It has been awhile.

Dear family and friends,

It has been quite some time since my last post. We are still doing fine and enjoying our work here in the mission office.

We received 3 missionaries from the MTC  2 weeks ago that area VISA WAITERS.  As the name implies, these are missionaries that have completed their MTC training, and are just waiting for their visas to travel to the country where their mission is located.  We don't know when their visas might come through, and assigned them in a THREE-SOME companionship.  Because they are, and are not, part of our mission, it is a little awkward, but we make them feel welcome and try to integrate them as best we can.  One example is that they don't receive a JP Morgan Credit Card which is the card I load up with the monthly maintenance each missionary receives from me.  So, I made the arrangement with the Senior Companion of the Threesome to give him an additional $65 (1/2 a month's allotment) on their card which he would then withdraw at the local ATM, and give to the Visa Elder for his support allowance.

This past Tuesday we got word that they were flying out on Thursday morning. They had been with us for only two weeks. Normally the President or the Assistants take care of it, but they would be doing training in the Northern part of the mission, and so I was asked to take them to the airport. No big deal, other than 2 were flying on Southwest Airlines to Boise to pick up their visa, and one was flying to Los Angeles on Delta to get his visa there. The Mission President in Boise and LA were in the loop because they would have to pick up the Elders at their airport, take them to their visa appointment, and then put them back on the plane to travel to Mexico the following day.

Now the exciting part: 
The Delta flight leaves at 600AM from Terminal A, and the Southwest flight leaves at 615AM from Terminal B.  I have to pick them up at 400AM which means I have to get up at 315AM to get showered and dressed.  Now this is only 4 days after Daylight Savings time took effect, so my body says it is only 215AM!!!!!  I THINK THOSE ASSISTANTS OWE ME A CHOCOLATE CAKE!!!!

Yesterday (Wednesday) evening at 800PM the Visa Elders come in to our office to pick up their travel itinerary and to weigh their bags to be sure it is under 50 lbs. I worry because some of these guys don't look like they have had a lot of experience with air travel, so I go through the procedures of finding your gate, and going to baggage claim at their destination and look for the Mission President or their A.P.'s because they can't meet them at their arriving gate to pick them up.

In this review process, I discover that the Elder going to LA is really connecting in LA with a flight to Las Vegas which is his final destination.  All the communication Mom had with Missionary Travel was about this missionary traveling to LA.  We now had to figure out and make sure that it is the Mission President from the Las Vegas Mission that will pick up this Elder and that all will be alright.

We are never comfortable just dropping the missionaries off at the curb, and always take them in to make sure their bags get checked in and that they are booked for the correct flight. We then walk them to the TSA counter where only people with boarding passes can proceed. We then leave them there in line and consider the job "done".

So here I have 2 groups leaving at the same time from 2 different terminals.  Mom and I can't split up and do it by ourselves where Mom would go to escort one of the missionaries through the airport.  Besides, Mom does not do 300AM.  Well, our wonderful Zone Leaders came to the rescue, and they went with me at that early hour.  They took the 2 Elders to Southwest Air, and I took the Delta Airlines elder to his departing terminal.

We made it back by 515AM at which time I went back to bed.


It is hard to imagine that in 2 weeks we will have been out for 12 months.  Time just really flies by.

Until next time.

Love,
Elder and Sister Kolditz

Departing Missionaries

Dear Family,

Mom wrote last week that we met the 2 new couples that will be working with us in the office.  They will be starting on the 15th of February, and will have a 2 week "training" overlap with the Johnsons and Morgans that will finish their 12 month mission at the end of the month.  We have really come to love and appreciate the 2 couples we have worked with, and will miss them a lot.  We look forward to getting to know the Jacksons and the Pietzs, and know we will get close to them too.

All four couples are Service Missionaries, which means they are "live at home" missionaries which seems to be the way the Church is encouraging for more Senior Couples to serve.  It would be less expensive to serve this way and more couples can serve in meaningful ways.  It makes sense.  If you are called as a "Member Support / Leadership Missionary", why leave home to serve in some other Ward on the East Coast, when there is just as great a need 3 Stakes over.

This is the Johnsons third mission, and they have commented that this mission has been the most difficult for them.  Although they come to the office 4 days a week, and are kept busy at the office, they have mentioned that the family and Ward members don't recognize that they are serving a mission, and they are still expected to attend ballgames and concerts and recitals for the grand kids, and baby sit for their children when they have already put in a busy day at the Mission Office and are tired.  They also still have to keep house and maintain their yard, etc.

