Jan 2 - 8, 2022
SUNDAY
Our last Sunday in the Tempe Ward. We have met so many good people in the short time we have been here. It has been good to serve alongside them, to be in their homes and to see their testimonies in action. Elder Glauser taught the Gospel Essentials class on Sunday school again today. It was a great discussion about the importance of the scriptures, how we can find answers to our questions in the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. Daily reading from the scriptures can bring guidance and direction to us. But also the words of the living prophets and apostles are scripture and studying their words, especially from the latest General Conference can give direction and peace.
Our mentor for Mission Finance, Elder Lloyd, met on Zoom with us and gave us an overview of what to expect the next few days. There are many people working hard to make sure we are ready and able to get to Holland later this week and be ready to start our new assignments.
One of the things that needed to happen was the sale of our car. A couple people had expressed interest in it but decided to take another route. We were sure we could sell it on KBB and Doug filled out the information and was about to list it but decided to wait until morning so he could be thorough with the knicks and dings that we couldn’t see in the dark. President Goaslind had mentioned earlier that there should be a Mission vehicle that we could use between when our car sold and when we left, so Doug called him to confirm that was the case. Pres Goaslind said “yes…..but my son and his family just moved to the area and need to buy a car. How much were you thinking?” Long story short, William and Ashley came a few minutes later, took the car for a drive and bought it! And they don’t need it until we leave for the airport because they can use his parent’s car for a few days. It made everything so simple for us. A miracle! We marvel at the knowledge that ‘God is in the details of our lives.’
MONDAY
Mission Travel is closed today for the holiday so we couldn’t follow up and make sure our passports are on the way. Hopefully they were sent Friday…
Our prayer today and for this week is that we can understand and retain the new information we will receive at the virtual MTC training. There is a lot of material, but neither of us feel overwhelmed at the close of the first day of training. We know we will have support from the Area Office and our mentors in SLC.
We contacted Elder Thorson about getting COVID tests which must be done within 48 hours of departure from the country. So we looked at the flight that would have been the same one scheduled for the 17th and timed it from there. As a backup, we scheduled our own Rapid Test at CVS for Wednesday afternoon/evening.
We have had to cancel the appointments we had made for member lessons since we are now absorbed with all the details getting to Holland.
TUESDAY
More MTC training. Again, we feel very comfortable with all we are learning. One of the remarkable things is that we truly feel happy to be working in the office, even though we have loved being MLS missionaries. Another tender mercy that our hearts have changed and we look forward with joy to this new assignment.
We received an email confirming our flight on Thursday
but it was at a later time than what we expected. Elder Thorson made an appointment with a nearby testing center that the mission uses frequently. They usually have the results in 24-36 hours. But Marcia’s appointment for the Rapid Test would be too early (hopefully we won’t actually need it!). Trying to schedule another test proved impossible and we were beginning to think our backup would be the $250 test at the airport. When we called Mission Travel we found out our passports had not been shipped yet but that they would be overnighted and we should get them the next day.
Our District got us on a group video chat and said goodbye. We love these Elders and Sisters so much! Elder Zach Wilcox wrote a poem for us:
If from the past, looking forward we saw
The future and the adventures that would come,
Would we focus on all the little bumps we would have,
Or the friends, growth, and good things we've done?
This little bit that we've had,
All the happys and all the sads,
Amount to something great
And we're only at the gate!
So now let us go in and enter,
Down this path to Jesus, our mentor.
Although behind us is left a past,
Ahead we're moving at half-mast.
For our friends the Glausers are moving forward,
In their journey to spread the truth of God's word.
To them we salute, and we cry, and we cheer!
Wishing and bidding them a happy good year,
But Glausers, remember that this isn't the end,
For from this we've become great lifelong friends.
At last I read Alma 17,
And we look forward to seeing you in this future scene:
1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.
2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.
Thank you
Because we are leaving the country, our health insurance is changing to Aetna International and we need to take with us a year’s supply of our medications. Since our doctors on our previous plans would not write for more than a three month supply, we were to contact a doctor and ask them to write for a years supply to be filled when the Aetna Insurance began. We were able to get all but one medication. Aetna would not approve it because it was too expensive. After several phone calls we were able to get an override but CVS didn’t have enough and would have to order it.
We had a lovely dinner with President and Sister Goaslind. They have been wonderful Mission Leaders and we have learned so much from watching them interact with and lead the missionaries. It was so good to join them for an hour. They are devoted, kind and thoughtful.
At 6:25 we showed up at the Testing site for our 6:35 appointment. To our dismay, the line of cars was endless! They told us it was about a 45 minute wait. At 9:00 we finally drove away having had the test, but with a warning that because of the large volume of tests, it may take 1-3 days for results. Yikes! We are to leave in less than 40 hours. So we are trusting we will get results, have a backup plan and it is now in the Lord’s hands.
