Blink

Life is a blink…
It just wasn’t that long ago that we all said our sad “goodbyes” to Zach at the airport as he started off to BYU. That was last August—it is now April! And now I am preparing for another quick hello as he returns home from school and a long goodbye as we await his mission call. It’s quite an experience---these mission calls! Paper work and doctor’s visits, shots, buying suits, white shirts, ties—all the preparations needed to put your “personal life” on hold for the next two years.

I recently listened to a talk by Elder Ronald Rasband, a leader in our church who talked about how missionaries are “called” or assigned to different areas of the world. (I've included the 11 minute video below) It’s truly an inspired process, with each missionary going to the place chosen just for them! Zach has kept us updated on all of his freshman buddies who recently submitted their mission papers and have received their assignments—he has friends going to London, Jamaica, Oklahoma City, and Long Beach, California—Cambodian-speaking! In our family alone, we have had missionaries serve in Tokyo and Nagoya, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, France, Chile, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, and Australia!

We are anxiously waiting and waiting for his mission call to come…currently at 13 days and counting! It’s been an exciting time for our family as we race to the mailbox daily, place bets (in a very non-gambling sort-of-way) on where he’s going—Scott and I even bet “dishes for a week” if it arrives before Friday! (Scott later withdrew his “bet”—for fear he’d actually have to do these dishes ALONE for a whole week...lame, I know.)

I am thrilled Zach is coming home from BYU--I've missed him a bunch! I think it was the experience for him that we hoped it might be. But here he goes again, on what I think will be one of the great experiences of his life…more to come soon—hopefully an announcement!