You Are Hereby Called To Serve . .

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Washington Seattle Mission!

(I added the ! mark)




This is not a very good picture of the area his mission covers. I scanned it in from the paperwork because there wasn't anything better to be found online.

The Story of the Mission Call
Austin opened his call in his dormroom at BYU with guys from his hall crowding the doorway and his Grandma Swensen in Michigan and his family in Florida watching via video SKYPE at 11:30pm on Wednesday, March 24, 2010!!!

He had a Computer Programming take home midterm he was working on that was due at 9pm Utah time and it took every last minute. Austin texted earlier in the day, "It's here!" Then proceeded to ask us how late we were willing to stay up for him to open it. The answer - we're up and waiting til whenever! (like we could go to sleep!)

We had the video camera rolling on the computer screen. When he opened the call and began to read and said, "you are hereby called to serve in the Washington Seattle Mission," I thought he was trying to be funny and playing a joke on us.

I haven't watched the video of it all but I'm pretty sure I was waiting for him to reread it for reals and then finally said, "are you serious?" "are you joking?" It took me only a moment to realize it was for real.

Austin is excited. We are excited for him. He is going to be an awesome missionary! He has a testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and his plan for us here on the earth. It has always been a guiding force in his life.

There are some interesting things surrounding Austin's mission call to this mission. As I have related this to different individuals in telling them where he will be going - I have had (4) of them tell me it has given them the 'chills.' A good feeling!

1. John grew up in Washington. His whole family lives in Washington state - his two sisters, his brother and his mom. Along with many other relatives. We go there every year to visit. In a lot of ways it is our second home. When I got to UT to see Austin I got to look at the map more closely. I had to call John right away. His sister & family and niece in Puyallup, WA will be within Austin's mission boundaries!

2. We lived in Issaquah, WA for 4 1/2 years from the time Austin was 18months old until he was 6 years old (almost 14 years ago). Issaquah, WA is also part of his mission.

3. Just this past weekend during General Conference, Phillip Bussey, who was our bishop when we lived in Issaquah, WA and has since been a stake president, was called as a new Area Seventy. (It was a couple of months ago that somehow John had looked something up and saw he was a stake president, still in the area working for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. All before Austin got his call.)

It will be exciting to see the events of the next two years unfold and the years to follow as Austin serves the Lord. This has been an opportunity for me to put my faith in the Lord and in his wisdom of all things.