Vision Without Work is Daydreaming

  Still waiting for her ducklings to arrive.

In professional, business, scientific, and technological life there is a rule which can be a very good rule for ambitious people.  The rule is, "Find a vacuum and expand into it."  Ask yourself, "What is there that needs doing and is not being done?"  Then assess your capacity for doing things and let it be your ambition to do the work that you can do best, in an area where it is needed most, and put all your mind into it.

Elder and Sister Boynton from Orem, Utah. 

Currently assigned to the Daytona Beach Ward as Member Leadership Support,
doing the work that they do best.

(Elder Boynton served as the Mission President in Italy in 2004-2007.)                            

 

The countdown continues. Our "vision" this past week was to tie up all the loose ends prior to the Saturday and Sunday broadcast of the 184th Session of General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 5th and 6th, 
and of course transfer day, Tuesday, April 8th. 

 

We made our list, checked it twice, put on our running shoes, and hit the road.

One of our first stops was to DeLand to renew a lease, and make final arrangements to secure a new apartment for the Elders in the area. No, we really didn't need a police escort to get the job done, but in the interest of time it would have been nice :)

The DeLand Stake Center where we met and picked up the Elders, who were there working on their iPads, to get their approval on a possible apartment in their area.

 

 

 

 

Success!  Laurel Oaks, an actual apartment complex in good condition, the right size and in their area.  Just exactly what we were looking for! One down, one to go.

 

 

Many of the apartment complexes in Florida require that you sign the renewal leases in person. So we noted the additional stops to our already crazy list and made a big circle from the office back to the office stopping in DeLand, Lake Mary and Orlando.

 

 

Early in the week we were asked, once again, to find a new home

for missionaries in Poinciana.

 

The Mission President had decided to place sister missionaries in Poinciana

and he wanted it done by transfer time!

 

We knew through personal experience that Sister Missionaries serving in Poinciana would be such a blessing to the Branch, we just had to have faith that it could be done.

 

We had looked and looked in the past and found nothing that would work.  The homes we found were either, too big, too beat up and broken down or in too dangerous an area. But the Mission President was counting on us, so we did some additional research, said a little prayer and set to work.

 

The Readers Digest version of the story is simply this: We actually discovered two possibilities. The first home was in need of serious TLC, but it fit the criteria of size and location. The second home was a little larger than what we liked, but it was right around the corner from the first home and it looked in better condition. Of course both homes were locked up tight, thank goodness for windows. But then something wonderful happened.  When we initiated a conversation with a gentleman standing in the driveway of the second duplex, as we often do as missionaries, we learned that he represented the property management company that both homes were listed with.  It gets better, he had keys to both places and agreed to show us them, right then and there.  But wait, that is not the best thing.  He happened to be the actual owner of the second duplex and his wife was the broker!  If you have ever read our blog before you would know that we have not had the best experiences with Florida Realtors.  They often stand us up, frequently ignore us and never, ever return phone calls.  After a quick look see we decided on our preference he made a quick call to his wife and she waited for us to arrive at her office mere 30 minutes later.

 

 

Apparently it is not a myth after all.  On top of finding a new home for the Sister Missionaries in Poinciana we discovered an actual money tree :) 

 That's a good sign right?  It must mean that business is doing well.

The day just got better and better.

 

Camera shy, Paradise One Realtor-Beverly Simmons.  I told her that she was a rare find in Florida and I wanted to capture her on film.  A warm and friendly realtor willing to do business with us?  It's a miracle!

 

As missionaries our world revolves around transfers.  It is truly a labor of love that takes a huge amount of time, careful consideration and humble prayer by the Mission President and the two Assistants to the President, Elder Patten and Reay.  We are only advised of their final decision days before.  As a result, and due to the number of missionaries expected to arrive and the large number of missionaries scheduled to depart in May and September no new apartments needed to be opened this transfer.  But 6 apartments would now accommodate three missionaries instead of two. So extra beds, dressers and desks needed to be delivered by before Tuesday, and it was already Friday!  Let's not forget the new duplex in Poinciana that also needed to be furnished.

There was only one thing we could do.  We called out the troops and divided and conquered.  We left Elder Nielson in the office to answer the phones while Elder and Sister Gordon headed in one direction and we headed in the other.

 

 

Knock, knock, is anyone home?  Sadly it looked like all the missionaries were out "inviting" and we were on our own to load up the needed furniture to set up the Poinciana duplex.

 

 

Home sweet home?  Not quite yet. 

Because we had given the owner of the Poinciana duplex such short notice before moving in we agreed to place the furniture in the middle of the rooms to allow him to finish painting and getting the duplex ready before Monday.

 

  Before

 

  After

Before

  After

As I mentioned before, beds, dressers and desks needed to be delivered and one such place was in Melbourne.  Unfortunately the Sister Missionaries weren't home to greet us, but they did leave a lengthy note.

Dear Busath's the note began.  "Here is our rent bill.  Also... our vacuum cleaner isn't working...we left it out so you could look at it.  Our kitchen faucet is broken and so is one of the nobs in the shower.  Not sure how we can fix them.  Thanks for all you do!"

You have to love them!

What could we do?  Elder Busath hurried out to the truck to gather up his tools and made quick work on the kitchen faucet.  It would eventually need to be replaced, but that was the apartment complexes job, as was the bathroom faucet so we left our own note advising the sisters to contact the apartment office and request it.

 

 

Their vacuum cleaner was another story. After careful examination it was determined that long hair and powdered room deodorizer were the culprits.  We keep encouraging our missionaries (especially our long haired Sister Missionaries) to check their vacuum cleaners regularly, but our advice seems to fall on deaf ears.  A quick snip, snip with a pair of scissors and often times it is good as new. 

 

Using powdered room deodorizer is a great idea to freshen up a stale apartment in theory, only if you plan to empty your vacuum canister after it's use.  But hello it is humid in Florida, yes even in an air conditioned apartment.  So the powder quickly turns into clumps that seriously clogs up a vacuum cleaner suctioning ability making it useless.

After a short hair cut, a wash, rinse and dry the vacuum cleaner was a whole new person, ready to rock and roll.

 

 

Our first tomato, life is good!

 

Work is basically what we do. 

What the public takes for brilliance is really the result of thorough, painstaking investigation and downright hard work.  Were we to be deprived of work, we should be robbed of our greatest field of enjoyment and be forever condemned to mediocrity. (Constant Truths in Changing times, May 26, 1967, BYU)

 

 

 

In an interview, the actor Michael Caine told how his mother encouraged him to be like a duck-calm on the surface but always paddling like crazy underneath.

 

We are paddling like crazy, how about you?

 

Please be advised that we are off to California for four very busy days following transfers, so we won't be posting to our Blog until April 20th.

Why?

To be present at our precious new grandson, Wade Arthur Peterson's, blessing, to witness our incredible daughter Katie marry her sweetheart, Joshua Chance,

 and of course to hug, kiss and hug some more

all 6 of our kids, their spouses

and all 13 of our grandchildren!

 

Dreams come true to those who work while they dream, sweet dreams!