Washington Federal Way Mission
information
Sister
Cassandra Swapp
Pres. Eaton is the first president of this mission. He is a lawyer and an author of LDS books and was previously a professor of religion at BYU-Idaho. Among other things, he wrote Thrust in Your Sickle, But Watch Your Fingers.
This
mission created in 2013 includes 8 stakes and a population of about
700,000 people. Major cities include Federal Way, Kent, Renton, and
Puyallup. Auburn is also in this mission, which is interesting, as
Cassandra's father served part of his mission in Auburn, California.
Tacoma is just to the southeast, and the Seattle-Tacoma Airport and
Seattle are a short distance to the north, but they are not part of
this mission, although Burien, near the airport, is. There are
coastal areas on Puget Sound in Federal Way and Des Moines. The
mission office is in Maple Valley, which is off to the east, closer
to the pretty, forested areas. Mt. Rainier is within the mission
boundaries. The closest temple is the Seattle Temple in Bellevue,
which is outside of this mission, but Cassandra says she may be able
to visit the temple a couple of times during her mission.
Seattle Temple
Stakes
within this mission:
Federal
Way, Auburn, Kent, Renton, Renton North, Puyallup,
Puyallup South, Maple Valley
Originally
a logging settlement, the area was first called "Federal Way"
in 1929, when Federal Way School District #210 was created. The name
derived from Federal Highway U.S. 99 (now State Route 99 or Pacific
Highway South), which ran from Everett and Seattle to Tacoma.
Federal Way High School opened in 1930, and the local Chamber of
Commerce adopted the name in the early 1950s. The
city was incorporated in 1990. Federal Way is home to Weyerhaeuser,
the largest private owner of softwood timberland in the world.
35.9% of the households have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% are married couples living together, 14.0% have a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% have a male householder with no wife present, and 33.6% are non-families. 26.3% of all households are made up of individuals, and 7.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older.
Chronology
of Cassandra's mission
| 10/06/13 | Received her call to the Washington Federal Way Mission. |
| 12/15/13 | Farewell in Washington, Utah (incl. a family choir) |
| 12/18/13 | Entered the MTC in Provo, Utah. |
| Early January 2014 | Flew to Seattle-Tacoma Airport and was assigned to serve in the King Zone (?). |
| Spring 2014 October 2014 December 2014 21 March 2015 |
Transferred to serve in the Lakota Creek Ward, pretty much in
the center of Federal Way, not far from Pacific Highway and Dash
Point Road. Transferred to serve in Renton Returned home Engaged to marry Dylan Harding Marriage in the St. George Temple |
Texas
Lubbock Mission information
Elder
Matthew Young
Pres.
David Heap (HeapDS@LDSChurch.Org?)
6310
114th Street
Lubbock,
TX 79424
Tel.
(806)794-1441
The
Texas Lubbock Mission covers an area that is very flat with hundreds
of miles of farmland and very small towns. It is a very rural area,
predominantly farm and ranch country. The climate is very dry.
And this is the same mission that Matthew's Aunt Sue served in in the 1980s!
And this is the same mission that Matthew's Aunt Sue served in in the 1980s!
Pres. Heap was just called as the mission president of this mission. He is 57 years old and is from Bozeman, Montana. He is a former stake president, bishop, elders quorum president and missionary in the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. He has worked as an LDS Institute director/coordinator.
THE CHURCH
There
are very strong members in the mission, and there are many branches
and some smaller wards. The typical branch size is around 40 people
or fewer. There is a temple in Lubbock, and most of the eligible
adults are endowed. The youth are very active, but smaller numbers
than most places in the United States.
Lubbock Temple
TRANSPORTATION
Aside
from limited transportation in Amarillo and Lubbock, there is very
little public transportation. Missionaries have cars and bikes, and
often drive cars to leave the town they are in or to visit members
who may live outside of town.
SAFETY
While
crime is not a big issue in most of the Texas Lubbock Mission,
missionaries should still be aware of their surroundings in order to
avoid potentially dangerous situations. Occasional biking accidents
are usually preventable by using good judgment and following mission
rules.
The
northern panhandle area of Texas is part of “Tornado Alley,” and
missionaries in that area should be ready to take the necessary
precautions during a severe storm when there is a tornado threat
(generally occurring between May and July).
