Mission: Flying By

The last two weeks have been pretty heavy duty!  We all had so much to do to get ready for the new arriving missionaries.  Dear One had to find and outfit a couple of new apartments and re-work one of the old ones for two sets of elders.  Amazingly, we got it all done.

We changed this transfer from middle of day transfers to evening transfers and they worked!  

Wonderful news:  We in our office were approved for better internet!  Until then, every day I have to shut off the syncing of my computer files to the cloud since it eats all the bandwidth and no one can do anything.  (I tried to check in and get boarding passes for two of our "visa waiters" whose visas had come through so they could go to their own missions.  Checking in the one going to the Dominican Republic went just fine.  For the sister going to Taiwan, I could not for anything get her passport image to upload to the airline so she had to wait until  she arrived at the airport to check in and print her boarding passes.  That seems like a long time ago, but it was only this past Monday!!  On Thursday I checked in and printing boarding passes for five of the other seven departing missionaries.  The one going to Philadelphia could not be checked in nor could the one returning to Cambodia.  Well, they were getting to the airport in plenty of time.  I found out later that there were no problems.

Thursday was the departing dinner at the President's house.  Sister J and I got to the house at 3:30 and scrubbed, pierced, oiled, and salted many many baking potatoes and had them in the oven by 4 PM.  We then chopped green onions, washed and tore lettuce, laid out the finger desserts on platters, and generally got things ready that were the last minute things.  President and Sister were at the temple with the missionaries and then President had some interviews.  Sister returned  shortly after five and was happy to see everything set up.  She had done a ton of work before she left for the temple which made life so much easier for us.

The potatoes cooked.  The salad was ready.  The toppings for the baked potatoes were ready.  Sister B.  came with buckets of chili and broccoli cheese soup and wonderful chewy bread as well as oyster crackers.  The missionaries and President arrived then we just had to wait for the senior departing missionaries to arrive.

In the foreground on the left is a big stainless bowl of baked potatoes just out of sight.

It was a nice dinner and a fun time for everyone.  After we ate we helped take care of the food  and  refuse.  Most of the dishwashing was done in the trash bin, good planning on Sister B's part,  I think.  Made life so much easier. I think Dear One and I left shortly after 7 PM.  I went out to the car with him, just about done in.  There on the front seat was Sister J's scripture case.  Dear One was kind enough to walk the scriptures back into the house.  President came out to thank us and say good night. He walked all the way out to the car to speak to me as well.   That was really really nice. He did not need to do that.  This is what we signed on to do: help in any way we can.  It makes us feel good, even when we are taxed just about to the limit.

Last week a really good thing happened when one of the apartment complexes which is owned by some kind people was dispersing some furniture and other things from a model apartment and clubhouse that they were renovating.  They thought we might like these things for the apartment we are opening there at their complex in December.  Dear One, Elder and Sister B and some young missionaries moved everything into the truck and trailer, then put it into the storage garages until we can move it into the apartment in mid-December. There was a fabulous small laser printer they were donating. Since Dear One knew I wanted a printer, they brought it home to me.  I set it up and figured out how to make it work. I felt so smart.  I was so thrilled to have it.

Today Elder and Sister J came over to borrow our Freecyle Mixmaster for some whipped cream she wants to make tomorrow for senior missionary FHE.  They went to the dumpster on the way to our apartment and reported there was a great office chair over there.  Elder J said I needed to go before it rained.  I thought I would go look at it.  I walked over there, sat in the chair, rolled in the chair, then rolled it home, turned it horizontally then carried it up the seventeen stairs and into our apartment then rolled it in the work room.  I sat in it to write this post until time to go to stake conference.  The chair is comfy enough to use plus I think the people who come after us will like it.  (That is, if any other senior missionaries are willing to go up the stairs every day...I am sure they will). Anyway,  I enjoyed the chair, BUT I discovered that there had been rain before I went to get it...my whole back, etc, are damp to the skin now.  Oh well.

The recycled office chair.  Nice tall back.

So, here is a newsflash:  regarding the laser printer.  On Friday we received an email from the complex manager's office who had donated all the furnishings, including the laser printer.  She said that the printer was her office printer and she was in dire need of it.  Huh!  Isn't that a funny thing.  The things that we did not take for the new apartment went to Goodwill.  It is a good thing that my kind husband brought the printer home to me.  I doubt she would have been able to get it back from Goodwill.... So Monday morning we will carry it back down the stairs and take it to our office where the lady will come pick it up.  Easy come, easy go....!  At least the lady is coming to pick it up and we don't have to return it...