Events

Missionary Housing

February 1, 2010

We had the Elders – the Missionaries – live at our house. Here is the history:

It started with the bishop asking us personally if we could take them to live in our basement for a month to a month and a half. That was back at the beginning of October. We were really well qualified – at least we were at the time. It was just Mar and I and a whole empty house. We said okay, but we knew that things would be changing about Thanksgiving, so that would be the time limit.

They moved in on a Monday because that was when a transfer happened. I said high, and then flew to Chicago for a class. Mar was in Portland at the time. Our poor Elders thought they were abandoned – and they must have thought we really weren’t all that interested in having them there. After a week, I came home and was there for a week but I didn’t see them much. Mar was till away – in Northern California. The next week I went back to Chicago. Mar was still away, in Logan.

It wasn’t until the next week that we really got to see them and talk to them and get to know them. The first Elders were Gillstrap (from California) and Carpenter from Prescott, AZ (one of our old homes). They were zone leaders and they earned that calling. They were very good missionaries. We got to know them better and finally got to really enjoy them in our home. However, the time for their moving was fast approaching – Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving came and went and we still had the missionaries and were becoming more and more fond of them. When Mar’s mom came to stay with us for the holidays, there was still not a place for the Elders to live in the ward, so we said, “If it is okay for them to share a bathroom with a grandma, then they can stay until Christmas.” Problem solved until Christmas.

Mar’s mom did come and that worked okay. Then Michael came home from his mission in Southern California. It was such a blessing to have them in our home at that time. They helped him do some transitioning into non-mission life. They asked him to study with them. They took him to appointments. It was such a blessing for Michael.

And then Elder Gillstrap got transferred to Torrington, WY. He was so glad to get to meet Michael, but he was really ready to move on. Our new missionary was Elder Johnson from Wisconsin. We still had Elder Carpenter. It was interesting to see the different dynamics in the companionships. Of course we grew very fond of Elder Johnson also.

Christmas came. We had the Elders for dinner on Christmas Eve. That was easy because the ward was not able to find new housing for them over Christmas. This time we just said – “Oh, whenever." They were like our sons by then. Having Elder Gillstrap transfer away was actually hard.

So this is because they have now moved on. They have gone to live with the Patriarch for a month. We miss them a lot. They do come by to see us and to take Michael on visits and to enjoy our home. We had them for four months and were truly blessed during that time. The moral is, don’t house the missionaries unless you are okay with letting them go.