Round Two!

As I have mentioned, we are proceeding with our plan to serve a second mission when we are released from our mission on February 23, 2023.  We had our final interview with our Stake President yesterday morning and he indicated that our "papers"  (what we call them even though it is all done electronically these days) should be submitted in the next couple of days.  Then the waiting will begin....

They are saying to expect 4-5 week wait---baring a worldwide pandemic or something else as we learned last time when we waited 7 long weeks to receive our call to the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission.  So let the guessing begin...and yes, we could be called back to the same mission.

It was a sweet experience to meet with our stake president yesterday.  President Nussbaum is a humble and kind man but is very serious about doing a good job.  He was interested in how this process came about--preparing for a second mission while extending our current one.  He then commented that perhaps some of the delays and confusion over the past few weeks allowed us to be prepared to hear the whispering of the spirit to extend.  I know that it is true.  If we had submitted our papers at the first of July like my plan was, it would have been complicated to then make changes needed to extend.  It could have been done, but much harder. As he asked us the "mission" questions, he would then ask us to share our testimony related to the question asked.  And each of us would share our testimony about that particular belief.  I loved it!  It is always great to hear Gary bear testimony to things that I know he believes by how he lives his life.

As we discussed our current mission with our Stake President, I made the comment that being a missionary is a bit addicting!  Gary thought that was a funny word to apply, but it suits what I mean.  Our lives are focused on serving the Lord through our mission assignments and our family---that is about it!  Of course, we have dinner, housework, paying bills, etc---but our lives are really focused on God and family (and even there is a sacrifice by our children and grandchildren for us to serve because we aren't available in the usual ways we might be in the future). It is quite an amazing way to live.  

And I am glad that we will be doing it for a bit longer!