Chris’ Mission–Assistant to the President with Elder Eric Johnsen

We were up at 5:30 to get ready for the airport scene. We got those missionaries off, and then we got Elder Hartvigsen (who had missed his bus the day before) on a bus to Mt. Pleasant. We washed the van and put armor all on it and got some other things taken care of. Then we hit the office. I worked quickly and got the Master Zone Car List updated and we worked on Youth Missionaries to finally get them going. We got a lot accomplished. Tonight, we got to do some proselyting, but not as much as I would like. But it was a pretty good day. Friday, June 17

This was a full day in the office. I worked hard all day, mostly on Youth missionary information. It was a hot, long day in the office. If felt good tonight to go out and do some missionary work. We met with Debbie and showed her “Mountain of the Lord”. It wasn't as powerful as it usually is, but I hope it helped her some. She has gotten a lot of anti, so it is hard to work with her in some ways. She really needs the gospel in her life. Saturday, June 18

Qing and Dai attended church today as the newest members in the ward here. We also met with them and showed them another cartoon video, the one on “The Journey to the Promised Land”. They really love those videos and really love the Book of Mormon. It is awesome to watch as their testimony and knowledge continue to grow and progress. They are the greatest. We attended a baptism and we talked with a member who used to be an AP in Japan about some programs they used there to get the mission going. It was a great talk. We also did totals until late tonight and the mission is doing awesome. We have had 30 baptisms so far this month, I hop we can hit and exceed 53, the record that we set back in December. We need to keep breaking that record and this month is definitely the month to do it. Today was also Fathers Day. I was really blessed with a great father. I love him so much. Sunday, June 19

It just doesn't get any better than this. We had one of the sweetest days ever. It started out with some late night studying last night. I was lying in bed and couldn’t sleep but I had all kinds of thoughts running through my head. I was thinking about the talk I am going to give at ZLC on “Faith and Drawing on the Powers of Heaven.” I had lots of ideas in mind so I got up and started preparing it. Then I started reading the Wilford Woodruff book that I just bought. He was an amazing missionary. I rejoiced in his labors and felt the spirit strong. The next morning was great. Debbie came to church and I think she really enjoyed it. She is really progressing very well. We had great meetings and I know the spirit was present. I hope she recognized it and is ready to become a member. I am so glad we are working with her. She is awesome, and her two little boys (Zachary and Matthew) are the cutest. I hope so much that she will be baptized soon. After church, we had the sweetest Dinner Appointment with the Hibberts. They are such a wonderful family. I am getting close to them. They are a blast to be around. And their taught, Alison Breann is adorable. So that was great. And at 4:30, we had the highlight down at the Holt building. It was the baptism of Chris Bicknell. It was an awesome service. I had the opportunity to baptize her, and what a privilege it was. After the ordinance was complete, I sat and stayed at the font after everyone cleared out and I just gloried in the spirit. It is such an awesome blessing to have the power to teach souls the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it is such an honor to hold the Priesthood of God and to use it to baptize those elect should whom God has prepared for us in this area. And Chris is definitely one of the elect should. She had been prepared for a long time to receive what took place today. The spirit was so strong throughout the entire baptismal service. It was a glorious event. I feel so happy to be a part of it all. I thank God for allowing me to do so. This is what missions are all about. At 8:00, we had a special Satellite broadcast from the Carthage Jail to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. We heard inspiring music - A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet, and Praise to the Man. Those songs really move me. They are so powerful. We heard talks from Elder Ballard, President Hinckley, and President Hunter. It was such a joy to hear from the living prophet. A great Joseph Smith quote that President Hunter shared really struck me. It says, “What can man do, when God is your friend”. I’m so grateful for the gospel and all the blessings it brings into my life. I now it is true and I love it. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Dai Wei was interviewed today to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and will be ordained next week and he asked me to ordain him. I am very excited. What a beautiful, wonderful, fantastic day! Sunday, July 26

