We thought this past week would be a little less busy than the two previous ones because transfers and Zone Conference were over for another six weeks, but we immediately found ourselves knee-deep in apartment inspections (something I must truthfully say I wasn't looking forward to). One of our responsibilities as mission housing coordinators is to go into 8-10 apartments of young elder or sister companionships once a month and inspect the apartments to assure that they are being well taken care of. We don't inspect each of the 52 apartments in the mission, but we see many different apartments each month. The Zone Leaders are then responsible for inspecting all the ones that we aren't able to visit.
Even though we have loved our missions responsibilities so far, I faced last week with some trepidation. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about going in unannounced to check up on the missionaries (it kinda felt like "breaking and entering" to me), but my concerns were soon put to rest. Some of the companionships happened to be at home preparing lunch when we showed up, so it was really fun to get to know them better, as well as learning more about where they're from and what their assignments are. We are gaining such admiration for these young men and women. Along with traditional ward and branch assignments, we have companionships in our mission serving in Spanish, Korean, Tongan, Samoan, Young Single Adult, and deaf branches.
The reason for the inspection visits, which take place in every mission throughout the world, is that the Church is anxious to make sure that apartments are safe, that there are no repair issues or unaddressed problems with each apartment, that the smoke/CO2 detectors are checked and properly functioning every month, and that the missionaries are taking time to keep things reasonably clean and organized. Some struggle with the latter responsibility, and some don't. Many of the apartments we checked were being kept in very good condition, and we were impressed! Some needed suggestions for improvement. We also enjoyed helping the missionaries by fixing wobbly chairs and tables, repairing broken sliders on drawers, replacing a couple of smoke detectors that had passed their life expectancy, helping with a minor ant issue, and fixing a couple of lamps. 😊
Our inspections gave us the opportunity to get out and enjoy the amazing weather, as well as to walk through some pretty nicely landscaped apartment complexes. Most rental companies here create and maintain beautifully landscaped settings with brooks and water features surrounded by wonderful indigenous plants and flowers. We really enjoyed visiting these peaceful surroundings as we searched for the right apartments! I'm already looking forward to next month's inspections.
Early Saturday morning, we were able to drive one of our elders to LAX (LA International Airport) for an early morning flight to Incheon, South Korea. He is an admirable young man who has served in this mission for nearly two years, but has been called home by his government to fulfill a mandatory military assignment, so his mission was shortened by two months. As we traveled with him, we really enjoyed talking to him and getting his perspective on his mission and the work that he will do when he returns home - even if it did mean getting up at 3:30 a.m. to have him at the airport by about 5 a.m.!
Since LAX is only 20 minutes from the Los Angeles Temple, and since it was our day off, as soon as we said goodbye to the elder at airport security, we headed back to our car and made the trip to the temple in time for the 6:30 a.m. session. We arrived while it was still dark, but walked out of the temple to the sight of a beautiful blue sky and warm weather. It was a wonderful morning!
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| Los Angeles Temple |
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| December 1st, 2018 |
We are feeling so blessed and grateful to have this opportunity to serve.
--Pat--
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