Due toVisas expiring early, and volcanos spewing forth...our transfer schedule was quite complicated this past month.
Elder Patterson (from Vancouver Island) had to leave a week ahead of his group. Once in a while, we have a situation where a Visa expires a little too
early.
We enjoyed spending an evening with him before he left...a wonderful young man!
The following week, the rest of the group got ready
for their departure. We had our traditional dinner
in the Mission Home, followed by a wonderful
Fireside Testimony Meeting.
This is the largest group we've ever had leave at the same time. The first row: Elder Covington (Orem, Utah), Elder Wright (Boise, Idaho), Elder Williams (Las Vegas, Nevada), Sister Martinec (Las Vegas, Nevada), Sister Winn (Ephraim, Utah), Elder Largesse (Las Vegas, Nevada), Elder Jagoda (Oroville, Calif.), Elder Busch (Peoria, Arizona), Elder Anderson (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Second Row: Elder Jameson (Payson, Utah), Elder Haslem (Neola, Utah), Elder White (Logan, Utah), Elder Blackwood (Reading, England), Elder Hill (Idaho Falls, Idaho), Elder Chamberlain (Lehi, Utah), Elder Spence (Oak City, Utah), Elder Ott (West Valley City, Utah), Elder Wilkins (Colorado and Utah), Elder Brooksby (Glenville, N.Y.) What a wonderful group! As you can imagine, losing so many missionaries at one time caused a huge change in our mission. We miss them, but we're excited for all of the wonderful experiences they have in store for them 'as they move forward'. (President Ogden's catch phrase!)
These are the three new missionaries who were able to get to the Preston MTC (and on to us) on schedule...Elder Mathie, Sister McKelvie, and Sister Babbage. It was easy for the Sisters, since they are both from England. Elder Mathie flew here all the way from New Zealand. We still haven't figured out how he managed to get here on time amidst cancelled flights, and airports being shut down! They were supposed to be part of a group of 13 new missionaries coming to our mission.
Elder Anderson, one of our departing missionaries, was actually supposed to leave in June. He, too, had Visa issues. He left sometime in the middle of all of this...I'm so confused now, I really can't remember exactly when...
The next week, we received the rest of the greenies (well almost...Sister Lauritzen injured her knee in the Provo MTC...hopefully, we'll see her next transfer!) When these missionaries were unable to fly to the UK, they entered the MTC in Provo where they received their training. But this set them back a week.
Sister Clark from California arrived first. She had actually entered the MTC ahead of the rest, and was sent to work in Colorado Springs until her Visa came through. She was there a whole week! She was scheduled to arrive at the same time as the other eight, but unfortunately, their flight was delayed for several hours.
Finally, a group of travel weary Elders-and one Sister-arrived at the Birmingham Airport.
We were so happy to welcome them all to the England Birmingham Mission.
Elder Dahl (Gilbert, Az.-- nephew of our friends, John and Mylie Dahl), Elder Card (Lehi, Utah), Elder Reed (Clearfield, Utah), Elder Powell (Gunnison, Utah), Elder Leyba (Blackfoot, Idaho), Elder Brown (Alberta, Canada), Elder Ruesch (St. George, Utah), and Sister Pope (Logan, Utah).
So, now...all of our trainers have their babies. Everyone is back to work, and our greenies have experienced their first Zone Conference.
I don't know how long the Assistants will be able to keep coming up with new ways to immortalize the "passing of the keys"...every transfer they come up with something!
(Elder Blackwood and Elder Jette)
This training also gave us a reason to have all of the sisters come in together. They don't very often get a chance to be in one place and share ideas and experiences...as well as friendship and testimonies. It was wonderful to spend a few days with them. Left to right: Sister Strein, Layton, Pope, Kottambagahagedara, Babbage, Perera, McKelvie, Nadsady, Bioleome, Van Eeden, Clark, Morgan, and Nemec. They come from the US and the UK...also from the Netherlands, Croatia, Germany,and our two sisters from Sri Lanka. 