This was an alright P-day. It was a lot of fun and we did a lot of things but it was so hectic. We were running around all day trying to get the things done we needed to. We were always in a hurry but it was still a great day. We did get to play some basketball and I was totally ripping it up. We also went golfing with Blain Tuft. We golfed 9 holes and I played pretty good. I shot a 46. It was fun to get out on the golf course again. I totally love to play. This evening, we taught Fred and Elisa the 1st discussion. They are awesome, but they are pretty set in their ways. The discussion went really well but they have a lot of questions from the anti they have been getting. But if they will sincerely read the Book of Mormon and ponder it and pray,, then the truth will be made known to them. I hope they will follow the promptings of the spirit. They are a really cool couple. Monday, June 27

Today was Zone Leader Conference and it was awesome. We have some powerful Zone Leaders in the mission right now. Our focus today was “Faith, and Drawing on the Powers of Heaven to assist us in our missionary work.” I led a discussion on that topic and it went very well. We also had discussions on leadership and on Resolving Concerns. And of course President talked for a long time to teach and motivate everyone. I also discussed our ideas for Wilford Woodruff week with everyone. I feel like I used the commitment pattern pretty well and actually just helped the group to come up with the ideas for this week. They are all excited and feel the mission is ready for it. Now we just need to do the same thing with the missionaries to prepare them for it and to created a desire for them to do it. If we are successful at doing that, then it will be a very productive week. We planned it for July 27 - August 3. It will be good. Our ZLC was very spiritual and uplifting. Tonight we had dinner with the Hibberts - they are awesome. And then we visited Debbie, but that didn’t go at all like we had planned. It turns out she didn’t like church at all. She says she felt very distant from God and that she didn’t feel the spirit. That just blew me away, because this is Gods church. Why didn’t she feel that? Usually, when we get people to church, they end up getting baptized. But church has sent her in the wrong direction. We need to get that reversed because she is too awesome to lose. Tuesday, June 28

This was a pretty good day. I was totally worn out from all that has been going on lately, but once I got going, it was a great day. We were in the office all day, but got some good things taken care of. We had Pizza Hut lunch with Elders Wright, Gyori, Miner,and Jenkins and that was fun. Tonight, we taught Qing and Dai the first new member lesson with John Coakley and Br. Erikson. That went well, they continue to learn. We went jogging again tonight and got some good exercise. We have done that Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and today. It feels good to get into shape. Wednesday, June 29

This was a pretty normal AP day. We did all kind of work in the office and got tons of things done. During the evening, we went out to proselyte and we were able to teach Craig Thomas and his girl friend Sherry. Craig was the starting tailback for Michigan Sate this past year. Now he is trying to get on an NFL team. It was a good discussion. He also had some cool fish, they were Pirañas. Thursday, June 30

A lot of my day was spent on the computer today. We got a new computer in the office and losing one. So I had to copy all my vital information from the 2 front computers onto disks so that we would not lose it. I am learning a lot more about computers and I like that. The other big project of the day was taking care of the Elders in Owosso. They had some major problems up there. The 2 missionaries there have been having a rough time and have been very disobedient. They even let a woman and her kids sleep in their apartment the night before last. The landlord called up our office and wanted them evicted because of what was going on. So President made an unannounced visit to their place and caught the woman there and found the apartment looking like a pig sty. He said it was terrible. Dirty diapers and food all over, etc. So they cleaned the whole place up over the last 2 days and we picked them up in the van this evening. They spent the rest of the evening with us, me and Roller visited with Qing and Dai and Stucki and Johnsen checked our investigators. Stucki has really been disappointing me here lately. He should be a great missionary, has so much potential. But ever since he was released as a Zone Leader in Grand Rapids, he hasn't done much. But in being with him tonight, I feel like he will turn it around. He is a bright guy and should figure it out. But I can’t figure out Roller. He is pretty strange. I don’t know what to make of him. He has caused a ton of problems lately, but he has had a rough life so I feel bad for him. They are going to get a thorough chewing out by President tomorrow, but hopefully they will have the right attitude and maybe we can get them back out in the field. Friday, July 1

