Seven Days left until we leave

We have settled into life in AZ pretty well.  Most of the boxes have been unpacked but there are still quite a few in the garage.  They will stay until we return.  During the last month we have spent many hours studying and preparing to leave for England.  We enjoyed a visit via FaceTalk two weeks ago with the couple in Scotland we will be replacing - the Hambeltons from Boise, Idaho.  Our assignment has been better defined and we will definately be working in Scotland with some responsibility for the work in Ireland.  Last week we attended a Career Workshop at the Mesa, AZ Employment Resource Center.  It was very helpful.  We attended this workshop because we wanted to see how it was taught here because we will be responsible for teaching this same workshop in Scotland and Ireland.  We learned about creating "Me in 30 Seconds" statements.  These are 3-5 sentences that explain who you are.  They are helpful in focusing on your skills when in the interview with a prospective employer.  The thought of teaching the Career Workshop is a little overwhelming but I know we will be able to do it.

I think we have both been packing mentally for a few days wondering what we should be taking...and wondering, "what are we doing?"  We need to finish up all the last few details to lock up the house as we leave for this new adventure.

We enjoy our new life and look forward to our mission.  We will leave AZ on Wednesday or Thursday and go back to California.  We will say our last "farewells" to friends and neighbors there and will be set apart as missionaries by our Stake President on Sunday morning.  We will be speaking in our Sacrament Meeting on Sunday and then fly to SLC Monday morning.  We will arrive at the Missionary Traning Centre (I'm trying to get used to British spelling) at noon and will begin our first week of training.  The second week of training will be on the Church Welfare Program.  We will spend the weekend in SLC and they leave Monday morning for England.  We arrive in Birmingham on Tuesday and will spend a couple of days there in more training.  We understand that there will be Area Welfare Training those two days for other missionaries as well as us.  There we will meet Elder and Sister Hambelton.  They are coming from Edinburgh to pick us up.  On Thursday we will head for Scotland, hopefully with time to stop at the Preston Temple on the way.  We will be staying at the Scotland/Ireland Mission Home for a few days while we work with the Hambeltons.  They will show us around and introduce us to many of the people with whom they are currently working.  They leave on Monday (May 13th) to head home.  We then will take over their flat and car.  At that point...we are on our own as Employement Resource specialists!!  This week I purchased a Garmin GPS and loaded all the maps for the UK so hopefully we won't get too lost.

We are excited, with the proper amount of hesitation...I am confident that we will meet the challenge that is before us if we will rely on the Lord's guidance.  It is great to be part of this new era of expanded missionary effort as the missionary numbers increase throughout the world.