Sunscreen
is essential. It is common for missionaries to go help people on
their farms or ranches, so jeans and a sturdy pair of shoes can be
helpful.
CUSTOMS
Cowboy
and Texas culture is still quite prominent in much of western Texas.
Amarillo hosts the annual Tri-State Fair and Rodeo each September.
Football
is also extremely popular in Texas. High school and college football
games are quite popular. Texas Tech University is located in
Lubbock, and many in the surrounding area are big fans.
A
majority of the people carry a firearm, open or concealed.
ADDITIONAL INFO
There
are many interesting sites located within the boundaries of the
Texas Lubbock Mission, including Carlsbad Caverns National Park,
Roswell, NM (site of the infamous 1947 UFO incident), and Mackenzie
Park and the National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock. Another
unique site is Cadillac Ranch, located in Amarillo. Several
Cadillacs are placed nose-first in the ground, and people are
allowed to come and spray paint the cars any way they want.
Stakes
within this mission:
Amarillo,
Roswell, Lubbock, Abilene, Odessa, Fort Stockton District
This
mission extends to the Mexican border and includes places in
Texas:
Lubbock, Amarillo, Odessa, Pecos, Abilene, San Angelo (incl. the
Yearning for Zion Ranch)
New
Mexico: Hobbs, Carlsbad (incl. the caverns), Roswell (incl. the alien
landing site), Clovis, Tucumcari
Lubbock
is a city in the
northwestern
part of Texas
not too far from the New Mexico border (the eastern part of which is
included in the mission boundaries), a region known historically and
geographically as the Llano Estacado and part of the southern end of
the Western High Plain. The city is home to three universities:
Lubbock Christian University, Texas Tech University, and Texas Tech
University Health Sciences Center.
Lubbock's
nickname is the "Hub City", which derives from it being
the economic, education, and health care hub of a multicounty region
north of the Permian Basin and
south of the Texas Panhandle,
commonly called the South Plains.
The area is the largest contiguous cotton-growing
region in the world and is heavily dependent on irrigation water.
So Matthew comes from an area with a similar agricultural history.
The
County of Lubbock was founded in 1876, named after Thomas Saltus Lubbock, former Texas Ranger and brother of Francis R. Lubbock, Governor of
Texas during the Civil War. As early as 1884, a federal post office
named Lubbock existed in Yellow House Canyon.
However, the town of Lubbock was not founded until 1890, when it was
formed from a unique merger arrangement between two smaller towns,
"Old Lubbock" and Monterey. The terms of the compromise
included keeping the Lubbock name, but the Monterey townsite, so the
previous Old Lubbock residents relocated south to the Monterey
location, including putting Old Lubbock's Nicolette Hotel on rollers
and pulling it across a canyon to its new home.
There
are three universities, and one of them (along with a Bible
institute) is affiliated with Churches of Christ. A Baptist
university also operates a branch campus in Lubbock.
In
1951, the “Lubbock Lights” phenomenon occurred in the city, when
several sightings of unidentified flying objects were documented. In
1970, the city was hit by a tornado, which killed 26 people. The
Metro Tower is believed to be the tallest building ever to survive a
direct hit by an F5 tornado.
Lubbock
is about 3,250 feet above sea level. Lubbock has a mild, semi-arid
climate.
On average, Lubbock receives 19 inches of rain and 8.2 inches of
snow per year.
Summers
in Lubbock are hot, with 78 days of 90° F. highs and 7 days of 100°
F. Due to the aridity and elevation, temperatures remain above 70°
F. only on a few nights. The highest recorded temperature was 114°
F. on June 27, 1994.
Winter
days in Lubbock are typically sunny and relatively mild, but nights
are cold, with temperatures usually dipping below freezing.
According
to a 2013 Census estimate, Lubbock had a population of 239,538.
The metro area has an estimated population
of 301,038. The racial make-up of
the city is about 76% Whites, 8.6% African Americans, 0.7% Native
Americans, 2.4% Asians, 0.1% Pacific Islanders, and 11% of other
races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 32.1% of the
population. Non-Hispanic Whites were
55.7% of the population in 2010, down from 77.2% in 1970. At the
2010 census, 31.4% of the households had children under the age of
18 living with them, 40.9% were headed by married couples living
together, 14.0% and had a female householder with no husband
present. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and
7.9% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The
National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration, an annual event
celebrating the prototypical Old
West cowboy,
takes place in Lubbock in September.