We finished taking care of the Owosso Elders today. After President talked to them, we took the Action Van and transferred them. We took Elder Vance Lee up to Owosso, took Stuck up to Bay City East to be with Malan, and brought K. Alder back to take over in Owosso with Elder Lee. And Roller is now in the threesome with Georgianna and J. Larsen. I think this will work out a lot better in every respect. But it took most of the day to get all the moves done. When we got home, we were supposed to teach Debbie the third, but she wasn’t home. So we took the van back over to President’s and hung out there the rest of the night (from 8:00 on). We played some basketball with Pres. and that was a blast. He has a good shot and he told us stories about his early athletic days. He was quite the athlete and still holds some track records in Utah and Nevada. After our hoop game, we went in and just talked forever. We didn’t leave until midnight, but it was so fun to be around them. They told us how they met and got married and about their early married years. They are the greatest. When we left, we realized that we had a 7:30 Stake Correlation meeting here in Lansing. We weren’t ready for it at all, so we spent from midnight until 1:00 preparing all the paperwork for that. When we finally got home, we were beat. It was a long but good day. President and Sister Waite are the greatest. Saturday, July 2

Not much happened today. Church was good, except we didn’t have any investigators there. But during priesthood, we watched this video which was the greatest. It was about Joseph Smith, a dramatization, of some of the highlights in his life and basically just had quotes from other people about him. It was so good and powerful. I totally felt the spirit. I want to get a copy of it somehow. We took a little nap because we were so tired from last night. Then we had a really fun dinner appointment at the Rasmussens. They are an awesome family. Sunday, July 3

Happy Birthday, Uncle Sam. We had a good Independence Day. It was a good way to spend a holiday. We played basketball twice, once at 6:00 in the morning and once at 1:00. So we got our physical exercise in. In between that time, we just did our laundry and shopping and all that good stuff. We hung out with Elder Miner, Jenkins, Wright, and Gyori for most of the day. They are awesome guys. After our afternoon basketball, we went over to Presidents and washed and waxed the cars. Then me and Johnsen stayed there while the others went elsewhere. I watched most of the second half of the USA vs. Brazil World Cup game. The USA held it to a 0-0 tie until the 70th minute when Brazil finally scored and it ended up a 1-0 loss for the US. Not bad for us. But Brazil really dominated the entire game, even though they were down one player for a red card. It was fun to watch. We had a good barbecue with the Waites, the Wilsons, the Jenks, and Sister Blank and Reber. It was great. Playing ping-pong, eating watermelon. And then we went and saw a few fireworks with Miner, Jenkins, Gyori, and Wright. Tonight, we have 3 guests sleeping in our apartment. Elder Sanders, Hodges, and Nielson from Cheboygan and Rogers City went behind President back and slept up at St. Ignace and were going to spend the entire day up there. So Pres. had them drive down with all their stuff and he might send them home. He kind of needs to show that he is serious about obedience. Monday, July 4

This was not one of my favorite days in the mission field. All we did was deal with the problems caused by Sander, Hodges and Nielsen. President started interviewing at 9:00. He did them all separate and then he brought them all together and we all sat in on that one. Boy were those guys scared. I think they were convinced they were going home. But they pleaded with him and of course he is letting them stay. President really is a big softie. But they seemed sincere in their repentance and desire to stay and be good missionaries. It was interesting to be a part of all this. When we finally wrapped it all up at 5:00, we ran to a DA at the Coakleys, then back to the mission home for a bit, and then to the office for a late night. We had all the Grand Rapids stuff to get ready. (Stake Correlation reports, Zone Conference agenda, etc.) and we also had to prepare for the Lansing Zone Conference because we won't be home until late from Grand Rapids. We ended up staying until after 1:00 to get everything done. It was a long night, but it was pretty fun because I was so tired and in a funny mood. Tuesday, July 6

