President Albright got up this morning at around 5:00 a.m. He has 4 or 5 (I'm not sure) Stake Correlation Council meetings today. These are all in 5 different stakes centers. He and Pres. Ward left early to get to the first one at 7:30. He will be covering a lot of the mission in the car today. The last one is from 6:30 to 8:00. He'll get home just in time for call-ins from the zone leaders which is every Sunday evening. They call with weekly reports and updates. It'll be a long ward for Pres. Albright.
I attended our ward (The Burke Ward ) at 9:00. It is a warm and friendly ward and I am beginning to recognize a few faces. It is hard though because most sundays we attend other wards. This is because President usually has some kind of meeting and so we fit in attendance where and when we can. There are also many Stake Conferences to attend. With 8 stakes holding conference twice a year, that accounts for 16 weeks not attending our ward (about a third of the year).
On Sundays in Las Vegas, our home was usually filled with kids, grandkids, and parents visiting. Even when President Albright was gone for meetings (which was most of the time) the house was a mecca of activity. I miss all the little ones and their noise and kisses. I miss the big kids too. They are my best friends. I don't know how the pioneers did it. I sure admire them, but am so grateful I live today. It's just hard to imagine life with No phones, no car, no radio, no TV, no CDs. Listening to the spirit was probably easier back then without so much distraction from all the worldly conveniences. A mission is a little like that. All these young missionaries get so close to the spirit not only because they rely on it for guidance in their work, but because they have a more peaceful and quiet atmosphere in which the spirit can be heard. I imagine He feels more like He's been invited to enter the room and visit.
The mission is teaching me lots of things. Like maybe I have been too busy to let the spirit speak to me as often as He may have been trying . Maybe I will learn to hear him more here in the mission field.
President and Sister Albright, I am an old Washington DC South Mission alum. My name is Jeff Lewis, I served there from September 1989 to September 1991. I was reviewing some of the photo's of the Mission Home and reading your blog about President Albrights travels to Stake Correlation meetings. I was reminded of those long days I spent traveling with President Sontagg and President Robinson doing the same thing. That beautiful Mission Home was moved into during my time in the mission. It looks even more beautiful today, the bushes and plants are much larger than I remember 20 years ago. Just wanted to say thanks for the stroll down memory lane, you truly are leading the best mission in the church, enjoy it and congratulations on the call. Your spirit is felt in the simple blogs you have posted here and I can tell there are some very lucky missionaries to have you serving amongst them. I would say tell every one in the Burke Ward hello, but I doubt anyone will remember me :-)
ReplyDeleteJeff
hey mama, I loved reading all of these new posts. Markie loved the post about him! How sweet that first comment is from Jeff! Your blog is famous mom~ I think u should put one of those maps on it.
ReplyDeleteI spoke today....so scary. when will that ever go away?!
love you! me
We were glad to hear from you. We miss you. Your blog is fabulous
ReplyDeleteThank you for your Blog. I am quite enjoying reading your posts. It is wonderful to be reminded of so many little things you comment on about missionary work. Thank you for taking time to create this. I will follow it with you throughout your mission here as you are in our ward.
ReplyDeleteDanita Grundvig