Australia!!!

Seeing your son open his mission call is more incredible than words can express.  I had no idea how of the spirit and special witness we would all receive as we watched Trey read the words written to him from the Prophet talking about how he has been found worthy to be a minister of the restored gospel and how the Lord will bless him to be able to seek out those ready to accept the gospel and that more blessings than he has ever received are in store for him as he humbly serves the Lord.

We were so grateful to have had all the Knoxville family gathered to experience this with us and that Brad, Susan and the boys were able to be with Trey as well.  Here are some of the thoughts the kids had that night:

Sydney:  "It made me realize how important it is to serve a mission.  And how much it strengthens your testimony.  I've never seen Trey cry before.  You could tell how much he felt the spirit."

Tanner:  "I felt the Holy Spirit so strong.  I just know that Trey is supposed to serve in the Australia mission and President Monson knew where to send him.  I know there are people there that he will convert to the gospel.  I wish I could go on my mission right now!!"

Connor:  "I felt so good.  I know Trey will be a good missionary.  It made me so proud of him"

Allie:  "I was so proud of Trey.  I felt really strongly that it was an inspired mission call.  I know he was meant to serve there.  I know that just like I want Trey here to take of me, the Lord wants Trey to take care of the people in Australia."

Trey's mission call predictions

When Trey came home for Thanksgiving he told us he wanted to turn in his paperwork for his mission right away and go right when school gets out in April instead of waiting until June (after the family reunion) as originally planned.  So when he came home for Christmas he had his doctor's visit/physical and dental appointment, filled out all the health history forms and other paperwork and thought that it was pretty easy and straight forward and not as daunting as I once thought.  And then the snags began......

First, his doctor couldn't run one of the tests, blood typing, so he had to go somewhere else to get that done.  No problem, we found a lab that said they could do it and have it back in a couple of days.  Well everyday we called the lab they said the results weren't back yet until finally the day Trey boarded the plane they called to say it had been delayed in shipping and therefore could not be tested. Ok, irritating but fixable.  I found a lab near Provo that Jenica so nicely took Trey to on the way back to campus to get his blood typing done. Ok, check.  Now he just needs his Bishop and Stake president interviews.

Bishop's interview:  check
Stake Presidents interview:  Trey shows up and is told that his paperwork is not all there from the Bishop, some of which they track down except for the dental form, which apparently his Bishop lost.  So, interview is postponed a few days but does not delay paperwork getting sent off to Salt Lake as they just do this once a week so "no time will be lost" as long as he can get his dentist to resubmit the form in time.

I get another form from the dentist, David scans it and emails it to Trey's bishop in time for him to have his interview Wednesday night and the Stake President to submit all the paperwork Thursday morning (the one day a week they submit mission papers)  to the Brethren to make the mission call, which happens on Fridays we are told.  EXCEPT, Trey's dentist filled out the form saying he didn't have his wisdom teeth removed! Ahhh!!!  SOOO, the stake president still lets him get his interview, and tells him if he can get a new form filled out, scanned and emailed directly to him the next morning it should still make it out in the mail, not delaying his call.  So we do just that, go back to the dentist Thursday morning, get a new form filled out, scan, email, etc....

But it was too late, he missed the deadline for this week.  He really wanted it to go in this week.  When he got back to school he thought he would have his call by now, but he will have to wait a few more weeks to find out where he will be serving for 2 years.  I wanted to write this all down so when my other kids serve missions and there is a snag with paperwork I'll remember that it's just the way it is sometimes.  Who knows, maybe the mission he is supposed to serve in is not filling any spots this week.

HERE ARE THE PREDICTIONS:


Trey:  Argentina or Jerusalem
David: Spain
Lisa:  California
Allie:  Argentina
Tanner:  Mexico
Connor:  London, England
Sydney: Arizona
Mom:  Seattle, Washington
Dad:  Argentina
Allen:  Germany
Julie:  Hong Kong
Carter:  Texas
Jared:  Venezuela
Claire:  Utah
Scott:  Africa
Lori:  France
Emma:  Australia
Ben:  Australia
Josh:  Australia  (They were not together when I asked the Cruze kids)
Lydia:  California
Troy:  San Francisco, CA
Dan:  France
Brad:  Curitiba, Brasil
Susan:  Rostov, Russia
Andrew:  South Africa
Joel:  Chile
Jenica:  Salt Lake City, UT
Jonah:  Paris, France
Silas:  Middle Earth (New Zealand)
Koen:  New York
Hale:  Utah

I haven't decided what the prize should be if anyone guesses it (besides bragging rights)......maybe a map or globe?  Hopefully we'll know the first week of February.