We had Grand Rapids/Muskegon Zone Conference so we headed out about 7:15. We also had to take Elder Nielsen over to put him in a threesome over there so we drove the van and took President and Sister Waite with us. We had a nice drive over. I guess I should say what we are doing with these Elders here with us. We took Nielsen and put him with Elder Rollins and Archibald. And Sanders and Hodges will be serving together and with Elder Gorda in St. Johns. And we are sending Churchill up to Cheboygan to be with Adam Johnson. So we have that problem all worked out now. The Zone Conference was an excellent one. The missionaries are really good ones and it was a very spiritual meeting. The two zones are led by Elder Backus and Rhoton, and there is such a sharp contrast between the 2 zone leaders. Elder Rhoton is a bit loud and overbearing. Elder Backus is just an excellent missionary, and a great Zone Leader. He really carves himself well and knows how to lead. We heard great discussions on Faith and especially on Sacrifice. Elder Backus led that one and it was good. Then we led a discussion on the Wilford Woodruff week, to prepare the missionaries for that upcoming week. It went very well because we didn't tell them what we are going to do. Almost all the missionaries are pumped up and excited about it. Many of them talked about it during their testimonies. I keep feeling better and better about it all the time. It just might be the jumpstart we need. The testimony meeting was the best set of testimonies I have heard in a long time. That is a blessing of attending Zone Conferences, hearing all the sweet testimonies. This evening, we had our Stake Correlation meeting and President finished up all the interviews he could. So it was looking like another late night. We dropped off President and Sister Waite at about 11:30pm. As we were driving home to our apartment, I looked over and saw 2 men running and then realized it was Elder Georgianna and J. Larsen. There were a few things wrong with that. First, it was way past their bed time and also they are in a threesome with Elder Roller so that means they left him home alone. I couldn't believe it because Georgianna is already on the brink of going home and here they were being disobedient again. We pulled over and picked them up and talked with them for a while. Then we took them home and found Roller listening to the radio and also found some apostate music and magazines so we interviewed him for a long time. It made for a very interesting evening. It is actually pretty funny to think back about Georgianna and Larsen jogging down the street in the middle of the night. We didn't get home until after 1:30am. Another short night of sleep. Wednesday, July 6

We attended the Lansing Zone Conference today and it was a good one. There are good missionaries here, but also a lot of departing missionaries. We had 9 give their departing testimony. The spirit was very strong. I especially liked one quote used by K. Wright. It says, “If I knew then what I know now, I would be ashamed to call it a sacrifice”. That is so true in my mission experience. All the things that I thought I was giving up really aren't that hard after all. And the blessings that come far outweigh any sacrifices. Thursday, July 7

Today was the Traverse City Zone Conference. Johnsen and I drove up separate to it so that we could travel around a bit after. The zone is really good up north. Hard working and obedient so we had a very spiritual Zone Conference. Beth Beaudoin from St. Ignace came down for it so it was good to see her and to see her 1 year old taught, Heather, who I took a picture with when she was 2 weeks old. It was Presidents birthday today so we had a little celebration during lunch. He turned 68. Elder Tuckfield had a guy draw up a caricature of President and he put it on a t-shirt. It says, “Air Pres”. It’s hilarious. After Zone Conference and all the interviews and meetings, we ordered pizza and ate it at Tuckfield’s place. We had a fun time there just talking and laughing. After we all ate, we stayed at Warren and Price’s apartment on the other side of town so that Pres. and Sister Waite could stay at Tuckfield and Bowns. So we sort of had a little sleepover. The missionaries up there are really good missionaries and they are fun to be around. Plus its just great to be up North. Friday, July 8

Today was a very relaxed, do whatever we want day. Pres. and Sister Waite went to the Cherry Festival parade, and then we went with them to President Hoovers home. They fed us lunch there and then he took us on a sweet tour of the surrounding area. He showed us the Sleep Bear Sand Dunes and some beautiful countryside. It was a ton of fun. After that we started to head home, but we stopped in Midland to visit with those Elders, and also in Bay City so that I could buy Malan and Dickinson some Taco Bell. Then we headed home. Johnsen slept the whole way home. Saturday, July 9

This was an awesome P-day. We wore ourselves out, though. We did the usual office meeting in the morning and got a few things taken care of. For our physical activity, we played football for a long time, and then we played soccer. It was a blast. I haven't played for so long. There wasn't any competition there for me, but it was fun. We played hard and we are worn out. Tonight, we prepared all the paper work for Kalamazoo Zone Conference tomorrow. Monday, July 11

Kalamazoo Zone Conference. This zone keeps getting better and better. It is still the worst zone, but it has come a long ways in the last few months. Wilford Woodruff week didn’t go across as well with these Elders because they feel like they are already sacrificing so much. Lame. But many of them are excited and it will be a great week. I had to drive Sullivan and Flanders down to St. Joseph and back tonight in President’s Bonneville to pick up their keys. I had a great time doing that, and loved spending the day with President and Sister Waite as usual. Tuesday, July 12

