Below is David's latest email. He sent a few pictures from the trip the took about 10 days ago (he wrote about it last week, see the post on 20 June.). Should be an interesting week, with the change in mission presidents. Maralea and I are going to Georgia this week. Very excited about it. I have been working on putting together the "filmstrip" Lamar Day and I put together while serving as missionaries in the Vidalia Ward in January 1980. I uploaded it on my Facebook profile. It has been a pretty amazing journey for me to go back through pictures from 30 years ago, to put all this back together, and was amazed at how much of all this I had forgotten. If you are interested in viewing it and have a problem, let me know. (By the way, as Jordan was watching it tonight, he actually asked me if some of the pics of me are David. Funny.) Link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/MichaelARoyal?ref=profile
Have a great week.
Mike
________________
Hey Family:
Well, it has been a long week, but I’ll try and keep this letter as up beat as possible. So today is President Solis’ last Preparation Day in the mission field. It was pretty cool, though. We left earlier this morning to a country club place and played basketball and tennis. President Solis is a great tennis player…not so great in basketball, haha, but it was fun. Here’s an interesting fact. When we were playing basketball it was all chill, just kinda having fun, somewhat competitive play, and then President shot it, and I totally packed him. Rejected! Haha! It was so funny…at least for me. Everyone else froze and kinda gave me a look like… “You just…did that…to the President?” It was awesome. I can’t remember who won because the President’s phone went off and he pulled it out of his sport pants and the game just kinda ended. Aside from that… I’ve been working today. Hooray. That’s usually how My Prep Days go. I don’t know if I’m just terrible at my job or what, but it seems like I am always having to do something.
So as long weeks go, this one went by really quick. I had a ton of work. July is quickly approaching which means I have to have all the money ready for the missionaries…and it’s just been insane. I finally have the new system figured out, and think it should turn out a lot better this month. June was an absolute nightmare, and it’s finally coming to a close – so I’m just praying to not have a repeat in July. So, I was completely occupied the entire week, and wasn’t able to get out and teach – which made me pretty sad. We have some good people that we are teaching, so I’d like to get out more – that and getting out of the office is ALWAYS nice. Seriously, when the phone rings in the office, it seems like it’s for me 90% of the time. But, I’m doing everything possible to keep my sanity. It’s almost working.
This coming week is gonna be very interesting. President Solis is leaving on July 1st, and President Chipman arrives the same day. The missionaries are going to take out money on that date, and will want to kill me if it’s not right this time – also on the 1st, and we have transfers – which has thus far proven to be taxing with so many making demands at the same time. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Actually, I am, it’s gonna be cool. It will be interesting to be in the office and receive a new president – and, according to Grandma Kelly’s amazing family history work, President Chipman and I are eighth (8th) cousins, three generations removed (or something like that). I have very little knowledge of what that means…but, we’re pretty much gonna be bros (ha).
Since Dad mentioned some embarrassing, dumb things he did while serving in the office during his mission, I figured I’d share the latest for me. We had some missionaries here for interviews the other day, and at the end of the day, I had to give them money to send them home. Now, they were all being rather difficult, giving me a pretty hard time - making demands, not being very patient. So I gave them money and asked them to please leave my office. I had to make a receipt with the amount and what for and - in my rather upset state - wrote: “Send little girls to Paita.” I completely forgot about that the next day as I went through all the receipts with President Solis. When he came to this receipt, we had the following conversation:
President: Eight-seven soles to send kids (he read it as niños : little boys) to Paita? What kids, Elder?
Me: Oh, right, (cough) that was the money for the Paita missionaries last night.
President: Don’t put little boys, Elder, little girls (he then saw niñas)! You put little girls! Elders, they are Elders, missionaries!
Anyway, awkward, yet I found a little humor in the midst of it all. Sorry, Dad, I know, it was dumb, and you have told me repeatedly to always refer to my fellow missionaries as Elder. Well, I walked into one there. You know, Dad, I remember first talking with you about that when Brad was on his mission. So, I’m working on it. I know it may not seem like it, but I really am growing with patience. I have just been so frustrated with all the office work, the problems/hassles with the money management - from bad protocols that existed before my arrival, to the mistakes I have made, to the audit, to the new system we are implementing, to my mistakes (did I mention that already?). I feel kind of chained to a desk, and have had so little time to proselyte. I really miss teaching, and hope I will become good enough with the money that I will find a way to do more teaching and testifying.
