Our Mission to Palmyra

We continued our busy summer, leaving everything in the hands of the Lord. On our way back from helping Cathy drive with her six kids to North Carolina, we were "enjoying" the scenery in South Dakota on our way to Mt. Rushmore. There were absolutely no bars on our phones so it was quite a surprise when the phone rang and Sister Moody from the missionary department was on the other end. She asked us if we would be able to obtain an RV to go to Palmyra. We told her we weren't sure but it was possible. We hung up and we started to talk. We didn't see what we could do but decided that we needed to pray for guidance. As soon as the prayer ended, into my mind's eye popped the image of a travel trailer behind Uncle David's house. When we had gone there the previous week on our way to North Carolina, I had felt impressed to go out back to see what the grandkids were doing. I saw it and didn't think another thing about it until that moment in South Dakota....

Our Mission journey began one memorable night at the Payson temple. I was having my regular Shift Coordinator meeting with one of the Temple matrons and she mentioned that if we knew of any couples who were available and willing to go on a mission to the Palmyra or Nauvoo temples we should forward their names to the temple presidency. As she was talking, an overwhelming feeling came over me that I should put our names in. I asked her if that was okay and she said it was definitely okay. She asked if I was retired and I said that I had the month before. That in itself is a bit of a tender mercy. Both Grandad and I had had impressions that I should retire in June of 2016 even though it made much more logical and monetary sense for me to work another year. However, through some unmistakable answers that both of us got separately in the temple the fall of 2015, we knew that, for whatever reason, the Lord didn't want me to work beyond June. So, I went home an...