Our work day begins at 8:30 a.m. Monday to Friday after we make a 7 minute drive to the office from our apartment. After turning the phone off of "night" which enables it to ring (forgot that little step once and boy was it peaceful in the office!) we and our other office couple, Elder and Sister Shumway (from Las Vegas) gather for our morning devotional. We listen to a beautiful hymn or song from the Tabernacle Choir, or occasionally children singing from The Children's Songbook, then we have a prayer to begin our day. After prayer we recite the mission scripture of the month - hopefully from memory - then we recite, also from memory sort of, Our Missionary Purpose and The Standard of Truth. After that we study in "Preach My Gospel" for anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes. We are learning quite a lot!
After devotional we each head to our various desks, boot up our computers, and begin our work day. I check emails frequently for important notes from our Mission President, new Missionary Recommendations, travel plans for incoming and outgoing missionaries, and baptism photos and paragraphs sent in from our missionaries about recent converts. I use those in "The Liahona" which is our monthly mission newsletter which I am in charge of. This past one I just finished for September was 10 pages long!!! It is emailed to the Missionaries, Stake Presidents, and Bishops and Branch Presidents in our mission. Part of it is photocopied and mailed to the Missionaries.
I have on my desk a large binder that is titled "Secretary Bible" and that it truly is. It is full of checklists to be done for Incoming and Outgoing Missionaries. I write TONS of letters to Missionaries, parents, Bishops, Stake Presidents. I can now easily operate a very fancy scanner and, what's more important, find the document on the computer!!! I am also trained on our postage thingy which will enable me to get a job in the Post Office upon my return home. I can figure out the postage for ANYTHING to be sent ANYWHERE!
Elder Smart, also, spends his day at his computer paying bills, paying utilities, funding the missionaries, calling missionaries who phone or text too much on their cell phones and showing "sympathy" to those Elders (not Sisters!) who find themselves with 14 cents in their account with 2 weeks to go until they are funded again. Lately he has been earning money by getting utility companies to refund back sales tax which we should't have had to pay. He has mastered the computer very well. He occasionally has spare time so I have managed to put him to work.
Our day at work is supposed to end at 5:30 p.m. but it is usually at least 6:00 when we leave the office. We are working very hard but actually enjoying it. It is so good to feel needed and useful at our age! We highly recommend this as a way for our senior friends and family to spend 18 months of their retirement.
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