Missionaries, Families and Friends

Zone Council

Each transfer (every six weeks) every zone of missionaries holds a zone council and receives instruction and guidance from the zone leaders and sister training leaders.

The Roswell Zone

This week we were surprised to find out that one of the sister missionaries is related to friends of ours.  Sister Ellis (or rather Hermana Ellis) in the middle is a niece of Barry and Sandra Anderton, former members of our ward.

Hermana Wersland on the left and Hermana Ellis work in a Spanish speaking branch.  The young girl on the right, Chloe, has just been called to the Oregon, Portland mission Spanish speaking.

This week we were privileged to attend a temple session with the Athens zone.

Each zone gets to go to the temple about three to four times a year.

One of the traditions of the Georgia Atlanta North Mission is to recite a scripture out loud every day at 10 am.  The scripture that they memorize and recite is found in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 5:13 which reads as follows:  "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."  When we first arrived here in the mission and attended our first transfer meeting with about 100 missionaries, at 10 am sharp the entire group of missionaries stood up spontaneously and recited this verse out loud.  We were totally caught by surprise and were left wondering what brought that on.

Two Special Families

We have been teaching English to Luis and Selma de Oliveira for several weeks and they are making great progress.  Selma served as a missionary in Brazil from 1991 to 1993.

They often care for little children during the week and get to practice English on them.

Today we attended a missionary farewell for Ramon Varela.  The Varela family is from Brazil and they currently live in Rock Face, GA, which is very close to Tennessee.  Consequently, since it is too far to attend the Portuguese speaking branch, they attend a nearby Spanish branch.  Ramon, who actually speaks both Portuguese and English, gave his farewell in English which was then translated into Spanish by an interpreter.

Ramon will serve in the Missouri St. Louis Mission and leaves a week from tomorrow.  He will be a great example for his four younger brothers.

Sister Erickson and I served as young missionaries in Brazil when the Church was relatively new and had few members.  Now, forty six years later, it is quite inspirational and gratifying to witness the tremendous growth that has occurred in the Church in Brazil.  We marvel as we see families sealed in the temple for time and all eternity and fulfill their place in the Church.  And then to see their children and grand children, young men and women, serve as missionaries of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  It is utterly astonishing to see the ripple affects of the efforts of those who served many years ago.

A Special Visit

Our niece, Kristen, was in Atlanta this week on business.  Friday morning we had breakfast together and enjoyed a nice visit with her.

Kristen lives in Charleston, SC, and had to evacuate last week as Hurricane Dorian buffeted the coast.

She owns a Tesla model 3 and gave us a ride in the very nice car.

We failed to get a picture of the car so had to find one on the internet.

Getting to Know our Neighbors

Sister Erickson is constantly talking with people.  Last week she decided to have a potluck picnic with some of the people that live next to us in the apartment.  She invited several neighbors and three different families attended.

Jolaine and Larry are retired and are originally from Michigan.  Olá is from Nigeria and is waiting for her husband to come to the US in a few months.  Sam is retired and is from Long Island, NY.  We had a very enjoyable time.

The Couple of the Week

Sister and Elder Josephson serve in the mission office.  Sister Josephson is the mission secretary and Elder Josephson is the mission fleet coordinator.

They come from the great state of Idaho.  

We look forward to another week as missionaries and servants of the Lord, Jesus Christ.