President & Sister Humphrey, Pulsiphers

President & Sister Humphrey have been awesome to work with.  They are doing a terrific job. Their schedule is unbelievable.  When we've talked about it he just says it has been non-stop for the last 2.4 years.  Here is just a sample and we don't know all the details.  All we see is the calendar.

• Monday November 12.  Preparation Day - well sometimes it is.  Final interviews with 1 Elder and 1 Sister going home.  Take them to the Airport and whatever else they do for missionaries going home.  200 emails from the missionaries hit your inbox today.  You need to answer each one individually.
• Tuesday November 13.  Cambios (Transfers) - That means you have already spent a good amount of time in thoughtful prayer figuring out who should be paired up with who, knowing these decisions must be inspired and have eternal consequences.  You only have to figure out where to send each particular missionary so they can find the person they were supposed to find. (no pressure).  5 new Elders and 3 new Sisters arrive, pick them up at the airport, make sure each of them know you love them, interview them, hold a training meeting with them, assign them to their first areas and companions.  They all are like deer caught in headlights only they are dogged tired from an all night flight from the US.  Yes, they go to work that afternoon.
• Wednesday November 14.  District Meetings.
• Thursday November 15 - Sunday November 18.  Time to get ready for the upcoming conferences and meetings.  Work on personally answering the 200 emails that you get every week - Yes EVERY WEEK!!!
• Monday November 19.  Mission wide District Leaders Council in Chillán - 3.5 hours.  You are the main speaker and trainer for 3.5 hours.  Be ready to inspire and teach the district leaders.  They hang on every word you say.
• Tuesday November 20.  District Meetings.  Better get working on the 200 emails from the missionaries that filled your inbox yesterday.
• Wednesday November 21.  Special Training Meeting for the Penco and Andalien Zones - 3 hours.  Yep, you're the main speaker and trainer.  Subject - teach the missionaries to teach like the Savior taught.  Still have not finished all of the emails.  Pulsiphers arrive at the mission home.  Treat them like they are special guests.  Get ready for tomorrow.  Follow up with Pulsiphers on misisonary who had symptoms of appendicitis - Pulsiphers took him to the clinic in Talca and arrived late at the mission home.  BTW, Sister Humphrey is the mother/nurse to all 200 missionaries and is dealing with health issues nearly everyday.  She also has to speak in all the meetings.  Pretty interesting since she never spoke any Spanish before her mission.  We are now helping her out some with the misisonaries in the northern part of the mission.
• Thursday November 22, Thanksgiving.  Only having 14 this year.  Meeting with assistants during the day, do not forget those emails.  Work on meetings for next week.  Need to have the new theme including power point presentation  ready for a monthly mission council meeting with all the Zone Leaders next Monday - another 3 hour training meeting.
• Friday November 23.  Special Training Meeting for Parral and Linares Zones - 3 hours.  You again.  Teach them how to teach like the Savior.  Emails?  Go to Almuerzo (main meal) with the Pulsiphers at 3 pm in Talca.
• Saturday November 24.  District Conference in Parral this weekend.  Meet with district presidency at 3 pm.  4 pm - Priesthood Leadership Meeting.  You're the Mission President/Presiding Office/General Authority.  You have to take most of the time.  When did you prepare for this meeting?  6:30 pm Adult Session of Parral District Conference.  You are given the last hour.  Better be inspiring.  Several members need to meet with you after the meeting.  1 hour drive after the meeting to the hotel in Talca.  Go to grocery store at 10:30 pm to buy enough cookie packages for everyone (about 40) that comes to conference tomorrow from Cauquenes by a chartered bus (1 hour).
• Sunday November 25.  Parral District Conference.  Nearly 300 attend from the 4 branches of the district.  You take the last hour.  Very inspiring.  Spend an hour after the meeting greeting everyone.  Hope you remember their names from the last time you saw them.  Pass out the cookies to the Cauquenes members going home on the bus.  After about 2 hours I remembered that 2 of the speakers at the conference were members that I had given temple recommend interviews to about 2 weeks ago.  I knew they looked familiar.
• Oh, did I mention that you have to do all of this in SPANISH, which you haven't really spoken much in over 40 years?
• Tomorrow you get another 200 emails.

When I was a stake president a member of my stake naively asked me, "What do you have to do to become a mission president?"  If I could only remember his name.........