Here’s what we do during Transfer Week:
During transfer week, the arriving missionaries come on Monday. They are met at the airport by President & Sister Jensen and the president’s assistants. The Elders go out to work with the AP’s as the time permits and the Sisters go to the Mission Home. The missionaries all meet at the Mission Home for dinner and some medical orientation.
Transfer Meeting takes place Tuesday morning. We meet at the Manchester Chapel at 8:00 am. Elder Longmore and I and the office Elders do some training /orientation with the new missionaries at 8:15 am. This is when Elder Longmore shows a segment of the famous Safe Driving DVD.
These are currently our office Elders. They help with orientation.
The missionaries who will be involved in transfers and training new missionaries meet in the chapel at 9:00.
AP's taking pictures of new missionaries at Transfer Meeting.
Elder Longmore & I prepare simple lunches the night before Transfer Meeting. We pick up the supplies at Sam’s Club. The lunches include:
Bagels with a cream cheese packet, an apple, a juice, a granola bar and some of red and white mint candies shaped like a ball. This last transfer meeting, we prepared 75lunches.
Some thoughts I remember from Transfer Meeting Training: (I am not in the meeting the entire time.) Sister Berg & I go into the kitchen to put the bagels and cream cheese in the lunch bags.)
“What you think about you invite!” Do not have an attitude that robs you of power. Don’t say, “This area is hard”. The only hard area is between your ears. What you think will give you power or it will hold you back. If you hear complaints that the area is hard etc. we might say,” I don’t want to hear that. I have come to roll up my sleeves and go to work!! Read D&C 100 and apply it
The new missionaries are assigned their trainers and depart to their new areas. Areas range from 10 miles to 314 miles away. Good members from all over the mission help drive the missionaries to transfer meeting and then back to their areas.
After Transfer Meeting, the departing Elders go to the office to write their last LTP (letter to the President). They each receive a departure packet with their LTP’s, their itinerary, some photos, a letter about getting a TB shot, and a letter from President Jensen regarding return visits to the mission. When President Jensen arrives at the office, the missionaries each have a final interview with President Jensen.
I have the very nice opportunity to be a companion to a Sister if only one Sister Missionary is departing. This is Sister Mitche. She and I were companions for a day.
This is a picture of Sister Walton and her trainer, Sister Snow.
The departing missionaries then go to the Boston temple together. Elder Longmore and I are invited to go. We may all go in the big van, or Elder Longmore sometimes take the Sisters in our car.
The theme in the temple decor is the tree of life with the fruit of Eternal Life. This tree outside looks like a tree of life to me.
Going to the temple with the departing missionaries is one of the sweetest experiences we have on our mission. The spirit is strong with the missionaries and being with them in the temple it is amazing.
After our temple trip, we all go the Mission Home for dinner.
Wednesday the departing missionaries go to the airport to go home and begin another leg of their life’s mission. They are prepared through spiritual experiences and spiritual strength gained from serving the Lord in a devoted and unselfish way to continue their life’s work. There are always challenges in life and in growth, but the mission experience will return all sacrifice an hundred fold in the end.
We prepare a new roster, congratulation letters for new trainers, district leaders, zone leaders, and assistants to the presidents. We also prepare photos for President and Sister Jensen’s boards at the mission home, photos for the presidents office board and the AP’s board in the office, prepare the missionaries’ medical information for President and Sister Jensen’s medical books, remove the files for the departing missionaries and file the index cards and folders for the arriving missionaries.
Then we all settle in and take a deep breath.
That’s Transfer Week.
