I think Elder Taylor and I spent just under 30 hours driving this week. So it only qualifies as part-time work. Serving as a missionary makes me laugh that we call a 40-hour work week "full-time". Somehow, our 24/7 job with no pay seems to qualify more readily as a "full-time" assignment. And I suppose it's not a nonpaying job either. The earnest of the Spirit is far more desirable than a weekly paycheck (although not always as useful for paying the rent - thanks for working so I can serve, Dad!) Let me give you the run-down on our week.
Monday: Day 1 of transfers, so we toured the Southern portion of the mission. Compared to other transfers, this one was relatively small since we only had one departing missionary and six incoming missionaries. Monday, especially, the transfer van never had more than eight people on board. After a hot dog barbecue with the elders spending the night in Lansing we even had time to go to Family Home Evening. Alex, whom we've been teaching, brought Daniel, whom we have also been teaching, which was cool since we didn't know that they knew each other. They do live in the same apartment building, though.
Tuesday: Day 2 of transfers. We ran up to Mt. Pleasant and back and then ran the Southern loop again. Elder Stayner, who went home on Wednesday, rode the transfer van all the way around with us so he could say goodbye to everyone. I think it was a longer ride than he expected. Departing activities at the mission home were nice. President Jones grilled us some delicious steaks because it was a smaller group than normal.
Wednesday: We got to sleep in until 6 am! (Normally, the Wednesday of transfers we have to get up at 3 or 4 am but Elder Stayner's flight didn't leave until 10:30). Elder Stayner told me he'd say hi to Emerson Ave for me (he lives up the street a mile or so). We taught a couple quick lessons in between trips to the airport and then picked up the missionaries and started some orientation with them. As the missionaries came down the hall in the airport and we saw them for the first time, I received an undeniable spiritual impression that they had been called of God and sent to us by Him. I love orientation with the new missionaries; they epitomize the scriptural admonition to give the Lord "the heart and a willing mind" (D&C 64:34). President Jones let us slip out a little early so that we could fit in another lesson.
Thursday: After orientation with the new missionaries and their trainers, we drove three companionships up to Mt. Pleasant so they could then drive to their areas. We then had a crazy evening of teaching eight lessons in five hours.
Friday: Our morning was taken up by a meeting with President Jones to plan for our trip to Ann Arbor the next day and talk about zone conference and other mission issues. We had to leave by 7 that evening to begin our trip North so we could take the Traverse City zone down to Ann Arbor. We had 1:30 to 7 to try to squeeze in some more lessons but due to some cancellations and two lessons combining to become one lesson (we had set appointments with two separate students on campus for 4 and 4:30 - it turned out they were friends and we just met together in one lesson) we only ended up with three lessons. The two guys we started teaching Friday are really active in an apostolic church and know the Bible really well. It was really fun to talk with them and for them to have a strong Christian background. MSU definitely has a wide array of religious ideologies.
Saturday: We spent Friday night in Houghton Lake and then woke up at 2:30 am to get ready and drive the rest of the way to Gaylord, where we met the Traverse City zone and left for Ann Arbor at 4:30 am. We arrived a little after 8:00. We had a three-hour meeting (from 9 to noon) with Elder and Sister Bednar; Elder Hallstrom, of the Presidency of the Seventy; Elder Uceda, a new member of the First Quorum of the Seventy; and Elder Seldon, who I believe is an Area Seventy. It was incredible. Elder Bednar taught in a very interactive, familiar style. He gave no prepared talk; rather, he asked us what we had learned from the two talks he had us read in preparation for the meeting, expounded on certain principles we discussed, and then allowed us to ask whatever questions we wanted of him or the other brethren. One of the ground rules he outlined was that we were not to write down anything someone at the pulpit said; we could only make notes if they were dictated by the Holy Ghost.
What struck me most was the in some ways unexceptional nature of the meeting. True, an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ was present and I did receive a strong spiritual confirmation that Elder Bednar is an Apostle; yet, I was taught by the Spirit just as I am in Sacrament Meetings or Zone Conferences or lessons. It was comforting to recognize that our lives can be a constant classroom with the Teacher of all Truth. Although we must have the priesthood keys held by the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency, the presence of this or that man or even instruction from this or that man is far less significant than the presence of the Holy Ghost, if we are choosing to learn by faith through the influence of the Spirit. (If you're interested, he had us read two great talks he has given, Seek Learning by Faith and Ask in Faith.)
Sorry for the ultra-long email. Attached is a picture of the incoming missionaries with their trainers.
I love you!
Elder Cloward
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