CHARISOL ON A MISSION

We had an adventurous week. This added some extra work for us because we had a little transfer in the middle of the transfer. I had to find a new apartment in just a couple of days. President Strong wrote this letter to all of us missionaries.

President Strong

"Mistakes - It could be that the only purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others."

I've always gotten a kick out of this saying. Probably because I make a lot of mistakes myself!

This week, we had more than our fair share of mistakes in the mission. My hope is that we can all learn from the mistakes of others.

Seven missionaries lost their phones for violating mission technology safeguard rules. Four companionships lost their cars for leaving their areas without permission - this one really surprised me given my recent reminders by email and in zone conference about how important this is.

Given there has been a surprising and sudden increase in problems, the penalties, apparently, need to be stiffer. So, they will be without their phones and cars for the balance of this transfer and all of next transfer.

All of the missionaries involved here were very accountable and took their penalties with humility and responsibility. I was grateful and inspired.

May we all learn from both their mistakes and their quick willingness to do better.

President Strong

That being said, I have a funny story to tell. As office missionaries, after our morning devotional, we call any missionaries who are having a birthday and sing to them. So one morning we dialed up the missionary and started singing to him. Suddenly our call was dropped. That's weird. We tried calling back a couple of times but he didn't answer. We were calling from Chris's phone. Well, I had to talk to him anyway about something else so I called him from my mission phone and he answered. I said, "What happened? Did our call get dropped?" He said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought it was my family singing to me so I hurried and hung up. I'm not supposed to do that." I then congratulated him on being such a good missionary and he said, "We've kind of lost some of our trust here so we are trying hard to gain it back. And I should have known that wasn't my family. They are terrible singers!" I was very happy about those missionaries for being accountable and working hard to make amends. I have certainly learned from their example.

The leaves are finally starting to change. It continues to be beautiful here.

Our secretary, Sister Dodds, just finished her mission. We are so sad to see her go, but happy for her too. Her daughter will be returning from her mission the week after she gets home so it will be a happy time. We've all been a team for a little over a year and we really love each other. It's hard to break up the team. We have a new secretary coming about November 10. I have a cute apartment almost all ready for her.

Our faith is growing. We are having wonderful experiences, We love the missionaries. We are working hard. Chris goes to the airport constantly. I go sometimes and sometimes I sleep in. We love the weather here. We miss our family. We see God's hand in so many things. He is aware of us all.

Best part of the week was that Curtis and Alisha came for a visit. They were here for two days. The first day was good weather so we went to the office, then to the Drive through Safari park, had ice cream on the square, and went for a walk.

See the baby in her pouch?

The goats like to jump on Seth

I always wanted to be brave enough to hold a snake. I decided this was it or never.

The second day it was raining all day so we went to the Pea Ridge Civil War Memorial. The movie is really good there. We also went to the War Eagle Mill and the Walmart Museum. Of course, the best thing we did was HUG!