Saturday, June 28, 2008

The Evansons Leave - The Bowmans Arrive

The Georgia Macon Mission welcomes Sister Teresa Bowman, President Mark O. Bowman and their daughter Tawni and bids a fond farewell to President R. Brent Evanson and Sister Dorothy Evanson.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Transition Day Is Here!

Dear Families and Friends of GMMissionaries,
June 27, 2008 has arrived and the Bowmans will be here in a few hours. We just want to say thank you for sending us the missionaries we have had the privilege of working with these past three years. This missionary work is a miracle. The converts, the members, the investigators and the missionaries have blessed our lives in ways we really can't express. Georgia and South Carolina will always hold a special place in our hearts, along with "our missionaries." We've told the elders and sisters they better stay in touch or we'll hunt them down. We expect great things from each one and they'll continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. We love them and we're grateful to each of you.
With love,
The Evansons

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Cutting Them Loose on June 24...

Cutting them loose is never easy, but this time it was really tough because we are also getting cut loose! The pictures below show some excellent missionaries who have reached the point where we can say, "Mission Accomplished!" Thank you for letting them be part of our lives.
Standing: Elders Woody, Barnett, Godfrey, Mortensen, Warr and Sister Moyes. Seated: Sister and Elder Larsen, Sister and President Evanson. I insisted on holding the hydrengias...they are from the mission home yard and although I can't take credit for growing them, I just wanted to show their beauty off. Georgia does do flowers really well.


Elder Woody and Elder Tanner.


Elder Warr and Elder Tanner.



Elder Godfrey and Elder Morgan.




Sister and President Evanson.



Elder Barnett and Elder Morgan.


Elder and Sister Larsen.


Sister Evanson and Sister Moyes.


Elder Mortensen and Elder Tanner.


What a great looking group. They spent the day boxing up and loading all of our stuff. We had a moving van arrive and it must have been the movers' lucky day because they had never seen so much help. J.R., the head mover, said this was the best crew he'd ever worked with. I was grateful they were there or we'd have still been wrapping and boxing! Below is the whole crew with J.R. (who has on a suit jacket that goes with a suit President gave him...he's going to wear it to church) and Bryant. Both agreed to have the Warner Robins missionaries come and teach them. Who could turn down getting to be with more missionaries???

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Look Who's New...

June 25 started very early for Sisters Clark and Jenson, along with Elders Weaver, Bytheway, Taylor and Merriam. They were up by 3:00 am, checking in at the travel desk at the MTC at 4:00 am and arriving in Atlanta about 1:00 pm. (It was pretty hot today...about 95 with humidity.)We brought them to the mission home which is about an hour and 15 minutes from the airport. They rested, visited, wrote letters home and then we had dinner about 5:00, and had a devotional afterward. They are now on their way to bed. Thank you, families, for helping them prepare and serve. We are anxious to get them out in the field tomorrow with their trainers. They will be sharing their testimonies, visiting with Georgians and beginning an experience that will be foundational for their lives. We're glad to have them!
Sisters Clark and Jenson.
Elders Weaver, Bytheway, Taylor and Merriam.

The Elders and Sisters with President and Sister Evanson.


At the airport, with the assistants, Elder Morgan and Elder Tanner.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Meet the Haymores...

What a great couple! Elder and Sister Haymore come to us from St. David, Arizona. They arrived in the mission on June 19 and stopped in Macon long enough to say hi. Then, they were off to their assignment in Swainsboro, Georgia, where they will serve in the Swainsboro Branch. We are grateful to have them here.

Savannah Zone Conference...

The Savannah Zone Conference was on June 18, 2008. First, I've posted some candids from lunch, which include some of the Savannah Relief Society sisters who fed us. We so appreciate all of the members who do so much to help the missionaries. The pictures are small, but you can double-click to enlarge them. I've labled the larger pictures at the bottom which show each missionary in the Savannah zones.











Sister and Elder Harper, Sisters Tanner and Trappett.


Elder and Sister Larsen.


Elders P. Smith, T. Wayman, Beverley and Martin.


Elders Skinner, Hale, Foster and Fowers.


Elders Schaat, Sharpe, Molis and Collings.


Elders Manning, Wall, Price and Blackmer.

Elders Barnett, Wood, Heiner and Bingham.


Elders Benjamin, Koelling, Alvord and Conlin.


Elders Levesque, French, Brunson and McKee.

Augusta Zone Conference...

The Augusta Zone Conference was held June 17, 2008. I've posted some candids from lunch and then pictures of the elders and sisters right after training.

Elders Tanner, Randall and Warr. Elder and Sister Nielson.


Names starting in front and moving clockwise around the tables...Table 1: Elders Nelson, Poole, D. Smith, K. Nielson, Murray, Christiansen and Fuhriman. Table 2: Sister Neider, Elders Cottam, Spencer, Fister, Morgan, Thompson and Sister Thomas.


Table 3: Elders Barnes, Snow, Jackson, Corbridge, Kimball, Bell and Slade.


Seated: Elders Fuhriman and Randall; Standing: Elders Spencer and K. Nielson.
Sister and Elder Nielson, Elders Kimball and Nelson.

Elders Bell, Cottam and Warr.


Sisters Thomas and Neider.

Elders Jackson, Thompson, Snow and Barnes.

Elders Christiansen, Corbridge, Slade and Fister.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Getting To Know Some Missionaries...

Sister Zaun arrived on Saturday, June 14. She comes to us from Hamburg, Germany. What an asset she is going to be. She carries a very strong spirit and is so anxious to be useful to her Heavenly Father. Sister Brumage, her companion, picked her up Saturday evening and they were off to Albany.
Sister Brumage and Sister Zaun.
This picture is primarily for President and Sister Bowman. These are the office people...and what a great group they are. Elder Murray (cars), Elder Morgan (assistant), Elder Poole (referrals), Elder D. Smith (training Elder Poole and then going back out in the field), Sister Eastman (mission secretary), Elder Tanner (assistant) and Elder Eastman (financial secretary...along with anything else that needs doing). The young elders work in the office part time and then proselyte. The Eastmans are in the office full time. We couldn't get along without any of them....and the young elders are working on keeping a neat office! Progress is being made.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Douglas Zone Conference

The Douglas Zone Conference was held on June 12. During this round of Zone Conferences President trained on being a disciple of Christ. I spoke on learning by faith. Augusta and Savannah Zone Conferences will be next week. I'll post pictures of them toward the end of the week.
Elder Takapu gave President and me each a lava-lava. I can't wait to see President in his! Also, pictured is his companion Elder Robertson.
Elder Clark has a weakness for cookies. He's pictured here with the assistants, Elder Morgan and Elder Tanner, who did a great job with training. Elder Tanner spoke about making sure we don't allow Satan to poison us by degrees...see Alma 47; and Elder Morgan reviewed with us some of the attributes Captain Moroni possessed...see Alma 48.

Elders Summerhays and Holyoak with J.W. Gibson, a member who is preparing to serve a mission.


Sister and Elder Barlow with Elders Faux and Jacobsen.

Elders C. Clark, Silva, Stoddard and Ogden.

Elders Gardner, Gawdun, Jeff Hall and Kimbal.

Elders Robertson, Takapu, White and J. Nielson.