And the Wait Begins

Chance has made the decision to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  This means that he has expressed his interest in going and has turned in the paperwork.

Chance now has entered the time period of waiting to see where he will get assigned to serve. This could end up being almost anywhere in the world.  His paperwork included a note from his audiologist stating that Chance would be able to  serve in any developed nation that would be able to provide implant support.

Chance is very excited to see where he will be sent. The call used to come by mail, in a large envelope, with details about the area where the missionary will be serving as well as information about when to report to the Missionary Training Center or MTC. In the past few months a change has been made and the calls now come by email. There are several MTC's across the world and where one is sent depends on where one will be serving. Chance's brother went to the MTC in Brazil because he had been assigned to serve in a Brazilian mission. Every country does not have an MTC so sometimes missionaries are sent to the one closest to the area where they will serve.

At the MTC missionaries learn a language if they are being sent to a foreign country or somewhere where they will be speaking a language other than their own, along with culture lessons for their assigned area. They also get training in proselytizing methods, including lessons on church doctrine and teaching, missionary rules, and proper interactions with the people they will serve, teach and work with.

Both Chance's dad and I spent time in an MTC on our way to serve missions. I served in the Netherlands and his dad served in Spain. It was one of the highest points of our lives. We both learned to love the people we lived among and grew in ways that we could not have imagined. Chance now is awaiting his own experience.

The choice to serve a mission was solely his own.  You pay your own way on a mission and Chance has been saving the money he will need.

Someone wanting to serve a mission is also required to live a moral code that includes abstaining from alcohol, staying morally clean and being worthy to attend the temple.

Here's a short video that explains a little bit about what mission life is like.



Any day now we will learn where Chance is called to serve his mission! It is such an exciting time!