Last P-Day Email

I love you all and I can't wait to see you tomorrow!  Thank you so much and I love you!


Elder DeSpain

The Last Week . . .

Written 07/09/12:


Hey,

This week went well, it was just crazy and busy again.  We had several more missionaries go into the doctor because of knee or joint problems.  We had another one have to go home this morning.  That makes four in this transfer for medical reasons, that's too bad, but the Lord knows what each person needs in their lives.  We have been going a lot to a place called Rehab.  There is a physical therapist that works there, and the area doctor for the Church likes that doctor, so he usually sends the missionaries there who have problems with joints.  We actually get to work with the Area Doctor a lot, which is kind of cool.  He and his wife are really cool people.  Anyway, because of all that we've been pretty busy.

I think I'm going to have to go, but I'll write more later.  I love you!

Elder DeSpain

Written 07/13/12:


Bon tardi famianan i amigunan stimá

Wow, I am so sorry that haven´t written until now.  Things have been pretty crazy getting ready for the check up that they did on the audit today.  We worked until about 1:00 AM on Wednesday night because they said originally that they were going to come on Thursday, but then the lady from the Central Offices called on Thursday and said that she couldn't do it until Friday because she had a bunch of stuff going on in the office.  So, they came today, but I actually wasn't here for the audit.  They came, but I was right next door in the Church House in the High Council room at an employment course that they give every transfer to the  missionaries who are leaving.  It was pretty much just a workshop on how to get a job and what to do with resumes and interviews and things like that.

The audit went well, when I came in at the end there were a couple things that we needed to go over, but there will always be some things because it's an ongoing process.  The lady from the Central Offices told me that I did a great job, and that I had worked very hard and basically that I was done.  That feels really good.  It's so nice to be on this end of it and be able to feel that I have accomplished something.  It has been a great opportunity, and  I have learned a lot through what I have had the privilege to do here in the office.  I can't believe that it's all coming to an end, it came faster than I thought.  Today is probably for the most part it for me in the office.  I will probably help with some things on Monday or Tuesday when we go to the airport, but other than that, I'm for the most part on my last day here, but you never know.

I can't believe how close I am to seeing you all, haha, it's unbelievable to see where I am and how far I have come.  

I can remember saying goodbye two years ago in the airport and walking off as a rather scared young boy.  Wow, so much has happened since that day, it almost feels like it has been a "mini" lifetime sine then.  I feel like I have learned so much and like I have come a really long ways.  I don't think that I ever imagined I would be where I am when I was starting my mission, and during the trials that I had on my mission.  It has been a wonderful experience, and I feel like I have learned lessons from my mission that will bless me for the rest of my life.  It has been wonderful to see the Lord work in my life.  He helped me overcome some of my weaknesses while I was on my Mission.  I am not perfect or even close to it, but I do feel like I was able to improve on many traits and qualities in my life through serving a mission.  How grateful I am for the Lord and His perfect Plan in my life.  I know that He lives and loves every one of us and that He knows us by name.

Well, I can't wait to see you all and be with you again.  I will try to call from the airports if I can.  Thank you so much for all that you do and for the wonderful examples that you have always been to me.  I love you and I will see you soon!

Love,

Elder Jeff DeSpain

Happy Birthday Elder DeSpain!

Bon tardi kerido famia y hendenan di mi!

Thanks for the Happy Birthday!  I haven't had a whole lot of time to think about that lately, but that's good, haha.  Yes, I would much rather just celebrate it at home when I get there with all of you!  It's crazy that it's so close.  I might try to get a cake or something and have with the guys in the office, but I don't want to make that big of a deal out of it, so I might just go to Baskin Robins with them or something like that.  Thank you for the money!  (With Jeff coming home less than two weeks after his birthday we decided it didn't make sense to ship packages to him this time, only to have to pack up the presents and bring them home again.  We put some money in his account and asked him to buy something that he would like to bring home.  We also asked him to buy whatever treat he has been craving and share it with the others serving in the office.  He' not much of a "cake" fan but he loves ice cream so hopefully he will get to enjoy something along those lines!)

