Our Daily Life

Some of you have asked what we do each day.

Monday mornings at 9:00 we attend a 20 minute devotional for all who are employed or serve missions in the Area Office. It is held in the chapel of the very nearby Stake Center. A week ago Ken was invited to be the speaker.

The other mornings we don't have to clock in. I usually spend a little time exercising (Zumba that Merrill downloaded on my IPad, stretch bands, and balance exercises that I learned at Curves) before I go in the office.

We are greeted by Jurgen Newsome at the front desk and then enjoy the pictures of Joseph Smith and Christ as we walk up the stairs, past the Area President's offices, to the 3rd floor (which would be the 4th floor to us Americans).

This week is a Mission President Conference here with Elder Bednar visiting, then he is going to train the missionaries in Mission Conferences on their new IPads. We most likely won't see him. We've heard that General Authorities often come here and often most of the missionaries in the office don't ever see them. (We learned that our devotional with Elder Hallstrom in February was unusual.) Some Mission Presidents (from places like Africa and the Eastern Bloc) have pleaded that their missionaries NOT be given IPads because it would be like putting a target on their backs.

At noon on most days I go walking with 7-8 Sisters in the cemetary.  It is a great time to get to know each other as well as share ideas and travel experiences. I had no idea how much you can learn about a culture by visiting the cemetary. It is so interesting that I'll do a whole post on the cemetary.

Because we live so close, some missionaries go home for lunch but we usually take ours and eat as we work.

Working consists of our having two computer screens each, with personal emails and Church emails up. Email is the surest way to contact us.

We have been given lists of LDS professionals trained as counselors/therapists so have been trying to contact them to see if they are currently working with the Priesthood leaders and members and willing to continue. We get their updated contact information. Some don't have email so we have written letters or telephoned them. Some don't speak English so they have someone interpret for them. A few have left the Church or have health problems and aren't able to help any more.

There used to be official LDSFS agencies in England, as well as several unofficial groups organized by our friends from Provo, Gawain and Gayle Wells, when they were here as missionaries a couple of years ago. A year ago it was decided that the risk for liability was too great, so all of these agencies were closed. The legal staff advised the Area Presidency to make this drastic decision (perhaps there had been a legal suit which prompted this decision, but that has not been disclosed). This closure was made so suddenly with no explanation, and many people felt hurt that all of the work they'd done was wasted and unappreciated.

There were 10 LDS professionals in various locations, called as Helpline Providers. They are to be the ones whom the Priesthood leaders contact for suggestions as to where the members should turn for help. No one is supposed to suggest any specific person for counseling because of the liability; the member is supposed to take the responsibility for selecting his/her counselor. The Helpline Providers are not supposed to do counseling, even though they are trained and licensed for it, nor are they to do any training.  (Are you confused yet? Me, too!) We have a conference set up in Frankfurt for the first of June with these 10 Helpline Providers, so we have some planning to do for that. We have some ideas of the direction we need to move, but it all has to be approved ahead of time.

There has been no leadership or direction for months, so we are letting people know that LDSFS is still alive and we are here to help and pull it together again. Most have let us know they are happy about this but a few are having a hard time getting their hearts into it again.

When we have traveled (Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands so far) it has primarily been to meet with as many of these LDS professionals and Priesthood leaders as we can. Through these visits we have been able to better understand what is taking place between them and the Priesthood leaders, their concerns and how we might be of help. We can see that the system as now set up is not working as it was envisioned.

It is kind of overwhelming to see how vast our responsibility is and the many, many people who need the services. However, right now our hands are tied to the requirements we've been given.

Most of our time has been in making the contacts and updating the lists, country by country, and responding to emails.

Mondays at 1:00 we meet with the medical and mental health missionaries, with us representing LDS Family Services. There are two physicians here and we were told that there is a waiting list at the missionary department for their spots for the next 5-6 years. The three (2 couples and one single sister) here for mental health assignments spend almost all of their time on the telephone talking to mission presidents and the missionaries who are having problems, but they are instructed to not do therapy (liability reasons)...how do they not do therapy? Their focus is missionaries and ours is members, so some of the LDS professionals are used by both.

We tend to forget what time it is until the two Muslim cleaning ladies come in, and then we see that most everyone has gone for the day. Then we pack up and walk the few feet to our apartment building and walk up the 12 flights of stairs to our apartment on the 11th floor...whew! (Some days it is harder than others. Two of the Senior Elders run up and down the stairs several times for their morning exercise.)

I'm just not used to sitting for such long periods of time, and I'm finding swollen ankles in the evening! (Then I spend my evening sitting at the table typing this out!)

At dinner tonight, I asked Ken, "So how was your day at the office today?" We both laughed because we are together of the time! It takes a bit of adjusting to spending 24 hours a day with your companion! Of course, all of you who have served missions already know that. But we didn't spend this much time together even when we were first married! At least this is getting us to eat our meals together, something that we haven't often done at home (during the week) because the evenings are when he has had most of his private counseling appointments.

Most evenings we spend some time talking to our children and grandchildren on face time; when our days are ending, theirs are beginning. We are able to call the USA from the office and our apartment at no cost, because of it being the Area Office, a real blessing!

It's time for bed now. Yawn. Goodnight.