Washington, D.C. South Mission

Dear Family, Was Christmas only a couple of days ago? It seems that it was at least two weeks ago. Christmas was good, but very different from what we have known in the past. The office was closed on Monday, but Dad had made an appointment with the postman to meet him at the office so that we could get as many of the packages for the missionaries that we could. We were glad that we did because not only did we get about 40 more packages for the missionaries, but we also got packages for us and for another of the office couples. After logging in the packages and dividing them into their zones, we had good dedicated senior couples come into the office to get a zone’s mail. They delivered it and the missionaries had a little bit more of home for Christmas. We waited for the President and Sister Caplin to get to the office so that we could make up packages for a couple of the missionaries who didn’t get anything. Then we got to go and deliver packages to a couple of zones and what fu...

Dear Family, Mission News Monday (Christmas Eve) the senior missionaries felt the need to get mail and packages to the missionaries. Our mail man set an appointment with us to deliver mail and packages at 11:00. He was right on time. In short order we had mail going to the 8 zones in Northern Virginia. President and Sister Caplin came to the office and had a big box of socks, scarves and hats given to them from a family in St.George, whose son is serving in our mission. Sister Caplin made “packages” for missionaries that did not get much if any “Christmas” stuff. The missionaries we delivered to were excited as little kids to get the letters and presents. Two wards in the mission contacted us to see if there were missionaries that needed a little help. One of the senior couples, Elder and Sister Myers, have 9 grown children. They asked how they could help out at Christmas. Sister Caplin and some of the other senior missionaries made a list of missionaries that could use a little extra....

Dear Family, Mission News Monday night we got together with the 6 other mission couples, the mission president and his wife and the first counselor and his wife and a non-member neighbor couple for dinner, singing and some thoughts. Mom was asked in-prompt-to give a spiritual thought. She told how Aunt Barbra was thankful that she had lots of opportunities to talk with non-members about the Gospel when she badly broke her femur while at a service project. The non-member lady that was being helped in the service project went to Church last Sunday. My project to increase the number of conversion stories is gaining a little momentum. I met with the APs and talked with a half dozen missionaries. Everybody really likes the idea. Now we need a way to execute a plan. I hope you all got a chance to read the conversion story Mom sent out last week. We went to our first Zone Conference on Friday. Most of the conference was missionaries sharing their experiences with concepts from Prea...

Dear Family, Happy Birthday to Joseph Smith today. We just got home from a wonderful sacrament meeting filled with wonderful music. This ward we are attending must have lined up two or three times when the Lord was handing out musical talent. We came into the chapel before Sacrament Meeting started and were greeted with a young teenager playing the harp for prelude. Back to the beginning of the week. As I looked back it seemed so far back that I couldn’t believe it was only at the beginning of THIS week. We kind of went back to the office a little tired because the week end had seemed so filled with good things that we didn’t get much (if any) time to rest and take care of things that need to get done at the apartment. President and Sister Caplin came into the office to get some things and brought a beautiful flower arrangement for my birthday. They are so thoughtful to remember birthdays. I don’t know how they have the time with everything they have to do. Dad had written an em...

Dear Family, As I look back on the week it seems that last Sunday was three weeks ago. We have been up early every day and late to bed every night with lots of good things in between. Last Sunday evening (after writing my letter) we went to the new member/returning member fireside that we have the Sunday before transfers. What an uplifting evening that is to be able to hear the conversion stories of these people. As we see the missionaries interact with their friends that they have taught the gospel to, we can see the bonds of love that are so strong. We also get ideas of how we can fellowship people to help them return. Monday morning came bright and early and we were making final preparations for transfers that happen on Tuesday. The new missionaries that come to our mission, come on Monday evening. Dad had volunteered us to take the pictures of the new missionaries with the Mission President and his wife and get them, along with a short note, to the parents. In the age of in...

