Our First Intake Week.

We survived our first intake week!! We had 4 missionaries leave (going home after serving two years for men, and 18 months for women) and 6 new missionaries come to the mission. In addition, 65% of the 130 in the field were transferred! That's a lot of change!

Monday night we worked late at the office finishing the 'getting ready' for intake.

Tuesday was our first transfer meeting and those in attendance were companionships that were affected by a transfer as well as all of the support staff. One of Pres. Carter's missionary assistants stood to announce new assignments after the standard opening hymn and prayer. Leavers were invited to bear their testimony, and the Carter's spoke, then closing hymn and prayer, after which we distributed proof of residency letters for those transferred (required to use the computer at the local library to email their families on preparation day), the newsletter, and spiritual highlights sheet.

Pres. Carter and the assistants make companionship and area changes by revelation and inspiration and ONLY they know ahead of time (ok, I know too, but just because of travel and other preparation necessary but it really is very hush hush!)

Tuesday night, Carters hosted dinner for the leavers, the assistants, and the office staff. Once dinner was over, we were blessed to hear testimonies from the leavers and talks from the Carters. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, it was that moving! We had kitchen clean up afterward but many hands make light work!

Lee made several trips to and from the airport on Tuesday and Wednesday, once pulling a trailer full of luggage through the narrow lanes of downtown Adelaide during rush hour! One of the new missionaries is a scholarship football player for University of Utah after his mission, and Lee is determined to change the kids jersey from red to blue. (that's BYU blue....GO COUGARS!)

Wednesday we shipped out the leavers and brought in the arrivers and I was totally confused concerning travel...who was coming or who was going on which flight to where? Salt Lake arranges travel to the mission and home again, but I book all in-mission transfer travel (to Darwin and Alice Springs by air, and or bus or ferry to other destinations). Arranging for Lee to transport at the right time and to the right place was stressful!

One of the leavers, Elder Takaufa

We received 5 Elders from the USA and a Sister from the Philippines who had been a visa waiter for months. All had been traveling for several hours but were attentive in the orientation meetings, as well as during personal interviews with Pres.Carter. Once those were completed, dinner was served at the church to the arrivers and their trainers, and all of the above mentioned support staff. Testimonies were shared by the new missionaries, and the Carter's spoke briefly. We fell into bed exhausted but LOVED the experience and it's only six weeks until the next transfer and we get to do it all over again!

After serving 23 months, our trainers took the day off Friday to pack in preparation for airport transport at 5:00 am Saturday morning. When Lee returned, we moved to the flat the Judds vacated a block way. It took all day Saturday to clean and pack at both locations but I'm TOTALLY suitcase free for the first time since we left home July 8! We've just been camping, first at the MTC for two weeks, then for 1 1/2 days in Adelaide before 7 weeks in Mount Gambier, and now back here in Adelaide for the past two weeks. We love the new place and have settled in nicely.

We attended church at the Firle ward building directly across the street from our flat Sunday, 

1-4 pm and a baptism immediately after. The spirit is so wonderful at these meetings and in this mission, new members bear testimony at their own baptismal service. It is beautiful and we LOVE attending baptisms!

Adelaide is very multicultural, and investigators as well as the people recently baptized, are of different nationalities. With the Australian accent, and English as the second language for many, I have difficulty hearing and understanding people, especially on the phone. One man got really frustrated with me today on the phone but to be truthful, I felt a bit frustrated too :-)

There are several 'areas' within each city and when the missionaries call the office they identify themselves by that area such as, " Hi Sister Sheffield, it's the Anzac Hill missionaries, can I speak with Brother Sheffield please?" It's a challenge to learn all there is to learn but the missionaries are very patient, kind, and respectful and we are enjoying our interaction with these fabulous young people!

I answer the incoming phone calls to the office, and if the issue is not in my realm of expertise, I'll transfer the call to Finance (Sister Salazar from Houston, Tx), Housing ( Brother and Sister White from Queensland), or Vehicles/Bikes (Lee). Monday is missionary preparation day so there is more traffic in the office, and the busier it is, the more the phone rings! Zone leaders collect mail for their zone and missionaries get teaching supplies from the office on Mondays too. 

Lee deals with all aspects of cars and bikes. Upon arrival, each missionary gets a bike and helmet, ordered for their height and weight, and paid for by the missionary. If they serve in an area with a car, we store the bike until needed. As you can imagine, there are all sorts of issues with bikes and cars such as repairs, accidents, kilometer usage/allotments, bikes being stolen, and on and on. Previous experience running a business has prepared Lee to deal with a variety of people in a variety of situations, with an occasional crisis, and he handles it with ease. We joked about calling him a fireman because he is busy putting out fires all day long.

We are now flying solo without our trainers.....will report on my next blog post 'how we are going.'

I took this picture of a bottle brush tree and forgot to send it.. They are beautiful long red fuzzy

blooms and there is a street nearby lined with these trees on both sides. Beautiful!