+ DAY 6 -- A God Of Miracles

I drove to the airport today to pick up a student for the school. She came from Dominican Republic.  On the way, I listened to the Tabernacle Choir.  I felt the spirit of those songs and felt very strong stirrings within.  I knew that when we finally do get to go on our mission, that feeling of companionship with the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit of Divinity will be constant, or at least felt stronger as we serve with our all.

My boss asked if we had received our call yet.  I said no.  He said he was going to call the brethren and tell them to lose the papers so I would not leave.  Then he laughed.  He said that I would be missed as much as withdrawing my hand from a bucket of water, the amount of water displaced would be how much I would be missed.  At times he wants to run me out, at other times, he would rather I stay around. Then there are times when I wish I could walk away today from work, for many different reasons.

One of the teachers asked if I heard about our call yet.  I said no.  She said, "Wonderful."  She is the one that made me promise that I would make some Ginger Cookies before I leave.  She says that I make the best ginger cookies in the world.  Of course I do.

My sister said it should be today, Friday.  She said that she heard from some friends that it comes on Friday.  Well, I guess I really don't care when it comes.  I am occupied in the two lives I live, one at work, one at home.  I will continue as long as I need to.  It is accomplishing a goal we set a long time ago.  So, I really do not think about when it will come and what it will contain, and what it will mean about changes in our life.

I read this morning in the BOM that God is a God of miracles.  If we do not see miracles, then it is because of the lack of our worthiness.  Miracles are all around, we just don't see them, expect them, nor ask for them.  But Bonnie and I have seen, experienced, and expect miracles every day.  They continue to occur in our lives.

Day 6.  We continue to wait.

+ DAY 5 -- Three Lives

One of the blessings of our circumstances right now is we are close to and able to serve our children and grandchildren.  Almost every night, we are going to their houses and tending children.  It is a joy.  I am sure when we finally  leave, we will miss that opportunity.

I feel like I am living three lives.  One is the life I live at work.  I am totally occupied trying to find students to come to the US to learn English.  I have students from all over the world coming.  I am constantly helping them get ready to come.  I am also constantly trying to find agents or those who will help us find students in their countries.

The second life is the one experiencing our kids and grand kids.  It is the one where we are surrounded with our ward members, with home teaching, with the life away from work.  It is like these two worlds do not influence each other.  I enjoy my life at home much more than at work.

The third life is the proximity of the life we will live in the future.  It is unknown.  We can try to imagine what we will be doing, where we will be doing it, and with whom will we be doing it.  It is sort of like a dream.  It is real, I assume.  But not...  It won't be real until we receive other confirmations that it is real. 

Three different lives.  Only two of them take up much of our physical time.  The dream-like life takes up lots of mental time, thus taking away from the other two.  Three lives.  Each one separate from the other two.  One will eliminate the first two, but who knows when. 

I try to explain where we are, and how things feel, thoughts flow, and many things, but it is difficult to explain the feelings and what is going on in our lives.  Suffice it to say I am living three different, separate lives.

+ DAY 4 -- What Shall We Be Doing

Bonnie read some of the past posts and she said that I have been writing about patience, waiting, patience and then waiting again and again.  What else is there?  We are on the verge of a voyage, but we don't know where or when.  But I shall try to avoid mentioning waiting and patience today.

I envision a location where we shall know nothing about.  It will be a place that neither of us have been, but one where we will be excited to go.  There will be saints there and non-saints there.  What we will be doing is a mystery, but we shall enjoy it thoroughly.  We shall be involved with the work of the Lord, in building up His kingdom.

There are countless ways to build up His Kingdom.  We may be re-activating members who have lost their way.  We may be working with younger missionaries.  We may be in a CES mission where we can work with the youth of the church.  We may even be proselyting, knocking doors searching out the honest in heart.  We may be assigned to a mission home somewhere, or even a temple somewhere to serve keeping records, helping patrons, etc.  We may be doing all of the above.

No matter where we are called to serve I am so thoroughly excited that it is hard to think of anything else.  But as I have said before, it is sort of surreal, hard to believe we are on the verge of donating all we have to Him.  What a glorious dream/vision that is so close.  It is hard to forget it, or even think about it.  But come what may, and come when it may, we are ready.

+ DAY 3 -- Timbuktu and Nightmares

As I returned to work, everyone at work asked, "Have you received your call?"  I answered,  "Not yet."  Then they ask that stupid question, "Why not?"  So I answer with a stupid answer like, "An elephant was crossing the road the other day, saw the mail truck, went over, stepped on the postman, stuck his long trunk in the window of the truck, sucked out all the important mail, but none of the bills.  He tasted the sweet aroma of our call, promptly ate it and let the postman live to deliver all the bills to you and me."  That is as good a reason as any other one, right?

There is a young kid in my office at work who is from Mali.  He continually asks if I received my call.  He was converted a few months ago and was baptised.  He is telling me that I am going to be sent to Timbuktu.  I didn't know that Timbuktu was in Mali but it is...  It is a place that no one knows it's location, and we are always referring to Timbuktu.  (I didn't even know how to spell it.)

