Well, I'm amazed that it's
only been one week! So, allow me to give a rundown of how this last week went
down...
Monday was the BBQ. It was a
ton of fun! We had board games, and ultimate frizbee, and President can make a
mean burger on top of it all! Afterwards, President slyly followed us over to
our apartment where we loaded my stuff into his car and we drove off to
Springfield! For the first couple of days, there were three of us: Elder Yates,
Elder Cluff, and myself. We pretty much spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
getting ready for the transfer meeting on Thursday. All the while trying to
pretend I wasn't in the office haha. It was pretty entertaining. They like to
keep new APs as a surprise for the Thursday Afternoon transfer meeting.
Tuesday, we had district
meetings, so my cover was blown in 2 zones... Centreville zone knew because,
well, one of their zone leaders was missing, and the Annandale zone... well, I
showed up at their district meetings, so there was no hiding it... haha The
rest of the day we spent in the office doing paperwork and preparing for...
Wednesday! The coolest day of
them all!!! We got to pick up the new missionaries from the airport. Definitely
one of the biggest perks of being an assistant. I LOVED it! We spent all of
Monday and Tuesday quizzing each other with the incoming missionary’s pictures.
The goal was to be able to greet them without using nametags... I got most of
them haha, but it was great either way. It was sooo cool to just see their
excitement and their anxiety all in one place. It made me remember a lot my
first day, showing up and not knowing where or what do to . We got to eat
dinner with them at the mission home and just get to know and love them. it was
awesome. Then, that night, we went back to the office and made some adjustments
to who needed to be trained by who. After a little discussion, President kicked
us out of his office with our suggestions in mind, and went to find out what
the Lord wanted. It was an amazing process to be a part of. ( Next month a friend of his, sister Kelly
Deaver will be in this group!!)
Thursday was transfer
meeting! Which took up pretty much the whole day. It was incredible to be there
with a whole different perspective to transfers. With the new paradigm I have,
I could feel so strongly that each of those companionships was with exactly who
the Lord needs them to be with right now. It was amazing. That night, we were
at the mission home again, this time with the departing missionaries, which for
me included two companions (Elders Pyne and Call), a roommate (Elder Anderson),
a District Leader (Elder Timothy) and 3 others who were dear friends. It's hard
to see them go, but at the same time, I'm very excited for them.
Friday, we drove them all to
the airport, then were back at the office again! We had to try to get a
weekends worth of work done in one day before General Conference hit.
Then it did!!! Man,
Conference was incredible!!! I am so happy that we had conference this weekend.
I miss conference every month that it isn't . I'm starting to feel like life is
lived in 6-month increments: from April to October, and October to April. It
was such a good recharge!
In between sessions
yesterday, we had the opportunity to have our first correlation with our new
Ward Mission Leader. Elder Cluff and I are serving in the Braddock Young Single
Adult ward. So, on top of everything going on in the office, and the meetings,
and the 10 exchanges we're going on to train new zone leaders (we opened 4 new
zones this transfer. Totally reorganized all our zones), we're opening a new
area too!!! So, we met with the Ward Mission Leader and the Sisters already in
the ward yesterday, then tomorrow, we meet with the bishop, and we're getting
all organized!!! 2 of the best parts, though: 1) Nghia, a young man I was
helping teach previously attends there. Elder Porter and I found him, then we
passed him off to the sisters, and later attended his baptism. He's in the
Braddock Ward!!! And comes out with the missionaries all the time!!! I'm so
pumped to see him again!!! 2) Jimmy. We taught him in Manassas for a couple
months, then passed him off to the Singles ward... Well, I'm in the singles
ward now!!! So I get to teach him again!!! I love both of those young men so
much, and I feel so blessed to be able to work with them again.
Then we’re back to today! We
were in bright and early for key indicator reporting, and then we finally get
pday :) It's a good feeling haha.
Long story short, this week
has been an adventure! But I love adventures, and I love missionary work. Hope
you all have a fantastic week!
-Elder Hodgson
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