Washington, D.C. South Mission

Dear Family, We got Keri and McKay off and got into the office by 8:30—not too bad. It seemed lonely knowing they were gone even though we weren’t at home. The checks for all of the rent had been approved and were printed on Monday, but I had to get them (ones that we had trouble with last month) addressed to FedEx. I didn’t get that done until Tuesday. The first of the two new office couples arrived today. They beat the big storm that has been predicted. All schools and many businesses were being shut down in preparation. We are just hoping that the 2nd couple arrive safely. I took home bills to enter them at home—sometimes I just get tired of being at the office and Dad needs to get home to do some WES work. We got a call from President Caplin asking Dad if he could and give one of the sisters that lives close to us a blessing. That was nice to be able to help out. Wednesday morning when I first looked out the window, there was a skiff of snow, but by the time we wer...

Dear Family, Sorry this is a week late, but I will blame it on Keri and her family. They arrived for a visit on Wednesday and we played/visited over the week end and I didn’t write my letter. Monday was the usual day at the office. We were, however, trying to get things arranged for some missionaries that were leaving. Dad has to work with Salt Lake to get the travel arrangements made. President Caplin took one of the missionaries to the airport. Tuesday we worked in the office then about 1:30 we had to go to the Missionary Leadership Council (MLC) meeting to pick up the three remaining missionaries that were leaving. Two of them were visa waiters that had been in our mission since June and were just getting their visas for Bulgaria. The other one was going home for surgery on her hands. I was fun to visit with them on the way to the airport, then go in with them to make sure that all of the charges had been taken care of. We dropped the one missionary off first, and while wai...

Dear Family, Mission News Tuesday, we took 3 missionaries to the airport. One is going home for carpel tunnel surgery. Hopefully she will be back soon. The other two were off to Bulgaria. They were visa-waiters who had to wait 10 months for their visas. They are all exceptional missionaries. On Wednesday the president asked me to give a blessing to a sister who is struggling with depression. She beats herself up for not being a great missionary. She has been out for only 4 months. Fun Stuff Wednesday February 13 evening Keri, McKay and the girls came. Thursday – Keri and Family went to the American History Museum, Lincoln Memorial, Korean, World II, Martin Luther King, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and Jefferson Memorial. About 8.5 miles. When they got back I asked Elizabeth what she did all day. She said, “We saw a lot of buildings”. Friday – Mom and I took the day off and went to the Air and Space Museum, Capitol Tour and Library of Congress – 6.8 miles. The cap...

Dear Family, This was the week of many checks getting lost in the mail. It has been frustrating to have to redo so many checks and spend the money to FedEx the checks to make sure that the checks get this time. Along with this is the time and effort to void all of the checks through Salt Lake and then find them in the file to void the paper work there too. This is not a new problem with me, but it is getting old very fast. Some of the apartments don’t just notify us that we are 5 days late, but threaten law suits if the check isn’t in their hands within 5 days. Some of these even require a certified check, so that includes a trip to the bank in addition to all of the other tasks. The sad part of it is, I should be using my time to get the rent for March ready and preparing for my audit. Then on top of all of the extra checks that I have had to do this week, I opened up the new box of checks to discover that Salt Lake had sent me checks that require two signatures. I should hav...

Dear Family, Mission News Attended a District Council in Oakton Zone. I am continually impressed by these young missionaries. Around 10 rent checks did not get delivered this month. The US Postal Service is not so great. This causes Mom tons of grief. My mobile device responsibility is taking more and more time. I am getting a little better at handling their technical questions as similar problems are reoccurring. I feel a need to get devices up again quickly, but I am not terrible capable yet. Another dimension of the mobile device assignment is that I need to make sure missionaries are trained on how to use them and use them “safely”. The Church puts an app on the phones and tablets called Maas360. This allows the users to download only selected apps and blocks many websites. I need to make sure that this program is installed on their phones. If the device is not used for a while, I get a report from Salt Lake. Most of the time the device is not used is because it is ...

Dear Family, February is here! Happy Birthday to Lis and wishes for a very happy year. We have had so many changes in the office lately that is making me feel a little unsettled. By the 5th of March we will be the senior office couple. Yikes! We don’t know enough to be the senior couple. The vehicle/reference couple have always been scheduled to leave on March 5th, but the other couple was supposed to be here until the end of July. They, however, went home two weeks ago so that he could have back surgery. Another senior couple were brought into the office from being a MLS missionary couple to take over the housing duties, and with the shortage of nurses we thought they would finish their mission in the office. On Thursday, Dad received a change of missionary assignment in his email. A senior couple were being assigned to our mission. The Sister was a nurse. They had been assigned to the Philippines, but were now coming here. Wow! We are in the middle of a cold spell wit...

Dear Family, Mission News District Conference in Centreville on Tuesday: I enjoy being with the missionaries. Zone Conference on Wednesday: We listened to an inspiring presentation given by Elder and Sister Holland on Book of Mormon at the Mission President Training at the MTC. They talked about how important the Book of Mormon is to the restoration. I love the doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon. It compliments the Bible so well and clarifies the saving doctrines. At Zone Conference Mom and I participated in the car inspections for an hour and a half. It was cold outside, so Mom was on the outside of the car checking the blinkers, lights etc. I was on the inside. She was happy to be outside and I was happy to be inside. Last transfer we needed a 12-passenger van. I had difficulty getting one when we needed. We will need a van for this transfer and I got it ready for the March transfer. Simple joy in life. Yesterday we went to a baptism in the Mount Vernon Stake....