A Glimpse Behind the Scenes: What Keeps Us Busy?

Ever wondered what Ross & Krysti actually do all day?  While we know why we're here, the day-to-day can be quite varied and surprisingly busy!  We've been asked a lot about our roles, so we thought we'd share a snapshot of a typical week.  This is what we did last week (the week before Christmas).

Krysti's Week:

·        Missionary Applications: Krysti tackles around 42 missionary applications each week.  This involves a lot of detective work, making sure all the paperwork is complete, uploading documents, and often untangling the complexities of names that don't match across different records due to local naming traditions and customs.

·        Stake President Notifications:  She sends out weekly emails to Stake Presidents who have missionaries that received a mission call. 

·        Temple Patron Assistance Fund (TPAF) Applications:  Krysti receives, processes and notifies applicants of their Stake President’s TPAF applications.  TPAF is where the church provides transportation, food, temple clothing, and housing for members to allow them to attend the temple for the 1^st time, where otherwise they could not afford to make it.  There are about 20-30 per week. 

·        Training Outline: She developed a training outline for the Area Presidency to be used to train Area Organizational Advisors (they do not have them in the USA).

·        Conference Prep: Krysti helped secure passports and visas for new Area Organizational Advisors so they could attend the April conference in Salt Lake City.

·        Spiritual Nourishment: Weekly Sister scripture study with other Sister missionaries is always an important part of the week.

·        Directory Update: She also assisted in updating the senior missionary directory with everyone's photos.

·        Pickleball:  Krysti gets up at 5:30 am to play pickleball 2-3 times per week.

 

Ross's Week:

·        High-Level Meetings: Ross participates in monthly video calls with Elder Christofferson and Elder Ringwood to discuss matters in the Africa West Area.  He also has weekly meetings with the Area Presidency, where the focus is always on how decisions impact the members.  It's inspiring to see how unified they are in their decision-making!

·        Missionary Support: He reviews emergency missionary transfers/releases, often due to health reasons, and informs the Area Presidency of special cases.

·        Apostle Visit Logistics: Ross is currently immersed in planning the itinerary for a visit from a member of the Quorum of the Twelve – a complex task involving travel, accommodation, meeting agendas, security, and coordinating with political leaders (including Presidents of two countries!).  The itinerary is constantly changing. 

·        Area Training:  He prepares the training agendas for the Area Presidency to use to train Mission Presidents, Area Seventy, and Stake & District Presidents. 

·        Audit Reviews: He met with auditors from Salt Lake City to discuss two cases of financial irregularities that were appealed.

·        Meeting Prep: Ross prepares the agendas for Area Presidency meetings, Area Council, and Area Reviews.

·        MTC Coordination: He coordinates the Area Presidency's speaking engagements at the Missionary Training Center.

·        Interfaith and Humanitarian Efforts: Ross also helped coordinate events for a Baptist youth group sponsored by the NAACP, including Rev.  Dr Amos Brown, joined by our Church youth and some SLC senior leaders.  He met with the CEO of The Hunger Project (a fantastic organization we partner with).  Ross is also working on an initiative to help a West African nation (they asked the church for help) improve its agricultural education; amazingly, the day after receiving the request, he heard from a retired agricultural professor looking for a mission opportunity in Africa – a true testament to how things often fall into place!  This is Heaven’s Department of Circumstance and Happenstance staying busy doing its thing.

·        Protocol and Administration: He handled invitations for a Presidential Christmas Dinner for senior leaders of the church and approves expenses for a large team of senior missionaries, Area Seventy, and the Area Presidency.

·        Email Mountain: There are always emails – 232 of them this week, most of which Ross knew what to do with, the others … are learning opportunities!

·        Long Hours: The time difference with Salt Lake City means long days, often starting around 6 AM and ending after 10 PM.

 

As you can see, our weeks are packed with a mix of administrative tasks, strategic planning, and, most importantly, opportunities to serve and make a difference.