"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
Some of my most cherished memories of serving with FamilySearch support involved working with patrons and missionaries from other countries around the world. This morning I needed help from FamilySearch so I call the toll free support number. The missionary helping me was a sweet sister with a Spanish sounding accent. I asked her where she was from and she said originally Nicaragua. Her answer to my next question, where she was living now, really surprised me. She said the Middle East!! How cool is that? A FamilySearch missionary serving in the Middle East. She is living in Abu Dhabi! She told me they have a thriving ward there. Wow! I love our world-wide Church and FamilySearch. Oh, by the way, she was very helpful!!
The past week and a half has been filled with challenges. In the mist of it all I can feel what I like to call the "Tender Mercies of the Lord". Blessings inside of challenges. How can that be? Well, let me give a few examples.
On Aug 4, 2010 I was officially released from a calling that I loved. I was so sad to be release from that mission. What was I going to do with myself now? It was interesting in one weeks time right before my release, five people in my ward approached me asking for help with Family History. Four people!! That never happened before. They didn't know I was feeling sad about being released as a missionary. But, the Lord knew! My ward will keep me needed and busy helping them now. Tender Mercy of the Lord.
Last Saturday Mike and I were at Lake Tahoe for a few days while Evan was attending Camp Harmon, in the Santa Cruz mountains. We don't get many days, just the two of us. We had spent the morning at beautiful Sugar Pine State Park, and then went back to our Bed and Breakfast to change into cooler clothes. We were headed out again, when it happened. Jerk, jerk, scrape, tick, tick, tick. You don't want to hear those sounds on a vehicle. Our Grand Caravan Rampvan with only 17,400 miles had a problem, it sounded serious. We called Triple A. Our van had to be towed to Reno, the closest dealership, and we rented a car. Of course they couldn't look at the van until Monday morning. Monday, they could not really figure out what was wrong with the van, as the jerking and noises would only happen occasionally. But,then again they couldn't say it was safe to drive either. They wanted to keep it for a few more days and do some more tests. (Sounds just like medical stuff.) We had to pick up Evan and his motorized chair by 1pm on Tuesday. It's a little hard to pick up a 260 pound wheelchair without a ramp van. We ended up having to pick Evan up at camp with a rental car,leaving his power wheelchair behind, and drive home.
Where's the blessing in all that you might ask. Well, let me tell you. Number one, we are so blessed the van didn't lose it's transmission on one of the curvy mountain roads we had been driving on. No one was hurt. Just majorly inconvenienced. And it's all under warranty. We can live with that! And more importantly that it didn't break down when we had Evan with us. Now that would have been really complicated. Also we are fortunate that Evan has two power wheelchairs. One is very old and he plays power wheelchair soccer and takes it to camp where it can get as dirty as he wants. Also, the camp was very good about being willing to store the wheelchair until we can get up there to retrieve it.
So, there you go. Tender Mercies of the Lord, all around. Actually they are there in every day we live, if we just look for them.
What Tender Mercies of the Lord have you felt recently?
--> Recently, I completed 30 months serving as a part-time, at home, missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints , Family History Department. This is a very unique mission. I answered phone calls and e-mails from patrons who were using FamilySearch products. This included New FamilySearch, Personal Ancestral File and FamilySearch.org, among others. As I became more experienced I was able to help to train and teach other missionaries. All of this was done from the comfort of my own home. In a typical month I would serve around 100 hours (thus that explains my abandoned and neglected blog). Many of the experiences are just inspiring, both with patrons and with other missionaries. It would be an understatement to say I learned a lot. Here are some of the most important things I am taking away from the experience.
I learned a new confidence. Not a confidence necessarily of myself. A confidence that the Spirit of the Lord would lead and guide me when I put forth the effort. I think that Elder Neal A. Maxwell said it best.
“God does not begin by asking our ability, only our availability,
and if we prove our dependability,
He will increase our capability.”
I can't tell you how many times I felt that strength beyond my own. It is a very humbling experience to be lifted beyond your own abilities.
I learned much from my fellow missionaries. They were such a strength and uplift to me. We came in all shapes and sizes, with different abilities and strengths, and different challenges in life. One Elder I will never forget, I worked with him on a special project. I found him to be very helpful, and knowledgeable. At one point he was in a class I was teaching to other missionaries. At the end of class we had something called "Check Your Performance". He had to show me he could do the things he was taught. We had tools that allowed us to share computer screens. As I was watching his computer screen, he explained to me that he did not have use of his arms, and that I would be hearing him give his computer commands. It was just amazing to watch as this Elder flawlessly executed the tasks by telling his computer mouse what to do. I went away with an admiration for him and gratefulness to live in a day when technology would allow someone to serve in that manner.
