Michael has been called to serve in the
Korea, Seoul Mission!
He will report to the MTC on March 23rd. We could not be more thrilled!
In 2001 Rich was called to be mission president over the Korea, Daejeon mission, we were asked to go to Salt Lake so that he could be set apart. Elder L. Tom Perry set Rich apart as mission president and Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi set me apart as his companion. Elder Perry very kindly shook hands and visited with each family member there. When he shook hands with 9-year-old Michael he said, "Study Korean the three years that you are there so that you can go back as a missionary." Michael has believed ever since that he would serve his mission in Korea. Of course, he realized that he could be sent somewhere else and was willing to go wherever called, but in his heart he felt he would serve in Korea.
A few weeks ago Rich commented to Michael that Korea has been his destiny, but perhaps Korea is not Michael's. But Michael replied that he felt that Korea was his destiny as well. He said that when he sees Korean people, he feels close to them and he loves Korean food.
We've been waiting for the call for a few days, expecting that it would come on Wednesday. Rich must have called me seven times to see if the mail had come. Finally it did come, but no mission call. Rich then suggested that I call the post office to see if more mail had come in since our delivery that day. Surprisingly, this was a great suggestion. I called the post office and a kind man said that there would be no more mail today, but if I called before 8:30 in the morning and it was there, then we could come pick it up instead of waiting for home delivery. Thursday morning I called the post office at 8:15 and was told the mission call was there! (this could only happen in Utah) Rich went straight down to get it and then immediately got it sent off through FedEx overnight to Hawaii.
Rich tracked the package on the computer and reported to us when it left California, arrived in Honolulu and was delivered to the mail center at BYUH at 5:15 pm Utah time. Michael went right over to pick it up and told us to get everyone on ichat at 6 pm.
Michael got the package and walked over to the Hawaii temple and sat down under a tree to open it by himself. He said people were walking by him and probably wondering what he was doing under a tree crying.
A little before six we got on ichat with Mary, Brian, Jenny and Trevor in Layton, Laura and Alan and kiddies in New York, Keith, Jill, Alysha, Rich, Janet, Gramps and Gram in Orem, and Michael in Laie. We could tell as soon as we saw Michael's face that he had been crying, I thought it must be good news, I couldn't imagine that he would be crying out of disappointment. He told us he was called to Korea and there wasn't a dry eye anywhere. It just felt right. Our whole family is SO happy!
Michael will be an amazing missionary and we are so thrilled that he is going to Korea!
In 2001 Rich was called to be mission president over the Korea, Daejeon mission, we were asked to go to Salt Lake so that he could be set apart. Elder L. Tom Perry set Rich apart as mission president and Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi set me apart as his companion. Elder Perry very kindly shook hands and visited with each family member there. When he shook hands with 9-year-old Michael he said, "Study Korean the three years that you are there so that you can go back as a missionary." Michael has believed ever since that he would serve his mission in Korea. Of course, he realized that he could be sent somewhere else and was willing to go wherever called, but in his heart he felt he would serve in Korea.
A few weeks ago Rich commented to Michael that Korea has been his destiny, but perhaps Korea is not Michael's. But Michael replied that he felt that Korea was his destiny as well. He said that when he sees Korean people, he feels close to them and he loves Korean food.
We've been waiting for the call for a few days, expecting that it would come on Wednesday. Rich must have called me seven times to see if the mail had come. Finally it did come, but no mission call. Rich then suggested that I call the post office to see if more mail had come in since our delivery that day. Surprisingly, this was a great suggestion. I called the post office and a kind man said that there would be no more mail today, but if I called before 8:30 in the morning and it was there, then we could come pick it up instead of waiting for home delivery. Thursday morning I called the post office at 8:15 and was told the mission call was there! (this could only happen in Utah) Rich went straight down to get it and then immediately got it sent off through FedEx overnight to Hawaii.
Rich tracked the package on the computer and reported to us when it left California, arrived in Honolulu and was delivered to the mail center at BYUH at 5:15 pm Utah time. Michael went right over to pick it up and told us to get everyone on ichat at 6 pm.
Michael got the package and walked over to the Hawaii temple and sat down under a tree to open it by himself. He said people were walking by him and probably wondering what he was doing under a tree crying.
A little before six we got on ichat with Mary, Brian, Jenny and Trevor in Layton, Laura and Alan and kiddies in New York, Keith, Jill, Alysha, Rich, Janet, Gramps and Gram in Orem, and Michael in Laie. We could tell as soon as we saw Michael's face that he had been crying, I thought it must be good news, I couldn't imagine that he would be crying out of disappointment. He told us he was called to Korea and there wasn't a dry eye anywhere. It just felt right. Our whole family is SO happy!
Michael will be an amazing missionary and we are so thrilled that he is going to Korea!
It is all SO good!
4 comments:
What a neat story! Thanks for sharing! I am adding to the tears as I read it. I am so proud of Mike!
o my goodness!! Sean thought I was joking when I read this to him! We're so excited can't wait to come see his farewell!!!!
That is so wonderful! I served in Daejeon (Taejon, at the time) in 92-93 and just loved it. I've been feeling that my son (who's 2 now) might be a missionary in North Korea some day.
We are so happy that Michael is thrilled about his call. We are anxiously awaiting those weekly emails from Korea next summer.
Post a Comment