April 22, 2014
Going on a mission….this has been a goal that Keith and I
have shared for many years. However, we
had no idea what was awaiting us! When
President Eyring (a counselor in the First Presidency of the Church) called Keith
to serve as a mission president, and me to serve a 3 year mission as his
companion in November, 2013, he told us that Heavenly Father knew many years
ago that we would be receiving this call.
He told us that Heavenly Father had been placing opportunities and challenges
before us so that we would be ready for this day. Even those comforting words don’t completely erase
our worries about be “up for the job.”
It’s hard to believe that we can do this…but at least we can
have faith that our Heavenly Father has faith in us! After all, this calling would be impossible
without Heavenly intervention!
We started this journey over 2 years ago. We had our first interview with Russell M.
Nelson (one of the Church’s 12 apostles) in October, 2011. We talked about our family, our obligations,
and our experiences. Keith had a dental practice to sell. I needed to retire from Paradise School District.
We would periodically receive a phone
call from Salt Lake City checking on our circumstances. 2013 turned out to be the year. The dental practice sold and I had
retired. All things pointed towards a
mission.
In October 2013, we had our second interview with Elder Nelson. He told us we would know about a mission call
before Thanksgiving. In the same time
frame came the possibility of a surgery that would return me to full
mobility. Our call to serve a mission
came in the middle of November. We were
told it would be Spanish speaking but the location had not yet been decided. We received the location letter the first
week of December. We were sitting in a
hotel room in Dallas, Texas. I was six
days out of surgery and already walking better than before surgery. We knew the Lord’s hand had been in that
surgery, guiding that doctor. We never
looked back – we were soon to be off to the Mexico City South East mission.
And so, very soon, we will be off to Mexico City. We are so excited to meet the Elders and
Sisters who await us there. We know
there are currently 168 Elders and 22 Sisters.
This will be our greatest adventure ever!!
This blog will be dedicated to the shared experiences of
Mexico City. I will blog at least once a
month while still in the States, with an update on our progress. Once in Mexico City, I will aim for every
week. Hasta luega.
