Experiencing the Joy and Fatigue of it All - Missionary Work

*Hermana Nix and Sister Hankins - transfer day this week.*

We invite our missionaries to come to meetings 15 minutes early to find their seat and prepare themselves by taking in the spirit of the prelude music. It is a tender experience to walk into a chapel full of missionaries. You can perceive a mixture of love, sacrifice, and obedience coming from them. It is a beautiful sensation. When they stand to sing, my nose starts to twitch, and I get a lump in my throat as I blink back tears. There is great joy!

I know the Lord loves his missionaries. This week at our new missionary training meeting, President Quinn stood up to begin the meeting and said, “I have the impression that your parents and loved ones are praying for you as you begin your service here in the California Santa Rosa Mission. I am confident you will realize the strength and the blessings coming from those prayers.” Praying for missionaries makes a difference for good. Missions are hard. Thank you for your prayers.

This week I am grateful for prayers for missionaries, including myself as a missionary. My sweet cousin Sharilyn texted me today and said, “I am sure it is impossible to fully understand the full measure of all you are giving, feeling and experiencing and the joy and the fatigue of it all.” This thought totally summed up my mixed emotions of this week, with sending eight missionaries we love home who have honorably concluded their service and the excitement of 17 new missionaries joining us. There has been a lot of celebration, sadness, happiness, meals, and meetings.

*Elder Murphy, Wiley, Fano, Pres. and Sis. Quinn, Sister Stringham, Elder King, Reynolds, Maxwell, and Riofrio. These missionaries flew home this week. They served with honor.*

I am struggling with how to say that there is some fatigue, without soliciting any concern. I am fighting off a cold that has lasted two weeks now. I have needed to slow down and remind myself, as I do the young missionaries, to pace myself. I am grateful for prayers and priesthood blessings.

I feel a lot of energy coming from the new missionaries. I can see they are prepared and ready to begin their missions. President Quinn and I enjoyed the new missionary training meeting. At this time, the new missionaries get to meet our remarkable office missionaries and learn about all they do. Mark and I then do an introduction of ourselves, our mission motto, and mission theme.

Office missionaries: Elder Kennan - vehicle coordinator, Sister Kennan, emergency coordinator and office assistant, Sister Nate, office secretary, Elder Nate, financial secretary, Elder and Sister Lemon, housing coordinators, Sister Schneider, mission nurse.

This meeting, as with all our meetings with missionaries, ended with more singing and a lot of handshakes, hugs, and high-fives. I am confident it is going to be a great transfer and I am excited for it!

Here are our 17 new young missionaries and 4 new senior missionaries. - We love them already!