The biggest new thing this week was that we survived the
annual mission office audit! The CPA who
did the work is a local church member who mostly audits hospitals. He was very friendly and also efficient. He hoped to accomplish the whole process in
about three hours. He stopped by the office Monday at six. Len had stacks of paperwork laid out on the
conference table in the President’s office.
He had read about audits and gathered up most of what would be
needed. Within an hour all the random
selections in various categories had been made, including ten random apartments
about which I supplied documents.
Len and I spent Tuesday locating all the supporting
documents to prove accuracy and answer questions about each random choice. When Brother Jackson returned about 2:45, all
was ready and we actually completed short of his time frame, save for one
category where there had been uncertainty on Monday about what needed to be
included in the paperwork from which random choices would be made. Len called church headquarters and got a good
answer so they made the final choices and finished up in 15 minutes Monday. During Len’s call, the person who was
explaining what needed to be done said that the audit we were undergoing was not
a finance audit, but rather a process audit.
That information took some of the pressure off everyone. We each learned
a thing or two going through the process.
It was reassuring to know that we do understand the jobs we are
doing. The other outcome was a strong hope
never to go through a finance audit with someone sitting across the table
telling us we have to produce receipts for all expenditures a few years back. That is definitely nightmare worthy terror!
So now Len has begun to sort the paperwork for our own taxes. Our mail forwarding has not been perfect for
the last few weeks so hopefully we will not have trouble coming up with what we
need. He actually was able to locate a
couple of 1099 forms that were missing by searching online last night. We certainly appreciate having reliable
people who have helped us prepare for April 15th for many years.
We bit the bullet and raked up the leaves from the very
large tree that shades our back yard. It
was very slow to let all leaves drop and we didn’t want to do that chore more
than once. It actually only took about
an hour since the backyard is fenced, and not much larger than the tree’s
canopy, making the leaves deep but the area contained. That should cover most of the yard work
remaining while we are here. The
flowerbeds look cheerful with lots of bright yellow flowers -- probably some
weed that is new to us, but they suit us fine for now.
Sister Clark recently
gave a short but memorable talk in Stake Conference. She began by telling how much she loved
getting invitations – to parties, to dinner, a night out, whatever. Then she told about Jesus Christ’s
invitations: She used scripture, such as Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV) 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light. And He invited the
apostles to join Him, as well as invitations to “Learn of me”, “Follow me”,
etc. She concluded that all who RSVP can
come to know Him, have greater joy, and be able to live with Him one day. It was a choice little talk and also one that
stuck in my mind.
Wishing
you a great week,
Love
from Len and Kit
