Called to Serve Again

I can't figure out how to add pictures from the internet, and I don't have the pictures I would use on the computer I am using, so I guess this picture from Russia will have to do the illustrating. . .

Some of you may know, my parents served a mission for the LDS church for 18 months in Russia. They arrived home on Valentine's day. We were happy and a little sad to have them home. I say sad, because while they were serving, I could feel the blessings that our family was receiving because of their service. I can't point to any miraculous thing, but I could feel we were being blessed because of their willingness to serve. We were delighted to have them home for the obvious reasons, and they only lived two miles away. There are some crazy things that happened that in retrospect we could see the intervention of a loving Heavenly Father who knew that they needed to serve again and sooner than later. For instance, about two or three weeks after they came home, we went on an entire family reunion -- crazy at the time, but if we waited for "a more convenient time" they would be gone. In March, after they came home, they told us they had been asked to go to CHINA to teach English!!!

This was not in our plans, and it wasn't what we wanted or thought was best, but I am grateful that I was raised by such good parents that taught me at a young age, that you do what you are asked by the Lord and you will be blessed somehow. This time around, in some ways, it is harder, we all know the ropes that are being jumped, the kids are already praying for them in China -- Spence didn't believe Grandpa that he wasn't in China already when Grandpa called to talk to him -- but yet again, I know that we will be blessed while they are gone, and our testimony's will be strengthened further because of their service.

In China, they won't be proselyting, they will just loving the people they come into contact with and learning from these people. But they have been asked and with faith, they will go. We will miss Grandma and Papa, but we are blessed to live in a time when the internet and communication is so close at hand and we know that somehow, someway, we will learn from this experience and be better people because they are going.

One last note, funny thing actually, when I was a Junior in high school, I had to write about my life plans (and put it in a book which I found this week). Well, that is a long time away and I had basic plans, but nothing concrete, and this teacher wanted concrete. . .so I wrote about how I would travel and see the world and named a few countries, that as a junior I thought sounded intriguing, but could never see traveling to in my younger years (my parents had never been to Europe when I was in High School) -- but I put that someday I would go to France (haven't been there yet), Switzerland (went to my SIL's sealing there when Spence was a baby), to Russia (went to see my mom and dad), and to the Orient (I plan to see my parents in China) -- so I guess those randomly chosen places weren't so random after all, but who would have guessed I would go in my "not so old" years?!!

Good luck mom and dad, we miss you already, and we are so proud of you -- thanks for the good example!! I just hope you do better at blogging over there than you did while you were home :)