Getting My Mission Call Part 2

Tuesday night, the night before I was told my call would come was stressful, but only because I was feeling guilty over my possible reaction to my call. You see, my minor is French teaching and it's kind of important that I know French. However, the language wasn't coming easily for me and going on a French speaking mission was exactly what I needed. If that wasn't going to happen, then I needed a "useful" language like Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian or maybe German.  


However, I was horribly conflicted because I was worried that having these feelings meant that if I didn't go to a country with a "useful" language then I would be mad the whole time and wouldn't be a good missionary. These feelings had been plaguing me for months, but on that Tuesday it was so bad I couldn't sleep. Eventually with some praying and soul searching I realized that I had to be the one to make the decision to be a good missionary. Once I did that I finally found the relief I had been waiting for and promptly passed out on my pillow.


The next day I went about class as usual just waiting to get done with my classes so I could check the mail. Right before my last class I received a text from my roommate telling me to "check it"! What?! The mail? Couldn't check that because I was at school. Facebook, maybe? When I called my roommate all she did was yell "CHECK IT" in the phone and hung up, so I was still in the dark. 


Then I saw this on my Facebook.

I wanted to skip my last class, but I realized it wasn't like my call was going to change or anything during the time I was in class. So for 50 minutes I sat through Korean History and looked at the clock every 30 seconds.

Finally, I rushed home and called my parents to tell them I would be calling them back in a few minutes with the news! My roommates took this picture. 

They wanted to do it in front of the Eiffel Tower in our apartment, but I 

thought it would look stupid if I didn't get called to Paris.

Then I took the envelope and drove to the road that goes above the Temple.I ripped into my call (I always thought I would cry for a few minutes before hand, but I wasn't that patient).

The first word I saw was "hereby" which was a relief because it meant I was actually getting a call rather than a rejection letter. Then I saw "France Paris". 

Honestly, I was shocked. I figured that if I were lucky enough to go French speaking it would be to New Caledonia or Montreal. I couldn't believe I was actually getting to go back to that beautiful, beautiful city.

The top half of France is my mission. The bottom half of Belgium and all of 

Luxembourg are part of it as well. They're shaded gray on the map.

I called my parents and, after my mom finished screaming, I drove back to my apartment and told my roommate's. And we took this picture and called a million people to tell them the news.

Getting My Mission Call Part 1

For any non-members reading this blog, a "call" is what we Mormons have named the place one is assigned (called) to serve as a missionary. Not to be confused with a  "calling". You can look that one up yourself. 


Also, a "ward" is what we call individual Mormon congregations. All the Mormons in a certain area ("Stake", as in the stakes that hold town a tent, not the meat) are divided into wards of about 300 people based on where they live, kind of like school zones, and then are assigned a time and place to meet for church.


And now to continue with my story...






Eventually I had my interviews and my papers were submitted. And then the waiting began for my call.


This was the hardest part of the whole process. There is really no set time that it takes. One normally hears that in Utah it takes about two weeks, but not always. And whenever someone heard that I was waiting for my call they felt that they had to tell me all the horror stories. Most of them had to do with their Stake President forgetting to turn their papers in or losing them all together. My roommate's call took 4 months! When she called to see if they got them at the mission office in SLC they just said that they had received them, but they just didn't know where to send her yet.


So with all of these stories in my head I waited. Then, a week later, a guy in my ward who'd turned his papers in the same day as me got his call to Sweden (Yay Nick!) and my call didn't come. 


I was given some interesting piece of news though. Apparently the Bishop of our ward got news from Salt Lake that Nick's call was coming the weekend before it came. I had no idea it was possible to know before hand. So now those of you working on your papers right now know that this is a possibility.


But seriously ya'll, the waiting was driving me crazy. I was checking the mail every day, filled with a thousand disappointments every time it didn't come.

The next Sunday came and the executive secretary told me the Bishop wanted to see me. I was convinced it was something bad such as the mission office had just told him they would be unable to give me a call for whatever reason. We had just had a lesson in Relief Society about how the Lord is with you through all trials, so while I walked downstairs to his office I just kept telling myself that I was going to be OK because I had the Lord on my side no matter what (not as comforting as I would have hoped, but I still believe it today).

When I got there the Bishop told me I was going to receive my call either on Wednesday or Thursday depending on how long the mail took. This would be a good time to inform you that in Utah (Provo) calls almost always come on Wednesday. Then there was the awkward moment where I wasn't sure if he was going in for the handshake or the hug. It ended up being this weird sort of side hug.

But I digress. And it's getting late so I'll have to do Part 2 of this experience tomorrow.

Putting In One's Papers

I decided to blog about putting in your papers (application for a mission) because while I was working on them there were no personal accounts online. I suppose there were a few Elders talking about their feelings, but nothing about the details of actually doing the paperwork. And nothing from sister missionaries. So here it is folks; my whole experience and tips I've learned along the way.


1. You can put your mission papers in 120 days before your availability date. For me this was the end of January because I was hoping to report at the end of May.


2. The papers are done all online now. You're bishop should have a code to use the missionary application website. Once he's in he can enter your name into the missionary application website. Then he'll give you the link and you enter your church user name and password.


3. The categories concern a self-evaluation of your health, a list of health questions your doctor must go over with you, a list of immunizations you need to get, questions about your financial situation which will determine whether or not your ward will help with mission costs, you and your immediate family's general and church history and a photo of yourself.


4. Start as soon as possible. Seriously, I can't stress that enough. People gave me the same advice a lot before I started, but then I was confused because some people told me they finished their papers and received their call all in 6 weeks. My plan was to be safe and start in September and turn them in at the end of January. I so glad I gave myself the time.


Once I actually got to the point of getting on the application website it took three weeks to finish my papers (Christmas break). However, my bishop had never done papers online before and didn't have code from the Stake President to get onto the website. It took two months before I finally was able to look at the papers.


And then there were unsuspected issues we found once we started. For example, we found out I had never had my Hep A and B shots which are series of shots taken over 6 months. We thought that meant I couldn't turn my papers in until after the vaccinations were done which would be after my availability date! Luckily we found out that it isn't the case. And, my mom and I just found out today that you can ask for a "sped up" immunization which only takes one month all together.


I also had to go to the dentist for what I thought was only a check-up to find that I needed four teeth filled! Luckily we had the money and he some open appointments, but otherwise we would have been in trouble.


Then you have to finish with an interview with your Bishop and Stake President. That may take awhile because they're busy people. I hoped to turn in my papers by the end of January, but because I had to wait for the interviews I didn't put in them in until the middle of February.


5. Rumors. There are a lot of them. One is that if you mention that you've stayed for any extended length of time then you won't be sent there. Since I had done a study abroad in Paris before I was worried about my chances. At the same time though we didn't want to not say anything and lie to the church. So we tried to slip it in there without being noticed.


Today I know that it's not true. The Lord will send you where you need to go no matter what.


Well, that's all I can remember about the process for now. I hope you this was informative.