Exciting News - Our Mission Call Arrived!

Then, at last, the packet arrived with our mission call!!! So we shared the news with our son Leigh, who was home at the time, and called Ron’s Mom, so she could listen in on the conversation as we opened the envelope.

Sharing our good news with Leigh and Nonny via cell phone.

  We wanted to share the exciting news with her, so we did it via phone. We were so excited that we forgot to Facetime with her… L

We each received our packet and our letter from President Thomas S. Monson.

We each received a letter signed by President Thomas S. Monson (the President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

The letters were sent on June 11, 2013 and we received them on Saturday, June 15, 2013 (the same day as Stake Conference).

A letter was addressed to Elder Ronald D Browning and a separate letter was addressed to Sister Tracey Ann Browning. (While on our mission we’ll be addressed as Elder Browning and Sister Browning.)

“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 Scotland/Ireland Mission.

(At this moment Ron was filled with so much emotion that he couldn’t speak. When he got his composure, he continued.)

“Your primary assignment is to labor in the Stake Young Single Adult Program. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 23 months.

It informed us that we were to report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Monday, September 30, 2013.

It stated that we had been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel and that we would be an official representative of the Church. What an awesome responsibility. Our purpose is to “invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.”

Ron is so excited to be returning to Scotland. When he served there fifty years ago, he fell in love with the people and the beauty of the country, so he was elated that we were called to serve in the Scotland/Ireland Mission. I too am excited and looking forward to it.

Photo of Edinburgh Castle

This is a photo of the Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. The Mission Home is in Edinburgh not far from the Edinburgh Castle.

After we received our call, we finished preparing and packing and repacking and repacking …., and, you guessed it repacking… It’s hard to pack for twenty-three months. Oh, and to stay within the weight limit for each bag. J

Portland Airport with lots of carry-on items.

This is a photo of us at the Portland Airport. Adventure is out there! 

From Portland to Salt Lack City (SLC), we had a lot of carry-on items (coat, pillow, blanket, etc.) plus one carry-on bag and one very large purse. That’s just for me. Ron had fewer carry-on items. Needless to say, it was way too much, so when we had a few days in SLC, we took some time to repack prior to leaving SLC for Scotland. We filled a box of items that we could leave in the United States. We then had fewer items in our suitcases and could pack the coat and some other items in them; thus, leaving fewer items to carry on the plane. It turned out to be a lot better.