Celebrating One Year!

It seems impossible that Anne and I are celebrating one year as mission leaders! (The picture above shows our first day feeling very inadequate to fill the shoes of David and Lisa Prier who preceded us as mission leaders of the Utah Salt Lake City mission.) One-third of our mission experience is over. So much has occurred over this past year that giving a summary will not seem like a summary. Therefore, some of the highlights of the past year include:

• being set apart for our assignments by President M. Russell Ballard, the presiding Apostle of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles and Elder Kevin W. Pearson, the Area President of the Utah Area of the church;

• going to the ER on my first day because of an episode of Transient Global Amnesia.

• attending four days of training at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah with entire First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the senior leaders of our church);

• starting our official service on June 28, 2022 and so began the adventure of service;

• attending the temple in the Jordan River temple in the Salt Lake valley with our daughter-in-law Arantza as she received her own endowment (an ordinance where we enter into covenants with God and are promised blessing conditioned upon our faithfulness);

• attending and participating in our granddaughter Kensington's baptism on her 8th birthday (everyone flew in and she was baptized here in Salt Lake City); 

• attending a mission leader seminar with Elder and Sister Christofferson in southern Utah in September and again in Midway, Utah in April;

• attending General Conference in October and again in April;

• having Elder Hugo E. Martinez and his wife come to our mission for our first mission tour (Elder Martinez is the Second Counselor in the Utah Area Presidency and a mission tour is where he and his wife visit with us and our missionaries over three days in zone conferences, mission leader councils and other settings);

• attending our youngest daughter Rachel's wedding to Jake Beverley in the Draper, Utah temple;

• our first Christmas away from our kids;
• celebrating my 62nd birthday and 39th wedding anniversary; and
• integrating 54 young service missionaries into our mission as a part of the world-wide integration of young service missionaries into already organized missions.

As missions cycle on 6-week transfer cycles, we also experienced the following:

• 9 transfers
• had 67 missionaries complete their service and return home;
• had 33 missionaries leave for their permanent assignment in another mission;
• had 21 missionaries return home early for medical reasons; and
• had 104 missionaries begin their service and come to us and our mission;
• 622 baptisms (through May 2023);
• ranging in ages from 9 years old to 85 years old;
• ages 9 to 17 years old - 46%;
• ages 18 to 30 years old - 23%;
• older than 30 years old - 31%;
• spoke in 38 stake conferences;
• coordinated with the 62 stakes;
• interviewed each of the 154 to 185 missionaries; and
• attended and participated in countless other meetings.

It has been a blessing and privilege to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in his work of gathering Israel. We are so excited for the next two years.

"Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, se that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." Doctrine & Covenants 4:1-2