Monday, July 4, 2016

A Change in our Calling.

It's been some time since our last entry and much has happened.  In April we were in Kalarney, Ireland when my phone rang.   It was our bishop calling and the first thing he asked was "Did you hear what happened?"  My initial reaction was absolute panic!  I could only imagine that something tragic had occured .  So when he said that our call had been changed, it was total relief...and then a little concern again as I imagined where we might be asked to go.  We were so excited about our call to Paris.  So when he then said that we will be serving in the south of France in the Lyon Mission,  the emotional roller coaster shot back up!  As it turns out our call really won't change that much at all.  We knew that with the call to Paris that we would be the only Self-Reliance couple in both the Paris and Lyon missions and that we would have responsibilities in both.  With the change we will still cover all of the French speaking stakes in both missions.  The only difference is that we will be living in Lyon now rather than in Paris.  As much as we love Paris, I think we are even more thrilled with the opportunity to be in Lyon.  Our only concern is that Lyon has the reputation of being the gastronomic capital of France and we both love to eat! 

Since our last post we have both also retired from teaching at BYU Idaho.  It has been a little strange to move out of our offices and for me to move out of my university sculpture studio of over 30 years.  Rather than a retirement party, I did a final one-man-exhibit of my sculptures in the Spori Gallery on campus.  That helped me to have a final closing chapter to my teaching career.  And we are both so happy to have this mission to look forward to and prepare for.  I think we would feel a big hole in our lives if next fall came and we didn't have a new "semester" to begin.


We have also been trying to make the necessary preparations for the next 18 months.  We will have read the Book of Mormon in French before our report date.  We have been studying the Self-Reliance materials, also in French.  And we have done some language brushing up with the MTC programs.  We have also had to do a little shopping for necessary mission clothing, arranging the house for a young couple to house sit for us and we are getting our social security, medical insurance, and other finances organized.  It seems like for every item we cross off our to-do list two more things get added!  It will probably be a relief when we finally report to the MTC on August 8, just over one month from now. 

4 comments:

  1. I just checked today to see where you are on this exciting journey. We wish you the best as you finish your preparations and enter the MTC. Can't wait to hear about your mission experience, especially how you do with the SR program. we are loving our mission here in NZ. XO

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  2. We are so sad to see you go. The Art Dept. won't be the same without you! However, we are also very excited for the people of France...what a blessing the two of you will be to them. We will look forward to following your adventures and our prayers will be with you!

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  3. So happy!! Raclette and tartiflette are waiting for you in Annecy

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    1. Salut Fabienne!
      We can't wait to come. It would be so fun to see you again! Comme tu le sais bien, nous adorons la France et tu nous manques.
      Hope to see you soon! Congratulations on your beautiful baby!

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