Upcoming:  The LAST week of January 2015

The week progressed normally with life at the Mission office.  I was dealing with a head cold all week (which is MUCH better now).  The week was cold and we did have about 2" of snow this week.  We are headed for much more snow this week, according to the weather reports.  That always makes Elder Jones nervous, as it usually amounts to more accidents.  We have been very blessed as we have had very little injuries associated with the various car accidents that have occurred.  Angels surely do attend these missionaries!

We had occasion this week to get to know one sister missionary's story.  She had a rough childhood.  Dad left and Mom was really unfit to raise her children.  This sister did have a friend, however, and that friend invited her to come to camp with her.  After much deliberation, she did go to camp and while she was there she felt the Spirit strongly and wanted to know more.  She began going over to her friend's house often.  This made her mother mad, and on her 16th birthday she had the daughter arrested as a runaway.  When the policeman came to take her from her friend's home, however, she told the policeman about her mom's boyfriend introducing her to drugs and how she had to steal for money for her mom and the boyfriend to get drugs.  So instead, she was placed in foster care and eventually she filed for emancipation from her mother and was adopted by this wonderful family who introduced her to the church--who are now supporting her on her mission.  What an amazing journey!  And we wish her the very best as she prepares to head home next week.

We are losing 29 missionaries next week and receiving 25 new ones.  Friday of this week we will help drive the vans to take these 29 missionaries who are leaving to the Washington DC Temple.  We are excited to get to do this--except we are nervous about the possibility of snow that day...Then the process begins again:  outgoing dinner, take them to the airport, transfers, pick up the new missionaries, dinner for the new missionaries, train the new missionaries, then assign them.  All of this while Elder Jones has to pick up and then take back the luggage of those in SEPTA areas (public transit), plus close down about 3 apartments.

Our car story for the week.  We are having Family Home Evening on Monday night when Elder Jones gets a call from some Elders down south.  Their car has made horrible noises and died.  Yes--they put diesel fuel in their car!  So Elder Jones has to arrange for a tow truck at 7 pm--which does pick up the car and take it to Pep Boys.  The next day the car is drained of fuel and the lines are all blown out--$700 later and all is well.  That was a first...

We have something special happening this weekend.  Our friends, Elder and Sister Harman, who have been serving at the Joseph Smith Birthplace, are being released from their mission and will pass through Philadelphia on their way home.  So we get to spend all day Saturday showing them around the Philadelphia area and then they are planning to come to church with us on Sunday and then head to Columbus, OH where they are catching a plane and taking a well deserved WARM vacation.  We look forward to Saturday!