Dear Family, Mission News Sunday night we went to the New and Returning Member Fireside. These are great meetings where new members tell their conversion stories and bear their testimonies. Also, members returning to activity also tell how they came back. One sister was the daughter of a pastor, junior pastor and a DJ on a Christian radio. She was extremely eloquent and we conversant with Bible and Book of Mormon scripture. Monday evening Mom and I met with the arriving missionaries at the mission home. We had dinner with them and then took their pictures with our phones. After all of the pictures were taken, then we gave the new missionaries our phones and invited them to message their pictures home. This took a big stress off Sister Caplin, the mission president’s wife and all of the parents got pictures of their children the night they arrived. Tuesday we were responsible for lunch for the new missionaries and their companions. Sister Chesbrough, our local Church Servic...

Dear Family, Another week has raced by. Monday evening we decided it would be good to get gas for our trip to the airport in the morning. While Dad was getting gas I went into Walmart to buy some legos for a 4-year old. They have a giving tree at Church and that is the one we chose to buy and then wrap and take back to be given to some 4-year old. Dad volunteered to drive one of our visa waiters to the airport on Tuesday morning to save the President from having to get him to the airport for a 6 am flight. We dropped by the travel plans, a spare missionary cell phone and some reminders of what he needed to take with him the next morning. He was flying to Atlanta to get his visa although there is a consulate in Washington, D.C. The Church says that the consulate in Washington is hard to work with and slow, so they fly missionaries to other ones to get the job done. Washington, D.C. consulate must be pretty bad for the Church to spend the money for a plane ticket. The elders li...

Dear Family, Mission News One of our visa waiters needed to go to Atlanta to get his visa for Mexico. Our alarm went off at 3:55AM to get him to the Dulles Airport by 6:00AM. We picked him up from the airport and got him home by about 10:30 PM. It was a long day. We planned to take a nap, but we were too busy. The elder’s name is Giovani Garcia. His father was baptized in Guatemala, moved to Texas, married and had children. Normally getting a visa to Mexico is not hard, but Elder Garcia was here for two transfers. Of the 117 missions in the US he was assigned here. Of the 10 Spanish units we have in the mission, he was assigned to a ward whose membership includes the missionary that baptized his father in Guatemala. This brother was somewhat less active and Elder Garcia has helped him become active again. The Lord works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. We got up this morning at 4:53AM to take him to the airport to fly to Mexico City. The mail is heavy and we in the of...

Dear Family, Here it is December already. It seems that I have just finished the beginning of the month reports and it is time to begin them all over again. Hopefully I am getting faster and more confident with them. December has really started out dark, dreary, and rainy. We have had our lights on all day and it still felt like evening in the middle of the day. I guess that I shouldn’t complain about the rain because it certainly makes everything so green around here. And in California we were always praying for rain. Maybe we are never grateful for what we have and really should be. The week started out with Brother Packer coming for a mission training session. It didn’t affect the office so much except Dad and I (and the part time missionary in the office) were in charge of the luncheon on Thursday. It was finally decided which building the training would be in that day, so now we could arrange for the scheduling of the building. We finalized the menu and how much of what ...

Dear Family, Mission News This week we planned a lunch for 60 people. It went well, but I was sick with a sore throat and cold. I stayed home for two half days. The event was missionary training put on by Kenneth Boyd Packer, Boyd K. Packer’s grandson. I was home sick, but everyone that attended said it was very uplifting. On Tuesday we will take an elder to the airport, so he can fly to Atlanta to get his visa. We will pick him up at 4:20AM and he flies in at 10:00PM. It will be a long day. Fun Stuff Saturday is usually the fun day, but not today. WE stayed home most of the day, did laundry, went grocery shopping and some WES things. We wanted to go to a baptism, but we could not organize ourselves to get there. I am feeling better, but don’t sound too good. Both Mom and I were a little tired today. The power steering on our car sounds awful in the cold mornings. We will get it fixed this week. WES Not much change at WES. November is a great month for profitabilit...