More Experiences and Learning

This past week was a busy one for me (I notice I always say that…), preparing for all the missionaries that are going home the next several transfers!  Between now and the end of the year over 1/3 of the mission will go home and be replaced by new elders and sisters.  That means lots of young trainers and lots of new requirements for drivers, so I’m pushing hard to get everyone who has submitted their motor vehicle driving record certified in the next several weeks.  (If I can get ahead of it, in theory the last minute rush to get drivers certified should be eliminated…)  Instead of catching elders and sisters as they come into the office for other reasons (which I’m finding mostly doesn’t work because they and I are busy), I’ve scheduled people by zones and given them a day to come to the office for their driving tests.  I hate to interfere with their proselyting time that way, but I do need to make it happen no matter what. I told Diane this week that it reminds me of working at the Temple—things always work out, even when you don’t see how it will!  Every day missionaries call to tell me they can’t come on the scheduled day, so I reschedule them (and think, “How am I going to do that many in one day?!”). Then, invariably missionaries call from other days and reschedule for the same reason to open slots, so it always works out!  I’ve found that most missions don’t give driving tests, but it’s quite a shock for someone who has only driven in Preston, Idaho to drive in Queens, NY!  Most do OK, and it also gives me a chance to give some tips and do some training on the New York driving culture. (Me being the big expert after 6 months…)

I’ve started re-reading “Jesus The Christ’ for the first time in 40 plus years, and I’m just in awe of the power and spirit of that book!  It was one of my favorite books on my first mission, 45 years ago, and sad to say, I don’t think I’ve read it completely since. Once you get used to Talmadge’s writing cadence and vocabulary (it’s not a book you can rush through—you have to savor it!), it’s wonderful, and it’s hard to imagine any sincere, thoughtful person not knowing that it’s true immediately!  I ordered a copy for a friend in our branch who is a dry Mormon, and it motivated me to get busy and read it again.  I’m so glad it did!! Our friend, Jay, is a wonderful man, who serves all the elders all over the mission by cutting their hair and giving them rides to transfers, and is one of the most active people in the branch—more even than the branch presidency as far as we can see!  He told us he was an atheist before hearing about the gospel, and now he says he has progressed to being agnostic.  He certainly sees the fruits of the church, and knows they are good, but is still not ready to accept the divinity of God and Jesus or the need for priesthood and ordinances.  Anyway, I thought “Jesus The Christ” would be a good book for him, and it certainly is for me!!  After reading only the first 3 or 4 chapters, I’m just awestruck by the power and majesty and glory of the Godhead!! It’s made me realize how much I take for granted, and understand more clearly the reverence and awe the general authorities have for deity!!  I know that God the Father and God the Son and The Holy Ghost are real, and we are lucky enough to be engaged in their work on the earth!  I want to do the best job I can.

While I’m talking about being in awe, I’m in awe more every week of my wife and companion!  She is so good, and so spiritual, and she improves so fast that I will never catch up to her!!  I have to admit, I often feel like a follower in my own home!  Oh well, at least I’m seldom rebellious about it.  That’s what I have to cling to.  Together we make a pretty good team—I move the heavy stuff and kill the bugs, and she is the leader in almost everything else.  I know I’m basically a good person, but she is so far ahead!!!!!!!!!