Dominicans assume we know everything

Because we are white and American, the Dominicans assume we know things we don't necessarily know.  We have seen training films on the ordinances but I get very little actual training on doing them from either the trainer assigned to my shifts or the coordinators or even the temple matron or her assistants.  I have done all of the ordinances now in Spanish.  One time at the veil there was a sister who really had no grasp on what she was to do, not even repeat after me.  That was an interesting challenge and a moment of intense prayer.

The mission president has seen to it that Don is fully trained especially on anything crucial like the recommend desk and being an officiator in a session.

One thing kind of funny--or embarrassing--depending on how you look at it that happened because I wasn't trained on a very small matter when I was helping sort the laundry.  They were making piles of slippers of the same size.  I saw no size marked on them so I was just measuring soles.  Then they slip one slipper inside the others.  I put away whole piles of slippers like this.  Then a huge group came in and we issued a lot of clothing.  One sister came back and said she had been issued two right foot slippers.  I thought, "Right, left?  There is a difference?  How can you tell?"  Well, there is a difference and there is a way to tell.  There is a little tag sewn in the inside of the side of the slipper.  The tag is on the left side of the slipper for the right foot and the right side of the slipper for the left foot.  This tag also gives the size.  News to me.  I spent the next long time going back trough all the slippers I had paired looking for mates.  When I had finished, I had a big pile of left side size 8 with no right sides to match them to.  Evidently all of the right sides had gone on the session.  I guess it all got sorted out again the next day. 

I don't know if I will ever be in an training position of others in a temple, but I am definitely going to have a check list of each and every responsibility where there is something specific one needs to know so they can be taught.  I'm actually making a list now so I won't forget if that day comes.

Another thing that is kind of funny is shift assignments.  Part of the problem is the culture in that being too regimented is just not their nature so telling them to be here at nine o'clock, here at ten, here at eleven kind of grates against their way of doing things.  Add to this the fact that they are new to this and are just learning how to do it.  Combine this with the fact that, inspite of shift assignments, there is a need for flexibility because sometimes there are a lot of patrons and other times virtually none and sometimes a lot of workers show up and sometimes some are absent and sometimes people with certain langauge skills are needed in areas where they are not specifically assigned at that time; and the coordinators struggle knowing what to do.  I have been given shift assignments for most shifts.  When I show up for a new assignment, there seems to be an element of surprise and when I am in an assignment where I cannot leave until I have been relieved, often no one comes to relieve me at the assigned time.  I tell the coordinator that it is time for me to go to my next assignment but no one has come to fill the spot I am in.  She acts like she isn't sure what to do.  She goes and finds someone to relieve me but I get the feeling it wasn't the person assigned to relieve me.  It is a huge learning curve for them.  On one of my shifts, I am given an assignment for the first hour and then just dashes for the rest of the shift.  In other words, flow.

Don was pulled in to officiate at a session yesterday at the last minute.  He did the chapel thing and then, as the company was leaving the chapel, his coordinator pulled him aside and sent a different brother to officiate.  Don learned later that that brother was assigned to officiate that session but he couldn't be found so they asked Don to do it and then the other brother showed up.

Don was officiating at one session where the witness brother feel asleep.  I was in a different session where one brother feel asleep and missed one of the standings.  It is interesting we see situations we have never experienced before.