweetest family.
They have a new little daughter that was born with some great challenges...and was a gift to them that they cherish!

 They have a mini hospital room right in their home where they care for her.
There is so much love in this home!
We are glad the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal families is completing their family!

 Here are the sweet sisters with them.  They bring such joy and happiness each time they visit anyone!  And they are very loved!

 After our visit with the family, I joined them as they substitute taught one of the English classes that are held in their Church building.

They are patient and happy teachers of English as well!
We had a wonderful evening!

I LOVE SISTERS HAWKINS, YOUNG, ANDERSON and BAUMGARTNER!!! THEY ARE AWESOME!

NEW ASSISTANT/ NEW OFFICE COUPLE!

 THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS...


Being Assistant to the President.

 OK, not THAT serious!

But, we have to tell you, it is a LOT OF WORK!
We love these young men for the serious work they do all the time to make the mission run smoother!  We THANK Elder Alvis from the bottom of our hearts as he moves on in assignments and we WELCOME Elder Griffin into the role.
We have ALWAYS been blessed to have just the right person ready for the job!

Welcome Elder Griffin!

He joins Elder Pollmeier in this companionship and we look forward to serving with both of them!

















We also welcome the CHERRYS back to the Mission Office!

Once was not enough for them to serve with us...they came back for more!

Don't say we did not warn you!  MISSIONARY SERVICE IS ADDICTING!!!


WE are blessed to have these great people to surround ourselves with!  They love their Savior and His Gospel!  They love His children and serve with all their hearts minds, might and strength!


WELCOME!

DECEMBER TRANSFERS 2012

 PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PICTURES FROM TRANSFERS.  I APOLOGIZE. MY BATTERY DIED RIGHT AFTER TRANSFERS TODAY :(

TRAINEES on the right...
...and TRAINERS on the left!

It was like PE class and choosing teams, except the Lord was in charge of matching them all up!

And He did a great job!  We now have 9 new companionships working TOGETHER to learn what the Lord wants them to do to serve His children and help them return safely to Him.

 We had a great training meeting together before transfer meeting.
OK, I got caught in the act of hemming a couple pair of pants for these new missionaries...it does not take long for things to fall to pieces.  I couldn't just send them out with hems undone!


In this meeting we talk about the 12 week Training Program that helps walk us through how to learn to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ effectively and in a strong companionship.  We know that all our companionships include the Holy Ghost, so we always have extra help.

 After a great meeting, all the new missionaries were escorted into the chapel where our leadership and transferring missionaries were singing "Called To Serve."

 Elder Pehrson does a great job in leading the music and this mission can REALLY SING!

There were many changes in the mission due to being very low in numbers at this point.  Several areas had to be temporarily combined and missionaries will be working really hard to cover them!  They are excited and up for the task!
It was a great meeting!

Afterwards we had LOTS of great food items to give away that were donated to the Mission...
the favorite was GATORADE!  Potatoes and green onions and bread and limes were other foods on hand today.

 Then it was time to load up...and try to fit things into vehicles to head to new areas with new companions!

This group models one of the new receiver type bike hitches that the mission is switching to.  Can you see how much more room in the truck with the bikes on the back?  AWESOME!

BACK TO WORK APM!

HAPPY TRANSFERS!

INCOMING MISSIONARIES DECEMBER 2012

 PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS INCOMING GROUP

Tuesday morning we took 17 missionaries to the airport and returned home with 9.  They will be incredible!  They have big shoes to fill and are up for the task! 

We talked the whole way back from the airport, we took them to the mission office to meet the staff and fill out paperwork and then over to the TEMPLE SITE to see our own Phoenix Temple under construction!







Here we have: Sister Carter, Elders Weeks, Graziano, Lane, Devey, Lamb, Jarvis, Pratt and Lovstedt.

THEY ARE DELIGHTFUL!

 We insisted on naptime...a couple did not want to comply,but one fell asleep anyways...with a Santa hat on!!  Good job Elder Graziano!










