Busy Sunday

We had a busy day today.  First we attended the Temple Terrace Ward meetings.  When we told them that we were newly arrived senior missionaries, the ward members, including the bishop, suggested that we ask the mission president to assign us to their ward.  Apparently, they like senior missionary couples.

We then drove to the mission home to meet with President Cusick.  The mission home is about a 20 minute drive north of the mission office.  The home is quite nice and was just recently purchased by the Church to use as a mission home.  The Cusicks have their youngest child, Kate, living with them.  She is a junior in high school and is attending a tennis academy.  I asked her to let us know when she would be playing in a tournament so we could watch her.

President Cusick called me to be the 1st counselor in the mission presidency.  He then gave us a 4 page listing of things that we should do.  He emphasized that with the exception of any occasional interviews that I would be conducting, the assignments are for both of us.  Although there are a couple of tasks that he asked Renee to do, such as work on public relations.

We are assigned to "supervise" the missionaries in three zones which correspond to three stakes in the mission; Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and Brandon.  Our primary focus is the Sarasota Stake, which includes Bradenton, which is why he would like us to live in that area.  We are to regularly visit each of the units in the stake to assess how the missionaries are working with the members -- and vice versa.  There are 13 units in the Sarasota Stake, so we be on a quarterly rotation to visit the units.  Two of the units are Spanish-speaking, so that might be a challenge for us.  When we visit the units, we are to attend all of the meetings, included ward council should that be held on that Sunday.  President Cusick indicated that we might be asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting, and he encouraged us, both of us, to speak.  He said that we have one topic -- missionary work.

Following our meeting with him, we joined the Cusicks and several missionaries for dinner.  One of the missionaries, Sister Upshaw, is headed home tomorrow after completing her mission.  Her father is not a member, so she still has missionary work to do.

Dinner outdoors at the mission home -- in January!