Talk given in Mission Devotional-May 9, 2022--
"I Hope They Call Me On A Mission"
When I was a
student at BYU, I was sitting in my apartment watching General Conference when
a speaker made a statement about “Elders, sisters and senior couples.” Senior couples? I had never heard of such a thing. Growing up in eastern Washington, I rarely
even saw elders although many left from our ward to serve around the
world. I asked my roommates, and a few had
some vague recollection of their elderly relatives serving missions, but had
few details. Despite little information
at that moment, I knew that was something that I would do with my “future-unknown”
spouse. Three years later, when Gary and
I got engaged, I told him of this plan, and he agreed. Since we both turned 65
in 2020, we made some vague plans that we will leave on a mission in October
2020 after we both were 65.
Proverbs 3:5-6 ¶ aTrust in the Lord with all thine bheart; and lean not unto thine cown dunderstanding. In all thy ways aacknowledge him, and he shall bdirect thy cpaths.
And our lives together began---
We lived in three different states and
a foreign country moving 13 times until we settled in Syracuse, UT almost 24
years ago. Syracuse was Gary’s hometown.
We have five children—four of whom
were adopted including our youngest, Jena who serves with us.
Gary had a busy career as a computer analyst,
and I mostly stayed at home with our kids as they grew. Like you, we were busy with raising a family,
serving in the Church and being involved in our community.
However, over the past ten years or
so, it started to seem less and less possible for us to serve a full-time
mission. Although we still had a desire
to serve, our lives seemed too complicated to leave. At the time, I thought we were unique in
that, but since meeting all of you, I realize that all senior missionaries have
concerns and burdens that they need to leave behind for a time. But they were worries for us…. We wondered
what would be best for Jena; one of our sons deals with schizophrenia which
requires extra support, our parents were aging,….and the list goes on. I know you can relate……
In early 2017, in a conversation about
serving a mission, Gary made the comment something like: “It might be that we
have to serve a service mission in Salt Lake City. It will be okay. Heavenly Father knows our desires and our situation.” Inside, I immediately rebelled
and thought—No, that isn’t okay. I was
the person who wanted to serve from a high-rise apartment in Hong Kong or in a
village in Cambodia. I didn’t not want
to serve in Salt Lake.” As a sidenote,
serving here I have grown to love the faithful and dedicated service
missionaries who serve here and do so much good. But in 2017—I didn’t know all of that.
However, Gary’s comment stuck with
me—for days and for weeks, bouncing around in my head and heart until it
occurred to me that perhaps I needed to pray about it and come to some
understanding about why it seemed important.
And so, I started to explore my thoughts, feelings, and desires of my
heart—in moments of prayer and pondering, at the temple, and in my daily
life. Heavenly Father helped me in that process,
but it wasn’t fast or easy. It was
months before I could completely surrender my desires and say that I was
willing to serve the way the Lord wanted and when and where He wanted…even if
it was serving from home as a service missionary in Salt Lake City.
D&C 112:10 “Be thou humble and the Lord thy God shall
lead thee by the hand, and give you answer to thy prayers.”
In December 2019, there really wasn’t
talk about a full-time mission. However, one morning I woke up and even before
I knelt to say my morning prayers, I had an awareness that we would serve a
full- time mission the next year. I was shocked…
overjoyed but hesitant as well. Nothing
had changed in our life. I hadn’t felt
this way the day before but now the feeling was overpowering. I knew in my mind and in my heart that we
were going on a mission.
D&C 6:23
“Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from
God?”
For three or four days, I carried the
feeling around with me. I could still
list all the reasons we couldn’t serve a full-time mission, but they no longer
seemed as barriers—just things to figure out.
The peace and joy I felt was amazing.
Finally, I told Gary and he said simply, I know. At the beginning of
2020. we began the process and on March 1st, our paperwork was
submitted and we began to wait and wait...because of you know-Covid. Seven weeks later, I got a beep with the
notification that our call was in the missionary portal. I was out on my morning walk so I turned
around and headed to my car—calling Gary and our children to set up the time
for the grand opening later that morning.
Due to the circumstances created by
Covid, we gathered in Gary’s mom’s back patio where Gary, Jena and I sat on one
side, and she sat 12 feet away—all of us in masks. My dad and our other kids and grandkids were
on Facetime on my phone while Gary used his phone to read our call.
The format of calls has changed a few
times since Gary got his first mission call.
Gary started reading and reading.
After the second paragraph, Gary did a quick scroll down to see how much
longer until “the important part.” In
doing so, he inadvertently saw the name of our mission. In that moment, I felt a rush of the Spirit
witnessing to me that this was where our Heavenly Father had prepared us to serve,
and I was aware that Gary was receiving something similar. He turned to me and said, “I’m sorry. I saw.” I replied: “I know. It is okay.” He returned
to reading where he had paused and finally the words “You are assigned to serve
in the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission.”
I testify to you that we were assigned
by an Apostle and called by a prophet of God to the very place that we had been
prepared to serve throughout our adult lives.
I felt it that day in the back patio even before I knew where we had
been assigned and I have felt it time and time again throughout our mission. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father
who help me prepare and who knew that when I said, “I would go anywhere in the
world for Him—that meant Salt Lake City, Utah, too.”
Doctrine
& Covenants 123:17: Therefore, dearly beloved brethren (and sisters,
too), let us acheerfully bdo all things that lie in our power; and then
may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the csalvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.
I testify
that this has been the case in our lives, our mission being only one example of
it. All those stresses and barriers we
worried about are still there. But so
many times we have express our gratitude to Our Heavenly Father that we are
here in Salt Lake City. We know our
Heavenly Father loves us and our family.
We stand amazed at His goodness in our lives.
I testify
that our Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of us individually and
completely, Our Elder Brother leads and guides this Church and because of Him,
the way is prepared for us to return home, and through the gift of the Holy
Ghost, we can truly hear Them leading us back. And we started our mission on
October 26, 2020! How great is that! In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
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