I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

For Family Home Evening tonight, we talked about missions and missionary work, and wrote letters to Bradley's nephew Ty, on a mission in Texas.

Well, Zee and Em wrote letters; Gee and Hebs scrawled colorfully across the paper. Zee's letter was quite nice--he hopes Ty's mission is going well, informed him that in school he is learning about coins, and in church he is learning the Articles of Faith. Em wrote that she hopes that she gets called on a mission someday.

When the kids say their prayers at night, they pray for "Cousin-Ty-on-his-mission." Indeed, I don't think Hebs realizes the phrase is five separate words--most of the time he says it all-in-one. When Grandma and Grandpa were on their mission in the West Indies, the bigger kids remembered them in the nightly prayers as well. When Em would say her prayers, the phrase "in Trinidad and Tobago" became "turned into a bagel". (We were grateful Grandma and Grandpa didn't come home as pastry.)

I hope my children will want to serve missions--I know my daughters may not choose to, and it may not be possible for Gee to serve a traditional mission. But there is no harm in preparing each of them to do so. In October conference, President Monson said,

Young men, I admonish you to prepare for service as a missionary. Keep yourselves clean and pure and worthy to represent the Lord. Maintain your health and strength. Study the scriptures. Where such is available, participate in seminary or institute. Familiarize yourself with the missionary handbook Preach My Gospel.

Such a course of study can only be for the good. I'm grateful that, while my children are still so young, they have good examples in Grandma and Grandpa and cousin Ty.