Post #7 - Big CURVE in the road!

On Friday January 9, 2015 we received a telephone call from the Missionary Department in Church Headquarters in SLC.  The good news was that we were finally cleared to move ahead with serving a mission - all of Glen's physicians had submitted letters confirming that in general he was quite healthy and could without further delay serve a mission!                   HURRAY!  
           The bad news was that his situation warranted further time before he could leave the country - i.e. he could serve anywhere in the USA but not abroad!  That meant that we could NOT go to Germany at this time or in the immediate, foreseeable future! BIG dissappointment!

     Brother Saviano, the brother who explained this information to us, then inquired about other possible areas of service where we might be able to serve best.  He also asked about our sensitivities to climate - heat, cold, humidity, etc.  He invited us to express our views as to what other kind of mission we might think would be best for us.  After we shared our views, Brother Saviano told us that a transfer from the place of our original call to serve into another mission would need to be reviewed and approved by the Quorum of the 12 in their Wednesday Jan. 14, 2015 meeting. We could expect final word in the next couple of days.  Well, we very IMpatiently watched our mailbox but each day brought nothing. Sigh!

     THEN finally on Thursday January 22, 2015 over the signature of the Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, we received our official call to serve for 18 months in the Family and Church History Church Headquarters Mission located in the heart of Salt Lake City, Utah!  

We look forward to becoming VERY familiar with this part of Salt Lake City, Utah [see rectangle outlined in red] and we will welcome visitors to whom we can give personal tours of this beautiful, historic city center.

        Further details told us  when, where, and how everything will proceed.  We enter the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on Monday Feb. 2, 2015.  After a week there we will receive further specialized training for the next two weeks in SLC.  Thereafter we will be assigned to work in one of the 17 different zones which include a wide variety of subject areas calling for further specialized training.  That means that our next posting will give you more specific details with stories about the workings of Family & Church History from the perspective the inner circles in SLC - so be sure to check our blog in a few weeks, OK?  

      Meanwhile here are some of the more mundane details.  To avoid commuting from Herriman to SLC everyday - a 2-hour, round-trip commute - and to enjoy the "full mission experience" we have chosen to live in down-town SLC in church-owned housing. We have reserved a furnished one-bedroom/one-bathroom apartment in the Garden Apartments located approx. one block from Temple Square.  

Find #3 on the map.  Our new living quarters is located just west or left of the Conference Center on the map. 

Whenever we do want to travel between SLC and Herriman we can drive our car  or easily use public transportation via the light rail system called TRAX which means that we can return home to Herriman fairly often to get our own mail, check on things in the house, and manage all of our local affairs ourselves instead of calling on the help of others to do it for us.  Although we are sad not to be able to go to Germany, there are LOTS of wonderful advantages to serving in this new assignment. Medically we'll be close to all of our physicians in case of any sort of health issues.  Also obtaining our needed medications will no longer be a problem as it can be whenever a person lives abroad.  

      Although we will miss the fun things of living in Germany, we are actually very happy and pleased with this new assignment.  We can already see the Hand of the Lord in this whole BIG curve in our road into the future, and it is VERY exhilaratingly exciting!  Visit this link to learn more about this unique new mission  = https://www.lds.org/ensign/2006/04/a-unique-mission?lang=eng  .  Please check our blog in about 3 to 4 weeks to learn about our exciting new experiences.