WEDNESDAY
Another good training with the MTC and our mentor.
About 11:00 we got a text from the testing center with a link to sign in. But following the link lead to nothing, the site would not open and had a Failed to Open warning. We called Elder Thorson to see if this was something he knew about, but he was unaware of anyone receiving a message like this before. He assured us that results have been usually 24 hours but the last two took 30 hours. He suggested we drive to the testing site and ask someone in person for help. As we drove up, the line was just as long as the night before so we just asked the young lady directing traffic if she knew what we could do. She got a supervisor who also had never seen a message like this and advised us to come get a rapid test for $200 because results are guaranteed in 3 hours. The facility is opened 24 hours/day and there is always a long line but the least busy time is between 2-4:00am. So with all our information, we decided to wait for 30 hours from the testing time, which would be Thursday at 3:00am, get up, check our emails and if no results, go to the testing site and get the rapid test.
We were just finishing up our mentor training when we got a message saying our results for the COVID tests were in and we were both NEGATIVE. 17 HOURS after we took the test!! Another miracle!
We had put together a little gift—a Bag of Sunshine— for our friend Juanita Agee and wanted to drop it off to her and say goodbye. She was so kind and friendly from the very beginning and we really enjoy her friendship.
When we went to CVS to pick up the last medication, we were told that location was unable to get the supply but that another CVS had it in stock and it would be ready in an hour. So we ran a couple errands and headed to the other location. After a brief wait, we were able to ‘check the box’ with our year’s supply of medications. Another miracle!
Elder and Sister Kaufman had contacted us early in the morning to see if we had time to go to dinner with them. We had told them we didn’t really know, there were a few ‘balls in the air’. But we were able to meet them and had a lovely dinner with them. She has roots in Holland and they would love to come visit when their mission in Tempe is complete.
Our friend Charles had said we could come visit when Doug called him last night and explained we would be leaving for Holland. We drove to his house in Laveen, but he wasn’t home. We drove around for about 15 minutes, went back and he was home and invited us in. We had a good visit and Elder Glauser was able to teach him about the Restoration and give him a Book of Mormon that he had written a note and testimony in. Charles stood up, walked in the other room and brought out a large print Triple Combination and a small wooden plaque depicting the Plan of Salvation. We knew he had been taught by the missionaries when he lived in Beaumont, but we didn’t know his brother was a member of the church. He said he would go to church again and maybe he will. But he knows he has friends, especially Doug, who care about him and want the best for him. We feel so grateful to have been able to have a visit and lesson with the first man we met when we arrived in Tempe.
We took some cookies to Elders Tappen and Stone at their apartment. They were just getting ready for a meeting with some other Elders including our ZL’s, Elders Rasmussen and Smith. Elder Smith said to Doug, ‘I thought we were going to exchange ties!’ Apparently that is a tradition he does with Elders he has served with. Doug told him he would give him the tie he was wearing so Elder Smith walked to his apartment and brought two ties for Doug to choose from. I wish I had taken a video of the Tie Exchange! First you each sign your tie on the back, kiss the signature, slap the kissed part on the other’s face, and then embrace. A sweet memory of Elder Smith!
THURSDAY
Departure Day!
Packing, cleaning the apartment, Goodwill, Office Max for shredding, delivering the car to the Goaslind’s and goodbyes all around filled the morning. We feel so blessed to have been a part of the ATM and all the fantastic people we have met who are doing all they can to Gather Israel. They are great examples of goodness and dedication. We will miss them but take heart that we can stay connected through the miracle of technology.
FRIDAY
After a quick plane change at DFW and jumping ahead 8 hours, we arrived in The Netherlands about 10:00am.
The only other Senior Couple in the mission, Elder and Sister VanderWal, picked us up at the airport. They arrived 3 weeks ago and will be the housing coordinators. The drive from the airport to the Mission Office is about 45 minutes with all the scenery you would expect: windmills, bicycles, canals and beautiful green fields.
We met the office Elders, had a tour of the Office and got our transportation cards and new sim cards for our phones.
Our apartment is about 1/2 mile from the office so we were dropped off and began to unpack. We also need to do some purging….there is so much stuff at the apartment that clearly has been here for a while. But we’re pretty good at getting rid of things and we have to quarantine for 5 days anyway so we’ll get this done!
SATURDAY
Day 2 of quarantine. We stayed up as long as we could yesterday so as to counteract the jet-lag and slept about 14 hours last night. Just a quiet day of study and rest. We started to organize and make this nice apartment into our home for the next several months.
Comments
Post a Comment