More Mission Experiences

In our Mission Office we have, as I think most mission offices have, a Mission Secretary, Financial Clerk, Vehicle Coordinator, Housing Coordinator, Referral and Media Coordinator and Medical Adviser.

When we were called, Brother and Sister McClellan from Bear Lake, Idaho were serving as full-time Senior Missionaries. Sister McClellan was the Mission Secretary and Elder McClellan the Financial Clerk. These are two critical assignments that require full time presence at the office.

Another couple were serving as part-timers with the Elder Wright being the Vehicle Coordinator and his wife the Medical Adviser.

Cathy is the Referral and Media Coordinator. The Church has recently developed an internet-based referral program that is a part of lds.org but only accessible with an appropriate password. All referrals are entered into the system and then sent to the appropriate missionaries via text message on their cell phones. then the missionaries are supposed to update the status of each referral by calling an 800 number and punching in certain responses to specific categories. Cathy coordinates all of that for our 180 missionaries and it's a big job. The good news is that the system being internet-based can be accessed at home and that makes it very nice for her. plus she has a mission cell phone too with all the missionaries numbers pre-programmed into it.

Media means all of the pamphlets, DVDs, Books of Mormon, etc. that the missionaries order. She makes sure we are stocked and she sees that the missionaries requests are filled.

I have been the housing coordinator dealing with about 80 land lords of various types.

The McClellans were due to leave on March 1st but there was no replacements for them. The Mission President asked us to consider coming in full time and doing their work as well as ours. After a very cordial meeting he decided to bring the Vorheis' up from their assigned area in Campbellsville, Kentucky. I wrote about them earlier and they have been wonderful.

The Wrights are leaving at the end of this month. we got a single senior Brother in named Phil Cease who has a professional background in apartment management and so the President asked if I would switch to cars and let Elder Cease handle the housing so I'm learning yet more duties. I truly am enjoying it.

Yesterday, Andy Busby, the Area Vehicle Coordinator, came to Louisville to train me. He is a very pleasant fellow and it looks like We'll work well together (he's my boss other than the mission President).

It's great group of people doing great work and i really enjoy having the opportunity to serve.

I still haven't heard more from Elder Harmon of Flagstaff (in whose Great Grandparent's home in Berkeley my parents were married). But I reminded him that I would love to contact my sort of cousin, George Harmon, to reminisce.

No pictures this time. I have also been doing some additional work in the yard and will report on that next time.