This past week was transfer week and it was CRAZY!!! The APs and I started a week ago booking air travel for those who who needed to fly to and from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. Elder Newman, on of the AP's worked on the bus travel. We thought we had it all organized but we had a few glitches along with many things that went off as planned.
The 16 missionaries that came to the mission on Tuesday night from the Provo MTC got here without a hitch which is the first time that has happened since we have been in the mission field. Wednesday morning we were having new missionary training in the office when I got a call that the two missionaries flying over from Truro got to the airport 1/2 hour before they were supposed to leave and they were not going to be able to check in--it seems that it is a law that you have to check in 45 minutes ahead of time. The two Elders felt really bad but we had no choice except to try and get them rebooked. The person who helped me at Air Canada was very friendly and kind and got us rebooked and didn't even charge us rebooking fees.
The next day, Thursday, things got really exciting--The Zone Leaders in Halifax took the Gander Elders to the wrong airport-one I hadn't even heard of--very small--and they missed their flight and had to be re-booked. This one cost some money. The two Sisters coming from Bathurst had their early morning flights cancelled because of weather and the Airline rebooked them for later in the day. Sister Santana was coming to Montreal but Sister Long was supposed to change planes in Montreal to go to Ottawa. Well, the airline forgot to rebook the 2nd half of the flight. I again called Air Canada and and they kindly rebooked her a flight for Friday morning so she ended up staying with the STLs. Every time someone didn't arrive when expected it meant that the people assigned to pick them up needed to be informed and it changed their plans for the day. It all has a domino effect.
We had instances of a couple of the new missionaries being dropped off at the office waiting for companions to come get them, but they missed their flight and we didn't have a contingency plan. Other missionaries were dropped off at the Mission Office when they were supposed to go to the Mission Home and vice-versa. Then on Friday morning Sister Long missed her flight to Ottawa because no one told her what time her flight was and when she needed to be at the airport which was 6:00 AM. Again the kind agents helped us to re-book.
Oh! and one more thing--Elder Morrell brought the keys to the Miramichi Car in his pocket--on the airplane--to Montreal. They had to be shipped back.
 |
| Elder Hall served as one of the Tech Elders since we came to the Montreal Office and helped me so much especially with our weekly newsletter called the Trumpet. He is on his way to St. John's in Newfoundland. Very excited for him. |
 |
| The view from my desk. These missionaries are all Spanish speakers welcoming Elder Castro, from Mexico, to the mission. It was fun to listen to them all conversing in Spanish and laughing with each other. Sister Little-in the red sweater- is offering them all a tangerine. |
 |
| Sister Brown and Sister Heggie are now companions and Sister Heggie and Sister Brennan are friends from when they were in the Nova Scotia Zone together. |
 |
| Sister McGee |
 |
| Elder Poznanski from France waiting to meet his new companion |
 |
| Elders Ramos Chen, Nipko, Wood, Salmon, Gordon, and Montana |
 |
| Now we add Elder Furrows, Elder Hawk, Elder Toledo, and Elder Pierson. Elder LeMay and Elder Davis are down in the front. Elder Pierson was a great help to us while we were in Halifax. He helped us to learn to crochet and encouraged us to learn French. He returned home the day after this picture was taken. We will really miss him. |
 |
| Friends from Halifax. Elder Robinson came to be a companion with Elder LeMay and to be a Tech Elder. Sister Powell is returning home. She is from Highland, Utah and we have a date when we get home to go to Olive Garden. |
 |
| New companions - Sister Vargas and Sister Keller |
 |
| Elder LeMay -our Tech Elder |
 |
| Sister Little and Elder Ramos Chen discovered that they were both introduced to the Gospel by the same Johnson family in Washington DC. |
 |
| Sister Heggie and Sister Brown--new companions |
Thursday was long, hectic, and noisey and also a good day. It was fun to see the missionaries come into the office to meet up with their new companions. Some hadn't met before and others knew each other but hadn't seen each other for a while. We went to the Mission Home to have dinner provided by Sister Low for the 6 missionaries going home the next day. We followed that by all attending the temple together. The session was in French so we wore headphones to hear the English but I kept mine low so that I could try to concentrate on the French. It was nice and it even kept me awake. Going to the temple more often is something that we need to work on.
Today was a sunny day and we decided to go on a drive to see some of the pretty scenery but when we were about an hour out of Montreal I got sick and so we had to turn around and come back home. I felt really bad for messing up Cary's plans but he said he was OK about it. The fall leaves are pretty much off the trees by now because we have had some rainy and windy days. So we came home and relaxed for the rest of the day. We have so many things we want to do and see especially when we get a sunny day. We know that winter is coming.
Souer Boyle
No comments:
Post a Comment