This was our “catch up on paperwork day” in the office. But there is so much to catch up on that we still aren't close. We worked on things all day, so it was not the best day. But tonight we went and taught Fred and Elisa. They are the best people. If they could only see the great truths contained in the gospel. Teaching them was definitely the highlight of the day. Wednesday, July 13

Midland Zone Conference. Midland is a good zone. We have stacked it with some of the best missionaries we have. Christofferson and his greenie are ripping it up and leading the zone. It was a good meeting today. The spirit was strong and everything discussed went very well. This was the last zone conference of the month, so it really was Eric Johnsen’s departing testimony. He is a great companion. I am going to miss him a lot after next week. I drove home tonight, I love that Pontiac Bonneville. Everyone else was asleep and I was pretty tired but we made it. I don’t think I will ever get caught up on sleep. Thursday, July 14

Another full day of paperwork. And we are still no where near to catching up. Actually, most of the day we spent with President trying to work out transfers. We are making a lot of moves this month but they all need to be because we have 11 greenies coming and 12 going home. So the whole mission is getting shaken up this month. We ate dinner at the Hibberts, we have so much fun when we go over there. The Hibberts are hilarious. After dinner, we just checked call backs for the rest of the night. Not much success. Friday, July 15

More paperwork. But we accomplished some much needed work and made a good dent in our pile of things to take care of. We had a fun dinner with the University sisters (Blank and Reber) and the Lansing sisters (Reeser and Fillmore) at Scott Campans. Scott is going on his mission to California in September. He is a cool guy. After that, we took two beds over to Presidents and chatted with them for a long time. They truly are the greatest I really love them a lot. They are such good people - I don’t think mission presidents could be any better. I love them a lot. Saturday, July 16

This was a fantastic day. Church was really good, a strong spirit was there. And the best part of it was during priesthood. I had the opportunity to ordain Dai Wei to the Aaronic Priesthood to the office of a priest. That was such a good experience for me. It was my first priesthood ordination. I love how my mission makes me get out of my comfort zone and helps me to learn and grow and progress. This was really neat. I felt the spirit so strong as the ordination took place. After church, we took the cartoon “The Savior in America” to Qing and Dai’s and showed that to them. Holy cow, I hadn’t felt the spirit that strong in a long time. It is always easy to bring into their home because it is usually already present somewhat. They are such a great couple. I love them a lot. We had a nice dinner with the Wilsons and then back to the office to prepare totals. We got them all ready and called a couple of our Zone Leaders. But then we took a time out. We attended a baptismal service where Gyori and Wright baptized Cal and Greg Ross. It was really nice. Then we went and taught Fred and Elisa and shared a lot with them about the Book of Mormon. What a wonderful book that is. But they are trying to learn by using anti along with the gospel we teach them. It just doesn't work that way. i hope we can help them see what blessings could be in store for them. After our discussion, we finished totals. They look pretty good, but we have so much to improve on in the mission. And baptisms are pretty low so far. They need to really pick up. Sunday, July 17

Another fun day today. We played our 6:00 b-ball with Steve Hibbert and the Okimos Elders. Then we had our office meeting and worked on transfers again with President all morning. We made quite a few changes from last Friday. After we got all finished there, we went to see Sister Waite. She fed us lunch of course, and we set up the beds in the basement. We went to Lake Lansing Park for a minute but didn’t want to hang with the disobedient gents who were there. So we went to Patriarch Park and played football for a while. And then we fit in a round of golf over at Indian Hills. It was free because of Br. Nelson and was a lot of fun. I had my birthday dinner over at the Hibberts tonight. What awesome people. They invited us, the sisters, Tufts, Jenks, Lydia Gonzales, and Bobbie. It was so fun. Good food (Lasagna) and red jello. So my favorite meal with wonderful company. We were laughing the whole night. I was holding Alison, their little daughter, and she fell asleep in my arms. That is my favorite thing to do. It was just a very fun time. The Hibberts really are the best. They are an ideal family. After dinner, we went to the office for a little while. This was a great day. I can’t believe I am 21 tomorrow. Monday, July 18

