WASHINGTON D.C. SOUTH MISSION: APARTMENT INSPECTIONS-- OH MY!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

APARTMENT INSPECTIONS-- OH MY!

Wednesday, the 9th of Sept. we left at 7:00 and headed for Fredericksburg, our zone farthest to the south. We visited a total of 7 apartments. "Most" of them had put a lot of effort into making sure their places shinned. I really appreciated their hard work to make their places look nice and clean. Elders Freeland and Swensen live in this apartment.

We are just beginning what we have been told is one of the most tiring 2 weeks of each 6 months. The opportunity to see every single apartment and home where our missionaries reside.

We will take the mission van with Elder Holmgren (who is over apartments), The assistants (who know the way and all the missionaries love them, and President and I. We will leave each morning between 7:00 and 8:00 and head to one zone each day to inspect. At the last Zone Conferences I handed out lists of "what is expected" to be cleaned. I hope they weren't too 'scared'. We will return home between 4 and 5 each afternoon. This takes 8 days and I am really kind of excited to see where our wonderful Elders and Sisters live. While we are inspecting, President Albright interviews each of the missionaries privately. So depending on how long that takes we might get back earlier or later than planned. I am going to put pictures of all the dwellings so everyone can see the variety of places they reside. We are very blessed to have some of them live with members of the church. In fact, we have 17 members housing our missionaries. They are wonderful people who really love having the missionaries with them and are always thanking us for the blessings of having them in their homes. And of course it is a great blessing to us and the missionaries who are lucky enough to live with members.

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Stephanie Smith Fireside

Last Sunday evening we were privileged to attend a fireside in the mission. It was held at a beautiful old chapel in McLean. One of the pictures shows the inside of the chapel and the wood beams on the very steep-pitched ceiling of the room. The gym is under the chapel in the basement. I have never seen a floorplan like this one. Very unique. This fireside hosted Sister Stephanie Smith. Her story was in the Ensign sometime in the last year. She has a remarkable conversion story. She has held very high government positions and at one time was 5th in command at the CIA. She said something at the first of her talk that I wrote down: she said, "I've been on some remarkable adventures. But no adventure in my lifetime has been as extraordinary and life-changing as my path to conversion and baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. She then told about her introduction to the church. She was at a time in her life with tremendous worldly success achieved after clawing her way to the top without any regard for others, and she felt her life was shattering into a million pieces. At this time she turned to a colleague she admired who was a member of the church. He told her two things. That her Heavenly Father knew her by name and loved her and that Heavenly Father had a plan for her success. The next day he sent her a map to the temple visitor center. She told how when the missionary sisters came to her door, she didn't think she could relate to these young women. The first thing they did was ask if they could sing to her. They sang,"I am a Child of God." That was the beginning of her conversion, a long a beautiful story. You can read it on the web at Meridian Magazine. Her testimony was a real inspiration to me. There were over 350 people there and she does a great missionary work speaking to investigators. What a blessing to have heard her and felt her spirit.

Chelsea Our recent Convert

We have met the sweetest young sister. Chelsea is amazing. She joined the church during the last year and has an incredible testimony also. She never misses any missionary function and we were able to take her with us to the Stephanie Smith Fireside. She also came to the mission home a few weeks ago and we had family night. She gave the lesson and is was unbelievable. She is hoping to go on a mission next year. What a great young woman. This is a picture of her with Elders Ganaway and Gifford.