Sitting on the stand, waiting for the Paynesville stake conference to start, I had this overwhelming sense of love for our missionaries.  As I looked out into the crowd, all 24 of them were there, on time and looking nice. Some of the missionaries were singing in the choir, others were escorting people to their seats, and some were anxiously awaiting to greet their new friends who were coming for the first time. I thought to myself, no one is making them do what they do. Jeff and I don’t call to wake them up at 6:30 every morning, nor do we map out what they do each day. They just do it, and they do it well. It is such a blessing to serve with these remarkable young men and women.

Last week, Jeff and I were doing interviews with 15 of the missionaries. One companionship had a 17-year old member with them. Apparently, he often goes out teaching with them. I asked him what motivated him to do that. He said, “I like being with the missionaries. They are all united, and I feel good when I am with them.” Unity with others is not always easy. Here in Liberia, our 160 missionaries represent over 30 countries. They come from incredibly diverse backgrounds (race, language, previous religions, education, time in the Church etc.), each with their own story. They work hard to get along and understand each other so they can be unified in inviting others to learn of Christ and make covenants. One of our core principles in our mission is: “Demonstrate Unity and Equality.” I wish the world could figure this one out. 

The last couple of months have been intense. We’ve had 90 new missionaries since September.  We received 37 new missionaries in December and 16 more this last transfer. 100 of our missionaries are currently either training or being trained.  We are supposed to receive new missionaries every six weeks over a couple day period, but because the missionaries come from different MTCs (mission training centers) and with numerous visa issues, we have been making trips to the airport a couple of times per week for two to three weeks. We were hoping things would get better for the February transfer, but unfortunately, it was again a rough one. To put things in perspective, let me explain the transfer process. We have 150-170 missionaries all over Liberia in 63 different apartments. Every six weeks, Jeff (aka Pres. Thomas) and his two assistants look at who has served where and with whom; He prayerfully considers if it is time for a change. He also considers if the experienced missionary should train a new missionary, should serve as a district leader, zone leader, sister trainer leader, or perhaps in the office. If we are increasing in our number of missionaries, we need to consider if we need to open a new area where they can serve – which includes finding and getting new apartments ready, which is no small task in Liberia. If we have fewer missionaries, we need to decide what areas to close and how to still cover the needs of the wards and branches. We then use our seven vehicles to move all those missionaries and their luggage all over the country in two days (in theory). When new missionaries arrive, we take the necessary vehicles to the airport about two hours away. (Note: the road construction is making progress. Sometimes we make it to the airport in 90 minutes!!!) We wait for their arrival and load them into the cars. It is typically a six hour roundtrip. We bring them back to our home for a late dinner, and they sleep at the mission home for their first night. The next morning, we have breakfast, Jeff interviews each of them and we have a four-hour orientation where we train and take care of all their paperwork, medical and legal documents. After feeding them lunch, we take them to their new areas to meet their new companions, which is often 2-5 hours away for each new missionary. Usually new missionaries aren’t sent to the far regions.

We love getting new missionaries – it is joyful! However, going through this process several times over a few week period with everything else that needs to be done is exhausting, usually requiring 18 hour days. Preparing beds, making food, sending out welcome letters to their parents, getting their paperwork together, getting them fingerprinted and residency permits, preparing their bedding for their apartment, creating their medicine bags, buying their rain boots and umbrellas, etc. all takes a lot of time, but the hard work is the mental energy to determine what the Lord wants in companionships.  I know Jeff is not alone in this process, but he is remarkable in following the Spirit and putting missionaries together to bless each other’s lives and the lives of those they serve. I often think, “Hmm, that does not seem like an obvious choice,” but somehow it works, and I can see the hand of the Lord in every companionship. 

Many of our missionaries come from countries that don’t speak English. Most of them are from DRC and speak French, but we also have several that speak Portuguese, Tongan, Spanish, Tagalog, Samoan and all different kinds of African tribal languages. They go to the MTC for 8 to 9 weeks to learn English, but that is not enough time to master it. It typically takes about three months to understand and six months to communicate…so when they first arrive, it is very difficult to communicate.  One of our Portuguese speaking elders came from Angola and was very sick. I went with him to the health clinic. The doctor expected me to interpret for him. I don’t speak Portuguese, so it became a game of charades. It was comical as I was acting out “You need to give them a urine sample and a stool culture.” We lose all sense of dignity here sometimes, but it was an instant bonding with this new missionary.

After a year-and-a-half, our first senior couple, the Ericksons completed their mission, and the Hanks will be leaving very soon too. For our last hurrah with our senior couples before saying goodbye to the Ericksons and Hanks, we went to a small eco-resort for an overnight stay. Think of it as a very nice, upscale scout camp. You almost forget you are in Liberia when you are there. We had a fantastic time walking on the beach, kayaking, eating good food, visiting, and swimming in the pool’s lazy river – so lazy it didn’t move.

Branch Leadership Training is held ever transfer cycle – every six weeks. This time we invited all of the Women Auxiliary leaders (Relief Society, Young Women and Primary) from 16 of the branches. We had about 140 women leaders in attendance, many driving a few hours to come. The senior sisters and I taught how to hold a presidency meeting. We role-played a branch council meeting and talked about the importance of their voices being heard. After lunch, we had breakout sessions for the individual auxiliaries.  I taught the Primary leaders how to teach lessons and how to teach the Primary songs.  None of these women grew up in the church, so they don’t know the songs.  Many of them cannot read, have no musical training, or no smartphones to listen to the songs or internet to download them. I told the sisters I understood their challenges, and I would teach them 7 songs in 40 minutes…so I did. It was fun to see their enthusiasm, and it has been even better to see these sisters apply what they have learned in their branches.  

These trainings we have every six weeks are paying off. The leaders are eager to learn and many are beginning to understand the principles we are teaching which come from the scriptures and the General Handbook of the Church. One branch president recently turned to me before sacrament meeting started and said, “I think I get it now…if we want the Church to grow, we need to train leaders!” I was thrilled to hear this training is starting to sink in.

We held a Valentines Day dinner with our stake presidents and their wives. It was fun to see them in their non-church attire. These are fine men and women!

I’ll wrap up now. I feel I’ve covered just a small percentage of what is occurring. Next time, we’ll plan to tell about the visit of Elder Bednar and Elder Kearon to our mission, meeting with our missionaries and the president of Liberia.

Here are some shots of life’s events here recently.