Mission Christmas Meeting

This was a day anticipated by everyone in the Mission.  It was Thursday, December 19.  The entire mission, 260 total, gathered together for the entire day.  It was so heartwarming to see Elders and Sisters run and embrace former companions whom they had not seen in a long time.  Transfers are every 6 weeks and it's not likely that companionships will see each other again except at large events like this day.

The morning was a spiritual training session held in the chapel.  We were all seated and waiting for the meeting to start when all at once everyone stood as President & Sister Cleveland walked in.  It was so emotional for me to see the respect the missionaries have for them.  The meeting was so good!  The Assistants to the President and the Sister Training Leaders spoke on Faith, Hope, Charity & Love, Virtue, Patience, Obedience, and Knowledge.  A favorite talk was by Sister Allen on Hope.  She reminded us that we should focus on the positive and identify and challenge negative feelings because they don't come from God.  The closing remarks were by President and Sister Cleveland and his counselors.  The closing hymn was Peace, Peace. The Zone Leaders and Sister Trainers sang Peace, Peace while the congregation sang Silent Night.  It was so beautiful!

Indiana Indianapolis Mission

The afternoon was filled with good food, fun games, gifts and letters from home and pictures.  We had a group picture and zone pictures.  There are 12 zones and an office staff, pictured below.  The Roberts are Service Missionaries coming in 3 days a week and live nearby.  She answers phones and forwards mail to missionaries.  He handles all the 150 cell phones, and he drives the van full of missionaries and luggage or beds and desks.  The Hodges are like us and have been here since February 2012  They will be here until August next year.  She does the mission finance paying for apartments, utilities, cars and office expenses.  He is the car czar, getting phone calls day and night from missionaries with car troubles.  The 2 young ones are full-time missionaries who have been assigned to be Assistants to the President.  They do whatever President Cleveland asks them to do.  In just a few weeks, we have gained a love and respect for all these great people!

Top Row - Elder Roberts, Elder & Sister Hodges, Sister & Elder Smithhart

Bottom Row - Sister Roberts, Elder Sorensen, President & Sister Cleveland, Elder Callison

We have worked hard to keep up with all our duties in the office.  We went in last Saturday for over 8 hours.  It really paid off because yesterday, finally, we completed everything we needed to do.  It felt fantastic!  Our next transfer is Tuesday and Wednesday next week when new missionaries come in, missionaries who have completed their missions go home, and companionships are changed.  It will be like starting over every 6 weeks, but at least we know what we're doing now.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish the new year of 2014 will bring love, hope, faith and happiness to you and your family.