Mission Conference 2013

This is an event that I dreamed about and meticulously planned. It turned out to be a great meeting and everything was flawless.

182 missionaries from 5 provinces all together in one place! Some were new and neither Diane nor I had met them yet. Others had not seen Diane in 7 months. So we started the meeting by having each one come by and shake our hands or receive un abrazo.



Then we started the meeting and were treated to a special musical number by 6 sister missionaries who actually live in 3 separate provinces.



Diane then spoke for almost half an hour in Spanish and shared her experiences, feelings and lessons learned from suffering her stroke and all that goes with that.



After a few other speakers (members of the mission presidency), all of the missionaries stood and sang, "Llamados a Servir", (Called to Serve). It was a great and impressive moment.



I then spoke for a few moments and then opened the meeting up for questions and answers...we were scheduled to end at noon, but the missionaries were enjoying the Q & A session so much we went half an hour longer! When missionaries are willing to forgo food for something, you know you have a good thing going!



Then we saw the mission video, took the official and unofficial mission picture and ate the famous sack lunches Diane and others put together (ham and cheese sandwich, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, potato chips, apple, two chocolate chip cookies, mustard, mayonnaise and your choice of soda, juice or water!). I have to give the Mission Office Secretaries and the Assistants to the President a lot of credit for transforming this blank canvas...



Into this...



The official picture...and this, the unofficial picture of the mission!



(You can click on the pictures to enlarge them). One last tribute to the Mission Office Elders...






And it is off to the next adventure!