When we first met some of our co-workers in the office, one of them mentioned that as office workers, we do not get to see or hear of the many little miracles that the young missionaries experience in their work.  But, she added if you look for them, you will see them.

Liz’s mother was always seeing the little miracles around her, and when I started to listen and to be more observant, I too noticed the miracles around us.   One of the many lessons she taught me.

What miracles can the vehicle coordinator or the travel secretary see in their work?  Here are two:

We have many missionaries assigned to Riverside while they await their visa to a foreign country, or until the country opens from Covid.  Elder Petersen had been in Riverside for some time, waiting for things to open so he could go to the Ukraine.  When his travel plans were sent to him, he was scheduled to fly to another city within the states, and then on to Germany, where he was told he would need to collect his luggage and then re-check it to his final destination, because he was changing airlines.  To make the issue even more difficult, he only had a 1-hour layover.  Getting his luggage, taking it to the check-in counter and then going back through security and to the gate seemed like an impossibility.  We were concerned, his parents were concerned, and Elder Petersen was worried.

The morning of his flight, he was at the airport and his flight was late.  When he discovered he was going to miss his connection, he called missionary travel as he was instructed, and they re-routed him through Paris, on the same airline to the Ukraine!  He no longer needed to collect and re-check his luggage, and making the connection was a breeze.  Was his plane being delayed a miracle?  You decide.

Elder Aird and me visiting with a missionary in the office.

Several months ago, 4 sister missionaries were driving in a 4-wheel drive Tacoma pick-up truck to visit a family that lived in the hills, off a dirt road.  While we have seen no evidence of this since we have been here, it rained quite heavily causing the dirt road to become rutted and slippery.  While driving carefully up the hill, one of the wheels got caught in a deep rut and an instant later they were stuck in the rut from which they could not escape.  The driver called Elder Aird, the vehicle coordinator whose place I took.  He asked a few questions, determined that no one was hurt, and then asked if she had the truck in 4-wheel drive.  “What is that?” was her reply!  He managed to get a member of the bishopric to go and pull them out of the rut.  The truck sustained some damage and had to be repaired.

When the bishopric member mentioned to the bishop what had happened, he was surprised to learn that they were going to that particular house.  Apparently, that house is known to have “unsavory characters” either living there or visiting.  He said that drugs are sold there, and other illegal activities happen there.  I cannot imagine what might have happened if 4 naïve sisters had unknowingly walked into that environment.  Having the truck get stuck in the ditch could be considered a miracle.

Every 6 weeks, the mission experiences what is called “transfer day.”  This is when many of the missionaries are transferred from one area to another, and change companions.  It is amazing how much coordination needs to occur to make a transfer day run smoothly.  Once during a transfer period, the vehicle coordinator is supposed to inspect all the vehicles in the mission to make certain they are being maintained properly, that they are clean and safe. We also check to confirm that all the necessary documentation is in the glove box.  On June 6^th, the mission arranged to have Walmart Pharmacy come to the church building to administer Covid vaccinations to all the missionaries who wanted to have one.  (Covid shots are required if the missionary is going to be reassigned to a foreign country.)  On this day, about 80% of the cars came to the church.  We scrambled and managed to get all but about 20 mission cars inspected.  During that process, we discovered that 2 cars had incorrect license plates on them.  Then we found that the registrations documents for the two vehicles did not match the VIN numbers of the vehicles. I prayed that those missionaries would not get pulled over.  The mission president does not have a budget line item for bail money!  I warned the missionaries in the cars that potentially had the incorrect registration and license plates not to get stopped by the police.  One asked if they could outrun the police if they were being chased, and I said yes, as long as their TIWI does not give the verbal warning to “check your speed.”  (TIWI devices record the vehicle’s location, how fast it is traveling and compares it to the posted speed limit.  It also records if the driver is being aggressive by starting or stopping too quickly or is going over speedbumps too rapidly.  They would be excellent devices for new teenage drivers!)  During the zone conference last week, we managed to get this straightened out.   We swapped the plates and the registration documents, so all it right with the world!  Whew!

After two months, we are beginning to settle in.  We are learning new things every day pertaining to travel and vehicle coordination.  It keeps us busy, and we are tired by the time we get home each evening.