Chronology
of Matthew's mission
| By 18 April 2014 | Received
his call to the Texas Lubbock Mission Matthew and his cousin David Swapp opened their mission calls on the same day with family present in their grandparents' home. |
| Farewell service in Washington, Utah | |
| 06/11/14 | Entered the MTC in Provo, Utah |
| Late June 2014 | Traveled
to Lubbock, Texas and assigned to work in Dexter, New
Mexico in the Artesia Ward Mailing address: P.O. Box 67 Dexter, NM 88230 Residence: 110 W. 3rd Street, Dexter, NM Matthew is serving in a state that (barely) touches his home state of Utah, but his location is a 12-hour drive from his home in Washington, Utah. Transferred to work in Lubbock in the Canyon West Ward, about a 15-minute walk from the Lubbock Temple |
Minnesota
Minneapolis Mission information
Elder
David Swapp
Pres.
Stephen W. Forbes (ForbesSW@LDSChurch.Org?)
5931 W. 96th Street
5931 W. 96th Street
Bloomington,
MN 55438
Pres.
Forbes is the new mission president as of July 2014. He is 58 years
old and from Colorado. He has been a counselor in a stake
presidency, bishop, high councilor, ward clerk, and Scoutmaster. He
is a corporate attorney.
Minnesota
has a lot of farmland with people of Scandinavian and German
descent. About as American as you can get. But there are also now a
lot of new immigrants and political refugees living there. There are
a lot of Africans in Minneapolis and Asians in St Paul. There are
Hmong-speaking missionaries, who learn the language in the MTC, and
even some missionaries assigned to work with the Karen-speaking
immigrants from Burma who learn the language in the field.
By
the turn of the 20th Century, most Minnesota converts had left for
Zion. The handful who remained worked to build the Church. The first
Church-owned building in Minnesota was purchased in 1914 for the St.
Paul Branch. A baptismal font was installed in its basement for
baptismal services for converts from the entire state. By 1919,
membership had increased to 4,000 in 30 branches. A meetinghouse was
dedicated in Minneapolis in 1924 by President Heber J. Grant and
Elder George Albert Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve. By 1930,
there were three districts in the state: the North, South and Lake.
The
Minnesota Stake, the first in the state, was organized in
Minneapolis on 29 November 1960 with six wards and five branches,
and a membership of 2,600. When the name of the Minnesota Stake was
changed to the Minneapolis Minnesota Stake in 1974, it had 4,936
members. Two years later, the St. Paul Stake was created. The
Minnesota-Manitoba Mission was created in 1970. Boundary changes
occurred creating the Minnesota-Wisconsin Mission in 1973. Three
years later the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission was created. A temple
was dedicated in St. Paul on 9 January 2000.
Minneapolis
is situated at the point where the Minnesota River joins the
Mississippi River on flat or gently rolling terrain. Sixteen lakes
are located within the city limits. The city's climate is
continental, with large seasonal temperature variations and a
favorable growing season of 166 days. Severe weather conditions,
such as blizzards, freezing rain, tornadoes, and wind and hail
storms are fairly common. Winter recreational weather is excellent.
Stakes
within this mission:
Rochester,
Lakeville, Minneapolis, Anoka, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Oakdale, Duluth
This
mission straddles the U.S.-Canadian border and includes places in
Minnesota:
Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud
Wisconsin:
La Crosse, Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls
Iowa:
Farming areas along the northern border
Ontario:
Thunder Bay and Lake Nipigon
Michigan:
The western tip of the Upper Peninsula
and
a large portion of the western and northern shores of Lake Superior
It
is a 6-hour drive from the mission office to Thunder Bay, Ontario,
where there is one Canadian ward.
St.
Paul Temple
Minnesota
(meaning “clear water” in the Dakota language) became a state in
1858. Minnesota
is mostly covered with glacial till and has 11,842 lakes over 10
acres in size. The headwaters of the Mississippi River are found in
Minnesota.
