A week ago, Gary pulled this shirt out of his drawer and wore it: In honor of his moustache which would soon be gone.
So last Monday, the moustache was "off" and then a text from our sweet friend and photographer, Ashlee, that she was sick with a stomach flu. Luckily, we have an awesome neighbor who also was a photographer and she was willing and available to step in and take our photos. Rebecca Jensen is amazing and we now have our official missionary photos--
Our cute extra companion--
This week I have also been talking to friends who have served missions or served as mission presidents including one who also took their son who has Down syndrome with them. Mostly I was trying to get a feel for what is the appropriate way to complete all of the "preferences" that you can select as senior missionaries. I think I have mentioned that once I came to feel that I would be happy to serve in a Salt Lake mission, then I truly felt I was prepared to go anywhere that the Lord would send me to serve.
MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU WANT TO KNOW
ABOUT OUR MISSION PROCESS SO FAR
(please feel free to skip unless you really want to know the nitty details of the process!)
Couples do many different things. Some identify a place and type of mission they want to serve, call and make connections with that mission president and then can be requested for that mission. Tomorrow our friends, Steve and Kim Olsen will be entering the mission home and then going to Hawaii to serve on the campus of BYU-Hawaii. That is what they did. On their preferences, they only listed service opportunities in Hawaii. And they were assigned to the place that they had found on line. Other people reach out to friends or friends of friends who are serving as mission presidents and look for opportunities to serve that way. That is how our "new friends" the Fletchers, got their call to Belgium mission. That was the first mission president who responded "Yes" that he would love to have them bring their daughter with DS to that mission. Both sets of our parents who served about 20 years ago, put no preferences and my dad and Karla served in Japan and Gary's parents served in Nauvoo. (Of course, it wasn't quite as organized and online like it is today.) No matter what you do, the site is very clear that calls are issued by the Apostles and may or may not be one that was requested. Some friends of our friends put four missions--Hawaii, two in Europe, and New Zealand--and received a call to Siberia (not on their list as all). My friend said in that case, you REALLY know that the Lord called you where he wanted you to go.
There is an option to leave all preferences blank. We considered that since we are open to anywhere that we can serve with Jena. However, we (mostly me) came to feel for us that the preferences we choose gives a flavor of who we are and may assist in leading our call to where we should go. So, because everyone has been asking us, this is generally what our preferences look like on the site--
Geographic Regions--no preferences
Type of Mission-- (there are 16+ types of missions available) Office Support, Family History, Church Headquarters, and Member/Leader Support.
Mission opportunities: Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Church Headquarters, Korea, Kentucky, and North Carolina (not sure of the exact order and some have more than one opportunity in that country.)
When we would talk about serving a mission, Gary would say, "We are going to serve in Hong Kong because that is what Judy wants, but then we will go on another mission and serve where the Lord wants us to go." I think that is where the idea of serving two missions started. Of course, I would defend myself and say that why wouldn't the Lord want us to go to Hong Kong--at least we wouldn't complain about the weather or the food or the lack of certain groceries because we have dealt with that before.
Actually, we had a sweet friend already reach out to the Hong Kong Mission president (because they are friends) unknown to us, but they do not have a Church service mission opportunity for Jena because the temple is currently closed for remodeling. He (the current mission president) encouraged us to apply in three years when the temple was reopened. That works perfectly for us! (As Gary is now saying, it looks like we are going where the Lord wants us first and then we are going to Hong Kong.) We left it on top of our list as a reflection of our love for the Chinese people and our experience there. While each Asian country has their own culture, food, and history, we love that area of the world and it would be so exciting to serve there.
There are SO many opportunities and needs for senior missionaries. How would we possibly know if North Carolina is a better place for us than Oregon or if Nebraska needs us more than Kentucky? So glad that we don't have to decide. The only reason we added North Carolina (because everyone that I have known that has lived there loved it and it is across the States from where we have ever lived) and Kentucky (because both of us have family from there and our niece loved it there on her mission) was to indicate our willingness to serve anywhere. My friend, Gemie Martin, says we should come to Dallas again! One great blessing about serving in the States is that I know that we will make great friends where ever we end up. Truly the world is open and I am sure we are in for an exciting ride. Because it has already been exciting and filled with sweet experiences and insights from the spirit.
What year are you planning on going on a mission????
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