One COLD transfer week!

We had another successful transfer week this week! We sent 5 missionaries home to reunite with their families on Wednesday morning, and welcomed 9 new ones in Wednesday afternoon. It is always hard to let the old ones go, but exciting to get the new ones in--it is pretty much a revolving door in a mission every 6 weeks! We love hearing the final testimonies of those departing...it really is such an incredible thing to hear them verbalize how much they have grown, and how they have come to know the Savior. I cherish every single final testimony meeting.
And then it's so fun to be at the airport to welcome the new ones and to see their excitement and also their nerves! We love to have that first dinner with them and begin to get to know them on a more personal level--and then it's even more fun to see them meet their new companions the next day!
This week has been very cold, after having a week last week that had warmed up significantly! So when those new missionaries arrived it was -20. And then on Thursday, which is our regular transfer day, it was close to -30! It was so cold outside while missionaries were hauling their luggage around that you really just froze! I had to keep going inside the church to warm up for a few minutes, even though I had layered up, and had on my warmest boots! Because of the weather we didn't bring our BC missionaries in that were being transferred because they were having snow and the night before part of the road had been closed. So, we held them off, because we don't like them traveling in those conditions. Today the few that were being transferred to and from BC did their moving. It's such a nice feeling when transfers are over and everyone is to their new area with their new companion! It feels like a new beginning every time! It's a great time for missionaries to re-commit and rededicate themselves to the work, and we get re-energized, too.
Our mission is going to be using smartphones in the near future, so we are in the process of having families purchase the phones for their missionary and have them shipped to the office through a special website. Steve and I have been receiving online training which features Elder Bednar teaching missionaries in the Gilbert, Arizona mission about the use of smartphones as a missionary. It is pretty exciting, and will enhance the work. And the missionaries will also develop good habits of phone use that they can use when they go back home. The Lord is wanting them to learn to be good agents and use these devices for righteous purposes. Missionary work in the traditional sense is changing and it will be exciting to see what happens in the next few years. Our purpose is always the same: to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. Modern technology, if used correctly, can help us do this!
Today we had all of our missionaries watch President Monson's funeral. We felt like this would be a spiritual experience for each of them, as he was the prophet that called them on their missions. We will so miss President Monson, and are so grateful for the remarkable example he was to each of us.
We know he was the prophet of God here on the earth.