Brandt opened his mission call today. He has been called to serve in the Iowa Iowa City Mission and begin his mission on February 17, 2025.
The anticipation of Brandt receiving a mission call has been growing and growing and growing. He began filling out his mission papers in June, but he wasn't in a tremendous hurry. He would do a section or two, then leave it for a while. I took him to the doctor in June and delivered all the necessary paperwork to the doctor. Those got lost somewhere along the way and had to be redone in early September. We went to the dentist and he forgot the paperwork for them, so he had to return to have those filled out again. I had to contact our insurance, and Brandt had to get a haircut so we could take a picture of him looking like a missionary, not Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, that could then be included in the application. Brandt does not like to be told what to do, so all the things he had to do took waaaaaaay longer than they needed to. Then he also had to meet with the bishop and the stake president who pushed the button to submit. That all game together on September 11th, and knowing that calls are delivered on Tuesdays, we anticipated his call would come on September 24th.
Brandt was scheduled to leave for California for a work gig on September 24th and I gently begged him not to go to California. He was going to be paid next to nothing, and after all the waiting and waiting and waiting, if he got his call, I really wanted him to be able to open it. He ignored my pleas and said he needed to go, so then I hoped that the call would come before he left at 11:00am. It didn't. It came an hour after he had left and was on the road.
ARRRRGH!
He spent four days in California and returned early Saturday morning, but I spent the weekend in St. George and didn't return until early afternoon today, Sunday. So today was finally the day when we learned where he was going. I told him he should open his call when he had a quiet moment on his own in California and that the rest of us could be at an "opening" later. He claimed that he waited until today.
We had family and friends come to his opening. We took a poll to see where he would be called and no one guessed Iowa. Not surprising as Iowa is not very flash. However, Iowa is really quite terrific for several reasons. Brandt did not care where he was sent. In his words, "The Lord will send me where I need to go, and so wherever that is, it will be great." That's the kind of person you should send to Iowa. Brandt's favorite movie growing up was Music Man, set in Iowa, so he's going to a place he already loves. But it gets better. Brandt's Grandpa George did his PhD at The University of Iowa, so Kent and family lived in Iowa City for a couple of years. Kent was baptized there. George was the branch president and was tasked with finding a location for the first chapel in Iowa City. George has told us of the tremendous sacrifice that many members made to help fund the building of the chapel. At that time, the members were expected to donate a certain portion of the building costs and George was to raise $10,000. Many of the members were students with young families, like the Barruses were at the time, and they didn't have any extra money. But they gave what they could so see the Kingdom grow in Iowa. That building is now the mission office. We were also excited to learn that Nauvoo is in Brandt's mission. He'll be able to attend the temple, plus we are hoping that he may be able to help with the theatrical performances that go on during the summer in Nauvoo. How fantastic would it be if Brandt could do sound engineering while on his mission? And then there are all the perks of being Stateside where you already speak the language, you understand the culture, all the foods you are used to are readily available, healthcare is good. And Amazon goes to Iowa. It will be wonderful!
We are so excited for Brandt to serve. It feels like a long way away, six months until he starts, but time passes quickly, there will be much to do to get him ready, and he'll be starting before we know it. He'll start home MTC on 17 February, then enter the Provo MTC on 26 February, and then fly to Iowa in early March.
I am so grateful that Brandt continues to grow in the gospel, that he loves the Lord, that he wants to share the love of Jesus Christ with others. It will be a really hard challenge and a really wonderful opportunity for growth and gospel learning, a foundational experience for Brandt's life going forward. We rejoice is his good choices and are thrilled he will soon be Elder Barrus.
No comments:
Post a Comment