Transfer Week

How can we tell that missionaries are meeting?

We are behind in our blog posts but now that transfer week is over maybe we can catch up. Transfers were actually last week, on November 3rd and 4th. We lost four missionaries and gained 15, nine sisters and six elders. One of the missionaries going home had been with us in the office. We miss him there, but wish him well. These new missionaries are our batch because we had already met four of the elders and two of the sisters in the Provo MTC. The rest of the group are native Filipinos who went directly to the MTC in Manila. 

  

New Sisters and their trainers.

On Wednesday morning we followed President and Sister Tanner to the airport to help pick up and transport the arriving missionaries and their luggage back to the mission home and office. (Made it back all by ourselves. Wahoo!) The assistants to the president were already there with a van because they had taken missionaries who were departing to catch their flights out.  There was an additional van and driver at the airport we had hired to help transport the group back as well.  This was a good warm up for us – next transfer in December we have 16 missionaries leaving and 19 coming.

New Elders and their trainers.

After arriving back at the mission home it was time for pictures, eating breakfast, bringing trainers from the office to the mission home, orientation, training, interviews with the president, lunch and then finally matching new missionaries with their trainers and telling them where they will be assigned. We helped Sister Tanner with food/clean-up and also helped shuttle luggage and missionaries between the mission office and mission home. We both helped with orientation by talking about our areas of responsibility in the office.

  

Learning who their companions are

We were amazed to learn that companionships of new missionaries and trainers are not decided until after the president has interviewed each of the new missionaries and then met with his assistants to decide what the match-ups will be. We had assumed that this was all decided ahead of time, not after the new missionaries have arrived. Not so.

and where they are assigned

was the highlight of the day.

 

Because of travel distances, all the new companionship's stayed at local transfer houses overnight and did not actually travel to their areas until Thursday when all the other transferring missionaries came by the mission office. 

We love opportunities like this where we meet so many young elders and sisters.