More Usefulness

6/30/16 From Marc:

What a day yesterday! Got up at 0530 to get the luggage to JFK airport by 0700 for the elders and sisters going home, then hugs and goodbyes, then returned the rented van, and back to the office at about 0915 (rush hour traffic; JFK only 7 miles away).  Then we spent the morning trying to get the changes from transfers the day before into the system while a stream of elders and sisters were in and out of the office (several families picking their missionaries up, office elders in and out prepping for some apartment moves, the Assistants to the President (three of them this transfer) working to update the church system (IMOS), two sisters waiting for their later flights to Mongolia and Korea (more later about that).  (One of the sister’s suitcase wheel had broken off, and I tried to bond it on late the night before with construction adhesive, but we found today that it didn’t work at all, so I was trying to clean up that mess, too.)  Anyway, just as I got my part of the system updated and was ready to start sending out the 146 email reminders for the monthly vehicle reports that are due on the 1^st, the sisters were weighing their suitcases right behind my desk, and they found that all four bags were overweight! 

Sister Batsuuri’s (from Mongolia) suitcases were only a couple of pounds over, so she was able to adjust and get them down to weight, but Sister Sao’s (Korea) were 74 and 79 pounds, with a limit of 50 pounds!!  I have never lifted suitcases that heavy! By that time, we were less than an hour from when we needed to leave for the airport (did I mention that we had been asked to take them to the airport for their evening flights?), so the stress was rising on what to do.  We found that the overweight fees were $100 per suitcase up to 70#, and $200 each above 70#, but she didn’t like any of our alternatives to get the weight down (even under 70#) so we started to load the car, only to find that there was no way to get all their luggage, them and us into our SUV!  So, we called some elders who work near the office and asked for help.  Luckily they were working nearby, and came right over, and we took two vehicles (one mission car and ours).  We took along an empty suitcase from home, thinking that if they refused to even take the suitcases over 70# (which SLC had told us they would), she could unload a bunch of stuff and we could ship it.  Then, once we found the other vehicle at the airport and parked, I knew we couldn’t wrestle all the luggage in without the elders, so they came in with us to help. We got a suitcase cart because the passenger was the only person allowed to the ticketing/luggage gate, and watched from afar to see if Sister Sao needed to give us stuff, but they did take the suitcases, charging her (parents credit card) $400 for the two bags!  Hopefully, the conversation about the $400 will come after all the welcome home hugs in Korea!! 

Then, we found that Sister Batsuuri was leaving from another terminal ½ mile away, so we needed to move and re-park both vehicles or take the airport train.  After opting for the train, the two poor elders helped us wrestle another set of luggage back into the terminal and onto the train.  Once at the other terminal, we found out that the line for check-in (Aeroflot Airline) was 150’ long, so we got another cart for Sister B., excused the elders, gave them parking money, and let them drive home to go back to work.  Then we waited with Sister B. for another hour or so until she got to the ticketing/luggage entrance, said our goodbyes and took the train back to the other terminal and our car.  Three hours in the airport, and another hour each way for driving, and we got home after 7PM.  We dropped into chairs exhausted and hoped someone would bring us food… no one did, so we got our second wind in an hour or so, and my junior companion volunteered to cook dinner.  An exhausting day, but remember, we wanted to feel needed!!!