Transfer 11... Week 62

G'day all!

 

As the district leader, I get transfer info before everyone else other than the Zone Leaders, which I think is pretty cool. Soooooo... Sister Moss and Sister Aspinall (it's her birthday today, wish her a happy one) are remaining, Sister Farr and Sister Vaiula (this is the correct spelling of her name... btw) are remaining, Elder Dos Santos is remaining and Elder Cook is packing, and as for the Clarence Park area... Elder Schomburg is remaining, and Elder Aiono is packing.

 

To be honest, this isn't much of a surprise- I think it was about week two or three of this past transfer that Elder Aiono and myself both knew he was leaving. Not quite sure why we felt that way or why it was made known to us, but we knew the game was over for Elder Aiono in the Marion District. This is his last transfer, so we're both fairly confident that he will be training (keep the oldies sharp and not as trunky, you see). We're also speculating losing our car- we were told to clean it thoroughly for transfer meeting tomorrow, which means that an incoming pair of sisters is probably going to adopt the car.

 

Um, what else can I tell you? There's been more speculation that I will be training, because it's something they like to do with district leaders -push them to the limit- so if that happens, it will more or less be the ultimate test sort of thing; it's like a leader's rite of passage if they train while acting as a district leader. But that's just a guess- I think I'm going to get paired with an older missionary who's not quite dead but slowly dying, probably a year and six months out. Or... I'll get someone who's just finished training and is what we call "feo pocco" which doesn't quite translate into English, but it basically means "prideful". We'll see what happens. I'm not too anxious about adopting the area- I don't know where much is still and our investigator pool is pathetically low, which means this transfer is the... how to put it politely? The "work until you're dead" transfer, but I'm excited all the same. It'll be good to freshen things up with missionary things (Elder Aiono and me were falling victim to being off balance as far as work and fun goes...).

 

The past week was incredibly successful for the district. We've been going this whole transfer with a constantly dropping number of people with baptismal dates, and I couldn't figure out why, and thus could not figure out how to help our missionaries adapt to and solve the situation. After talking to a number of my missionaries, I came to the conclusion that they were either not inviting because they feared losing their investigators, or they just weren't focused on it. So the last district meeting, I did what no missionary assigned to a leadership position wants to do- I "singed [their] eyebrows" as Elder Holland might put it. I did so in an indirect manner, and never once called anyone by name or implied any missionaries had done any one such thing; I didn't single anyone out or do anything in a way that was condescending; I guess you could say that it was sort of like when one of the General Authorities speaks and you know you need to change and do some things differently yet he never once mentions you by name. The Spirit did most of the smashing. Anyways, I just thought I'd mention that because I don't want anyone to envision me ranting and raving as a way to motivate missionaries to repent- that isn't the Lords' way and so it is not my way.

I was told afterwards that it was a very good training on inviting investigators to be baptized whilst extending a date for such to occur. Some missionaries definitely felt the Spirit because a number were in tears and others had deeply contemplative looks upon their faces. After that, we went into role-plays as per the usual, and they were the best role-plays I've ever had I think. But it was just really cool- the Lord definitely helped me out with that one, as He always does.

Every companionship taught heaps of lessons this week as well, and finding potentials and new investigators didn't drop or take a toll from their redirected efforts, which was great to see. They've all figured out what their areas need, how they can work more effectively, and they are SO good at identifying what they need to change in order to be even better. I couldn't express to them how proud I was of them- not that they are in any way accountable to me, but it just felt good to be able to watch these missionaries grow and work harder than they ever have before.

As for my own area, not much happened, unfortunately. I don't truly feel comfortable where I'm at because as the leader, I need to set the example and thus far the sisters are smashing me in that regard, at least as far as having model areas go and whatnot. But I know that whatever it is is on my end, so I'll be doing some more self analysis to figure out what I need to change to grow my area.

I suppose I don't have much more to report on. Thanks to Mum and the family for all pictures and the updates.

Keep me updated on what goes on at home!

Love yous!

-Elder Jeffrey Schomburg