The Call

When your missionary gets their call, they get a beautiful letter signed by the prophet and a booklet assembled, just for them, under the direction of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In the booklet is the biography of the mission president and his wife, a map of the mission, a general instruction checklist, medical information regarding health care and immunizations, the dress and grooming guidelines for his mission including the "what to wear" specifics and the missioary travel instructions for getting to the MTC.

With in a few weeks, our missionary also received a letter from his future mission president that included instructions specific to his mission, information on obtaining a bicycle, recommendations regarding his personal preparation and answers to FAQ.

He also received a letter from the MTC that included information on how to prepare for his arrival, how to obtain his missionary email address and his MTC mailing address, and directions for drop-off on the day of his arrival. Two weeks before his arrival at the MTC, he received an email at his missionary address from the MTC presidency with specific guidelines regarding his stay at the MTC.

All this information was, of course, invaluable in planning and preparing him to serve. I recommend, however, that your missioanry read it all and you read it all and that you have someone else read it. Somehow I got confused and purchased 8 long-sleeved shirts and 2 short sleeved shirts instead of the other way around. My friend Sheli said that both she and her mother missed the instructions to bring sheets so when she arrived in her mission she had none. Wish I'd Known...that including someone else in the preparation might have helped us not to miss things in the details.

Getting the Mission Call

Our son was told it would take 10 days to 2 weeks after he met with his Stake President before he could expect his call. Because General Conference fell during that time, it understandably took a little longer. The call was mailed to our son at his college address, but we were able to watch him open it using Skype, a free internet video calling service. All you need is a computer, a broadband internet connection and a webcam for both the sender and receivers in order to make your video call. It was just like being there and so thrilling to share that moment with our son and his friends.

Dropping Your Missionary Off at the MTC

About a week before your missionary is scheduled to report to the MTC, they will receive an email directing them to a posting that will list their reporting time. Typically, the report date is a Wednesday and reporting times begin at approximately 12 noon and run until 2 pm. Missionaries report in groups based on the first letter of their last name. For instance being a "Z", our missionary reported at 2 pm on his scheduled Wednesday last June.

I recommend that you get to the Provo/Orem early especially during peak reporting season-summer and college breaks. We arrived about 11 am, had a leisurely "last meal" at the Creamery on 9th and then drove up to the MTC. The 9th East corridor was very busy with traffic and pedestrians trying to take pictures. You could spot new Elders and Sisters everywhere in the crowds. We figured that possibly over 140 new missionaries reported on the same day as our son. 

Gone are the days when parents and missionaries met together, cried and sobbed, hugged goodbye and then exited out separate doors. Now there is much less emoting, but it is still heart wrenching.

We parked above the MTC near the Provo Temple about half an hour before our missionary was supposed to report. We were directed to leave his luggage in the car, take pictures, hug and say our goodbyes, and then return to our vehicle. Then we drove into the MTC complex and pulled up to the curb  at a numbered space where several elders met us. The elders took our missionary's luggage, and then he went one way, without looking back, and his luggage went another.

We weren't even out of the MTC parking lot before our younger son said, "Okay, that was fun...now let's go back and get him."

Where in the World is Elder Zaitzeff?

How do mission calls get assigned? My husband had the idea that missionaries were just sorted into available openings and needs of the Church's missions on any given week, and my mentality was kinda like let's throw all the applications up in the air and see where they land. However, it was our good fortune that Elder Ronald A. Rasband gave a great talk called The Divine Call of A Missionary while we were waiting for our son to receive his call.  Since I was not at the Saturday Evening Session of General Conference, I was able to watch the video on line at the General Conference page of the website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Rasband's talk was inspiring and answered all our questions. It also enabled us to fully and confidently explain the process to our family and friends of other faiths.

It's all so bittersweet...

It's all so bittersweet, sending your child on a mission. You've wanted them to go since birth, practically, and now the day has arrived you don't want to let go of them. I am reminded of Hannah who brought her precious son, Samuel, to the temple as her offering to the Lord and in gratitude for the blessing of being his mother. Though not as dramatic, my husband and I took our son and two suitcases and dropped them at the curb of the MTC. Our son had told me he was ready to go, and by the time we had come to that moment I was ready for him to be gone, but that doesn't mean I don't miss him everyday. Sometimes I even yearn for him, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. (And I hope to do it at least four more times in the next twelve years.) It wasn't easy, but it was right. There are just a few things I wish I'd known before he got his call...