Our missionary district: Week of Feb 26, #1

We are in a district with 6 young elders. 2 - 4 districts comprise a zone, and there are about 9 zones in our mission. Our district meets weekly to give an accounting of our responsibilities, and to discuss ways we can help our investigators progress, and help each other. Our district covers West Point, Starkville, and Columbus, MS.

These young elders are great! Sister Johnson and I consider them our young sons, and we try to take good care of them. This means transporting them as the need arises, fixing their bikes, making sure they have enough to eat, remembering their special days like birthdays, bringing treats to district meetings (both the delicious and the healthy kind), and our favorite: teaching discussions with them. We consider it a great privilege to meet with their investigators and teach them. Those learning about the Church benefit from getting to meet a mature couple, and we can bring perspectives to the teaching that sometimes the young elders don't have experience with.

This week was Elder Roberts' birthday, so we took the elders to a local cafe for a good meal. These elders are assigned to West Point. They were assigned here shortly after we arrived, and have re-opened the area after the last missionaries were transferred away several months ago. They live in the apartment that we would have been in - and I can truthfully say that I am glad they are there, and we are in our nice Starkville apartment on the golf course.

The West Point and Starkville elders "car share", meaning that there is one car for 2 areas, and they trade every week. During non-car weeks, it's bicycles and shoe leather, and we help out when we can. We have been called to rescue them from bad weather, bike trouble, long distances between close appointments, and other needs. We are glad to be able to help them in their work.