I anxiously wait for the mail to be delivered each day, expecting it daily.  Bonnie is sure it won't come until either Wednesday or Friday.  But when week after week goes by, I start wondering if it will ever come.  Maybe they have lost the papers?  Maybe an elephant did actually come?  Maybe we are not supposed to go? 

It is sure interesting to track and monitor where the mind takes us in this circumstances.  So many thoughts pass through the mind, all trying to give peace to it. Last night I had upsetting dream after nightmare, after scary dream, after worrisome dream.  I guess I was not peaceful during the sleeping hours.  Don't know the reason why, other than this constant pressure, yet not pressure, just the not knowing.  Would that cause the kind of night I had last night?  Who knows? 

+ DAY 2 -- This Week?????

Bonnie and I both feel that there are things that we need to do before we leave.  Don't exactly know what they are, but there are things that need to be done by us.  We also agreed that Father knows best, knows the timing of our call, and we would never want to change His infinite wisdom of His master timing.

Just as in mortality, often we never know the reasons of specific timing,  but once in a while we are blessed to know the reasoning of "why" things take their time as they do.  Hind sight is often 20 - 20.  Often it is
20 - 1000.  Right now it is 20 - blindness.  But that is OK as long as we exercise our faith.

The President of the stake asked me yesterday if I had received a call from Church Headquarters.  I replied that I had not.  He said that he had not either.  I wonder what that means?  He said in our interview a few weeks ago that often the church calls the future senior missionaries.  Will that happen?  Guess we will wait and see.

Bishop said also that he is waiting as well as we are, excited to know where we will be going.  Many are in that same frame of mind, wondering where we will be serving.  It is exciting.

One brother said that the church needs much more than 5000 senior missionary couples, for he had been involved in seeing areas where couples help in the work.  We are just two, but we can serve and give and help build the Kingdom.  Still excited about that.

One sister said last night that we were going to get our call this week.  She said that she receives revelation for the Partridge family.  Guess we shall wait and see as Bonnie and I enter our forty first year of marriage.

+DAY 1 -- Still Waiting for our Assignment of Service

I guess those of you who don't want to read this, since we are beyond M day, you can stop reading this at any time.  But I feel it isn't over yet, since I have not, cannot report about the  mission we will serve, the when and the where.

I talked to the Stake President today and he asked if the church had called me yet.  I replied that they have not called.  When we were in our interview, he said that often then do call the couple who wants to serve.  Often they discuss with the future senior missionaries their upcoming assignments.  So, perhaps we need to wait until they call.  Who knows.  (By the way, my good friend Orrin Hatch has stopped calling me!)

I felt another "revelation" also.  I felt the Spirit telling me, ".. know this my son that these things (waiting, waiting, and continuing to wait) will gain thee experience, and shall be for thy good."  As I try to imagine our mission, I know that this waiting will be over quickly.  I know that the patience, the lessons I am learning by waiting will be used in our mission.

Though it is a challenge to answer questions continually thrown at us from well intending members of our ward about where and when we are going, we are learning to be patient, wait upon the Lord and keep our excitement for a mission vibrant.  Bonnie suggested the other day that they that wait upon the Lord shall mount up on eagle wings...  My impatience is slowly leaving.  And what we are learning is multifaceted.

I guess at least for a time, I will continue this blog.  I mean I must record the miracles leading up to our mission. And I know that the miracles will not cease, but in fact they will increase as we begin serving full time in His work.  Now I guess I will count up in my numbers since I have counted down the last year.

DAY 0 --- M DAY

One year ago, I started this blog anticipating our serving a mission.  We have done all we can do, and are now waiting for our mission call to come by mail.  It has been about ten weeks since we submitted our papers, and now we just wait.  In preparation of this mission call, we have made and are making many changes in our life so we can serve.  We have seen many miracles through the last 365 days.  We are ready to give our all to Father.

(Note: I just came down the hill from being out in the beauties of nature.  It was fun out there, but there was no Internet.  So I did not post yesterday Day One.  But I keep learning that I am getting almost too old to sleep on the ground.)

Today is our fortieth year being wed.  We celebrate our years together that started out long ago having Elder Robert L. Simpson seal us.  He told us that there were many spirits waiting to come to our family.  Well we have six kids and soon to be 20 grand kids.  I guess that can be the meaning of "many."  We are ready to start on the road to another forty years.

NO, no mission call yet.  I felt sure that we would get it this week, but it hasn't showed up yet.  There could be many reasons why.  Perhaps someone held up the post man taking it before he could deliver it.  Perhaps it was delivered to the wrong place.  Perhaps it was addressed to our future location?  Perhaps you received it in your mail box?  Who knows. Perhaps it was just to teach me more about patience.  Or perhaps it is a reason to continue this blog further.

Of course, I would have to write on this blog about the call whenever it come, if it comes.  Bonnie asked me if I should continue writing on this blog, even through we have reached M day, and we are celebrating our forty years together.  Or perhaps everyone is sick of reading the progress and road to our mission. Or perhaps I should keep going while I serve?  I am pondering it, whether to continue.  If anyone has a say about it, a feeling one way or the other, I would certainly like to know your thoughts?

Well, Happy Anniversary and keep waiting for that mission call.