Happy Birthday to me! This was the weirdest birthday I think I will ever have. It didn’t feel like my birthday. We were so busy today that I never really had time to think about it. We had to talk about transfers some more and make some more changes on the board. That always takes a long time. And then about lunch time, Elder Johnsen suggested we go to Olive Garden for my birthday. So we went out to lunch with President and Sister Waite. We had a good time there. Then we had to run out to the airport to greet the new deaf sister, Sister Cahoon; and to send off Sister Bunch, who has to go home. After we got that take care of, we hustled around the office trying to get ready for transfer calls in the morning. We got home about 11:00, but I think we are all set for tomorrow. When we got home, I finally got a chance to open my presents. I got new garments, socks, a tie, a bunch of candy, some gent clothes, a book about President Howard W. Hunter, a tape, and some money. It is a good score on gifts. I needed most everything I got. The presents were fun to open and then I called home. President had given me permission because I needed to talk about my BYU application and a couple other things. It was really nice to talk to them and I am excited to see them soon but I want my last months to drag out however. Time is going by way too fast. Well, now I am 21 and legal to do whatever I want. Sounds tempting … not! Tuesday, July 19

We met at the office at 6:30 today and started on the transfer calls. We had to make a couple more changes today on the moves we had planned. This was like our 5th transfer meeting. But I think we’ve got it all set now. We finished calls at about 9:00. It took forever because there are over 45 transfers taking place. All but 22 companionships were touched. But this was because we are losing 12 missionaries and gaining 10 and we are creating another zone in Saginaw out of Midland. And we have a new calling, Traveling Elders, and there are just tons of moves that are necessary. We are whitewashing a bunch of areas to make room for trainers and to strengthen areas where it is needed. So there are all kinds of stuff going on. My new companion is Elder Tuckfield. He is going to be awesome. The traveling Elders who will live at our apartment, or at least base from there, are Elder Rowley and Elder Wright. They will both do awesome and it will be cool to have them around here sometimes. We have 10 trainers, 5 new zone leaders, and a lot of chances of people to shine and prove themselves. We hope to see a lot of good things going on now. After transfer calls are over, we usually go over to Presidents for some breakfast, but we didn't even get that today. We were trying to throw everything together for the greenies and for transfer moves. And then President called me in and sent me on a trip up to Bay City to pick up Elder Stucki. He has had a lot of problems recently with a girl and it is all finally coming out. We had to send him to another mission, but he barely missed being sent home. And that is what we want everyone to think, that he was sent home. It is really too bad because he was one of the best missionaries out here. So I took Georgianna as a traveling companion and cruised up to Bay City and back. I got him back to the office about 3:15, we ran to the bank and closed his account, and ran to the airport to get him on the 4:26 flight out of here. We also had to send Elder Howard home with him for medical leave. But he should be back. While we were hustling around the airport, President and Sister Waite were greeting the 10 greenies and welcoming them to the mission. It was a little tough to accomplish both things without the groups coming together. Once they were on the plane, we thought no more problems would come up, but we were wrong. One of the greenies had left the MTC about 2 weeks ago and nobody had bothered to tell us. So we had to drop a trainer and rearrange all of our plans. Then most of the luggage for the new guys didn’t show up but was expected on the next flight. It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did. But somehow we made it home and got them all oriented and briefed. And finally, we made it to Sister Waites dinner. It tasted so good after not eating all day. After dinner, we had our testimony meeting and it was great. The spirit was so strong as these new missionaries bore their testimonies and expressed their desire to serve. They are a powerful group and are really going to help the mission. As I bore my testimony afterwards, I was so struck by the spirit and I couldn't hold back the tears. After we concluded, President and I met in his office and made the assignments for their trainers. We talked about how we each already had them assigned, and we were the same on almost every one. That feels so good because it means I am in tune with the spirit because I know President is. We have some powerful companionships. We told them their assignments and finally were finished. But we didn’t get home until way past midnight. So I will get my allotted 4 hours of sleep as an AP. That’s all we are supposed to get I think. It was a wonderful, exciting, challenging, sad, happy, productive day. One that will be hard to forget. Wednesday, July 20

