Some pictures of Ældste Ross
Category: Missionary
Mark’s missionary plaque
I enjoy seeing these missionary plaques on display in the hallways of our church buildings. They are one of the cultural threads that make it seem like we are at home when we visit other Sunday services. These plaques are uniform in mood and size, but my mother heart sees them as representing precious children, loved and missed. I really like the scripture that Mark chose. I don’t think I have seen it on a missionary plaque before.
Scattered
“The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.”
-Russell M. Nelson
One paradox of gospel living is that if we want to be gatherers, we will need to scatter in some way.
This might look like spending time away from home, scattered about in service.
Elder Cook taught, “When we shine, we gather.” Abandoning old habits, scattering them in the wake of better choices and Christ’s grace, has an effect of making a person shine.
Our family may be scattered for now, but wherever we are, we can be gatherers. Each time we have sent a family member to serve a mission, I have felt the blessing of additional spiritual strength. This is another paradox of gospel living, that in feeling incomplete, I become more intact in Christ. Gathered.
First photo from Denmark
Distraction
Here are my preparations for a Relief Society dinner tonight. I chose to host a table so I wouldn’t spend the day pacing.
Mark is traveling today to Denmark. I know he is going to be okay, but my heart is being stretched to a new continent, and I feel it.
Delivered to the MTC
This is incredible.
This note, written by a young deacon (age 11 or 12), is making the cut for what to pack today in the mission luggage. He is unabashedly accurate about Mark. And he has done his research. Legos come from Denmark!
We gathered to cheer for Elder Ross
I couldn’t get photos of everyone as we hosted this gathering, but it was a nice day with loved ones.
MMSK and Conference
Before Mark was set apart as a missionary, he wanted one last gathering with his Sanchez cousins who are his age, so we invited them to spend part of conference weekend here. MMSK is pronounced “misk,” and it’s an acronym of their names. Mostly, there was a lot of nonsense going on as they “watched conference”, but I think that the time together was important.
Mark and Richard attended a session of General Conference on Sunday. They brought the binoculars, which was a great idea.
When Mark sent in his mission papers last spring, I assumed he would be on a mission long before now. We’ve had a long preparation period, which was good in many ways and challenging in others.
We had time for more spiritual preparation and temple worship. Mark received mentoring in Preach My Gospel and got some work experience from his Sanchez grandparents. We had time to travel this summer.
The long wait means that the bandaid is being removed very slowly. I am pretty fragile lately.
Now that Mark has had a few days of home MTC, he is excited to go to the Provo MTC next week. Everything is as it should be: the wait, the anticipation, the emotions accompanying a goodbye, the excitement, his assignment. Everything.
Our missionary
