A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE OFFICE

Meet Elder Potter, from St. George, Utah. This is his second transfer. He is now trained to enter the baptisms for the entire mission, he also writes the "Welcome Letters"that  are sent to the new members. This is a duty I took care of until Sister Oldham left in February. Another duty he has taken off my hands is that of booking all the transfer flights for the elders.

Elder Dladla is from Johannesburg, South Africa and has been out for awhile now. He has been serving in the office for about three transfers and takes care of the orders the elders place as well as collecting the post and packing it up to be shipped to the rest of the mission. He was transferred this past week.

You will be happy to get to know Elder Dale from Salt Lake City, especially if you need something done, he is your man. He is serving as a assistant to the assistant. That is right! We are so busy with our large mission that even the AP's need assistances. Elder Dale has been out about a year and now a trainer as well.

Just arriving from Nephi, Utah as transfer ago, Elder Steele is companions with Elder Dale and loves being in the office assisting the AP's........and getting letters from Kendra the minute they arrive.

Elder Ingram from Boise, Idaho and Elder Potter's trainer has been in the office from two transfers now and is there with one purpose and that is to assist Elder Henderson. When he is not working he favors us with Irish Dancing.

This would be my sweetheart and companion, Elder Henderson, who has been serving 19 months now. Up until February his duties consisted of all the finances for the entire mission, the telephones,  and inspecting flats. Since February he is also taking care of all the cars, which means, purchasing and selling and any maintenance problems. Buying electricity when the elder run out (every other day). All the flats, which includes renting and fielding problems.......need I say more? Oh yes, and Co-coridnator of the "12 Step Addiction Recovery Program" two nights a week.  

And as for me, hmmmmm, where do I start? I have now taken over where Sister Oldham left off. I am President Wood's secretary. So whatever he needs I take care of,  letters and special assignments. I organize "Outlook" with a color code system I came up with so everyone in the office can see their mail asap. I book all President and Sister Wood's Travel and lodging and auto's and keep his calendar updated. The booking of the elders going home is another hat I wear except for the elders returning to the USA. Which means I also prepare a packet for them before they leave, write three different letters, one to their parents, bishops, and stake presidents. Each of these letters are personalized by President Wood. There are packets  for the incoming elders as well. Then when they arrive we must give them an orientation.

When I am not busy with the office matters I watch over the "Adopt An Elder Program." When I first arrived president ask me to come up with an idea to help some of the African elders that were getting no support from home. That night as I knelt to pray the Lord inspire an idea that turned out to be the AAP. We began with 19 elders. i made profile sheets on each one and as I was doing this our daughter Kami asked for the list. She present them to our ward Relief Society and immediately they began to adopt these young man. Another sister who's son Elder Simpson is in our mission asked to help also. Angie has many families participating. Many of my friends have also been involved in the program. Much good has been done and we have even seen a miracle baptism of Juanita September  as a result of this program. There have been 30 elders thus far that have been on the program. Besides this I am also standing at the side of my companion helping with the 12 Step Program.  We will fly to Port Elizabeth, East London and Queenstown to train the Bishops and Relief Society presidents the second week in June. Our first group meeting in Micthcell's Plain where we serve weekly was the first site of our ARP meeting last August, the first meeting ever to held in South Africa. What a blessing for these sweet people.We now have a meeting in Mowbray each week as well.

When all is said and done, my very favorite opportunity is to serve the elders in any way possible, especially having them to dinner on Sunday or making them yummy treats. The long hours are in our blood and leaving in 2 1/2 months is not going to be easy. This missionary work certainly puts a smile on my face.