We're going WHERE? To do WHAT??

Only minutes after reading our mission call letters, we had all sorts of maps opened, gawking at the mission boundaries.  They run up the coast line from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon Border.  The mission stays on the coast and does not take in the I-5 corridor or Sacramento.  It has small logging towns in the north to very well-to-do commuter communities in the south.

The only time I remember being in the mission boundaries was when I was a young boy and my family traveled from my Uncle’s home in Oregon to my other Uncle’s home in Livermore.  Dad drove us down Highway 101.  I remember the red wood forests and a huge wooden statue of a logger, which I was quite sure was Paul Bunyan.  I remember a lot of beach.  And I remember driving into Santa Rosa as we came back into civilization and being impressed with how green and clean it was.  I thought that if I had to ever live in California, Santa Rosa would be the place!  Now 50 years later, I’ll be returning, finally, as a missionary.

MLS stand for Member and Leadership Support.  That is the official type of missionary we will be.  Some call it is proselyting.  And of course, it came with the disclaimer that our Mission President can and may change our call to do anything that he and the Lord needs us to do.

Researching other missionary blogs and information on the internet, it becomes quite clear that MLS missionaries in many cases “create their own missions.”  They do whatever needs to be done and whatever they are prompted to do.  That makes us quite nervous, but also excited.

We have seen MLS missionaries spend a lot of time visiting members whose names are on the rolls of the church but have not been to church in a while.  We have seen them get involved in community service and community events.  They often support the younger Elders and Sisters, even teaching with them when needed.  At times they are called to serve in leadership positions in small congregations to strengthen and assist the leaders there.  We even read where one couple spent a lot of time, and loved it too, baking food and taking it to people.  We’ve even had the thought that we may be asked to take a scout troop to scout camp.  Sometimes it is hard to find adults to go to camp and we really know how to do that and enjoy it!  We plan on taking our uniforms just in case.

The first week of our mission will be spent in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.  I haven’t been there in 38 years!  I loved being there as a youth and can’t wait to return.  For one week we will be receiving “Preach My Gospel” training with other Senior Missionaries.  Doing so should prepare us to teach, communicate, and serve those in our mission.

So really, truthfully, we still don’t know exactly where we will serve (the mission boundaries are huge and diverse) and exactly what we will be doing there.  The Lord knows.  The mission president will know and will clue us in upon arrival there.  One thing is for sure though.  Both of us feel a definite urgency about this.  We are needed.  Someone needs us.