A Day in the Life of Elder and Sister Barlow
Some have asked us what we are doing here in the New York, Utica Mission so let me take you on a tour. We get up about 5 am and have our study time and prayers. We get ready for the day then Elder Barlow heads out to get the snow and ice scrapped off the car. Sister Barlow slips into the nice warm car and off we go the few blocks to the mission office. The office is attached to the Utica Stake Building. I haven't seen any other Mission Offices but I hear compared to others, it is very nice.
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We turn on our computers and begin our work. Elder Barlow is in charge of the 45 vehicles assigned to the mission and will soon be adding 30 more in the next three months. Our mission is growing fast with the changes announced in October Conference. When we arrived here there were just over one hundred missionaries but by the end of the summer we will be up to our maximum of 175. Elder Barlow is also responsible for the phones used by the companionships. He has been working hard to set up 19 new apartments for the growing numbers of missionaries.
We turn on our computers and begin our work. Elder Barlow is in charge of the 45 vehicles assigned to the mission and will soon be adding 30 more in the next three months. Our mission is growing fast with the changes announced in October Conference. When we arrived here there were just over one hundred missionaries but by the end of the summer we will be up to our maximum of 175. Elder Barlow is also responsible for the phones used by the companionships. He has been working hard to set up 19 new apartments for the growing numbers of missionaries.
Sister Barlow loves working next to her companion. Her most important responsiblity is to forward all the mail and packages that come for the missionaries. Hundreds of pieces of mail come through the office each week. You should have seen Valentines week! She was excited to find mail waiting when they arrived. Chad's children drew beautiful pictures for their apartment. Two more pieces of mail came week before last. A Valentine from Caitlin and a "flat Gabe" from Gabe Williams. Yes, Sister Barlow loves getting mail too. (note the yellow paste it note on her computer this morning, we'll get to that in a minute.)
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Soon, Elder and Sister Cutler arrive. They are the other office couple. We have grown to love them. Sister Cutler takes care of the correspondence and Elder Cutler is responsible for the finances and apartments. It's a big job to run a mission office. We all wonder how the last office couple managed to do everything themselves. Sister Barlow is also assigned the task of ordering all supplies, keeping track of refferals, and the "Transfer Board".
Soon, Elder and Sister Cutler arrive. They are the other office couple. We have grown to love them. Sister Cutler takes care of the correspondence and Elder Cutler is responsible for the finances and apartments. It's a big job to run a mission office. We all wonder how the last office couple managed to do everything themselves. Sister Barlow is also assigned the task of ordering all supplies, keeping track of refferals, and the "Transfer Board".
This is a close up of the sticky note. It is a surprise encouragement note from one of our AP's, Elder Tollefson. We love our AP's. They show us how to do all the majical things on the computer.
Elder Tollefson was just called as an AP. Elder Tingey is our seasoned AP. We will be sad to see him leave in a couple of months. They are great Elders.
President Wirthlin arrives to prepare for the day ahead. It is an exciting time. We are having ZLC today. All the Zone Leaders will be arriving shortly to receive instruction from the President and the AP's. Sister Barlow has all the supplies ready for them to take back to the five Zones. We love President and Sister Wirthlin. They love their missionaries and take good care of them. We are amazed at the responsibilites Mission President's have and hope we can releave some of the burden.
The New York, Utica Mission is the largest geographical mission in the US, reaching up to the Canadian boarder on the North and down to Pennsylvania on the South, Massachusets and Vermont to the East and the Finger Lake country to the West. It is considered Up State New York and most of the mission is very rural. Although their are no church sites in our mission, a lot of church history happened in this area including the first Branch of the Church in Colesville.
The missionaries begin to arrive. We are so glad to see them. They are hard working, dedicated missionaries. This is Sister Reaire (forefront) She is one of our enthusiastic new sister missionaries. She loves her mission.
Here is a picture of the missionaries in President Wirthlin's office. They are admiring the "Transfer Board" that Sister Barlow just finished updating. After a morning of training, we went around the corner to the Wirthlin home for lunch. Sister Wirthlin cooks wonderful meals for many of these meetings.
Say "hi" to Frank. He has been installing a new telephone system in our office. He asked, "Why do they call these young men "Elders" They are not old? He seemed to love being in our office. He said it was the most friendly office he had ever been in. It seemed he was feeling something special and didn't want to leave. Sister Barlow got up the nerve to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon. He said that he will read it. YES, I AM A MISSIONARY!
Earlier in the month 25 new missionaries arrived and three left our mission. Here are two of the new elders posing for a picture with the Wirthlin's. This month 27 more will arrive. We were sad to see Elder Becerell, our AP, return home after a successful mission. He is pictured here with all the Sister Missionaries.
We arrive back to our cute little apartment around 6:00 pm, totally exhausted and ready for a rest. But wait, there is laundry to do and dinner to cook. With the chores complete we fall into bed and wake up to do it again. WE LOVE OUR MISSION.
