June 6, 2021- What a Week

We survived our first transfer week! A busy, fun time. Cars to inspect, supplies to disperse, food to prepare, pictures to take, new missionaries to meet, departing missionaries say goodbyes....By Friday we were happily breathing a sigh of relief - until the next event which is coming fast!

This was our first chance to gather with more than just a few missionaries who come into the office every now and then. As we interacted with both the old and new, there are many words to describe what I saw. Timid, Outgoing, Excited, Terrified, Humble, Confident, Bold, Sad, Happy, Unsure, Accepting, Deer in the Headlights, but most of all - Born To Share the Message of the Restoration!

That comment was from a departing missionary as he shared some final thoughts on a zoom meeting. It is so true!! I love it.

As part of transfer day, the outgoing missionaries, the office missionaries and Pres & Sis Beck drove to Concord MA to the Minute Man National Historic Park. That is where the Revolutionary War began with the Shot Heard 'Round the World. It is such a peaceful place now - just a green field with a small bridge and a small rolling hill - with So Much History! While there Sister Beck told the story of what happened there and entwined in with the beginnings of the Restoration, how blessed to have the opportunity to serve in such a historic place - both American and Church History.

After spending time there we drove to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery - where quite a few early American authors are buried, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott. We were able to see each of those old but well cared for gravesites. Then it was on to dinner at the Colonial Inn. After dinner each departing missionary (there were 10) shared a special mission memory and each adult gave a tidbit of advice, except for the Becks who saved their advice for a more personal fireside in their home later in the evening. It was a long, full, day. We got home about 10 very tired and didn't have to put 10 missionaries to bed after ana advice filled fireside! The life of the mission president and his wife is continual.....

One of the incoming missionaries has an original assignment to Paris, France and of course there is no way to know at present how long she will stay with us. When she met her companion and found out where she would be serving, she broke into tears! Since I was waiting to take her picture, I asked her if she was okay and she just sobbed and told us that the only other members of her family in the US are in New Hampshire - in her newly assigned area!! They are not active, maybe not members, I can't remember exactly. She was hoping she would be able to connect with them while serving here and she was assigned to the area where they are First Thing!! She was amazed - There are no coincidences. I hope to hear more of that story...

A quick explanation of included pictures -the kitchen crew who helped get the transfer treat bags ready. Twins! We both remembered to wear our skirts. A peaceful place today - where the shot was fired - The Minuteman Bridge Louisa May Alcott Homeand grave site

Our Saturday adventure was dad's choice this week - so I am planning on him sharing that adventure.

Hope each of you are good. It would be great to get more info from the happenings in your lives. This feels very one sided at times.

Love you all,

Mom

From Dad-

For me, the significance of this week was to see first hand one of the major events in the rhythm of a mission. Having never experienced a 'Transfer' before, I was keen on seeing how the incoming and outgoing missionaries would begin their transitions to their new lives, and how the process of 'shuffling' the deck would occur. Best way to describe it was organized mayhem. The lion's share of the preparation work is done in advance by the President and Sister Beck and the AP's--you could see that in the white board filled with names and locations, and the transfer details that were emailed out on Monday morning. Over 200 sets of eyes were scrubbing through the details. This round was apparently more extensive than others, with 70 of our 101 companionship's impacted. As they flowed into the church lot, more and more excited reunions occurred as past and future companions met, re-met, and rekindled relationships only carried on via Zoom in many cases. Lots of hugs, high fives and plenty of tears as bags were shuffled from tailgate to tailgate.

It all worked, and by 1230 the only remnants were the 10 departing sisters and elders headed to Concord for a visit to the Minuteman National Historic Park, the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and dinner at the Colonial Inn (when I told Grandma Great about our day, she asked if there was any resemblance to the Colonial Inn in Blackfoot, where I took my Junior Prom date in high school. There was, but it was not nearly as old as the Inn in Massachusetts.)

For the Car Czar, it was a chance for me to make a visual inspection of most of our fleet. You can see the magnitude of what we have to support our efforts in the pictures. Seemed to be in order, but I wasn't looking inside or checking tires. Maybe I'll get one of those big sticks OTR truckers use to whack their semi truck tires to see if their close to being full. I'm shooting to do more checks late this month at Zone Conferences.

Our P-day activities revolved around a visit to the Lowell National Historic Park (yes, another one). This NHP highlights the cotton cloth weaving industry that grew up in Lowell Mass in the 1850's. For over 100 years thousands of mill workers tended looms that produced millions of yards of cloth a week. We learned how the industry grew, peaked, then disappeared as the work migrated to the South then offshore. What remains are huge 5 story empty factories all along the rivers of New England that cities are scrambling to re-purpose as apartments, office complexes and community centers. Its a bittersweet monument to a period that made this part of the country rich. The one quote that stuck with me though was the tie between the northern factories and the southern plantations. "Mill Masters drove the industry as hard as the Slave Masters".

Love to all

Dad