Starting Strong...ish

I suppose I entered this assignment as North Carolina Mission Secretary with a little bit of swagger.  I had, after all, been working in a law firm doing secretarial and paralegal work for more than 20 years. I did understand, from my week of training in the Provo MTC, that the software and reporting systems used by the Church for its mission offices worldwide was unique, and quite different from any program I had used before.  But  I was a professional on the computers, so good grief, how hard could this be?

After a week in the office, I'm truly humbled. First of all, there's a whole alphabet soup of new terminology to learn.  DL, ZL, STL, MLC, plus the names of all the areas, districts and zones in the mission.  On my first night in Raleigh (Thursday, April 20), Sis. Stuart, the outgoing mission secretary, handed me a mobile phone and told me that every call coming to the mission office came in on that phone, and I was to keep it on me 24/7.  I handle all incoming communications not only by phone, but by email as well. I'm the gatekeeper for all communications from parents to their missionary sons or daughters (through President James). And Pres. James sends and receives text messages on that phone as well. 

In addition to communications, I order all supplies used by the missionaries, supplies used in the office, and am responsible to keep the machines functioning.  Ask me how fun it was when our color printer malfunctioned the morning I had to print 100 copies of a ten-page mission newsletter, and I had to print it on my desktop printer instead.

And how could I have forgotten, in the two years since I saw Pres. James last, that he never sleeps?  I worked for him for those 20+ years!  If there is a person on the planet who works harder or longer than Pres. James, I don't know who that could possibly be.  He and Sister James are constantly traveling to various stake conferences, mission president meetings, and far-flung areas of the mission, teaching, training, and loving the missionaries.

I know this seems like one long complaint, but I am on a steep learning curve and it doesn't show any signs of leveling out any time soon.  The first transfer is coming up on May 8, coincidentally my birthday, and I'm told that transfer day (welcoming the new missionaries in fresh from the airport) and May 9 (saying farewell to returning missionaries) are both very very very very long days for all office personnel. 

But, to end on a positive note, the young Elders and Sisters are so vibrant, so eager and full of enthusiasm for the work and faith in Jesus Christ, that it makes all my efforts pale in comparison.  I will be able to learn what I need to do, and someday soon will find joy in the work instead of anxiety.  I'm certain of that!  Because I came on this mission to serve the Lord, and He doesn't ask anything of me that I cannot accomplish with His help.

Sister Ambrose
North Carolina Raleigh Mission Secretary