They have also told us that they feel bad for us because one of the things they really enjoyed on their other missions was the association with the other couples and the activities they were able to do together because they were all away from home and in the same circumstance.  They were able to go out exploring and discovering new things together.  Because of their obligations at home, they feel like we have been neglected by them and they have not been able to interact with us as they would have liked.

We did try to have an office get-to-gether today by attending the Sacramento Temple and go to dinner afterwards in celebration of Mom's birthday and the Morgan's 61st wedding anniversary on February 2nd, but we found out yesterday that the temple is closed for maintenance until next Monday.  We will regroup and try again then.

Of the new couples coming in, Brother Jackson was an airline pilot for Delta, and this is their first mission.  They will be serving for 12 months.  Brother and Sister Pietz have a cattle ranch some 60 miles North of us, and they will be driving in every day.  They just returned 6 months ago from serving a 23 month mission in Puerto Rico where they worked in the mission office and handled the apartments and the vehicles. They have been called to serve for 18 months.


This last Wednesday mom and I took our "Temple Square Mission" missionaries to the airport to return to Salt Lake and finish their mission there by this coming April 25th.  I had mentioned in an earlier "post" that the Temple Square missionaries are assigned to a "regular" mission for 3-4 months to have that experience.  These Sisters are both "top notch" missionaries, and both were able to teach families and see them get baptized into the Church.  Neither one wanted to leave, but their time was up.

Mom, Sister Alejandro, and Sister Harris.

Sister Alejandro was in our Zone for her 4 months in our mission, and so we really got to know her.  I told them that I needed the above picture as proof to President Weston that we really did take them to the airport.  They both wanted to stay and we would have loved to have them stay.

That same Wednesday we received another missionary from the Temple Square Mission to do her stint with us.  Her name is Sister Shemanga and she is from Zambia, Africa.  Because of the positive experiences of Sisters Alejandro and Harris, I am sure the CA Roseville Mission will be THE place to be assigned from Temple Square.

Sister Shemanga

We did our mission orientation with Sister Shemanga, and she was assigned to serve with Sister Barfus who was in our zone at one time, and comes from Portland Oregon.  Sister Barfus is also a wonderful missionary and besides that, we have Portland in common.

Guess that is all the news I have for this week.

We love you and thank you for your love and prayers in our behalf, and for the prayers for our missionaries.

Mom and Dad.

A Busy Transfer This Time

We are getting sooo good with the transfers.  We really have our routines down.  I am thinking that I have to start considering what instructions to write down for my replacement.  It was nice that Elder Gwynn, the person I replaced in the mission office, is a local resident, and was able to come back and help me through my first transfer.  He had spend 4 days with me when we came out, but Transfers were scheduled for 2 weeks later, so he had to come back to cover that scenario with me.  Sure was grateful for that.
When we leave, transfers are scheduled for 3 or 4 weeks after we have left, so we will not be able to train that function in a "LIVE" setting.

There have been several things about IMOS, the Church's "Internet Mission Operating System", that I had to discover on my own.  It sometimes was rather comical.  With all the MENUs in the program, I would discover, quite by accident, where to assign a proselyting area to a set of missionaries, but then the next time, I would have to hunt for an hour or more to find out where it was in the program that I was able to do that.  There are also some sequences in the system that you have to follow under different "departments" with their own menus to set up a new apartment and to pay the rent.  It all is simple to me now, but I want to make sure my replacement does not have to go through the same discovery period.  I'm sure that it will all work out.

We had 16 new missionaries arrive from the MTC on Tuesday.  13 Elders and 3 Sisters.  one of the Sisters is Tongan, but comes from Australia.  They are a great bunch.  One Elder is almost 25 years old, and has a GREAT attitude.  Maturity really helps.  Another Elder is from Hawaii.  He is part Hawaiian.  His first and last name are Caucasian, but his middle name is Hawaiian and contains 26 letters.  I have been deleting his middle name so his name will fit in my rosters and reports.

At one point two sisters from our zone dropped by the office, Sister Alejandro and Sister Totau.  While they were in the office, I came in with the 3 new Sisters and introduced them saying "Ladies, these are MY girls".  Alejandro and Totau just smiled and beamed with pride.  They know we love them, as we do all our guys in our zone.  We again fed two on Wednesday, and two on Saturday.

Guess that is all from me.  Don't want to duplicate what Mom has already written.

Have a great week.
Love
Elder and Sister Kolditz