August Mission Leadership Council

Sister Missionaries at Time Out For Women in Birmingham!

Hi y'all, Sister Austin, Blog Moderator, here.  This past weekend I was able to attend Time Out for Women (a motivational/spiritual miniconference for women presented by Deseret Book) in Birmingham.  While I was there, I saw a few of our Sister Missionaries also in attendance!  I asked them if I could take their pictures and post them on the blog.  




Most of the work I do on the blog is technical work in the background.  I rely on others in the mission to send in the pictures and descriptions of events.  So I was geekishly excited to be the one taking the picture and to meet the missionaries I often only know through pictures. They were very sweet and there was much hugging :)

Also, to the parents and family out there, the Sisters say "Hi!" and that they loved the event.

(I'm sure there were more but these were the only companionships I could find.)

Birmingham Zone Conference

Montgomery Zone Conference

Tupelo Zone Conference

Huntsville Zone Conference

Senior Couple Spotlight: The Kellys

Elder Rodney and Sister Bonnie Kelly

Three months before the sixth year anniversary of being called as a Bishop in Tampa FL, retired Marine Corps Major Rod Kelly was prompted that he and his wife should serve a mission.    Papers went in soon thereafter and just weeks after that release, Elder Rodney and Sister Bonnie Kelly departed for the Missionary Training Center, en route to service as a Military Relations Senior Couple at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL.  They’ll be completing a year of their service in September 2014.

In retrospect, perhaps they could have seen it coming even sooner: as converts in adulthood, they had already sent off two sons and two daughters on missions of their own – sons to Dallas TX and Japan; daughters to Louisiana and Chile.  As a military family, they all had considerable experience with relocations to distant places.  Further, as is most often the case in military units of the Church, opportunities for service abounded.  Elder Kelly served as a Counselor in four bishoprics before his own, as well as having been a Scoutmaster, Young Men’s Counselor, Elders Quorum President, Executive Secretary, five times as a ward clerk: clearly he was no stranger to demanding callings in The Church.   Sister Kelly, enjoyed the same levels and types of callings as well: Young Women’s President and counsellor, Relief Society President and counsellor, nine years as a Gospel Principles teacher  (not to mention those six children).  

Current calling?  Absolutely the best calling in The Church

August Baptisms!

Welcome to all of our new friends in the Church!  What beautiful glowing faces!

July Transfers Part I

Still playing catch up!  Hence the July transfers...in September.  

We'll get up to date eventually.  In the meanwhile, enjoy!

- Sister Austin


Leaving on a Jet Plane!

July Transfers Part II- here come the New Arrivals!!!

New Arrivals With President and Sister Hanks
New Arrivals with their companions

August Transfers

Sister Jones, the Mission Nurse, teaches missionaries about stress

In the middle of a day long zone conference, sometimes the message is lost on administrative and health issues.

Recognizing this, Sister Jones - the Mission Nurse - and her husband come up with entertaining and imaginative ways of getting their message across - with maybe a little gentle skewering of the people she depicts.  This video is the introduction to a presentation on dealing with the inevitable stress that many missionaries feel in their daily lives.  In this video, you can begin to understand the approaches that the mission leadership try to help alleviate it without contributing to it:

• The Mission President who is always emphasizing the spreading of the Gospel among everyone encountered.
• The Mission President's wife who is ALWAYS so upbeat and cheerleading!
• The 1st Counsellor who also does a lot of the picture taking for the blog
• The Mission Secretary whose continuously upbeat phone answering are on display.
• The Car Czar who's always emphasizing the safety dimension,
• The Financial Clerk, whose able to manage to get the right amount of money to the right missionary all the time.
• The Housing Clerk, whose real emphasis is on getting and maintaining clean apartments. 
• And, of course, the Mission Nurse Herself.

Hope you find it as enjoyable as the Elders and Sisters!

From Sister Jones on Stress 1

June Temple Trip Part I

Note from Sister Austin: Sorry the blog has been inactive for song!  Life got in the way for a few weeks, but I'm back on task with lots of new and exciting content for you from the Alabama Birmingham Mission!  Keep checking back because there should be new stuff on the blog EVERY SINGLE DAY THIS WEEK :)

Also, to make it up to you, I give you two slideshows of our amazing missionaries on their June Temple Trip!

June Temple Trip Part II