Mission President's Seminar

Portland Oregon Temple


Right after last week's transfers, we left for Portland, Oregon for a Mission President's Seminar. It didn't start out too well. When we got to the airport and parked the car, Mark realized that he had forgotten his nametag-not only that, but his suit jacket too. Knowing we were going to be with many church leaders we knew he had to get it. We called Elder Smith-one of our wonderful office couples-and he went to our house to search for the jacket and tag. For some reason it was hanging in the closet. Luckily the plane was about 15 minutes late in leaving. Elder Smith arrived in the moment that Mark needed to go through security. Whew!!!!

As we took off on the plane it felt kind of exciting to be doing this little trip--even if it was just to Oregon. It was strange to leave the mission. Really only the office couples and the assistants knew. Of course with cell phones it is a very different world.

At the conference, there were nine Mission Presidents and their wives, Elder Clayton and his wife from the presidency of the 70, Elder Arnold and his wife, about five area 70 and Elder Richard G. Scott. It was wonderful to be with the other mission presidents and to be able to ask questions and talk about things that they are doing. We were the only new ones in the America Northwest area, so the others have already had much more experience than us. They were wonderful to be around and very welcoming. One couple called the Bowens are friends of the Mckinnons. In fact Paul was his counselor in a bishopric when they were together in Boston. They were just wonderful to be with. Also the Mcdonalds were a couple we spent a lot of time with. They are almost exactly our age and we ended up being able to talk to quite a bit. It was also a wonderful experience to meet Elder Fife. He is the area doctor. He and his wife are serving a one year mission. He helps with all the missions in our area. Our area includes all those from Washington and from Oregon and also British Columbia and Alaska. Elder Fife has helped me so much with all the medical issues. I probably end up calling about three times a week at least. He prescribes medications and deals with issues that I am not sure how to handle. It is to help us save missionary and church money for many of the missionaries that don't have insurance. He can really help us save a lot by diagnosing and mostly prescribing and avoiding the time that the missionaries might take to go to a doctor here. Many things are easy to diagnose over the phone. He is also a very spiritual man.

Anyway, we had just an amazing weekend. Elder Scott is a very special man. I think his wife has passed away about 14 years ago and he talks about her with such warmth and tenderness and love. He has a great respect for women. He's often talking about the importance of women and how women can change men for the good. He is just very sweet. He's also very slow of speech. I don't want to say slow of speech in that he has speech problems, he just talks very slowly and he thinks about what he's saying. When he spoke, there were many pauses which left time for reflection and thought and an ability to really ponder the words he was saying. I found the spirit bearing testimony of the truthfulness of what he was sharing. It allowed the spirit to come and influence every time he spoke or worked with us. Often times I was taking notes, but not writing down just the things that he was saying, but things we were feeling. It was a great reminder of the importance of silence--and that it can be a teacher also.

We had a breakout session where just the wives of the mission presidents got together and we were able to discuss some things with regards to medical issues, cooking, and just our own personal experiences. Sister Clayton and Sister Arnold had asked each of us to think of a challenge or a question or a problem that sometimes seems bigger than we can handle - something that we have dealt with - and then to share a scripture that taught us or helped us deal with the situation or challenge that we had or have. It became a very wonderful sharing experience with these other wives at Mission Presidents as they each shared different challenges that they have had and the ways in which they have relied on our Heavenly Father and trusted in him and turned to him to find peace. It was also a great time to be made aware and reminded that everyone has their challenges, and that is oftentimes the thing that refines us and teaches us and helps us to grow. I was very humbled hearing of some very difficult and challenging and sad experiences some had endured. It wasn't in anyway a "pity party", the real focus was on the strength and teaching that comes through dealing with our challenges with the help of the Lord.

