Dear Ryker,
As I have looked back at my own missionary preparations I came across a journal entry which I will retell here and have subsequently titled for purposes of this blog Missouri, Kansas, and Kentucky. I was 20 years old and headed to Utah State University in the fall of 1989. I felt I needed a car and so my older sister Dana and I set off for St. Louis Missouri where an old car of my Grandpa's who had recently passed away lay unwanted by anyone else.
We flew into the airport there and stayed a day or two at my Uncle Taylor's before heading west to Utah like the early pioneers. We made it to the middle of No-Where Kansas on a Friday before the old brown sedan started making funny noises.
Now here we were two young girls on the side of a busy freeway, before the time of cellphones. My sister was at least knowledgeable enough to be "freaking out," as I describe it in my journal, I on the other hand was rather naive and thought of it as a grand adventure.
A big rig rumbled to stop where a rather rough looking trucker in our estimation asked if he could be of assistance. He assessed Grandpa's car and determined that we wouldn't be able to drive it any further. We timidly accepted a ride to the next exit from the trucker who turned out to be quite nice. Aunt Dana recalls that he stayed with us until our car was able to be safely towed to the service station. The first tow truck driver to show up was drunk and the truck driver sent him away. Aunt Dana writes of the truck driver,
"He told us he stopped because he had 2 little sisters and would have wanted someone to stop and help them in the same situation. He watched out for us that day!" We were told that no one would be available to even look at the car until Monday. We were now stuck in the small town of Russell with no transportation. Aunt Dana said,
"We spent the first night in a motel with only rotary phones and you only had to dial 4 numbers for local calls."
Aunt Dana felt that we should try to get a hold of the local LDS church in the area so in her words, she writes,
"We called the church house on a Saturday morning and I did not have much hope that anyone would be there but a ward clerk (I think) answered and said he just stopped in for a little bit to do something on the computer and we just happened to catch him there."
We were eventually put in contact with an LDS family, the Williams, who lived there in Russell. Dana describes them in this way,
"The Williams were a very unique family with amazing stories. He was an attorney, but was also someone who was so dyslexic that he could not read at all and had to have someone else read all of his books to him in college and then he would memorize everything. His wife was a college professor at a nearby small college. They had a daughter living with him that was actually his daughter from a previous marriage where his wife tragically died when the little girl was just a baby."
The Williams came rushing to our rescue. They took us in, fed us, gave a bed to sleep in and even escorted us to their small branch on Sunday, where I must admit we felt a little foolish without dresses to wear. I even ended up playing the only hymn I could for Relief Society, page 116 Come Follow Me. I hadn't ever attended church in such a small congregation before and I was thrilled to find that not only is the church true everywhere but that I loved the spirit that I felt there even with such a small gathering of the saints. It reaffirmed in my mind the desire to serve a mission which was currently in my thoughts and plans.
We stayed on in Russell for several more days before leaving the Williams Family with fond farewells and a still old but repaired car. The Williams family offered a parting gift, to help pay for my mission when the time came. And they did faithfully sending a monthly check throughout my mission.
I still think of that trip with gratitude for a wonderful big sister, a nice trucker, rescue and good families like the Williams of Russell Kansas.
It must not have been to long after that, that my step-brother Guy left on his mission because I record those two incidents together in my journal as I was not in the habit of writing daily at that time. My journal reads,
"Guy is in the MTC. He is going to the Lousville Kentucky Mission. He will be a great missionary. It was a awesome spiritual experience for the whole family when he got set apart. We all bore our testimonies, and the spirit there was so strong. I am so proud of him."
I can in my minds eye still picture that meeting as well as my own setting apart. The faces of my younger siblings Joseph and Catryna come clearly to my mind. I wanted so badly to be such a good example to them. I wanted them to know that I really did have a testimony of the church that I knew it was true and that I wanted to serve a mission because I loved the gospel. I worked hard to prepare for a mission during that time by studying the scriptures, through prayer and by participating in institute classes. I remember getting the papers from my Bishop so that I could start my dental and medical work.
It was an exciting time and I hope that as you prepare this next year that you too will be able to have confirmed in your mind not just the desire to go but the courage to do so. I love you Ryker. You will make a great missionary.
