Friday, April 23, 2010

ZLC Sleepover March 23rd

ZLC Sleepover March 23rd
Weather was COLD
Temp -- minus 10 F Wind 7-15 mph

Zone Leader Conference runs from 5pm one night to 3pm the next day. Zone leaders come from all of the cities in the mission to get instructions and discuss challenges they face in their cities. We often house some of them overnight between sessions of the conference.

After the first night of this ZLC we were to house 6 elders and so we all went down to the garage at the mission home together in the elevator to get the offered ride from President Trejo. The first challenge of this event was getting stuck in the elevator for 40 minutes. 

 After the building manager called someone to rescue us, they had to jack up the elevator car to the proper level so the door could open. Finally we got our ride as promised.

We have only two actual beds in the extra bedroom of our apartment so the other four elders had to be creative. It has become a bit of a status symbol to get your name on the "Simmons Wall of Fame" and so those who have not slept here are anxious to do so before we are released and leave for home.

We started this wall shortly after we arrived when we needed to house a sick sister so that her companion could continue to work with a member as her companion. We got her to put her name on the wall and it grew from there. We have several notables, a couple of semi-notables, and three almosts. The notables include some people from the Moscow service center, the Masons who did audit training and the Kirbishly's who headed a program for returned missionaries. We also had several long-termers like the Bowdens who stayed more than twenty nights and our friend Lelia from South Dakota who was the only one of our friends to actually come and visit us in Siberia. We also had several sisters stay over. Sister Tymochko stayed a week for some reason that I forget and several transient sisters stayed one night.


And then there were the "almosts" like Elder McBride who never stayed overnight but DID take a nap in the room one day and Elder Hinkson who never actually laid down in the guest room, but napped on our couch after three different ZLC events while waiting for his bus.

This particular night we had three in the bedroom, two on beds and one on a foam pad. In the living room we had the other three on the couch, the pull-out bed and another foam pad. Here they are trying to decide who will sleep where. We suspended the rules and gave all of them room on the wall so that was eliminated from the discussion.

Our office elders just don't get a chance to get their names on the wall because they live just a few blocks from us. It is a status they will not achieve, but they are high on our list of great elders. They help us, protect us, support us, carry our groceries up the stairs, and call our taxis. We could not ask for more from them, but if we did they would perform. We love our office elders.

All is well now among our 6 elders and the night passed peacefully. We enjoy having them and make every effort to make them comfortable and happy. Life for a missionary in Siberia is tough enough and we can only soften the edges. We pray for them all each morning and night for their safety and success.

What a great bunch of young men. What a country.
DS

2 comments:

Shannon Simmons said...

This is a fun post. Love you! This warms my heart...long live the wall!

Trisha said...

I really like this one. Not to say that I havnt liked the others but to see that you are still on the right track of being an awsome leader to those you serve. It is one of the many qualities I hope to gain from being your daughter.