Mission Week 51

I'm pretty sure this week would usually be considered a slow week, but since I've been so low on energy, it felt really busy. The office is ridiculously quiet though. The managing director was out to Hong Kong for an area review and three of the other directors have transferred to different departments. It's been very strange seeing all the empty offices.

This week's tasks included:

• Attempting to train my missionary replacement, firehose style.
• Beginning to train my full-time employee replacement (so pretty much they got two people to replace me. Kind of wish they had done that earlier. He'll do a little more than I did though.).
• Creating a contacts cheat sheet.
• Doing all the stuff I usually do while attempting to put it into words more helpful than, "just push lots of buttons until you figure it out," which is pretty much how I do anything.
• Helping plan my farewell, which I jokingly call a funeral because the person is leaving, you learn more about the person as they leave than you ever did in your every day interactions, and the talks start to sound like eulogies.
• Learn about the process of reorganizing an entire department. I like knowing how things work, just not doing it myself. There is going to be a ton of paperwork and I'm so glad to be leaving that mess in somebody else's lap. I don't even feel guilty about it. Mostly.

I also finally, a week before I'm released, came up with a code-name for Alan. He would have been Genie, because his office is so small. See figure 1.2 for explanation:

Figure 1.2

Getting ready to leave my mission is a bittersweet experience. I'm definitely ready to move on to the next experience, and I'm very tired. But I will also miss things. I will miss the nice people and being part of something so great. I will miss working on Temple Square and feeling the spirit there. I'll miss getting to see things grow from Church Headquarters.

Plus, I'll have to give up all my special powers like being able to grant building access and stalking everyone in the in the building (I don't, but it's fun to know I could). Do you ever think, "Wow, it's a good thing I'm one of the good guys, because I could cause a lot of damage right now.? Because I will admit, I think that a lot. But I digress. I love my mission, but I also know it's time to leave. I love wearing my missionary badge, and I will be sad to take it off. Wearing that badge was a dream I've had for a long time, and I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to serve as a missionary, literally wearing the name of Jesus Christ on my heart. But it's okay. There will be other great adventures ahead.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Love,

Sister Ward


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