CHECKING THEM OFF ONE AT A TIME

One has no idea how much there is to do when leaving your home for 2 years. Our "To Do List" is about four pages long. We have been at it and going strong since receiving our call. I have to say we have been doing a great job staying on task. In just one month we have gotten most of our shots, chest x-rays, bought most of our clothes, built a storage shed, empty a rental unit to fill the storage shed, and yes "The Crawl Space."
The one task that I was not looking forward to. We have lived here 14 years this coming November. This is the first time that it has been organized. Most of the boxes were cardboard. Do to the gravel on the floor and the high water table, most of the boxes would fall apart as soon as we lifted them up. And the smell.......yikes!! I would have never have been able to do it myself. Noah is our 12 year old grandson and what a guy. He never gave up and upon our completion he did his "Victory Dance." Amanda age 9 also gave her helping hand as well.
August 12th is the half way mark. We hope to have everything done by the end of August.

Finally everyone that was coming had arrived. Karl opened the envelope about 5 o'clock. As he was reading I scanned the page and spotted the place. Earlier I had hung a world vinyl map on the gate to the backyard gate. As the guests arrived they wrote there name on a sticker placing it on the area they thought we would go. I choose Cape Town, South Africa and yes............there is was right in front of our very eyes, Cape Town, South Africa. Assigned as office speicalist to work and serve in the office of Pres. and Sister Wood. We are to report to the MTC on October 3rd. We will be in the MTC for two weeks after which we will fly from Salt Lake City Airport on October 17th to Atlanta, Georgia. From there to Johannesburg, South Africa and then flying to Cape Town, approximately 28 hours.

On the 22nd I made sure I was in the front yard pulling weeds when the mail lady came. I asked her if she could call me the next morning to tell me if the call was there. We had invited many family and friends, we sure didn't want them showing up to no call. She was a real doll about it and sure enough called me at 8 am the next morning to say, "The call is here!" I told her to honk her horn when she came so I could run out and take her picture. Proof at the left. Karen had told me that it would be coming. Beings Pres. Watson had let us know that it was truly issued and there was no holidays in between......it "WOULD" be coming for sure. It was high noon when I called Karl and told him the call had arrived. I told him I opened it and we were going to West Germany. He replied, "WHAT!!!!" He had told me the day before that if I opened it without him I could go alone. Haaaaaaaa, right! I laid it on the patio table and had to watch it for 4 hours while I worked getting ready for the crowd. And once again my sweet friend Tammy McCray and her son Ben came to the rescue bailing me out with their angle hands.

Just 10 Days!

In the beginning there was lots to do to get our call ready to be submitted to the church. Physicals, eye exams, photographs. It was good we already had our Pass Ports. We met with Pres. Watson and after getting all our information on-line he pushed that magic button on the computer that sent everything to Salt Lake and was told it would be 10 days. The 10 days passed and Pres. Watson contacted Salt Lake. We had submitted the papers too early. We upped the date from September 15th to the 1st. And re-submitted. We were told it would be 10 days. Again we wait and nothing. One night Karl got on the internet to check his e-mail, something that he wasn't doing much of. There was a note there from the church offices. They had a medical question. He e-mail them as well as left a message. The next day a sister called to confirm his message. At that time she told Karl and we could expect our call in 4-6 weeks. Again we waited. The 6th week came and Pres. Watson received a call from Salt Lake asking if we could afford an additional $100 a month. After meeting with us he called Salt Lake confirming that we could. At that time the brother told him that the called would be issued on the 17th of June and we would receive it on the June 22nd (Kort's birthday).

It all began with a kiss......actually it really did. It was February 19th of this year. We were entertaining and enjoying the love of our many friends and family at our "50th" Wedding Anniversary. President John Watson came through the line. He embraced our two hands in his and admonished us to consider going on a mission. He told us that we were at the very top of his list of those in the stake he felt should go. I was in awe. Have I thought about it? Of course! But not now...later when all the grand kids reach that day when our involvement in their lives was not primary.
A few weeks pasted and Karl approached me one evening as I was sitting on the couch. He told me that he had been thinking about a mission even before President Watson had said anything and had even prayed about it. My mind started racing a hundred miles a minute. What about the grand kids, our home and my kitties? It was more than I wanted to think about. You know how you think about something that makes your heart hurt and bring tears to your eyes......I just wouldn't think about it and it would go away. This turned out to be an impossibility. Before I knew it we had put our feet on a path of no return.