Dear Brother and Sister Thorne,
Thank you
for your wonderful letter about your wonderful daughter. She is every bit what
you described and more.
Sister
Thorne arrived safe and sound Monday evening, part of the first wave of the
surge that resulted from the October announcement in General Conference; to us
it felt quite historic. Her group came in three separate flights so it took
some coordinating to get them to the Mission Home, but we somehow we managed.
President Woodbury got started with interviews right after the first group got settled
in, and I started orientation after the last group arrived. We had dinner
together and a wonderful Testimony Meeting before interviews resumed and those
who had been interviewed previously went off to bed for the night.
In the
morning I served a hot breakfast after which the Assistants led Companionship
Study and Elder Bolliger from the Mission Office gave instructions on finances.
Individual and group pictures were taken, then bags were once again loaded into
the MIssion trailer, and our entourage moved over to the church next to the
Mission Office, 2 1/2 miles away. During Transfer Meeting, the new missionaries
met their Trainers and then attended a meeting which introduced the Church's
12-Week Training Program. After lunch, companionship pictures were taken with
President Woodbury and I in front of the Mission Office, then they were off, to
their first areas and their first day as real missionaries.
Sister Thorne's Trainer is Sister Earl, a bright, positive,
hard-working, dedicated missionary who will provide a great start to her
mission. It appeared as if they instantly hit it off.
Their address is: 5221 Normandy Plaza,
Evansville, IN 47715
You can send mail to this address or
to the Mission Office at 1325 Eastern Parkway to be forwarded the next
day. Packages sent to the office by UPS or Fed-X cannot be forwarded so
they will have to wait to be given to your missionary as soon as someone from
the District or Zone comes in to the office.
For your information Preparation
Day in our mission is on Monday, which is when you should hear from your
missionary by
e-mail. When Monday is a holiday then P-Day will be the day following
when libraries are again open. Instant Messages, emails going back and forth on
the same day, and texting, are not allowed.
It is probably safe to send mail
directly to the missionary apartment, except as it gets close to Transfers,
which are every six weeks. Sisters and Elders can be transferred at any
time, though generally they are in an area two to four Transfers, but can be
there more or less than that number. It is difficult to get mail forwarded
after a missionary leaves an area since it costs additional postage and the new
resident doesn’t know where the former missionary was sent. So, to be safe,
send mail to the office when it is getting close to Transfer time.
President Woodbury and I thank
you so much for sending your precious daughter to us. We already love her and
are looking forward to great things with and through her as she serves in this
choice corner of the Lord’s vineyard.
With love,
Sister Woodbury
Sister Woodbury, me, President Woodbury
Sister Woodbury, my companion Sister Earl, me, President Woodbury.
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Where I slept at the missionary home. It is literally 6 sets of bunkbeds. It felt like living in the Brady Bunch.
The Missionary Home
living room. It's HUGE!
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