Greenies in the House!

We had three cute new Elders stay with us on Monday and Tuesday nights.  We only had 10 missionaries come in this transfer - 7 Elders and 3 Sisters.  E. Peterson, E. Jeffs and E. Roberts were with us.  The other four stayed with the APs and Larsens took the 3 Sisters.

They fly in around 3:30 in the afternoon.  They've been up since 2:30 AM, so they've always got that deer in the headlights look when we first get them.  :o)  The Elders went right to sleep, but only slept aobut 15 minutes, until Elder Peterson woke the other two up with his snoring.  They did doze off later, and slept about 30 minutes before we had to take them to the church for dinner and training.

The new missionaries train Monday night and all day Tuesday.  Tuesday night at Prime Time (6-9) they go out with trainers and knock doors.  When they come back, we always ask them about their first experience in the field.  Most of the people they knocked into Tuesday night at least let them in the house.  It was raining.  One woman, a Jehovah's Witness, was very nice and gave them each a drink of water.  They asked her if she would like a copy of the Book of Mormon.  She declined.  They asked if she would pray and ask God if He wanted her to read the Book of Mormon.  She refused to do that also.  Hearing the new Elders tell about that experience made me wonder what I would do if I were not a member.  I may have declined the Book of Mormon (although I have taken the J. W.'s Watch Towers), but if they asked me to pray and ask God if He wanted me to read a book, I'd probably do it.  I'm a big believer in prayer!  And I think I'm pretty open to doing what God wants me to do.  I don't think He would give me bad advice.

All in all, the newbies were pretty pumped.  It was fun to see them meet their new trainers and depart for their new areas in the mission.  Hope they retain their enthusiasm!

Sister Bell

One of the sisters who bore her testimony today, also thanked President Holm for the opportunity he gave her last Sunday to call her father, on Fathers' Day.  I think she was the only missionary who had that privilege.  Her father is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  President told her to ask him if he would agree to be taught by the missionaries and be baptized.  She did, and he accepted. What a wonderful blessing that will be in the life of her family!  When she is released from her mission, and goes home, her family will then have the opportunity to go to the temple and be united for all eternity, by the sealing power of the Priesthood.  Sister Bell was so grateful.  She is such a beautiful and valiant missionary. We are so happy for her!

Final Zone Conference for President and Sister Holm

Today was West Columbia's Zone Conference.  It was the last zone conference for the Holms.  The conference was wonderful.  President and Sister Holm talked.  A YSA bishop from Atlanta, who was in the bishopric with President Holm years ago, also spoke.  He stopped by for a visit and President put him to work.  :o)  Zone trainings were done by about 6 companionships - both Sisters and Elders.  We had about 30 minutes for missionaries who wanted to bear their testimonies, and about 12-15 of them did. Sister Holm showed photos she had put together over the last few weeks - of every missionary in the mission - all 283 of them.  It was all put to music and was very powerful. After Sister Holm's presentation, the closing song and a prayer, President and Sister Holm stood at the front of the chapel and said goodbye to all the missionaries in the zone.  Each of the elders gave President one of their ties - draped them around his neck.  Sister Holm is going to have them made into a quilt for him.  :o)

We will miss the Holms.  They have been wonderful and dedicated leaders in this mission.  We LOVE them!

President and Sister Holm are leaving the Irmo Sisters with a lot of work! :o)

It sounds like the Holms were the first mission President couple who got out in their neighborhood and met the people who live there.  It started with their morning walks.  I don’t know if they did other neighboring, but I do know that in February, when everything closed down because of the snow and ice storms that Sister Holm cooked up batches of chili and stew and soup and invited the neighborhood to come over to visit.  They had a lot of people come over and many of them had questions about the church. 

With their departure coming right up, President and Sister Holm again invited the neighborhood to stop in to say goodbye.  They had an open house last week and now nine couples have asked for missionaries to come and teach them.  That is going to keep the Irmo Sisters busy for a while!

"You live in the Mormon Parrish?"

President Holm told us quite a while ago that when they first moved into the mission home, they started doing early morning walks around the neighborhood.  Many other people in the area were also out in the morning - most of them walking their dogs.  :o)  They were able to meet a lot of new people.  When they first went out, they were asked by one couple where they lived.  As they described the area and the house where they lived, the man said, "Oh!  You live in the Mormon Parrish?"  Haha!  President thought that was hilarious, and so did we!  I guess all the people in that subdivision referred to the mission home as the Mormon Parrish.  :o)

"I've never seen a soldier in tears!"

