How It All Began...

How it all began...
(This post may seem long, because it's more of an introduction 
with lots of pictures.  Hopefully, future ones won't be so long.)

        We won't go as far back as when "WE" began, but for this purpose, we'll focus just on how our Mission began. 

        In May of 2011, I returned home from St. George, Utah where I'd been helping my youngest daughter Delight after her back surgery.  A few days later, out of the blue, Dusty asked me what I thought about us serving a mission for the church.  After I regained my senses, due to the shock, I responded to him that I liked the idea.  (Of course, I didn't want to frighten Dusty by letting him know just how excited I was that he was even considering the prospect of serving a mission). Plus, I wasn't sure how serious he really was about doing it.  So I didn't bring it up again.  Then, low and behold, a couple of weeks later Dusty asked me again if I wanted to serve a mission for the church.  This time I knew he was serious and I showed more enthusiasm when I told him yes. Then, what really surprised me was when he asked me WHY?  Why did I want to serve mission?  I thought, "after 37 years of marriage he should know without even asking." But, his question did make me pause and search my heart.  So, I told him something that no one else knew.  I told him that I had felt impressed for the past 6 months or so that I needed to do more in the way of "Service".  I had checked out community opportunities, but nothing seemed right.  Then, when Dusty brought up the subject of serving a mission, I knew immediately that was what we were supposed to do.  In turn, I asked Dusty if he wanted to serve a mission and why.  He told me that he had also been having the same feeling that we should do more in the way of service. 

        We talked to our Bishop about a mission, and he told us how we could access the "Senior Couple Missionary" options on the internet.  I found the site on my computer and then showed Dusty where he could review it on his computer.  When I came to the "Retired Military Couples" mission I had to laugh, because it was made to order.  Instantly a warm certainty radiated through me.  I knew that this was "The One."  I printed off a copy of the description for that particular service mission and hurried into Dusty's den where I told him that I found something that was "right up his alley."  He looked at it and said, "This is the same mission I thought we should go on."

        By now it was the end of June, and we caught our flight to Fort Campbell, Kentucky to spend a few days with our son Donny before he was deployed back to Afghanistan.  He was going to baptize his son while we were there.  Ethan's baptism was scheduled for Sunday immediately after church so we attended church in the Military branch off base. We felt a genuine connection with the service members and their families.  I don't know if it was because we have been where they are or just that we felt as if we really "knew" them.  There was also a "Senior Missionary Couple," the Logans, who were serving in that Military Branch.  Dusty talked to them and discovered that they were serving exactly the same type of Retired Military Couples Mission that we had felt impressed to do.  Before we left they gave Dusty their card with their phone number so we could call them about any questions we might have. 

        We returned home two days later.  It seemed that each day we were becoming more and more committed to serving a mission. We had a couple of questions so Dusty called the Missionary Couple assigned to Fort Campbell.  In the course of our conversation we found out that they would be getting off their mission on December 15th.  We thought, "Wow, what a coincidence," and we got excited about the possibility of replacing them.

        Fifteen minutes after hanging up with the Logan's we received a phone call from the Military Services Department of the Church in Salt Lake City. Obviously the Logan's had contacted them.  Brother Hancock asked if we were planning on serving a mission and if we were interested in serving at Fort Campbell, Kentucky since the current missionaries were leaving in December.  As yet they didn't have anyone to replace them. We told him yes, and he put our name at the top of the list for Fort Campbell so that when our application came before him we could have the first right of refusal.  Of course, that meant it wasn't written in stone because the General Authorities of the Church make the final decision. Although, he said that our chances were high.  
        It all felt so r i g h t!  You k n o w what I mean?  When things just seem to "click" into place, one right after the other, you know it is meant to be and the man upstairs is making it happen.                        A N Y W A Y...

        It seemed to take a long time to get the paperwork done and our application in.  Not only is the paperwork phenomenal, but there are doctor and dental appointments to the point that anyone who is not committed to serving a mission may re-evaluate their sanity.  At long last we sent the papers in to the Bishop who then had to send them to the Stake President who then had to send them on to Salt Lake City to Church Headquarters.

Waiting for our Mission call was a very stressful time.

It felt as if we couldn't PLAN anything.  We were trapped in limbo. So we waited...and we waited... and we waited...for our Mission Call letter to arrive. Dusty continued to check the mail but it didn't come.

He checked it again, and again, and it still hadn't come.  


 Near the end of September, we received another phone call from the Military Services department of the church.  Brother Hancock said that our application had finally come across his desk and he was recommending that we serve our mission at Fort Campbell Kentucky IF we still wanted to be assigned there.  We assured him that we did.  He said that we should probably receive our Mission Call Letter around the 15th of October. So, we waited...again. 

A few days later we checked the mail. 

 

Where was it?

 It had finally arrived!

Oh yeah!!!  We burned up those phone lines.  The letter said,

"You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the Tennessee Nashville Mission. Your primary assignment is to labor in the Fort Campbell Military Installation as a Military Specialist."

We both received the same Mission Call. One addressed to 
Elder Dusty Dee Wilson; one addressed to Sister Darre Lou Wilson.

More paperwork.  More shots. Ugh!

        Later we received a letter and packet telling us that we may be called as Seminary and/or Institute teachers.  For those of you who aren't sure what that is, Seminary is a daily scripture study for the youth.  They arrive at the church from 6:00 - 7:00 am every school day.  There they study and learn about the scriptures, the life of the Savior and gospel principles found in the scriptures.  Institute is similar to this except that it is for adults, particularly single adults, and it is held only one night a week.

        We also learned that we would be responsible for holding "Family Home Evenings" in our home on Monday nights for all of the single service members.  Family Home Evening is a program set up by the Church.  There are no Church meetings scheduled on Mondays, the Temples are closed and families are encouraged to permanently keep that night open exclusively for their family.  Individual families gather together to discuss what is going on in each others lives and other relevant personal or family issues.  They generally have a short lesson, play games or watch a movie afterwards, and of course, there is always...dessert.  Family Home Evening (FHE) was established to strengthen the family. It's objective is to teach children correct principles and provide guidance and direction to help them combat peer pressure and social misconceptions that, for example, portray immorality as a common, acceptable practice. The teachings received in the home can help build a strong foundation for children and for parents so that when the temptations and storms of life crash down around them they have the tools to stand firm.

        Some of our other missionary responsibilities may also include serving as Temple Workers in the Tennessee Nashville Temple, assisting local Church leaders in supporting trainees restricted to base, activate and retain trainees attending basic and advanced military training, helping with military families of deployed service members.  Proselyting (preaching the gospel) is not allowed on military bases, but we will teach new-member lessons, build bridges of understanding with military chaplains, commanders, and the base community.  Attend and support important base functions and activities. And that about sums it up.

        A couple of weeks after receiving our mission call we received a letter from the Mission Home requesting a picture of us to be sent along with a profile page.  We weren't sure if we were to send individual pictures or not.  So, we sent both. 

Elder Dusty Wilson

Sister Darre Wilson

Elder and Sister Wilson

Saturday, November 12, 2011, some of our Veteran 

friends and wives put together a farewell dinner for us.

You know that you are truly loved when friends
lend genuine support and encouragement for you 
to fulfill the righteous desires of your heart.  
Thank you all. We love you, too!

L-R: Elder Wilson, Sister Wilson, Bend Stake President Steven Rau.

The next day,Sunday November 13, 2011 we were "Set Apart" as missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by our beloved Stake President. 

Our son Devin and grandsons Dakota and Dylan attended our setting apart.  Bishop Robert Paramore, Alan Johnson, Stacey Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Doug Gunderson and Kris Sanders were also there.