TRANSFERS!



Dear Family and Friends,

In happy family news, we have a new granddaughter. Andrew and Stacy and the boys welcomed Lucy Eleanor Heap into their family on September 4th. She is so sweet and is adored by all. Our hearts are filled with joy that she has arrived, and we can't wait until she comes to see us!

A few fun facts you should know about Michigan:

·      The geese are not friendly.

·      The wild turkeys will try to eat your new lawn seed.

·      Michigan has the most lighthouses of any state.

·      A Michigan Party Store is not where you go to buy balloons and streamers.

 

Last week, we said goodbye to five wonderful missionaries. When we sent our own children on missions, I did my best not to cry at the airport because I knew they were doing something hard but great. Not one in a million would serve a mission. But now when our missionaries leave to go home, I have the same emotions I had when our own children would leave on their missions. Only now, I just go ahead and cry at the airport. These young men and young women have come to mean so much to us in a very short time.

 

I don’t have much time for crying though because we turn right around that afternoon and evening and go back to the airport to pick up more missionaries. “The recent numbers?” you ask?

·      Two days

·      Five trips to the airport

·      Seventeen new missionaries

·      Two delayed* bags

·      One very polite verbal reprimand from the Lansing Airport Police for leaving our car at the curb

·      A ton of Chick-fil-A

 

*The planes that come into Lansing are relatively small. If missionaries miss a connection, their luggage may make it here anyway. If the airplane is too heavy, their luggage may stay behind in Chicago or Detroit until the next day. The airlines like to say that the baggage is "delayed" not missing. It’s does sound better.

 

And now that those 17 new missionaries are settled, we will go back to the airport next week and pick up 21 more plus throw in a virtual mission tour, interviews in Kalamazoo, and much more. Of the 38 new missionaries, three have been in the mission field before and came home due to COVID. The other 35 need trainers. At the last zone conferences, we told the missionaries, “If you are not now in a trio, you soon will be. And if you are not now training a new missionary, get ready because you may be.”

 

We had the great privilege of accompanying some of our missionaries to the Detroit Temple earlier this month. It was a sweet experience. It was our first time being in the temple since before COVID. We have a total of 15 missionaries, so far, who will go to the Detroit Temple to be endowed. Next month, we will have about 230 missionaries in the Michigan Lansing Mission - more than we ever imagined! We have missionaries opening new areas where no one dreamed we would have missionaries serving, let alone speaking Spanish there. Even without a permanent place to live, they go to serve. Other missionaries are reopening areas that were closed when the quarantine first happened. It’s exciting! We are reminded of the earliest missionaries of the Restoration who went forward giving no thought for where they would sleep or what they would eat or even what they would say. Their example of relying wholly on the Lord is inspiring to us.

 

Here are some of the languages our missionaries speak. If you know anyone who lives in The Michigan Lansing Mission who would like to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ in any of these languages, let us know.

 

·      English

·      Spanish

·      Portuguese

·      Japanese

·      Dutch

·      Tagalog

·      French

·      German

·      Isizulu

·      Sesotho

·      Xhosa

·      Afrikaans

·      Korean

·      Twi

·      Cebuano

·      Chuukese

 

We love you all and are grateful for your support and prayers.

 

President and Sister Heap





Welcome Lucy!



8 lbs. 13 oz. and 21 inches
Happy to have a baby sister!


 

Sister Losee, Sister Bowden, Elder Compton (I called him Elder Straight-Outta-Compton) and Elder Richardson

Elders Griffin, Hall, us, Corry, Dunn, Ferreyra, Snitker, Nicolia, Duersch, Englebright, Kibbey with Sisters Pulsipher, Echols, and Hansen. Elder Schmanski's friend took this photo and cut him out of it. 😂

Elders Coons, Mitchell, Hamblin, and Belnap with President and Sister Heap, Elder Schmanski, and Elder Griffin


Sister Godwin


Our five departing MLM missionaries - well done!

The Elders of Sault Ste. Marie 💪- Stone, Sexton, and Tolson

The Detroit Temple

The award for best 10:45pm mission attire goes to Elder Braithwaite as we finally welcomed Elder Steward - lost luggage and all!

With Sister Paulsen and Sister Sauer in Jonesville

With Sister Daniels and Sister Pulsipher in Jackson


With Elder Bell and Elder Fink in Jackson


We do love it!


P.S. In the weekly email that the Assistants send out to the mission, they usually share an inspiring quote or story. Here is one from yesterday's email that I thought you would all love.


I want to share a brief little story with you, that I believe illustrates a powerful lesson. 

THE BUMMER LAMB 

Every once in a while, a ewe will give birth to a lamb and reject it. There are many reasons she may do this. If the lamb is returned to the ewe, the mother may even kick the poor animal away. Once a ewe rejects one of her lambs, she will never change her mind.
These little lambs will hang their heads so low that it looks like something is wrong with its neck. Their spirit is broken.
These lambs are called “bummer lambs.” Unless the shepherd intervenes, that lamb will die, rejected and alone. So, do you know what the shepherd does?
He takes that rejected little one into his home, hand-feeds it and keeps it warm by the fire. He will wrap it up with blankets and hold it to his chest so the bummer can hear his heartbeat. Once the lamb is strong enough, the shepherd will place it back in the field with the rest of the flock.
But that sheep never forgets how the shepherd cared for him when his mother rejected him. When the shepherd calls for the flock, guess who runs to him first?
That is right, the bummer sheep. He knows his voice intimately.
It is not that the bummer lamb is loved more, it just knows intimately the one who loves it.
It's not that it is loved more, it just believes it because it has experienced that love one on one.
So many of us are bummer lambs, rejected and broken. But He is the good Shepherd. He cares for our every need and holds us close to His heart so we can hear His heartbeat.
We may be broken but we are deeply loved by the Shepherd.
The Lord is MY shepherd. I’m a bummer lamb.

Author- Unknown

We hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love, Elders Griffin & Schmanski

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