Elder Muir was telling us yesterday about a soldier he talked to at Fort Jackson that morning.  The soldier was not a member of the church, but had gone up to the front of the chapel to get a Priesthood blessing after Sacrament Meeting.  Elder Muir thought he looked pretty distraught, so he went over and talked to him afterward  He invited him to come and sit and talk.  The soldier told Elder Muir that he was having some family problems.  Elder Muir taught him about the restoration, and he said, "When I was telling him about the first vision, he just started to cry!  I've never seen a soldier in tears before!"  Right on the spot, the soldier said, "I know this is true and I want to be baptized!"  The Holy Spirit is hard at work at Fort Jackson!!!

"For behold, the field is white, already for harvest..." "D&C 4

We had the Assistants to the President over for dinner yesterday. They are two of 8 missionaries assigned to Fort Jackson on Sunday mornings, so we always ask them how it's going at the Fort.  The Fort is a happenin' place in our mission.  Before we came, the office couple we replaced, the Deckers, were assigned to go to the Fort on Sundays.  It was Elder Decker's job to fill the portable baptismal font.  Sister Decker remarked in an email she sent to us before we came out that it was rare that they didn't have at least one baptism at Fort Jackson every Sunday.  We wondered about that statement - if we were understanding her correctly - but it's true!  Since we've been here (over 9 months) we know of only one Sunday when there wasn't a baptism!

The Fort is a "field, already for harvest!"  (D&C 4:1-7)   Many of the soldiers come with their Mormon buddies just so they can get out on a Sunday morning.  Fort Jackson is a basic training camp - a boot camp - and the soldiers are harshly treated and very restricted!  When these young men and women have the opportunity to get out of the barracks on a Sunday morning for a couple of hours, they are glad for the chance!  But, some come because they've gotten to know soldiers in their platoons who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they like what they see.  Some of their Mormon buddies are returned missionaries who have just joined the Army.  Some are just young men and women who try their best to live their religion.  Whatever their reason for coming to church, a lot of soldiers attend services at Fort Jackson.

The missionaries always arrive early.  Vans and buses carrying soldiers start pulling up about 15 minutes before the meeting begins and the missionaries get to work. They greet the soldiers and ask if there are any questions about the church.  If there are questions, the missionaries pull the soldiers aside and start talking to them.  Sacrament meeting begins at 9:30 AM and lasts about an hour.  When Sacrament Meeting is over, soldiers who are baptized members usually go on to their next meetings - the men go to Priesthood Meeting and the women go to Relief Society.  Some of their non-member friends go with them, but many stay in the chapel and are taught by the missionaries.  There are two sets of elders and two sets of sisters assigned to the Fort, so they break up and there can be as many as 8 clusters of soldiers who are being taught at the same time.  Sometimes the teaching is on-on one, depending on the needs of the soldiers.

The first time we were at the Fort, we sat a few rows behind a group of soldiers that Sister Gale was teaching.  She taught about the restoration of the gospel.  Her lesson was short but very powerful, we thought.  When she finished, she asked the soldiers to kneel and pray individually and ask God if what they had just heard was true.  It was so interesting to me to see how this worked.  As the soldiers finished praying, Sister Gale asked them how they felt and asked if they had any questions.  We weren't close enough to hear the soldiers' responses and they were facing Sister Gale and away from us.  But that's how teaching is done at the Fort - and I guess pretty much all over the mission.  We've never had the opportunity to sit in on a missionary teaching discussion, but it's my understanding that this is standard procedure.  The missionaries teach and then immediately ask the investigators to pray and get confirmation from God, through the Holy Spirit, that what they've heard is true.

While the missionaries are doing their work, there are two sets of Priesthood holders up front who are giving Priesthood blessings to any of the soldiers who want them.  I'd say that most of the soldiers asking for blessings are already members, but some of them aren't.  Both times we were at the Fort, there were quite a few soldiers at the front of the chapel waiting to get Priesthood blessings.

Meanwhile, outside on the lawn, the font is filled and those who have been taught, have attended church for two weeks and have passed the baptismal interview are baptized.  Sometimes they are baptized by one of the missionaries assigned to the Fort, but many times they are baptized by the army buddy who introduced them to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This was a busy morning at Fort Jackson.  Looks like 3-4 baptisms.
 Elder Fenton presided at the services and Sister Fenton kept the records.
On days when there are several baptisms, the Fentons were very busy!!!

Elder Saunders (left) and Elder Gonzalez (right) were witnesses of the baptisms on this Sunday morning.

After each soldier is baptized, he or she is taken over to a chair by the building where they are confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and receive the Holy Ghost.  The male soldiers are also ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood.