Comings and Goings

This is Transfer Week, so new volunteers come in, old volunteers go home, and companionships changes all over the mission.  

Besides that, Sue is writing this while sitting in the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. We are on our way home for a week for Sue's Mom's funeral. The waiting area is full. They are starting to board the Airbus 380/400--the biggest passenger plane in the skies. You can see the line behind Sue. When it gets shorter, we'll board also.

Monday night we did Mexican food!  Sister Camano is Latina from Los Angeles. She brought the refried beans, Sue did guacamole and burritos. Our invitees were the Center Ward Relief Society President and her daughter. She works full time as a Mary Kay saleswoman and has a pink Cadillac!!

The arrivals on Tuesday night--bleary-eyed, but excited.  L-R:  Elder Jensen (Asst.), Elder and Sister Peck from Idaho, Pres. & Sister Rawson, Elder Woodruff, Elder Bohman, and Elder Franckowiak (Asst.).  We are excited to have another senior couple in the mission. They had some orientation on Wednesday, and we took them out to lunch in the middle, then they hopped on the bus for Novgorod on Wednesday evening. 

SistersYegorova, McColm, Wilson, Alder

Wednesday was Transfer Day, when anyone getting a new companion or going on a visa trip comes into the office. That is almost everyone.  There were only four of the 47 who didn't come in. Many are excited to get letters and packages. Sister McColm had a birthday last Monday, so opened her 'birthday in a box' that her mom had sent. She is a quadruplet! All three of her siblings are on  missions, too. She said this is the first birthday she's had all to herself.

Those leaving for Novgorod got taxis to take them to the bus station.  Six volunteers--and five of them are transferring in.  Elder Parker (holding white bag near the left) is the only holdover from the previous transfer, and he was new then!  He has one of the brand-new Elders as his companion, Elder Woodruff. But Sister Wilson is coming back after having previously spent six transfers there. President Rawson knew the Pecks needed someone with real experience in the Branch and in the City to help them get oriented. 


And here are the three who went home on Thursday morning:  Elder Winchester to Orlando, Florida; Elder Folkman to Citrus Heights, Calif; and Elder Rodgers to Goodyear, Arizona. 

Wednesday evening January 31st at the Transfer Meeting we sang "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again" to the three who were leaving. The video now work on this blog through this link. Sue got to sing standing next to Sister DaLuz, and that was a treat. She is majoring in Musical Theater, or some such, and has a wonderful voice.  You may notice the volunteers in casual dress. We may have said this before, but visa trips now all happen at Transfer time, and the visa department people want us to look as innocuous as possible, so the usual more formal 'missionary attire' is left home in favor of jeans and T-shirts.

Friday we were flying all day. Up at 3 am, left for the airport at 3:30 in a taxi that had a few small skids as the snow was falling hard on our way to the airport. But the long trip went off with no problems. We kept ourselves awake most of the way--about 27 hours from St. Petersburg, to Frankfurt, to San Francisco--and then  into Salt Lake at 7 pm, where rented a car, got some dinner, and drove to Mom's house in time to crash and have a good night's sleep.  The only hard part of the day was sitting in her house and knowing she wasn't there with us--but she is here in spirit. We know that.

Saturday we got a bonus.  Our granddaughter, Leona Schmalbeck was baptized.  We had originally planned to fly home on Saturday, but before we made the reservations we spoke to our foster-son, Tim. He told us February 3 was Leona's baptism day, so we came a day early, and that was a treat!  

Tim came into our family as a freshman in high school and lived with us for two years. Then he lived his next two years with Hank and Colette Taylor, friends from our ward in Palo Alto. So Tim has lots of families. Hank and Colette and some of their kids and grandkids were also here for the baptism, so it was fun to see all of them, too. Their son, Brad Taylor, will be the Mission President in Seoul, Korea, starting next July! That was our week.