"It shall come to pass that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language." Doctrine & Covenants 90:11

Let us begin by saying thank you for your prayers as Hurricane Hillary blew through. We are happy to report all was and is well. We do have a clip below of our awesome missionaries out working in the rain, which turned out to be very mild. For some fun footage, watch this video!

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3111353299169063&extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-AN_GK0T-GK1C&mibextid=HSR2mg&ref=sharing

Here we are well into fall with the holidays rapidly approaching. It is high time for an update. Our September transfer was extremely busy. Normally transfers are six weeks long, but this transfer was reduced to five weeks to accommodate our attendance at the North America West Seminar for Mission Leaders.

During this 5-week period we received 31 missionaries spread over four separate days. Normally, we have one arrival day each transfer that occurs the same day as departures. However, because of the longer training period for missionaries in our "small language" programs, they arrive off-cycle, hence our busy transfer. Given the multiple arrivals we fit two orientation days into this short cycle.

Missionaries in the small language programs that arrived during September are assigned to speak, Farsi, Tagalog, Haitian Creole and Mandarin. Not mentioned in that grouping are the Arabic speaking elders and sisters who are selected, and then self-taught, here in San Diego because there is currently no Arabic training program offered in the Missionary Training Center. In addition to the above named languages we also have missionaries assigned to teach in Swahili and ASL. Because we have Spanish speaking missionaries in virtually every zone and nearly 1/3 of our missionaries are assigned to the Spanish program it is not counted as one of the small language programs.

The missionaries serving in the small language programs have atypical experiences. This is because there are only four to six missionaries for each of our small language programs. In addition, there are only one to two areas that have a need for the small languages. The result is that these missionaries spend the large majority of their service coupled with the same companion in the same location. These young people do not have the luxury of choosing their companion and are with them 24/7, so it can be a challenge but by and large, our small language missionaries rise to the occasion and handle it with aplomb. On Saturday we will hold a training for this small group of missionaries.

We are very excited for the integration, this week, of service missionaries into our ranks. These missionaries live at home and assist various non-profit organizations within the geographic bounds of our mission. They are currently serving at Computers for Kids, Ronald McDonald House, various food pantries and other non-profits in the area. Going forward, they will attend zone conference training with us each cycle and we will have the opportunity to assist them with service projects. President and I will have the opportunity to meet with these missionaries and interview them about once per quarter. We truly look forward to this new chapter. It just so happens one of our recent small miracles involved a service missionary. One of our companionships was making a visit. As they knocked on the intended door, a neighbor mistakenly thought someone was at his door and answered. This neighbor, "B", is blind and is a gold medalist para-Olympian sprinter. One of the missionaries at the door was also a runner and had quite a conversation with B. As they chatted they discovered B was interested in learning more about Christ's gospel. They also learned that he was acquainted with a member of the congregation who is an athletic trainer. In addition to this connection, B also happened to be partnered in training with one of our service missionaries, who is also a blind para-Olympian. We know it is not by mistake, but instead by the hand of God, that B opened the door and chatted with missionaries ready to deliver a message he was interested in hearing and that he had people already in his life that are also there to help him along. It is amazing to see the connections and miracles that occur on a daily basis.

And now to share some tender mercies from our small language programs. Our Haitian Creole missionaries have been teaching an individual ("E") who was preparing for baptism. The first time E came to church the missionaries saw him speaking with another newly baptized member of the congregation. They discovered that these two Haitians had previously met in Mexico where E helped the member navigate a translations issue as she did not speak Spanish. They were delighted to discover they had both found the church and in doing so had an unexpected friend at church.

Our last post mentioned seeds and harvests, reaping where we have not sown etc. We received word of a wonderful harvest that was sown here in San Diego. One of our missionaries returned home to Indiana and while attending the congregation affiliated with the university met a Chinese student who had recently been baptized. She was thrilled to learn, and share with us, that this student had his introduction to the church and restored gospel when he stopped to visit the LDS temple in San Diego. While on the temple ground he met some Chinese speaking missionaries who chatted with him and shared a Book of Mormon. No information was exchanged, but when he landed in college in Indiana and missionaries approached him on campus, he was ready to learn more about the gospel. We rejoice in these souls that are offered and accept opportunities to make covenants and bind themselves to a loving Heavenly Father.

A definite highlight since our last post was the opportunity to gather with family for the wedding of Norm's nephew. Armenay also had permission to attend our grand daughter, Brighten's baptism. We cherish the moments we get to spend with family and loved ones. We cherish the time with our missionaries and are rapidly approaching our half-way mark. Elders who enter our mission will return home with another mission president. It is hard to believe how quickly the time has passed. We are so eternally grateful to serve with these dedicated missionaries and to see the Lord's hand guiding and directing this work. He lives, He loves us and wants us to return to Him. What a reason to rejoice! Sending you love across the miles especially as we enter the holiday season! May your hearts be filled with His love and joy.