I got all of them to help me in the kitchen at one point.  We made breakfast casseroles and also prepared our taco salad dinner together!  They are so happy to help and eager to serve in any way!

After an evening of getting to know each other, and a good nights sleep, we all got up on time and went running together.  They were ALL RUNNERS!  It was so fun!









These missionaries come PREPARED and READY to serve the Lord.  Our message is simple.  WE FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST!
PARENTS and FRIENDS,
WELCOME to the #1 Mission in the World!
WE LOVE YOUR MISSIONARIES SO MUCH ALREADY!

DEPARTING MISSIONARIES DECEMBER 2012

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PICTURES OF THIS EVENT! 

The time has come...
to say GOODBYE to another amazing group of Arizona Phoenix Missionaries.
We took them to the Phoenix Temple site to see how far it is along.  This is what we have been teaching about our entire missions!

Back at the house...in the dark, we took advantage of having a DECEMBER departure to dress in STYLE!
Front: Elders Hafoka, Romrell, Fluckiger and B. Johnson.  Middle:  Sisters Jewkes and Watson.  Back: Elders Nieman, Freeman, Zeledon, M. Peterson, Grasley, Colovish, Dye, Kelley, Malmberg and Barker.

More pictures using the link above!!!

 We had a wonderful dinner with the Mission Presidency and then a testimony meeting and time for questions and answers.
Then it was time for FHE--FAMILY HOME EVENING!

Part of it involved listening to a clip from Jeffrey R. Holland.  We never get tired of him!

 And lastly, the traditional playing of DON'T EAT PETE!!!

17 AMAZING PEOPLE who have given their all to the Lord asking nothing in return.

17 AMAZING PEOPLE who have and will continue to receive more blessings than they can imagine from the service they have provided!

WE LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Looking forward to your life stories!  You know how it goes...YOU KNOW ENOUGH!
WRITE THEM WELL!

WALDO'S

Meet the Waldo family!

These are some of the nicest people you could ever meet!  Their legend preceded them in the mission as we had heard ever since we arrived here of their generosity and their amazing cooking skills!
They feed the missionaries for free so you can imagine that all possible missionaries go there!
And they have a testimony of the blessing of caring for missionaries.  They will tell you that business is better when they feed the missionaries.

 Our assistants finally tricked us into meeting them at their Diner for dinner.
POR FIN!!!
!La mejor comida Mexicana en el mundo!

Y una familia tan generosa tambien!
GRACIAS por toda la ayuda uds siempre dan a los misioneros!

We have plans to take our family back at Christmas time for a wonderful eating experience!

!Que Dios les bendiga a su familia!!

!FELIZ NAVIDAD!

December Visitors/Glendale Glitters

 We had a great visit with Derek Evans, one of our returned missionaries from last May.
 He joined us for dinner at the mission home...and then was a glutton for punishment and joined us for the evening out with our friends in the neighborhood, the Janulis and Kings.








We took him with us to the famous "GLENDALE GLITTERS" that we had heard so much about last year and never made it to see.

The whole downtown area is full of lights and all sorts of booths and games and outdoor movies etc.

 This photo is for the benefit of our grandson Carter who loves the movie "CARS."

We walked around for a long time, and our night was complete once we had found the little hole in the wall place that made Mexican hot chocolate...YUMM!!

The next morning we were up pretty early and took Derek hiking with us over at Thunderbird Conservation area.  It was a super quick hike because we had to meet someone to pick up some mission stuff, but it was beautiful out, and so fun to have a son along on a hike again.

THANKS DEREK for the visit!  It meant a lot to us!
Come see us!

Mission Prep Devotional

 One of the things that President Taylor and I enjoy so much is getting out with the youth to help prepare them to serve a mission.


We were invited to participate in an evening devotional in the Deer Valley Stake last Wednesday and it was so good!

 We invited several sets of missionaries to join us and we had them sing "Called To Serve" Arizona Phoenix Mission Style!!! after the congregation sang the first two verses.


