How It All Started (the end of May)

            It was a normal drive home from the SLC airport after flying in from our delightful trip across Pennsylvania and into NYC.  Out of the blue, Quinn said something like this, “If we’re going on a mission, it should probably be right away.”  To which I responded, “You don’t want to go on a mission.”  This is a conclusion I came to after 40 plus years of listening to Quinn say he didn’t want to go on a mission.  Of course he always followed that up with the statement that if I had the urge to serve, he would support me.  My initial comment was followed by numerous other similar comments like, “Where did this come from?”  “I haven’t even been retired for a year yet.”  “Why are you saying this?”  Needless to say, I was taken off guard.

            His explanation included points such as: he felt it was something we should do, at that moment nobody in the family was pregnant, and his mother was healthy and could manage on her own.  It was also a good way to avoid another Idaho winter.  We would only go for six months and “test it out.”  We discussed it a little more, but in the back of my mind, I thought it was a passing idea he would soon forget and then return to his anti-mission self.  He didn’t. 

            I certainly wasn’t going to bring the topic up again, but weeks later he mentioned meeting with the bishop to discuss what steps we needed to take to start the process.  As it happened, we were out of town often and so weeks were going by without any appointments with the bishop.  Now we are into July, and I have been called to be the assistant cook to Ronna Park (the bishop’s wife) for girl’s camp.  We are to cook for the stake leaders and all the YCL girls which means we go to Pasa-la-coma on Monday and stay until Friday.  On Monday night, the girls and their leaders are busy planning and setting up a “Spiritual Journey” that will take place for all the girls of the stake on Wednesday night.  They have been up and down the mountain all day making preparations.  That night, the stake girls plan to do a rehearsal walk-through to see if changes need to be made, but to also have each of them get to experience their own spiritual journey.  At some point, they invite Ronna and me to come and participate ourselves.  After we have cleaned up the kitchen from the evening meal, and it’s quite dark, we get our flashlights and head to the starting point.  We had been listening to the leaders prepare the girls beforehand and discuss what to say when it is their turn to lead a group through the journey, and one of the things that stood out for me was to have each participant form a question in their mind that they wanted answered on the journey.  The pathway was a series of stations located up the mountain with each station including a mirror.  Attached to each mirror (or written on it) were validations and encouraging sayings.  Ronna and I took ourselves through the journey, and after the mirror section, we followed a path of lights to an opening with a large bonfire in front of an amphitheater with benches.  At the top of the benches was a large beautiful picture of the Savior lit from behind.  

            The girls were being VERY reverent and the group was getting larger around the fire and on the benches, but each girl seemed to be absorbed in her own thoughts.  I sat on a bench staring at the fire and decided now was the time to ask my question.  The question I started the journey with was this: “Do I have to go on this mission?”  Once I had asked the question in my mind, the next thought I had was: “No, you GET to go on this mission.”  I immediately thought I should have worded the question differently, but it was too late. I had my answer.  It was now time to begin the process.

Taken in front of our kitchen: Ronna Park, Me, Karin Scott (Stake Relief Society President and big help in the kitchen); photobomber is Stake President Sponenburgh.