We are going to New Hampshire!!!

This is a little late because we got our mission call almost two weeks ago but I wanted to talk about our upcoming experience!  We had asked to serve a foreign mission and assumed that we would so when we opened our mission call and it said New Hampshire Manchester Mission we were a little caught off guard.  That being said we know that every assignment we are given in the church is important and when we do what the Lord requires we will receive rich blessings as a result.  I saw that in my Cub Scout assignment as I grew to love some of the sweetest boys you can imagine and hopefully I played a part in giving them a solid foundation of love for Scouting.  If we had requested a states mission I would have been ecstatic to be called to serve in the northeast United States.  As we begin gathering up everything that we need for our mission and find our what we are going to be doing I am so excited and can definitely see that New Hampshire is exactly where we are suppose to be.  I'm so excited, nervous, and touched by what has happened to us since receiving our call.  I love our young missionaries.  They have been so encouraging to Scott and me about how important it is to know that we are going to our mission for a specific purpose and I realized as I have spent time with them that they are such an excellent example of that truth.  Our children have also been excited that we are not going to be quite so far away.

Our mission encompasses New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont.  Can you imagine a more beautiful area.  How lucky we are to arrive just as the fall begins.  Scott and I are assigned to records preservation and after a week in the MTC in Provo we will spend a second week at the Church office building learning about digital cameras and what we will need to do.  When that is complete we will drive to our mission which makes it possible for us to stop and see our children and grandchildren on the way!

So, New Hampshire Manchester Mission here we come!  We plan to do our best and hopefully help other people as we preserve the records of ancestors who are gone but should never be forgotten!

Waiting

In the early fall Scott and I attended a meeting at the Sunset Hills ward.  The speakers were Bob and Barbara Casady and they were talking about the mission they had just completed in Albania.  When it was over both Scott and I were so impressed and inspired by their message that we decided that it was time to make a commitment and serve a mission.  For us that meant that Scott would need to retire.  Thrown into the mix was Amy's pregnancy which created complications requiring her bed rest until early January.  From October until Christmas I spent the week in Gilbert and then would come home on the weekend to see Scott.  That was fine because we didn't plan to start the official process until January because we wanted to go out at the end of August or the first of September.  The paperwork required from the missionary department was very doable and exciting and Scott and I spent several evenings getting everything typed in and ready to submit.  We applied and received our passports.  We visited our doctor, dentist, and optometrist.  We also experienced the colonoscopy required with me going one day and Scott the next.  Once that was done we submitted everything and anticipated a call soon.  We did get a call soon but from the Bishop who said there were some things that needed to be fixed.  We got that done and then took it over to Kent Christensen who was putting everything into the computer.  Unfortunately for us Kent and Emiko had left for Japan for two weeks.  Bishop Harris told us to take it instead to Brother Curry.  Fortunately, he was home and he was able to submit the paperwork for us.  The final hurdle was meeting with President Garrick which happened at the end of May.  He promised to submit his part the next morning so we got so excited that the process was almost complete.

It is now July and we are still excitedly waiting.  Not always patiently waiting!  Ed Hamlin teased us one Sunday that we were having buyers remorse and in some ways that was true.  Scott and I both want to serve and have anticipated our calling for months but the wait is wearing us both down.  I have begun to wonder if we really can do this.  Maybe the mission department doesn't want us.  How will I be without our grandkids for 18 months?  Can we really afford to do this?  Is Scott's memory getting worse?  Alright--I am dramatic.  Not knowing is hard and once we know where we are going all the doubts will be silenced and anticipation will replace the worry.  Fortunately my special friend Barb Walker and my brother Bill have been the voice of reason for me.

Where will we go?  I have no idea, but I am trying hard to remember how excited Scott and I were as we left the Tuscola building that fall Sunday with a desire in our heart to be missionaries.  We will go and we will be able to have a great adventure and even more important we get to do it together.  What more could I ask for?