My Heart is in Provo!

Today was the day that our grandson, Marc, entered the MTC. I'm not sure how many times I can say that we are so proud of him, what he's doing, and that he's worthy to serve, but I've just said it again. It's also wonderful to have the oldest grandchild set an example for his siblings and cousins. He always has and always will. So go forth and serve, Anziano Blocker, and know that we love you and that our prayers will be with you continually. Prepare well in the MTC and be obedient, and your mission will be a success!

Called to Serve

The Blocker Family minus Karina

Karina and Marc before his departure to the MTC

I love this quote by Elder Russell M. Nelson that was on the MTC website.

"As the work expands at a rate that many have described as 'unbelievable,' we should recall a remarkable admonition give by the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith on 11 September 1831 to the elders of the Church assembled at the Morley Farm near Kirtland, Ohio. There the Master simply said: 'Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.'" (D&C 64:33)

To end a quiet evening by myself, because Elder L and the Office Elders are on a loooong road trip, the STL's from the two New Orleans Zones dropped in for a visit after their day of meetings in Baton Rouge. How lucky can I be?

Sister Astle, Sister Palmer, Sister Black and Sister Paige

Elder Caesar

Sister Wall used to talk about how to cook a frog at every orientation and transfer meeting. To cook a frog you have to put him in cold water and turn the heat up slowly so that it doesn't perceive the danger. If you dropped him in already boiling water he'd just leap right out of the pan. She was eloquent and tactful in explaining how the metaphor related to elder-sister relationships that could potentially develop beyond missionary work. Simple comments or gestures can lead the wrong direction and can escalate into inappropriate relationships, so missionaries were always reminded to "lock their hearts" while serving their missions so they wouldn't get cooked.

Then she bought a ceramic frog and had a contest to name him. "Elder Caesar" was chosen, because it meant "when he 'sees her' he wants to 'seize her'." If there was even a hint of flirtation or interest in another missionary, Elders and Sisters were encouraged to call the President and tell him that they had a "frog alert." No questions were asked, but there would be an immediate emergency transfer. This could also apply to missionaries who were receiving unwanted or unsolicited attention from members, investigators, or other individuals in their areas.

So today in walks Elder Madsen, on exchanges with Elder White, with this frog that he's obtained at the Rex Mardi Gras parade! While the rest of us were collecting beads at the parades, Elder Madsen was catching this frog. Since the original Elder Caesar went home with the Wall's, Elder M donated this little green guy to the mission. We will, however, have to do surgery to remove his heart with a totally improper phrase embroidered on it. He will be dressed in appropriate missionary attire, complete with his little name tag.

We received this fun card today from the Westbank Missionaries.

Elder Ryan

The newest elder in Plaquemine is Elder Ryan who was in the office for a short time with Elder Bennett and Elder Casillas. Sadly, Elder R won't be here for long as he'll be released in April. When he returns home to southeast Utah, he'll go back to the Utah National Guard. He became an Army man just out of high school, but was given a 2 year leave to serve a mission.

A Fontenot Farewell

The Fontenot's last day as service missionaries was today, so President and Sister Hansen took us all out for lunch. Elder F got to choose where he wanted to go, and he opted for Charlie's. It's his favorite place. We've eaten there a few times, and it's a ton of food--mostly fried. Somehow I managed to not get a picture of the seafood platters that Elder F and the Pres ordered, but they were huge.

The Fontenot's and Hansen's

My chef salad--I'll be eating it for days!

I'm sure that Elder F will be popping into the office from time to time, and he promised Marc that he'd be there any time he needs help. That's very reassuring since I've noticed that there are several leases that will be expiring soon.

Elder Abbott Saves the Day!

Remember the office manual that I spent hours updating? Well, this morning, just after the office elders left for the day and Elder L and Elder F left for New Orleans I went to make another change that needed to be added to the manual. To my surprise, the files were nowhere to be found. No problem. I've had this happen before, so I restarted the computer. Nothing. Maybe I just need to turn it completely off and let it think about regurgitating my documents. Nothing. Now surprise has turned to panic as I unsuccessfully opened file after file after file. Thinking I must've missed something I searched the same files again, then rebooted the computer again. What's that definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Yes, I was bordering on insanity. And it continued, almost exclusively, until about 1:30 when I finally called Bronson, in tears, hoping that he could direct me to something I'd missed or hadn't even thought of. We'd been working for a good 30 minutes when Elder Abbott and Elder Stevenson walked through the door. Elder Abbott had helped Marc with a major computer issue he'd had a few weeks ago, so when I saw him I knew my prayers had been answered. After explaining my plight, Elder A told me that there'd been a problem yesterday with one of the Office Elders' computers and something had crashed. Everything but the past 2 weeks was backed up. But that meant that the only evidence of the new and improved manual was the manual itself. However, it also meant that I hadn't lost all of the files for incoming missionaries, go-homes, orientation, templates for release certificates and certificates of appreciation, commissary lists and order forms, all the information on baptisms and confirmations for Stake Presidents, and a massive amount of other information.

