We have been waiting for this day for over 40 years! After raising 7 wonderful children, we decided the time has come, which means it then felt right to downsize. Downsize is a word which means, give it, sell it, donate it or throw it away….Exhausting! We emerged from the downsizing a bit dazed, because downsizing meant selling our home and moving into a downsized home, adjustments coming at full speed..! We emerged leaner and simpler with less on the plate to manage and fewer things to worry about. Leaving our home of 18 years meant leaving wonderful friends and relationships.. We love all of those people we have met over the years. And we are delighted with the new friends in our new neighborhood.

The application for a mission was filled out, the questions answered, the shots updated, the exams performed, finally…the application was sent off. The day came when we received notification from our church that a call had been extended. It was available to be viewed online. We hastily pulled the family together on the following weekend. All of our children and almost all of our grandchildren joined us. As we opened the letter, the words almost jumped off the page…”you are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” The room was electric with excitement and anticipation…the next line read..”You are assigned to labor in the Cambodia Phnom Penh Mission for a period of 23 months.” The room seemed to erupt in excitement and wonder at the unexpected words. As tears cleared, we quickly read the rest of the letter and received instructions to get us ready for today. The day when we enter the MTC (Mission Training Center) in Provo, Utah. We will be receiving instruction in teaching the Gospel, and instruction in how to manage our assignment as Welfare/Humanitarian Service Missionaries. We are nervously excited about what lies ahead, and we are anxious for the Lords help in this wonderful assignment. Our study of Cambodia, and its culture and the people there is exciting. We believe that God has called us to help in this land, to help the people there to create a more sustainable quality of life. We pray we can be successful in this endeavor.

We are planning to use this site to post our experiences from time to time to stay in touch with our family and friends. You can click the button at the bottom of this page to subscribe to this blog. By subscribing, you will get a notice as posts are made, and it will eliminate the need to type in the address.

We love you all,

Love
DeAnn & David