Love Mom
As I have looked back at my own missionary preparations I came across a journal entry which I will retell here and have subsequently titled for purposes of this blog Missouri, Kansas, and Kentucky. I was 20 years old and headed to Utah State University in the fall of 1989. I felt I needed a car and so my older sister Dana and I set off for St. Louis Missouri where an old car of my Grandpa's who had recently passed away lay unwanted by anyone else.
We flew into the airport there and stayed a day or two at my Uncle Taylor's before heading west to Utah like the early pioneers. We made it to the middle of No-Where Kansas on a Friday before the old brown sedan started making funny noises.
Now here we were two young girls on the side of a busy freeway, before the time of cellphones. My sister was at least knowledgeable enough to be "freaking out," as I describe it in my journal, I on the other hand was rather naive and thought of it as a grand adventure.
A big rig rumbled to stop where a rather rough looking trucker in our estimation asked if he could be of assistance. He assessed Grandpa's car and determined that we wouldn't be able to drive it any further. We timidly accepted a ride to the next exit from the trucker who turned out to be quite nice. Aunt Dana recalls that he stayed with us until our car was able to be safely towed to the service station. The first tow truck driver to show up was drunk and the truck driver sent him away. Aunt Dana writes of the truck driver,
"He told us he stopped because he had 2 little sisters and would have wanted someone to stop and help them in the same situation. He watched out for us that day!" We were told that no one would be available to even look at the car until Monday. We were now stuck in the small town of Russell with no transportation. Aunt Dana said,
"We spent the first night in a motel with only rotary phones and you only had to dial 4 numbers for local calls."
Aunt Dana felt that we should try to get a hold of the local LDS church in the area so in her words, she writes,
"We called the church house on a Saturday morning and I did not have much hope that anyone would be there but a ward clerk (I think) answered and said he just stopped in for a little bit to do something on the computer and we just happened to catch him there."
We were eventually put in contact with an LDS family, the Williams, who lived there in Russell. Dana describes them in this way,
"The Williams were a very unique family with amazing stories. He was an attorney, but was also someone who was so dyslexic that he could not read at all and had to have someone else read all of his books to him in college and then he would memorize everything. His wife was a college professor at a nearby small college. They had a daughter living with him that was actually his daughter from a previous marriage where his wife tragically died when the little girl was just a baby."
The Williams came rushing to our rescue. They took us in, fed us, gave a bed to sleep in and even escorted us to their small branch on Sunday, where I must admit we felt a little foolish without dresses to wear. I even ended up playing the only hymn I could for Relief Society, page 116 Come Follow Me. I hadn't ever attended church in such a small congregation before and I was thrilled to find that not only is the church true everywhere but that I loved the spirit that I felt there even with such a small gathering of the saints. It reaffirmed in my mind the desire to serve a mission which was currently in my thoughts and plans.
We stayed on in Russell for several more days before leaving the Williams Family with fond farewells and a still old but repaired car. The Williams family offered a parting gift, to help pay for my mission when the time came. And they did faithfully sending a monthly check throughout my mission.
I still think of that trip with gratitude for a wonderful big sister, a nice trucker, rescue and good families like the Williams of Russell Kansas.
It must not have been to long after that, that my step-brother Guy left on his mission because I record those two incidents together in my journal as I was not in the habit of writing daily at that time. My journal reads,
"Guy is in the MTC. He is going to the Lousville Kentucky Mission. He will be a great missionary. It was a awesome spiritual experience for the whole family when he got set apart. We all bore our testimonies, and the spirit there was so strong. I am so proud of him."
I can in my minds eye still picture that meeting as well as my own setting apart. The faces of my younger siblings Joseph and Catryna come clearly to my mind. I wanted so badly to be such a good example to them. I wanted them to know that I really did have a testimony of the church that I knew it was true and that I wanted to serve a mission because I loved the gospel. I worked hard to prepare for a mission during that time by studying the scriptures, through prayer and by participating in institute classes. I remember getting the papers from my Bishop so that I could start my dental and medical work.
It was an exciting time and I hope that as you prepare this next year that you too will be able to have confirmed in your mind not just the desire to go but the courage to do so. I love you Ryker. You will make a great missionary.
Love Mom
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