They had a fantastic youth speaker, Caleb, who told why he wants to serve a mission and what he has been doing to prepare.  He is a great young man and will be ready to serve when school is out this spring!



Then they had their Mission Prep instructor speak.  He is fantastic!  Super excited about missionary work and really prepares them well!  Lucky youth who are in this stake!

 We then spoke about how to prepare for a mission in six areas:
Social
Emotional
Physical
Mental
Financial
and Spiritual

 Being prepared is a line upon line process!  So much of everyday life prepares us to serve the Lord.
If you are preparing to serve a mission, take notice of everyday events or situations and how you would handle them if you were a missionary.
Take advantage of those chances you have to learn more about how to take care of yourself.
Really read the scriptures and Preach My Gospel and gain your own testimony.

 At the end of our part, we used our transfer video inviting the prospective missionaries to "Come Take Your Place" as we showed photos of our mission.

Our missionaries invited them to come to the front one by one and take their place as missionaries.

How blessed we are to Take Our Place serving the Lord as we invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

We invite you whether you are young or older to prepare to serve a mission for the Lord.
It is the best thing you will ever do!

DECEMBER LEADERSHIP 2012

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT 


Quarterly we hold Leadership meetings for all Zone Leaders, District Leaders and Trainers.
We really look forward to these meetings and the chance for all these leaders to interact, share and be trained so they can be helpful in their assignments.

 I love that this involves Sisters as well as Elders too.

 One of the practice teachings was about teaching people how to pray.  This is the key to each of us having a personal relationship to a loving Heavenly Father.
It is one of the first things we should be teaching.


It was humbling to watch as our missionaries practiced teaching how to pray, and then actually prayed together as missionaries.












Lunch break is always a highlight of the day for missionaries.  They love food and they love interacting socially together.  They are a lot of fun and they do love their food!!

In the afternoon session we had a little exercise we did last year called "Don't Drop the Ball!"

The idea is that when we give an assignment from President Taylor down through the Priesthood Line of Authority, that no one drops the ball and does not pass on the assignment and expectations.

The ball is supposed to get passed down the line and then back to the originator.
sometimes that works, and sometimes we drop the ball!

It was a great day of creating an "Action Plan" for our mission after great conferences with Elder Koelliker last month.  We have areas of emphasis that will benefit our personal conversions along with enhancing our ability to share the love and the plan that the Savior has for all of God's children.
We are grateful for the leadership in this mission!  All of our missionaries are ambassadors for Jesus Christ.  They are giving their all to share the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone possible.

Zone Leader Council December 2012

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One of the highlights for each month is hosting ZONE LEADER COUNCIL in the Mission Home.
We love these young men and the dedication and love they have for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They truly love who they serve with and who they serve!  I admire them very much!

Today we discussed an action plan after the great council from Elder Koelliker in his recent visit to our mission.  It was a wonderful day of sharing and learning and planning!





We always recognize birthdays happening in the month.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDERS HAMBLIN, WESTON AND DYE!!!





Showing off full plates of food, the delight of the zone leaders, and our delight in feeding them home-cooked meals; Elders Hamblin and Castanos.

We had missionaries eating all over the house...in the dining room, kitchen and outside.
Please click on the link above to see all photos.

Front:  Elders Lynn, Neves, Bartlett, K. Gerber, Brame, Castanos & Hernandez
Middle: Elders Hamblin, Alvis, Bolton, President and Sister Taylor, Elders Lancaster, Bartleson and Campbell.  Back: Elders Dye, Whipple, Burden, Nield, Hastings, Griffin, Weston, M. Peterson, Miller, Steinfeldt and Pollmeier.
Alright...I made President wear the Santa hat.  It is out of his comfort zone to do it, but he loves me and humors me and it was a lot of fun!!!


MERRY CHRISTMAS from the leaders of the APM!
WE LOVE WHO WE SERVE!