There was a Sister in my little missionary group (we were all in groups of about 10 to 12 missionaries, lead by a missionary leader who made sure we kept up in the latest advances) who had environmental allergies and was not able to even attend her church meetings without having a severe reaction. It was great to be able to see her serve with us. She is such a diligent missionary, and I’m happy she was able to serve in this capacity.
We had another missionary in our group who was serving a Church Service mission with her husband in the Dominican Republic. He was a Church counsel, and she helped in the local Family History Center there and also with FamilySearch support. When the quake hit Haiti, she went to work, and touched many lives with her nursing background. In our meetings she would share pictures of those sweet Haitians who were injured and give updates on their conditions. She sacrificed a lot to help them out.
I had one great opportunity to teach a group of missionaries from New Zealand and Australia. Such sweet sisters you will never met. I marveled again at the technology that would allow us to use to the Internet to speak and teach and learn together from such a great distance. This is truly a worldwide church, and it’s no wonder we are called World Wide Support Missionaries.
And then there are the wonderful patrons. I will miss them the most. My favorites were the little 80 year old Sisters. They went way outside their comfort zones to learn to use computers to bless the lives of their ancestors and preserve information for their posterity. I remember one sister in particular. When she got to a certain point in New FamilySearch to print out something, she misunderstood what the computer was asking, and thought she needed to buy a new printer. She was willing to do that if she had too. Such willingness to sacrifice amazes me.
The large majority of patrons were patient beyond belief as we tried to solve their problems. It was always thrilling to help them solve a problem. Especially those patrons who thought they had a lost a whole computer file of family names. We would cheer together when everything was restored and back to normal, and they were so grateful. Many patrons shared special sacred experiences that would touch my heart.
I’m moving on now; I’m not sure to what yet. Hopefully, my ward will keep me busy with family history questions. Oh, and I will have time to work on my own family history. I need to break down a few brick walls. Wish me luck!!
As many of you know, I am currently serving as Church service missionary for the Family History Department of the LDS Church. I serve out of my home using my computer and telephone to help the patrons who either phone or e-mail questions. I have taken on a new assignment last month, that of teaching other missionaries how to answer questions regarding several of the products the Church supports, ie: Personal Ancestal File, Family Search Internet, Resource Files, etc. The classes are one hour each for three days, then I do what is called a "Check Your Performance" with each missionary. The CYP shows that they are proficient in helping patrons, kind of like a test, but more gentle. We use a tool that allows one user to see the computer screen of the other user. Thus we can watch as they go through the steps needed to assist others. We see what is happening on their computer screen while talking to them on the telephone.
Last week Elder Jarvis was in my class. He lives in Arizona and I'm in California. We have never meet in person. However, we worked some on the Family Tree Project and he was a great help for other missionaries also working in that area. As we began the CYP, Elder Jarvis, explained to me that he didn't have the use of his arms, and that I would be hearing him talk to his computer to give it commands. He said I would understand as he went along. He proceeded to tell his computer to "wake up", he would say certain numbers that would make his curser move to a different area on the computer. When he was done with a task he would tell the computer to "sleep" and then we could talk about what task he just completed. It was just amazing to see him operate his computer in this way. I was in awe not only what computer technology can do to help someone today but in the tenacity that I know it takes to learn that skill. I think it's wonderful that Elder Jarvis can serve a mission despite the challenges he faces in life. It was just a very touching humbling experience for me.
Today was "Guest Relations" day!! I actually took phone calls that came to the Church's Family and Church History Department. They were real life people with real life questions, not just training missionaries like myself!! Fortunately, my responsibility for the day was to transfer them to the right group. I didn't have to answer the questions. PHEW!! It was kind of slow, but I think I did well with the calls that came in. I had a missionary coach on the phone with me, so if I didn't know where to transfer the person, she could help. She was also online with me on Skype, so we chatted while we waited for phone calls to come in!! I will do Guest Relations again on Monday, then later next week we start learning how to answer questions!! Wow!!
I have learned a lot this week as I train as an Area Support Missionary for Family and Church History. I still have a LOT more that I need to learn. But I though I would share some of the things that I enjoyed learning so far. Here goes!!
Who knew that proselyting missionaries wear their name tags on the left side and service missionaries wear theirs on the right???
Who knew there are over 700 Area Support missionaries serving world wide???
Who knew that area support missionaries use Skype to chat one with another?? If you want my Skype contact email me.
Who knew that there is an Area Authority who is assigned to help teach Stake Presidents and other church leaders about family history?
Who knew that The Family and Church History organization is divided into three divisions: information, products and support?
Who knew that the two divisions under support are: The Family History Library Division and The Worldwide Support Division?
Who knew I would be so excited to provide support under the Worldwide Support Division??
