Where did that year go?

I woke up this morning with another song in my head. I always wake up with songs in my head, and most of the time I don't know where they could possibly come from--like "Surfin' USA" or "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." My brain is truly a wonder in a strange sort of way! But this morning my head was singing "I May Never Pass This Way Again." I'm sure I haven't heard or thought about this tune for 100 years but am thinking it's a bit of inspiration on this last day of 2014 and has caused me to reflect on our past 366 mission days.

Here are the lyrics, just in case you've never even heard them, which is more than possible:
I'll give my hand to those who cannot see, the sunrise or the falling rain.
I'll sing my song to cheer the weary along, for I may never pass this way again.
I'll share my faith with every troubled heart, so I shall not have lived in vain.
I'll give my hand, I'll sing my song, I'll share my faith, because I know,
That the time is now to fulfill each vow, for I may never pass this way again.

I'd say that, even though this is not "Church music," it certainly is filled with principles of the Gospel--serving, lifting, loving, fulfilling covenants! Alma 34:32 comes to my mind. "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God' yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

It's been such a blessing to be serving here in Louisiana, and we've met some of the most incredible people here--missionaries, members and non-members. My hope is that, in some small way, I've been able to touch a few lives as so many have touched mine. It's likely that our paths will cross with our Mission Presidents, Senior Couples and many of the LABR Missionaries, but there are numerous people here that I will never see again after we complete our mission. So, now is the time for me to do everything to make the next 6 months the best ever!

New Year's Eve Day in the office was anything but quiet! We thought that things would be slow and we'd slip out around noon for a peaceful rest of the day. Wrong! Even though there were hardly any phone calls, there was plenty to do and lots of activity. There were missionaries coming and going so quickly that I didn't even get but one picture. But it was a happy time visiting with at least 7 companionships. That's always my downfall--visiting over working--which doesn't really bother me.

We do have an approaching "crisis," for lack of a better word, that needed to be addressed. Maybe it's only a crisis to Sister Hansen and me, but here's the situation. Sometime in early November I scheduled all the Zone Conference for 2015 and asked the Stake RS Presidents to make arrangements for the lunches at each of the conferences. We normally do 6 conferences in 2 weeks. The wards take turn preparing meals for 35-45 people. Very recently we found out that Elder Teh, from the First Quorum of Seventy, will be here on January 12 and will be doing a mission tour, which actually means combining the 2 New Orleans zones on one day (about 65 missionaries) and the other 4 zones on the next day. That's about 130 to feed and a lot of building rearranging!

With all of that under control, we left at 2, went to lunch then came home and dropped into bed for a 2 hour nap!

Elder Ware and Elder Wise, our Liberty Elders, and, of course, Elder Bennett who loves to be a part of  all photo shoots!