2 February 2014

We arrived in Tallahassee on December 11, 2013. We were unable to meet the mission president because it was a transfer day with missionaries moving to and fro within the mission and some leaving for home and he was just too busy. That day 30 new missionaries arrived. With the young missionaries, as opposed to old missionaries like us, they change companions occasionally. Some within the mission are transferred every 6 weeks. So if you are young you never know if you will be transferred until the transfer day comes. Below is a picture of the missionaries in our district since the time we arrived. Over the six week transfer period, through district meetings, coordination meetings, and church meetings, we get to know the missionaries in our district pretty well. The day before transfers Sister Dawe was worried that maybe she would be transferred. I asked her why she was worried, thinking the Lord's work was pretty much the same anywhere. When transfers did come and she was transferred to a non Spanish-speaking area, I understood. First, we lost a good friend, and second, she had to give up speaking Spanish and meeting with Spanish speakers. Her mother is Hispanic but she didn't learn Spanish at home. Does this sound familiar to anyone? And, 4 missionaries need to learn how to live with new companions. Fortunately, Sister Huddleston and I don't need to worry about this. We are companions forever.

Sometimes you are at the right place at the right time. While we were at the mission office picking up materials the phone rang. The caller was speaking Spanish and the office staff could not understand her. So Sister Huddleston came to the rescue. The phone connection was bad so we went to the motel to see what the situation was. She was stranded in Tallahassee with a 4 year old boy and expecting in 2 weeks. In this desperate situation she recalled a high school friend that was currently serving a mission in Orlando and called the mission office for help. We were willing to drive her to West Palm Beach on our preparation day but the church was able to provide a bus ticket and a nights stay in the motel. Since she was a non-member and we are missionaries, we gave a lesson, and offered a prayer. Hopefully, she will remember the help she received from the church in the days ahead and be receptive to missionaries in the future.

The Daily Dose English learning program continues to roll forth. Last Tuesday we held a training session for the Tallahassee area missionaries and plan to start the class next week. On Saturday we had the first class in Bainbridge, Georgia with 4 students present, all from Honduras.