Our first week in Riverside

Sunday, April 25^th, 2021

(My first blog.  Excuse how it looks.  I'll get better at formatting over time.)

A quick recap of events leading up to this last week.

We have always planned to serve a mission.  My parents went on a mission to Bristol England and had some wonderful experiences.  My older brother, David and his wife Lora, served two missions; one to Sydney Australia and the second to the Temple Square Mission in Salt Lake City.  All 3 of our children had wonderful missions, and loved their experiences.  These have been great examples and have cemented our feeling that this was something we wanted to do.

After getting our affairs in order, and with family commitments fulfilled, we finally decided to pull the trigger in October 2020 at which time we submitted our papers.  We received our mission call on Feb. 2^nd, 2021 to the California Riverside Mission.  Our online MTC experience began on April 5^th and we finished the afternoon of the 14^th, said our emotional goodbyes and drove all the way to Eugene, OR…just 2 hours away.  It wasn’t far, but we did it so the following 2 days wouldn’t be as grueling as they might have been otherwise. 

We arrived in Riverside on Saturday, April 17th at 5:00pm. The housing coordinators met us at our “missionary apartment” which formerly housed young missionaries.  As soon as we got there, the pace picked up significantly.  We unloaded the car, went grocery shopping at 6:00, put away the groceries, changed into appropriate missionary attire and left at 7:30 to find the mission president’s home by 8:00pm.  We visited with Pres. & Sister Watson for about an hour, which was very pleasant and left at about 9:00pm.  Then we unpacked….minimally, and went to bed.

Sunday was church, then we met several other senior couples for a lunch, and returned to the apartment ready to unwind and catch our breath.  We learned from the other couples that our first day in the office was going to be hectic.

It was crazy-busy!!  This Monday happened to be a “Transfer” day.  Transfer day is when some missionaries are assigned to new areas, and some missionaries are assigned to work with new companions……each for the next 6 or more weeks.  This transfer was unusual as there were so many being transferred, so many going home, and the mission president asked them all to come to the mission office that day.  There were about 200 young missionaries meeting their new companions and visiting with the missionaries with whom they had worked in the past.  They were all truly happy to see each other.  As I stood briefly and looked at so many of them out in the parking lot, I thought of the 2,000 stripling warriors in the Book of Mormon. Rather than carrying swords, they were armed with testimonies of the restored gospel.  They all looked sharp and enthusiastic about what they were doing.

The next day was also unusual.  We met with Elder Aird, whose place I will be taking, at 7:00 am.  Fifteen missionaries were returning home, so we hooked up the trailer and picked up their luggage, while the mission president took all the missionaries in his van (the assistants took a few in their car) to the airport.  Then we went back to the office where I was asked to help repair a missionary’s bike.  After that, we helped make sandwiches for the 15 arriving missionaries, and took off again for the airport to meet them.  There were many more missionaries than our 15, as another mission in this area also had new missionaries arriving!  The airport was crowded with young missionaries!  We loaded all our missionaries’ luggage into the trailer and headed to the mission office; the missionaries loaded themselves into the President’s van and ate their sandwiches on the way to the mission office, where they had a “Welcome meeting.”

 

New missionaries being welcomed at the Ontario, CA airport.  We are standing at the left end, just in case you couldn't recognize us behind our masks.

 Our 3^rd day was a little more routine, so I was able to have Elder Aird spend time with me on the computer and he trained me on things I would need to do.  By the end of the day, my head was spinning with all the information he was sharing.  Thursday was busy with all the happenings in the office.  By the end of each day, Liz and I dragged ourselves to our apartments and crashed. 

                                                    Mt. Rubidoux hike

Friday, the office was closed for carpet cleaning so, we managed to have two preparation days this week!  We were invited to go with two other senior couples to hike Mt. Rubidoux where we had a great view of the Riverside area.  We then we went to lunch at Tio Tacos, which was incredibly unique. The owner had made statues and other items out of junk such as cans, glass bottles, bottle caps, seashells and anything else you might find in a recycling bin.  The food was delicious and apparently authentic Mexican food.  

                                                                    

Tia Tacos sculpture “Garden”                 

I know that whom the Lord calls, He qualifies.  I know I need to be patient with everything I have to learn this coming week.  I also pray that we will be blessed with a little more stamina so that we won’t be so tired at the end of each day.

After the Airds leave this coming weekend, we will be moving into their apartment, which will be much more comfortable, and will have internet…..which will be helpful.  I think we will feel more settled by the next week since we have felt like we are camping out for the past week.

Those are the nuts and bolts of our first week’s experience…. but the important part is that we feel the guidance of the Spirit in what we are doing and know that we are here for a reason.  We do feel that what we will be doing is important, and we will be instrumental in making sure that our young missionaries are able to serve safely and effectively.  These are amazing, talented, hardworking “kids”.  Despite the pandemic they have had phenomenal success in sharing the gospel, much of that is attributable to their efforts on social media.  We cannot wait to see what next week brings!!