Elder A retrieved a flash drive and replaced all of the lost files. What a massive relief it was to see them again! Not long after everything was resolved, the senior Elders returned, and I unloaded my sad tale. Just before leaving the office I opened several of the files for the manual, and, to my amazement, all of the new documents were there! I'm not asking how or why. I'm just extremely grateful.

A Hairy Day

I learned the hard way to not have my haircut in the morning before coming to the office. I spent the first 15 minutes rolling tape over my dress and sweater, because they looked like I'd been in a fight with a cat and lost!

Unfortunately the Staples order didn't come today, which makes me very nervous. I didn't even get an email saying that it had been shipped. So the "Daily Dose" didn't get completed, but there were plenty of other things to do to keep me out of trouble.

Before Elder Fontenot leaves we're trying to make sure that all the leases are as up to date as possible and that any questions we have about them are answered. When I say "we" I really mean Marc! He's the one who gets to take over all of that as of March 1. Elder F's 6 month mission extended to 14 months, and I guess his Stake President thought it was time for him to be finished. He's been invaluable in this office and truly a blessing to Marc but is now moving on as the Stake Sunday School President. The housing files are now organized in a very usable manner so it shouldn't be too difficult to keep things up. But that's easy for me to say since I'm not the one who's doing them.

To help in my meager little way, I did manage to get all the lease ending dates into IMOS, so when the next roster is printed, President Hansen will know when we can conveniently close apartments. We're losing more missionaries than we're gaining for the next few transfers, and it's looking pretty grim. March won't be bad (5 go-homes and  3 incoming), but April will be terrible. We have 2 Spanish sisters coming and 19 leaving. June isn't much better. As of today we have 5 coming and 17 being released. I'm hoping we might get a few more, but that may or may not happen. Also, of the 14 scheduled to come in the next 4 transfers, only one is an elder. That should play havoc with future leadership.

Elder Barker and Elder Rush were in Baton Rouge today to get their annual car inspection. They had to come in from Oakdale, which is about 2 1/2 hours from here. Then the Baton Rouge Spanish Sisters came in, and the Denham Sisters came to pick up their Daily Dose.

Sister McEntire, Sister Bailey, Sister Roberts and Silly Sister Jewett:)

"Daily Dose"

Please don't give up on me! I've blogged but haven't posted the events of this past weekend. Perhaps I'll get around to it one of these days--or weeks--or months!

Today was just me and the office for most of the time. Elder L, Elder F and the office elders went to Natchez and Vidalia on office business which left the whole place for me to work. And I did. I took the messages off the answer machine, and the first one was a request for a "Daily Dose" packet. This is a program the missionaries use to teach English to those whose native language is not English. It's designed to be used in small groups and teaches conversational English for basic life skills, such as going to the bank, the dentist, church, etc. and practicing common words for everyday settings.

To put it nicely, this is not my favorite request because it requires time and space, but fortunately I don't get them very often. Maybe I've made 10-12 in 14 months. There are 48 pages that are printed and laminated. When I first arrived we had a color copier that was on it's way to the electronics graveyard. You couldn't feed the pages in so we had to hand place each page. A few months after we'd been on our own I was going through files trying to figure out what was in them and what I needed to use or discard, and I came across a CD with the program. Happy day. But it gets better. I also went through the computer files and discovered that the whole thing is already downloaded on the computer. So now all I need to do is change to the color printer, press print and hope that the cyan or magenta ink cartridges aren't almost empty. (I always hope that, anyway, because they're about $111 each, and I do have a budget!)

Back to my day. I printed all 48 pages, turned on the laminator, spread out all over the office elders' space and stuffed the papers into the pouches. Then I just kept going back and forth between the back room and my computer till the job was done--about 10:30. No sooner had I labeled a large envelop and tucked everything inside when another elder called asking for a "Daily Dose" packet. Holy Cow! That's what I get for complaining. So I started the process all over but had to quit before I'd even begun the laminating, because there were only 3 pouches left. Fortunately, we have a Staples Advantage account, so the new box of pouches will be delivered tomorrow.