"You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Twenty-seven years ago, these words were addressed to me. Now I was reading them again in a call sent to Mom.
All my life, Mom has been an example of faith. The phrase, "still waters run deep" comes to mind when I think of her.
In spite of that, having Mom serve her mission alone was not something I had anticipated.
My hope was that Mom and Dad would have a "storybook" mission experience and serve together as a couple in New Zealand, where Dad had served as a young elder.
Dad passed away suddenly just more than two years ago, which made that experience impossible. At the time I didn't realize Mom would consider serving a mission alone.
(After all, I was certain that Mom would be too nervous, plus serving a mission isn't as common among widows and, selfishly, I have always wanted Mom and her fresh-baked rolls to be very close.) Even so, when Mom told us that she felt the need to serve a mission, I was not surprised or disappointed, just proud.
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This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.