We also did some training on how to teach, and how to teach the missionaries to teach. Elder Scott had the mission presidents pair up in companionships to do role playing. When they first explained what we were going to do I was sure that he meant we would come up as a couple and role play--simulate a teaching experience ..... in front of an apostle. Ok, I have to be honest. I think that I was about hyperventilating thinking that I might need to role play in front of an apostle. I just knew I would be way too nervous. So I was grateful when they clarified and said that it was our husbands that we're doing it. Sister Belnap came and sat by me as our husbands worked up what they were going to teach. She was about like me with nerves, and she has been out for two years. (That made me feel a little better.) So Mark went up with president Belnap and they taught Elder and Sister James Perry. Elder Scott was standing right above them and it could have been pretty intimidating I think, but Mark did a wonderful job. Elder Scott critiqued them and told them ways that they could do better. Most of his emphasis was really on allowing people to feel the spirit, and I'm sure as our missionaries teach, that's something that is hard for a lot of them to learn. They want to talk and fill the space and say as many things as they can and explain. We sometimes just need to stop and pause to allow people to think and be taught by the spirit. The whole experience we had with Elder Scott was reinforcing that.

By the end of the conference we felt renewed. We had enjoyed the friendship and fellowship of the other mission presidents and also enjoyed the time away from the rush of things. Of course I still took medical calls from the missionaries and Mark's phone rang a lot. But, just being away, and being able to take that time to reflect and ponder, was very healing and very soothing and inspiring. They do these mission president seminars with the wives once a year, and then the six months in between just the mission presidents go and meet together. So, I guess it will be next October before we go to our next one.

On the way home, as we were going through the security check in Portland, we left the airbook laptop. Of course, we didn't find out where it was until Sunday. Luckily we were able to find it. We didn't know where we had left it. We wondered if it had been at the hotel, or just lying around in the airport.

Geoffrey did well here at home. He spent one night with the Bishop's family and then on Friday night, Chelsea came in with Elijah to visit. They had Saturday together and then we got in on Saturday night. It was so great to see her.

On Sunday, when Chelsea was here, it was the stake conference broadcast, so we went to our ward and watched the broadcast. It was a great broadcast. President Monson spoke and just did a wonderful job. Last time I'd heard him speak, he seemed like he was perhaps getting a little forgetful and a little aged, and it was just great to see him doing so well.

I was so grateful to many members of our ward. They are so kind and to come up and wanting to meet Chelsea and the baby. People are very, very thoughtful in making us feel welcome. When you're away from family, and you're away from people you know, it's a very sweet thing to feel like people want to know your children. They were the same when Jasmine and Angela came to visit. That Sunday afternoon, the Thurbers stopped by to bring us some tomatoes and some apples. They brought a big box of apples off their tree and I knew immediately what I was going to do with them. I'm sure we would have enjoyed just eating them one-by-one, but we had a new missionary training on Tuesday, and I thought that I could make a great dessert out of that. Chelsea helped me. Since I had been gone and hadn't had time to plan our meal, we decided instead of actually preparing a meal-we had 34 to feed- we would get pizza. We made a big salad, chopped up some watermelon, and then I made this huge apple crumble and it turned out great. The smell permeated the entire chapel. In fact, I think some of them were kind of surprised when they came in and saw pizza. They could tell what they smelled was not pizza, but they were happy to get it, and it was great to see these new missionaries. I always enjoy seeing them coming back for training after a week or two in the mission and see how they're doing, They all seem to be doing great-learning a lot and getting some good training from their companions.

I just returned from dropping Chelsea at the airport, and she's just delightful. She's so happy, so positive, and such a patient mother. It's been really fun to watch her with Elijah. She is very loving and very, very patient with him. He is a great baby, but occasionally he certainly can get fussy. That's not easy for a young mom. That's not easy for an old grandma either. But he's just a precious little boy and just so sweet. For only being seven-months-old he seems to really know who his mom is and really wants her. We had a great time spending these last five days with her and Elijah.
We are proud grandparents:

Sep. 16th--Happy Birthday Nathan. He is working so hard. He is teaching math at a charter school in Brownsville Texas. He says he spends 12-14 hours at the school each day and still has to go home and grade papers and plan. It is pretty intense. He usually sounds exhausted when we talk, but also happy. I am sure he is a very good teacher. His commitment there is for two years. Hopefully it will be easier as time goes on.