Mom and Dad's Mission Call

When my mom was young, she always wanted to go on a mission. Life doesn't always go as planned though because she met my dad when she was only 18 years old. She decided to get married instead of serving a mission, but my dad promised her that someday they would serve a mission together.

That day finally arrived.

Mom and Dad have been working toward a mission for several years now. Mom saved a lot of money while she was working as a teacher, and Dad got things in order and prepared to turn the farm over to Matt while he was gone for a year. They are still relatively young, especially compared to most Senior Missionaries, but they felt like they needed to go now while they were still physically healthy and would be able to serve abroad.

They started working on their mission papers in January and scoured the listings of mission opportunities. They are so adventurous that I wasn't surprised that all of their favorite options were overseas. Dad said that he already had the opportunity to serve a mission, so he wanted this one to be more for Mom, which I thought was so sweet. Mom was trained as a teacher, so they decided that an Education Specialist mission would be perfect. Their top 5 choices were New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and Ghana. I was a little worried about some of their choices, but I was excited for them as well.

They turned in their papers at the end of March, and the wait began. They didn't receive their call until mid-May, and by that time they were really anxious to find out where they were going and what they would be doing.

When their call finally came, everyone in the family got on Skype to watch them open it. Although mission calls are electronic now, Mom printed them out and put them in an envelope so that they could have the traditional experience.

Dad let Mom take the lead and read her call first. They got called to the Australia Brisbane Mission, leaving November 4th. They were called to serve as Education Specialists and were also going to be trained in Self-Reliance. They were thrilled, and everyone was so excited for them. The next few months were full of planning, getting visas, learning about their responsibilities, and finishing up the farming season.

The last week of October was their farewell talk in Sacrament Meeting. Mom really wanted all the family to come if possible. It was super challenging for us because Christian had already registered for a Scout PowWow that Saturday and Jonathon couldn't miss any more days of work. That meant that we would either need to take two cars to Idaho or only stay for 24 hours. We debated for a long time. Finally, we asked Joe and Kym if they might be able to take half of us up and have Christian and Jonathon come up Saturday after the PowWow. It ended up working well. Kym had to stay behind with a sick baby, so Joe and I took all the kids up on Thursday afternoon.

We went to Uncle Mike's pool, played games, watched movies, and enjoyed being together. Jonathon and Christian joined us on Saturday in time for a special family home evening. Mom gave each family a box full of manila envelopes. On each envelope was the name of a month, 12 in total that represented the 12 months that they would be gone. She organized it so that each month the kids could open an envelope and receive a little gift from Grandma and Grandpa. How cute it that! A birthday present for each of the grandkids was also included in the envelope for the month of their birthday.

To end the night, I wrote a song for them that I performed with all the grandkids. It was set to the tune of Kokomo by the Beach Boys and was all about Australia. I taught it to all the kids on the drive to Idaho, and they did a great job.

The next day they both spoke in church. Both of their Sacrament Meeting talks were amazing and made me cry a little. A bunch of the extended family came over after church to eat lunch and say goodbye. We had to leave for home shortly after, but I am so glad that we made the effort to be there. It was a great experience.

One of the best parts about them leaving on a mission was the fact that they got to stay at our house for 10 days while they attended the MTC. Senior missionaries have very different rules than young ones, so they had a lot of freedom and flexibility. They were supposed to be at the MTC M-F from 8-4, but evenings and weekends were free.

It was so fun to have them at our house for those 10 days. We got to hear about all of their spiritual experiences and feel of their enthusiasm for serving the Lord. The spirit of missionary work was so strong while they were here. They were pretty busy with firesides, FHE, and other meetings, but we did have time to sneak in a few fun things.

Jonathon got some awesome BYU football tickets from one of his investors. We had 6 tickets already, so with the 4 extra, we had enough for our family, Mom and Dad, and Joe and Kym's older kids to all go to the game. We gave Dad and Mom the good seats so they could enjoy the atmosphere. The seats were three rows from the field on the 40 yard line!

After half-time, Jonathon took Mom and some of the little kids home, and the rest of us got to move down to the good seats. It was the closest I have ever been to the field. The whole experience was completely different. We could even see and hear what the players were saying, which was crazy. We ended up beating Liberty pretty handily, but we stayed until the very end to soak up the experience. At the end of the game, the Liberty and BYU players all met at the 50 yard line and said a prayer together since they are both religious universities. I have never seen that before, and I was very impressed.

The next morning (Sunday), we took everyone to the Provo City Center Temple to take some pictures with Grandpa and Grandma. The grounds were closed, but the pictures still turned out nice.

That night after church, Jonathon's parents invited us all over for Sunday dinner. It was fun to have both sides of the family there. It was extra special because both sets of grandparents were currently set apart as missionaries. Mom and Dad H. serve at the MTC in a branch presidency. We had our kids take a picture with both sets of grandparents with their missionary tags on so that they can always remember the great legacy of church service and faith that they are a part of.

The day that Mom and Dad had to fly out, we went shopping in the morning to pick up some last minute things. They even bought me groceries at Costco, which wasn't necessary, but so appreciated. Then I took them up to the airport in Salt Lake and said good-bye. It will be hard not seeing them for a whole year, but I am thrilled for the people they will help, the good they will do, and the example they will set. They will be terrific missionaries, and bring many people closer to Christ. Brisbane definitely got the best missionaries!