First Change Day

Tuesday June 22 at 3pm we finished our first series of changes. Yesterday we said goodbye to 10 of our best missionariew two hermanas and 8 Elders one of them, Elder Mertlick from Utah was one of my APs in whom we had grown very close to. Our day started at 7 A.M. with a meeting in one of the Stake Centers where 25 interviews were done after which we had all of the leaving missionaries to the mission home for an enchilada dinner which your Mom prepared. It was great! Unfortunately while I was interviewing Hermana Torres was, as she puts it,"On play ground duty for 4 hours."

But she did a good job and no one was out of countrol or misbehaving. After dinner we had a testimony meeting and shared experiences. We didn't finish until close to 7:30 p.m After all that we went shopping for more food. Funny how the Elders depleat the food supply. Then at 9:15pm off to the airport to pick up Hermana Lott from St. George who we were able to meet before we left the MTC. This morning at 6am it was off to the CCM to pick up the remaining 8 missionaries.

While there one of the Sisters who was going home asked the Hermano taking her to the bus station to stop so that she could see me one more time. She told me she didn't want to go home, which reminded me of someone, so I gave her a fatherly hug and said goodbye.

This morning we had training at the mission office where I also interviewed each of our new missionaries. At 1:00 we came to the Mission Home for a wonderful lunch of BBQ pork sandwiches , carrot sticks, salsa & chips, salad, pina, watermelon, cake and ice cream and of course everyone loved it. Then we sent our missionaries off after a short testimony meeting. For that dinner she fed 27. It is amazing how the Lord is helping us in doing this work there is no doubt that He leads and guides us.
This week end we will be speaking in two sessions of Stake Conference, having a stake missionary training with ward leaders as well as going to Salama to see how things are going there with some struggling Branches . But I just got word that Dolores where we went to on our 2nd weekend in Guate reported attendance of 34 (they had been getting only 12 or 6 there) and the District President wants me to consider a young man who I will be releasing as a full time missionary tomorrow as the new Branch President. That is why I've told our missionaries to teach their Latino companion English because this missionaries will certainly move right into leadership positions.