"When I Grow Up..."

Sister Williams, our temple matron, gave me some certificates today to put names on.  I brought a few calligraphy supplies with me to Denmark and have used them just for fun.....which is really why I do it at all. And it is always nice if I can do something like that for friends or for a good cause.

An honorable release from a temple calling is definitely a good cause, and definitely for friends...so I'll hope that I am not too rusty to get them done properly.  It was nearly 40 years ago that I began my my interest in calligraphy, and while it can be extremely stress-inducing (working on an original with expensive paper and black waterproof ink that is 80 lines long - erasing and correcting are impossible - you must begin again if you make a mistake), it has brought me great joy over the years.

It made me think about an "honorable release."  We will be receiving our mission releases in a little over 2 months.  My prayers throughout this mission have been for help in fulfilling all of our responsibilities as well as we possibly can.  I continue to pray that when I get home, I will look back over these past 23 months with a sense of satisfaction that I did my best.

The assignments and responsibilities of senior missionaries are many and varied.  Even if two couples are called on the same kind of a mission to two different areas, their missions may turn out to be vastly different from each other's.

You might be called to Nauvoo, Illinois, where the husband drives a horse and wagon around all day talking to his passengers about the history of the place, and the wife bakes bread in an old wood-burning oven to give samples out - as she too speaks of history.  You might be called to a place where you help dig wells or administer relief to victims of natural disasters.  You might be called to help in wards and branches anywhere in the world, where you serve as an anchor and support to the members. Member support missionaries have all kinds of assignments.  You could be in charge of the cars for all of the missionaries, or oversee housing for up to 200 people (including upkeep, rent, utilities and furnishings).

You might be called to the oldest continuous kingdom in the world....a charming place in the north part of Europe where you will walk along streets that are hundreds of years old, on sidewalks made of pebblestones, hurrying along side a multitude of bicyclists, parents bumping over the stones with baby buggies, joggers out in every sort of weather, and people who are nearly always polite and helpful.

And in that old kingdom, you may be assigned to go into the cellars of the National Archives to snap photos of old record books, you might find yourself in the mission office, taking care of the mountain of paperwork generated by 120 missionaries, or you may serve on a little island in the middle of the Baltic Sea as a branch president (and his wife who serves in various callings) to a small group of saints.

Or you may be assigned to be surrogate grandparent for a hundred or so young people of college age.  You make meals, and you bake cookies and you try to be there for them.  Along the way, you go to open houses, farewells, conferences, student council meetings, planning meetings, galas, weekend training, temple sessions and Festinord.

One of our favorite bishops from another ward here on Sjaelland said at one time, "When I grow up, I want to serve a mission with my wife....and we want to do what you do.....every time we see you, it is at a party!"

Of course he was teasing, but even without the parties, this mission is so much more than I ever imagined.

It is even worth growing old for.