Mission Call

I hope they call me on a mission!
 

In October 2012 President Thomas S. Monson announced that the church was lowering the missionary ages.  Young men could now be missionaries at age 18.  Young women could go at age 19.  The ages were lowered from 19 and 21 respectively.  It has been miraculous watching the influx of missionaries since the announcement. 

The Deseret News recently printed, "In the weeks following the missionary age announcement, the Church reported that missionary applications had increased dramatically (from 700 applications per week to 4,000), with women comprising more than half of the applicants. While the number of post-announcement applications is still double what it has been in the past, the total number of men and women who have applied since October is now about equal. Prior to the announcement, approximately 15 percent of missionaries were young women."

I am excited to see so many sisters taking the opportunity to serve.  My 19 months as a missionary changed my life.

In February 2013, 58 new missions were created bringing the total number of missions to 405.  Crazy right!?  My mission (Virginia, Richmond) will be split into two. The Virginia Chesapeake Mission will consist of the areas that belonged to the southern part of the Virginia Richmond Mission, Newport News, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. It will also add two more stakes from NC.  

While the prospect of seeing my kids leave for 18 months to 2 years makes my heart stop, I am excited to help them prepare to serve wherever and whenever they may be called.

Virginia Richmond Mission Reunion 2012

I entered the MTC on November 8, 2000.  I arrived in the Richmond, Virginia Mission just 3 short weeks later.  On November 8, 2001 I went home because the doctors couldn't figure out why I was sick.  In December I had my gallbladder and appendix removed.  My gallbladder was poisoning me and my appendix was about to burst.  My appendix was located on the wrong side of my body. 

On January 17th, 2002 I returned to the mission and finished that August.  It was one of the most fulfilling experiences to date.  I draw on what I learned there in every aspect of my life.

So, in June this year we had our 10 year mission reunion.  It wasn't as well attended as I had hoped it would be.  I was sad that President and Sister Tanner (my second mission president and his wife) were not there.  I had 13 companions, lived with 6 other sisters and served with a dozen others.  Only 4 of those sisters were at the reunion.

However, it was a fun  activity.  I LOVED showing off my handsome husband and adorable kids.


 


Rachel made friends quickly and they started their own pick-up volleyball game.


Rachel, like her mother, had a hard time getting the ball to go over the net.


Her adorable opponent was swift to come to her aid. 


"See!  This is how you do it."


Rachel tried again and again.


In a last ditch effort she shoved the ball through the net for the "winning" point.


The poor girl tripped and fell on her way to tell me of her victory.


"What are you doing with that camera?"


"I didn't say you could take my picture."


It was great to see President and Sister Feller.  Odd coincidence... President and Sister Feller are neighbors and good friends with Doug's cousins in St. George.  What?  Do you hear the Small World theme song too?


Sister Fulop (now Hawkins) is originally from Romania.  She now lives in Provo. 


Jason Skinrood was one of my favorite missionaries.  We served together in a number of areas.  He was AP when I was a touring sister.  It was great to get to know his wife and children.


Here are some of my favorite pictures that I took.
 




Proof that I was there.  We left early and didn't camp out so there might have been some doubt.

September 12

Here it is October 12th.  I'm taking pictures today for my October 12th blog entry.  But, because I still haven't caught up, here is September 12th, a month late.

I've been looking forward to blogging about a typical Sunday for a long time.  However, September 12th was far from typical. 

We got up, dressed in our Sunday clothes and prepared for church. 

We packed Rachel's diaper bag with all of the necessities.  (i.e. snacks, water, books, toys, diapers and wipes)

Rachel was upset when we stopped her from UNloading the diaper bag.

We left Zoe alone, waiting in the kitchen.

But, that is where the similarities between a regular Sunday and this particular Sunday end.  We loaded Rachel into the backseat of the trailblazer.  We put Baby Einstein on the video player to keep her occupied.  Then we headed to the town of Cornish by the Utah/Idaho border.

We attended the missionary farewell of Doug's cousin's son Ben Hanson

It was followed by a great picnic for family and friends.

Rachel was just glad to be outside after being stuck in a car for 2 hours and being forced to sit quietly through sacrament meeting.

It is always great to see family.  We didn't capture everyone on camera but here are a few of our beautiful nieces.

Alexandria,

Madison,

 

and Hannah.

Why is it so hard to get a posed family picture with an 18 month old?  No need to answer, the question was rhetorical.

Rachel can never get enough swinging time to suit her and cried when we left.

I would cry too if I had to give up being pushed in a swing to be strapped in a car seat.

On our way home we drove through Logan.  We tried to see my brother and his family but they were at church.  We were lucky enough to catch my Aunt Susan and Uncle Harry.  (No Picture)  My Aunt Susan is one of the dearest women in this world.  She reminds me so much of my mom and my grandmother.  We were happy to spend an hour with them.

We were tired when we got home.  So, Doug and I watched a movie while Rachel played.

Time for bed.  Yeah!!!  Okay, okay, so she wasn't really that excited about bedtime.  Doug and I certainly were.