Well that’s all from here in Peru. Hope everyone is having an awesome summer. Jordan, Whitney, got letters from you guys this week. Thanks! Oh, and Grandma and Grandpa Kelly, I received the pedigree chart (obviously) and the letters from forever ago that I forgot the mention. Sorry! So I am going to work on a reply, but just wanted to let you know I got them. Church is true. Live it.
Elder Can You Spare a Soles, Hermano? Royal
Have a great week.
Mike
________________
Hey Family:
Well, it has been a long week, but I’ll try and keep this letter as up beat as possible. So today is President Solis’ last Preparation Day in the mission field. It was pretty cool, though. We left earlier this morning to a country club place and played basketball and tennis. President Solis is a great tennis player…not so great in basketball, haha, but it was fun. Here’s an interesting fact. When we were playing basketball it was all chill, just kinda having fun, somewhat competitive play, and then President shot it, and I totally packed him. Rejected! Haha! It was so funny…at least for me. Everyone else froze and kinda gave me a look like… “You just…did that…to the President?” It was awesome. I can’t remember who won because the President’s phone went off and he pulled it out of his sport pants and the game just kinda ended. Aside from that… I’ve been working today. Hooray. That’s usually how My Prep Days go. I don’t know if I’m just terrible at my job or what, but it seems like I am always having to do something.
So as long weeks go, this one went by really quick. I had a ton of work. July is quickly approaching which means I have to have all the money ready for the missionaries…and it’s just been insane. I finally have the new system figured out, and think it should turn out a lot better this month. June was an absolute nightmare, and it’s finally coming to a close – so I’m just praying to not have a repeat in July. So, I was completely occupied the entire week, and wasn’t able to get out and teach – which made me pretty sad. We have some good people that we are teaching, so I’d like to get out more – that and getting out of the office is ALWAYS nice. Seriously, when the phone rings in the office, it seems like it’s for me 90% of the time. But, I’m doing everything possible to keep my sanity. It’s almost working.
This coming week is gonna be very interesting. President Solis is leaving on July 1st, and President Chipman arrives the same day. The missionaries are going to take out money on that date, and will want to kill me if it’s not right this time – also on the 1st, and we have transfers – which has thus far proven to be taxing with so many making demands at the same time. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Actually, I am, it’s gonna be cool. It will be interesting to be in the office and receive a new president – and, according to Grandma Kelly’s amazing family history work, President Chipman and I are eighth (8th) cousins, three generations removed (or something like that). I have very little knowledge of what that means…but, we’re pretty much gonna be bros (ha).
Since Dad mentioned some embarrassing, dumb things he did while serving in the office during his mission, I figured I’d share the latest for me. We had some missionaries here for interviews the other day, and at the end of the day, I had to give them money to send them home. Now, they were all being rather difficult, giving me a pretty hard time - making demands, not being very patient. So I gave them money and asked them to please leave my office. I had to make a receipt with the amount and what for and - in my rather upset state - wrote: “Send little girls to Paita.” I completely forgot about that the next day as I went through all the receipts with President Solis. When he came to this receipt, we had the following conversation:
President: Eight-seven soles to send kids (he read it as niños : little boys) to Paita? What kids, Elder?
Me: Oh, right, (cough) that was the money for the Paita missionaries last night.
President: Don’t put little boys, Elder, little girls (he then saw niñas)! You put little girls! Elders, they are Elders, missionaries!
Anyway, awkward, yet I found a little humor in the midst of it all. Sorry, Dad, I know, it was dumb, and you have told me repeatedly to always refer to my fellow missionaries as Elder. Well, I walked into one there. You know, Dad, I remember first talking with you about that when Brad was on his mission. So, I’m working on it. I know it may not seem like it, but I really am growing with patience. I have just been so frustrated with all the office work, the problems/hassles with the money management - from bad protocols that existed before my arrival, to the mistakes I have made, to the audit, to the new system we are implementing, to my mistakes (did I mention that already?). I feel kind of chained to a desk, and have had so little time to proselyte. I really miss teaching, and hope I will become good enough with the money that I will find a way to do more teaching and testifying.
Well that’s all from here in Peru. Hope everyone is having an awesome summer. Jordan, Whitney, got letters from you guys this week. Thanks! Oh, and Grandma and Grandpa Kelly, I received the pedigree chart (obviously) and the letters from forever ago that I forgot the mention. Sorry! So I am going to work on a reply, but just wanted to let you know I got them. Church is true. Live it.
Elder Can You Spare a Soles, Hermano? Royal
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