Minnesota
experiences temperature extremes characteristic
of its continental climate,
with cold winters and hot summers. The record high and low span is
174 degrees Fahrenheit (from -60° F. at Tower on
February 2, 1996 to 114° F. at Moorhead on
July 6, 1936). Meteorological events include rain, snow, blizzards, thunderstorms, hail, derechos, tornadoes, and high-velocity straight-line winds.
In
its first 50 years, Minnesota's population grew from 6,000 to 1.7
million people. Now the population stands at over 5.3 million
people, with more than 3 million of those in the Minneapolis-St.
Paul metro area. Minnesota is known for its relatively mixed social
and political orientations and its high rate of civic participation
and voter turnout. It ranks among the healthiest states, and has a
highly literate population. It is composed of about 87% whites, 5.4%
African-Americans, 4% Asians, 1.1% Native Americans, and 2.5% of
other races. In 1970, its population was more than 98% white, so
many ethnic groups have added to the mix in the past 40 years.
The
majority of Minnesotans are Protestants, including a significant Lutheran contingent,
owing to the state's largely Northern European ethnic makeup, but Roman Catholics (of
largely German, Irish, and Slavic descent) make up the largest
single Christian denomination. Although Christianity is
dominant, Minnesota has a long history with non-Christian faiths. Ashkenazi Jewish pioneers
set up Saint Paul's first synagogue in
1856. Eckankar's headquarters are located in Chanhassen.
Minnesota is home to over 30 mosques,
mostly in the Twin Cities metro area.
The
famous Mayo Clinic is located in Rochester. The largest indoor
shopping mall in the country, the Mall of America, is located in
Bloomington, where the mission office is located.
Wisconsin
became a state in 1848 and is known as "America's Dairyland"
because it is one of the nation's leading dairy producers,
particularly famous for cheese. Manufacturing and tourism are also
major contributors to the state's economy.
Following
the period of French fur traders, the next wave of settlers were
miners, many of whom were Cornish who settled the southwestern area of the state. The next wave was
dominated by "Yankees," migrants of English descent from New England and updstate New York; in the early years of statehood, they dominated the state's heavy
industry, finance, politics, and education. Between 1850 and 1900,
large numbers of European immigrants followed them, including Germans, Scandinavians (the largest group being Norwegian),
and smaller groups of Belgians, Dutch, Swiss, Finns, Irish, Poles, Italians, and others. After the Vietnam War came an influx of Hmong
immigrants, which is interesting, because David's father's mission
in northern California also had many Hmong people. 86% of
Wisconsin's black residents live in one of four cities.
The
drinking culture is strong in Wisconsin, with major breweries
located in the state. This also includes large problems with binge
drinkers and drunk driving.
Thunder
Bay
is home to the only Canadian ward in the Minneapolis Mission. It is
a city with a population of more than 108,000 people, on land
originally occupied in the late 17th
Century by French fur traders. Its port is now important for the
shipping of grain and other products from western Canada through the
Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Canada started actively
settling the area in the 1850s, and the railroad came through in
1875. Lumber exports from the area to the United States became an
important industry.
The
Thunder Bay area experiences a humid continental climate that
is influenced by Lake Superior, with especially noticeable effects
in the city's north end. This results in cooler summer temperatures
and warmer winter temperatures for an area extending inland as far
as 10 miles.
Thunder
Bay is home to 14,510 people of Finnish descent, the highest
concentration of persons of Finnish origin per capital in
Canada, and the second largest Finnish population in Canada after Toronto, which
has 14,750 persons of Finnish origin. Thunder Bay has a large Aboriginal population
representing 8.2% of the population, but very few other ethnic
minorities with the most populous being the Chinese, at only 0.8% of the population.
Chronology
of David's mission
| Received his mission call
to the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission. David and his cousin Matthew Young opened their mission calls on the same day with family present in their grandparents' home. |
|
| Farewell service in Washington, Utah | |
| 07/09/14 | Entered the MTC in Provo, Utah |
| About 23 July 2014 December 2014 |
Flew to Minneapolis to
begin his service in the mission field. First assignment in Rosemount in the Eagan Minnesota Ward. The Oakdale Stake encompasses much of western Wisconsin, as well. Transferred to work in Winona, MN in the Winona Branch. Winona is about 115 miles southeast of Minneapolis on the Mississippi River at the Wisconsin border. The Winona Branch includes towns in Wisconsin, and its borders reach the Iowa state border. |
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