We
met the arriving missionaries at the Ontario airport at 9:40 a.m. on May
14. When Sister Cook, along with 11 Elders and 8 other
sisters arrived, they looked amazing in their new clothes, white crisp shirts,
new suits and shined shoes. While we were waiting for their luggage, we
had a quick visit with each of them. They were excited and just a little
uneasy, (maybe more than a little) wondering what was happening next. We
also had 5 other Elder’s and 3 other Sister’s arrive in a different terminal making
a total of 28 new missionaries!
The
assistants to the president (AP's) arrived in a pick-up truck and a van, and
with the help of our senior couples and with our car, we were able to fit all
16 missionaries and their luggage in and we were on our way to the Woodruff
building for our transfer meeting. You could just feel the excitement in
the air. All of the new missionaries were assigned a very capable
trainer. After the meeting, President had a trainer and missionary
meeting that explained the expectations of the missionaries for the 12 Week
Training program. Following the trainer meeting we enjoyed lunch and the
missionaries all got acquainted. Following lunch, we went to the mouth of
the Cajon pass to Glen Helen Park where we met Sister Marilyn Mills.
Sister Mills is an accomplished historian and she explained to the missionaries
how the area of San Bernardino had been settled.
Briefly,
for your information, the first settlement efforts were conducted by Spanish
missionaries, and Spanish landowners starting about 1810. During the U.S.
Mexican war the Mormon Battalion (the only religiously based battalion in U.S.
history) was organized in Iowa in 1847. Jefferson Hunt, a Captain in the Mormon
Battalion was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as
were all the members of the battalion. Since many people call Church
members Mormons, the Battalion was known as the Mormon Battalion. After a march
through what would become the Southwestern part of the U.S. the battalion arrived
in San Diego and was eventually stationed in what would become San Bernardino
and the surrounding areas. Among its’ many assignment’s, a portion of the
Mormon Battalion was sent to guard the Cajon pass and protect it from possible
marauding indians. After the members of the Mormon Battalion were mustered out
of their service, they returned to Salt Lake City to join their families.
President Young saw that Southern California could be a valuable supply route
for the Utah pioneers. So to establish a mail route and a supply
stop/route for immigrants coming through California, President Young used
church funds to buy property in the desired area from Antonio Maria Lugo, a
Mexican rancher who had obtained a 35,000 acre grant after Mexico won
independence from Spain. Twenty families were asked by President Young to
colonize the area. Fifteen former Battalion men and their families were
among the Saints who settled in the area in 1851, including Captain Jefferson
Hunt. It was the third stake organized in the church. The story of the
settling the area here in San Bernardino was told in a story written by Sister
Marilyn Mills for the February, 2003 Ensign, if you are interested in reading
more about it.
Following
Sister Mills presentation, we had a short orientation meeting. Sister
Snyder, the financial secretary for the mission explained how to use their MSF
(Missionary Support Fund) cards and explained to them the proper use of the
card and what to purchase with them. Elder Houser and Elder Perez, our senior
missionary elders explained briefly to them about the church-owned vehicles in
the mission and about the gas cards that are associated with each
vehicle. Not all missionaries are assigned cars, about 1/3 of the
missionaries at any given time, are on bicycles while the remaining 2/3 are in
church-owned vehicles. We showed them some entertaining DVD’s made by the
church with some serious expectations explained in part on the DVD by some of
the 12 apostles. Sister Ball, our mission nurse, also arrived to meet the
new missionaries and explained some very basic things each missionary needs to
know. (We will do a more detailed meeting on April 16. After
some experience in the mission, they will have more questions and be able to
more fully understand what will be explained to them. The office staff
will be there at that meeting as well to explain how things work in their
specific areas of responsibility.
After
they received their MSF and Missionary Medical cards, the housing coordinator,
Elder Snyder, talked to them about some basic expectations in regard to housing
and talked about the importance of CO2 detectors. President started
interviewing and I spent some time with the missionaries answering questions
and explaining our expectations of them as missionaries. We also let them
just relax a bit. I showed them around the mission office, which is right
there in the building, so they could see where their mail comes and their
pictures and areas on the transfer board. That evening we had dinner with
them at the church. We laughed and enjoyed one another's company but they
were all very tired. The trainers returned at 7:00 and they went to their
various areas to sleep. They were asked to return Wednesday morning at
7:00 to have breakfast along with their trainers. President finished
interviewing each of them and also talked to them more about some of his
expectations of them as missionaries and role played with them some different
scenarios. Those not being interviewed, did individual and companion
study. After all the interviews were completed we settled in the chapel
and had a testimony meeting with the new missionaries and their trainers.
It is always inspiring to hear the new missionaries and their trainers bear
testimony of the work they are involved in and their testimonies of the Savior
and His Atonement. Following testimony meeting we went back into the
cultural hall for lunch. About 2:00 we sent them off to their areas
to begin, in earnest, their missionary efforts. They were all happy and
excited to get to their fields of labor to start their missionary experience of
finding and preaching the restored gospel.
We
are looking forward to working with your missionary in this most wonderful of
experiences - preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people in this
area. There is a lot of diversity in this mission. The missionaries
will learn a lot about other cultures. We know she will be a fine
missionary. She is a wonderful young woman.
Warmest
regards,
Sister
Godwin
President Godwin
No comments:
Post a Comment