Another great week in Tennessee

We have had a busy week again.  It just seems we get one week over and another come rolling in.  We helped with a lunch this week. We made taco salads and a big fruit salad and then I made cookies at the church so they were fresh and warm when the missionaries were ready to eat.  They seemed to like them. I made them big and used an ice cream scoop to drop them out.  

I have twenty missionaries leaving in the next two weeks that is twenty journals to complete.  A journal consists of a letter from the president that he signs.  A certificate that goes to the stake president then back to the missionary to put in his journal. So I mail letters and the certificate to the stake president.  I mail letters to the parents about the missionary coming  home and I mail a trunky  packet  to the missionaries to get them ready for leaving. Then I make up the assignment and companionship history for each missionary.  Then I put on their testimonies from when they first came to the mission. And a place for the one they write the night before they go home.  Then I have a picture of the mission home and office and the mission president and wife.  Then we put in the letters the presidential of them when  write every week to the missionaries and their letters back to the president.  Then a picture of them when they first got t the mission.  The front has the mission flag and their name which I have to put together.  So we do have work once in awhile even though Jon thinks we are on vacation.  This last week we had to go to Waynesville to do an emergency transfer and bring s sister back that needed to go home for medical reasons.  Most of those medical reasons are because they are having mental sickness.  We have had two go home this week because thy can't sleep they lose lots of weight and they just can't deal with the stress.  I am not judging them at all because I see how  hard it is for them. 

Sometimes things that are hard just get harder because they mentally get sick.  

The important thing is that when they go home they need to know that their service no matter how long or short is good enough to say they served a mission.  Because they did serve a mission. So when you see some of these young people come home welcome them as if they did a great thing because they did.  

We keep working at things and we love being able to help the mission go forward.  We had 27 baptisms this last month.  That is amazing for a month and for the Bible Belt.  A story about one of those baptisms. Sisters tracked a house with a young man who said his religion was the Jedi. Yep. Star Wars worshipper.  The sisters have been teaching him since Jan.  Yesterday he was baptized and he looks like a young man ready to serve a mission when before he had long hair and was not a believer of God.  

We have had some amazing rain storms this past week. Rain coming gale like winds and you can't see out the windows of cars and homes.  We had weather warnings in the mission when this comes and the president tells people to stay in.  Well that is about it for this week.  We love you all and welovehearing about our Sister Maddie in Peru.  Thank you Rob and Flori for your forwarding letters.  Thanks you for your prayers and support. We are anxious and blessed  about the Whitings coming to Idaho Falls.  We hope their travel and move goes well.  Love mom grandma sister Christensen