Servant Leadership

Servant Leadership: The best kind of leadership in a mission, or in any part of life, is the type that seeks first to serve those that he/she  leads.  The Savior taught to be " the least among them"..... Each Thursday as our Zone Leaders gather in the mission office to pick up mail, publications, reimbursements, etc. for their zone, I am grateful we inherited such great young men that have been willing to put extra time into providing leadership and great examples, in their respective zones.

This coming week there is a transfer and there will be changes with the Leadership of the Mission. It will be a great time for Elders to realize that Leadership is to be shared and rotated. I can see the model of "drafting" in place in this change.  President Dunn and I love riding bikes and we benefit greatly from "drafting" on our bikes.  In essence, it is the concept of leading from the front of a line of cyclists and pulling them along and then taking turns and moving to the back of the line. It is a form of leadership that allows you to constantly move from leader to follower and back.  It does not matter where you are in the line of cyclists, you can pull your weight and help the entire effort move forward.

It will be exciting to get this notion of "drafting" into the psyche of the mission.  As leaders rotate to followers and new Elders are moved into leadership, the entire mission will be strengthened.  It is important to remember that a leader cannot lead, without followers. To be a follower that has had leadership experience, you have more empathy, understanding and ability to sustain those in leadership.  The church is so great in regards to our many opportunities to "cycle" through multiple leadership and follower-ship opportunities during our lifetime in the church.

Sister Hansen always has a treat prepared for zone leaders when they come on Thursdays. Today, she went all out and prepared a homemade shrimp salad and placed it in small little lettuce bowls. The Elders are pretty lucky to have her care and love, supporting them in their efforts.

They are looking today at some of the new maps that are being created to organize flat inspections from office couples. There is often a few minutes to chat and come together briefly with the current zone leaders when they stop by on Thursdays.

These are the zone boxes that can be filled with items for individual Elders. Many order publications for their investigators and sometimes they get mail and packages from home. Today, the contents are limited because there has been a mail strike since early September.  Very few packages arrive these days and I am sorry for our Elders not to be able to receive things from home at this point in time.

Elder Davies, Elder Ndikumanu, Elder Stephens, Elder Pederson

Elders George, Kolditz, Menendez, Farnes, Wilkinson, Ranjato and Koyle.

Assistant Davies, President Dunn, Menendez, Dye, George, Farnes, Wilkinson, Ranjato and Koyle. Assistant Stephens, Menendez, Kolditz and Kelebogile. 

Speaking  of being a great leader and a follower, we honor Elder Widdison for his contribution and time on his mission so far. We are saying good-bye to him at the airport as he has to take a medical leave transfer to get some needed treatment on an injured back. However, as we took him to the airport and spent time with him over dinner, it was so clear how he has grasped the concept of leading from wherever he is, with a wonderful example. He has also been a great follower and supporter of his trainer, senior companion, district leader and zone leader. It was impressive to realize how much he has thrown himself into the work in the short 4.5 months he has been in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission-(SAJM.)  We are praying for his recovery and hoping to get him back into to SAJM and in the mission field as soon as possible.

Great district group offered support. They even cut their hair the same to show support for Widdison as a team. Elders Barton, Van Heerdan, Widdison and Holloway!!