Ya, things have been pretty crazy in the office.  We were here until four in the morning the other night because a bunch of people were needing to go to the doctor that day, and we had to do credit card transactions, support payments, and housing payments that day also.  All of the training, and at the same time having to implement a lot of new policies and procedures that I hadn't done in the past because of the things that we found in the audit make it a little crazy around here lately.  But, the Lord helped us out and we got it all done and we got to rest a little bit on Saturday and that has helped me out a lot.  I've just got to prioritize and plan a little bit better, and then go from there and just do the best that I can, because that's all that I can do.

Wow, haha, I guess you've got about as many people asking you how much time I've got left as I do here.  I didn't know that Bishop Oborn is the Bishop now!  Wow, isn't Brother Bawden a Bishop now too?  Crazy how things have changed since I left.  

Everything is going good here, I got a ticket on Thursday for running a red light, but it was a little ridiculous considering it was on a one way street and the cop was standing (they don't have cars here) on the other side of the intersection on a one way road and thus couldn't even see the light.  I felt kind of bad, but that was the day after the night that we were in the office until 4 AM, so I wasn't as good as I could have been to the cop, but I got the ticket so it's just a bummer and now I've just got to pay it and move on.

I am excited to see you and and be with you again!  I can't wait, but I'm trying not to think too much about it and just focus on what I'm doing until I am finished, otherwise it can get a little bit frustrating, haha, but please don't stop talking about it when you guys email me, that doesn't bother me at all.

Dad asked me about a couple of things the day that I get home.  That is fine if President Salmon asked me to come in and report to the High Council afterwards, that's not a problem, we can do that.  The only thing is as soon as I get in that day, let's go to the best Mexican place you guys know of, because I'm dying for some good authentic stuff, haha.  And I am very excited for the Weech Reunion after that!  (Jeff's plane is scheduled to land at 3:35 on July 17th.  We got a call asking us to be at the Stake President's office at 6:00 for Jeff to be released and then they also asked if he could report to the High Council that night at 7:00.  We'll find a time to work in the Mexican food some time that night also I'm sure!) 

I love you all and I can't wait to see you soon!

Love,

Elder Jeff DeSpain

Crazy Week - Guess That's The "Norm" Now!

A couple of quick notes this week from Elder DeSpain - 


Sent Monday 6/25:


Bon nochi!

I'm good, we just had another kind of crazy day, someone got taken to the airport, and then we had to haul about 50 battery kits, which included about 100 actual car size batteries from the truck into the closet that we have here, so I'm just getting a chance now to get on the email.  I will have to write tomorrow probably, sorry!  I love you!

Sent Thursday 6/28:

Hey, really sorry, we're just still really busy.  I got a ticket today for running a red light, that was kind of a bummer, haha.  I think it converts to about $40 USD.  I'll just pay it using my debit card.  Last night we had a pretty late night, we worked until 4 AM, but we got some sleep after that, and we're going to keep trying to get some more rest.  I'm doing good, love you!

Sent Saturday 6/30:

Bon Nochia famia di mi

I'm going to take out a few minutes and try to write something a little more in depth for once, haha.

I am really sorry, I have just been really busy with all of the stuff that has been going on here.  Last Monday we all went and took a missionary with a hurt leg to the airport so that he could head home for treatment there.  I think he just has like a bad sprain of some sort in his knee.  There have been many medical problems lately, so it's kind of hard to keep them all straight.  

This week, we had interviews from Tuesday to Friday I think, and it was pretty crazy.  It's pretty crazy to think about, but this is the last time that I will see a lot of them, because I don't think that there are major meetings after the interviews.  We had several people get sick and someone had to go from the field into the CCM this week, so we were very busy taking people around.  People actually haven't been so much of "sick" as what I would classify as "hurt".  We've had several knee or leg problems and a shoulder problem come up in the last week.  We took all of them to a physical therapist and then to get some imaging done that the physical therapist wanted them to get done.  

The guy that went into the CCM went in because he actually entered the field without ever going through the MTC.  That's what happens down here now, when there is a Dominican that is going to a foreign country and thus a foreign MTC, they send them straight into the Mission Field with us before they send them to the MTC.  It's pretty interesting, but in a perfect world, they go into our mission until their visa comes, and then they go into the MTC that they were originally assigned to in their call.

President said we could take some rest today, so hopefully that will help me get up and going good again.  It's been pretty stressful, but I'm doing the best that I can and I'm hoping that I can re-prioritize to see if I can take the stress down a little.  I guess I can only do the best that I can do.

I love you all and I can't wait to hear from you on Monday!

Love,

Elder Jeff DeSpain