I put the miles on the Action Van today. I did the transfer by van again and traveled around the whole mission. This time I started at 7:15 am at the mission home with Elder Gorda and 6 greenies. I did the opposite route as last month traveling to Jackson first, then Kalamazoo, then Grand Rapids, Big Rapids, Midland, Saginaw, and back to Lansing. It was a good long trip - 397 miles carrying a total of 21 missionaries before the day was through. This time was a lot better because I allotted more time for myself at each stop and I was on schedule for most of the day. I even got to eat some lunch this time. The best part of it all was when I got to Big Rapids. Elder Painter let the members know I was coming and a bunch of them were waiting for me when I pulled up. I got to see Lori and Michael Spires, Donna and Jeni Savard, Jordan Rowell, and Mike Smith. It was so good to see them all. I wanted to stay and talk for a long time, but I could only spend about 20 minutes and still be on time. That was awesome, though. So for the total day, I drove from 7:15am to 4:50pm, a total of 9.5 hours. When I arrived back, I dropped the departing missionaries off for their dinner and I had to take some luggage over to Elder Ingham. Then I finally ate really fast and headed to the departing testimony meeting. That was interesting because there was such a sharp contrast between the good and bad missionaries. You could totally tell from their testimonies and even just by watching them. The gentile missionaries were not impressive at all. The awesome missionaries including Elder Johnsen, K. Wright, Miner, Sister Blank, and Sister Neumarker were incredible. I said the closing prayer at that meeting. Then we returned to the mission home and talked for a while. Elder Bischoff played his song called goodbye and Miner sang it. It sounded awesome and really brought the spirit. Then President talked for a while and it was just sweet. I was in a real sober mood, just reflecting on my mission and my friends out here and the gospel. We had a prayer and then President started interviews and then the party began. Those gentile missionaries got right back into the world. They were playing apostate songs on the guitar and on tape, they had their two liters of Mt. Dew and Pepsi, and they just partied all night. President had to go down and tell them to shut up more than once. He says he feels like he needs to rededicate the house now. I just felt sorry for the good missionaries because they were having a hard enough time going home without all the crap going on. But both types of missionaries will be rewarded with what they deserve. Thursday, July 22

It was hard to put Eric Johnsen and Wright and Miner on the plane today. They were awesome missionaries. This was the first time I sent my companion home and it was hard. I will miss him. It was even harder for them to go, however. It was hard to see Sister Blank leave also. Her family came out and picked her up and they drove home. So we said goodbye a bit later. She is an awesome missionary and a good friend. But as for the other Yahoos, it was good riddance. In their testimonies, none of them expressed gratitude for President and Sister Waite and that alone shows what they were like on their missions. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the apartment and getting things taken care of for the month. It turned out that we had to send Elder Roller home, but he was up in Harrison. So at 4:00 I started another trek around the mission. I drove for President and Sister Waite because he was so tired. We scored the new couple, the Parkers, out to Ludington first. It was awesome to get back to that town. I saw President and Sister Overheat and got to visit with them for a long time. I even got to see Andy. That was a sweet area. After we finished everything up in Ludington, we headed over to Harrison, dropped off Adam from Ludington, picked up Roller and took Roller and Seal back to Lansing. It was a long trip, we didn't get home until 3:00 am. I drove all of it except for about 1 hour. I don’t know how I stayed awake but somehow we made it. I totally have been strengthened by the Lord this entire week with as much sleep I am living on. When we got back, I just slept at the mission home. Friday, July 22

It was weird to wake up in the mission home this morning. I got up at about 7:30 and took care of Rollers bank account and stuff. Then we took him out and got him on the 10:30 flight. Then President took me shopping and bough me a bunch of fruit and corn on the cob and some other goof stuff. That was nice of him. Then we picked up Loutzenheiser at Grand Ledge and took him and Elder Seal to Stonegate, their new area. And finally, we were actually done with transfers. We started on Tuesday and finished on Saturday. I went to the airport 4 times in 5 days and put over 1000 miles on the Action Van. What a crazy week. Today I cleaned up my stuff in the apartment, washed the van, changed the Master Zone Car List, and then we attended the Stake play called “America, a land of promise.” There was some great music. Tonight I need to get a full 8 hours of sleep to catch up. I am beat. Worn out physically, mentally, and spiritually. But it has been a good week. Challenging and tough, but good. Saturday, July 23