The date we are scheduled to arrive at the MTC was moved to March 22th. We will be in Provo Utah for two weeks of training and then off to Johannesburg. This is a picture of the Temple in Johannesburg and the area offices where we will be working, which is very close to where we will be living.

The Rest of the Story

We had a little help from our friends, Brent and Charlene Lee in determining it was time to serve another mission. We met the Lee's in Ukraine where they served in Kieve as the Country Directors over Humanitarian work. We were fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with them while we were serving in Donetsk Ukraine as a Humanitarian Couple. 

We have stayed in touch with the Lee's and knew they had just begun their second mission since returning from Ukraine. A year or so after serving in Ukraine the Lee's went to Jordan for 18 months and were now serving another 18 month mission in South Africa. 

So we had been anxious to hear how they were doing when we received the first letter from Charlene on September 8th, 2013. There was one little sentence in Charlene's letter that changed the course of our lives.

"Are you ready to serve another mission? We need you!"

Bruce laughed it off and didn't say another word about it. I on the other hand, knew if Charlene had said, "we need you" that she meant it. We always knew that we would serve a second mission but had anticipated waiting another year or two before submitting our papers.The next month of so we kept getting little signs that it might be time for us to prepare for another mission. 

 On October 25, 2013 we received a letter from Charlene that said,

 "We need to have a serious talk about your coming to Africa to serve."

The rest, as they say, is history.

Bruce and our granddaughter Monroe waiting to open our mission call to see if we are going to South Africa

On February 6, 2014 we received a mission call to Johannesburg South Africa where we will serve as Welfare Services Specialist for 18 months. Our mission call says that we should report to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on May 26, 2014, however, the needs in South Africa are great and The Lee's have asked if we would be willing to come sooner if it can be arranged so our departure date may change.  We are already seeing the Lord's hand in our lives as we prepare once again, to serve our Heavenly Father.

CALLED TO SERVE AGAIN

It's funny, the first time we went to the missionary training center we met so many couples who had served multiple missions. We hadn't considered  serving more than one mission. We were just praying that we would be able to complete this ONE. It was hard to leave the life we knew behind. We couldn't imagine how we would be able to live so far away from all that we loved for 18 months.

When we received our mission call  to Ukraine in June 2007 we had  no idea what to expect as a couple serving a mission in a foreign country. When Bruce and I arrived in Ukraine on November 22, 2007 it was a very cold Thanksgiving Day. We were not prepared for the culture shock that lasted nearly 3 months.

The first several months we wondered what good we could do serving in a country where we didn't speak the language. However, by the time we left our mission we had acclimated to our new life and Donetsk Ukraine had become home.

When we boarded the plane to return to America we knew that our lives had been forever changed by the experiences we had while serving as a Humanitarian Couple in Ukraine.

We knew then that SOMEDAY we WOULD once again turn our papers in to serve another mission.

(this is an excerpt from my Ukraine mission blog)

"The Lord has showered our lives with blessings. We could not have imagined how much more we would be blessed by serving a mission. My sweet husband and I have grown closer to each other during the short time we have served here in Ukraine than ever before. Our testimonies of Jesus Christ have been strengthened. Our hearts have been touched by the people we have met both members of the church and the dedicated people involved in charitable work here in Ukraine".

Our lives HAVE been blessed, 

we truly gave been GIVEN MUCH!

So on December 20, 2013 we sent our request to Salt Lake City to serve another mission

if you would like to read about our mission in Ukraine click here