Glo has always planned on serving a mission. Like, always. I can't think of a time when she wasn't planning on going, and then seeing her brothers leave on missions and receiving her patriarchal blessing solidified her plans.
It's just been a matter of waiting for her to turn 19 to be able to submit her papers. We got everything done over the summer while she was home (doctors' appointments, and religious interviews) so that when the 100 days before the possible date to leave arrived, she was ready to put her papers in.
There was a lot of pressure on Glo with three older siblings who have all served foreign missions. We always joke that if you just plan on Kansas (or in my mind, Indiana would be the worst), you can never be disappointed. In all honesty, Ethan just didn't want France because of his bad experience attempting to speak French throughout most of his life, and Mark didn't want anywhere cold. One for two isn't bad, right? :-)
Glo seemed much more worried about wishing for where she would like to go than worrying about where she didn't. She really wanted to serve in an Asian country because she loves everything Asian--she even studied Japanese last year in school--but she felt like it was too much to hope for it.
We submitted her papers, and waited. And waited some more. And waited another week. Finally, I had to contact the stake president to ask him what was going on because it had been almost a month and we hadn't heard anything. He didn't say anything except that he would have the call FedEx'd to her apartment at BYU (her actual call showed up at our house almost two months late).
We did receive a letter from the church's travel department the day that her call arrived, so we knew that she would be traveling somewhere at some point which also meant that her mission would involve a language. That gave us all some hope.
We were all very nervous as we crowded around our Skype call. With the other kids, it felt like a very sacred experience with lots of prayers and thoughts and hymn singing, but Glo isn't really that kind of person. She just wanted to get it over with. So we said a prayer, and she opened it with Hannah there beside her.
She's been called to the California Santa Rosa mission, Spanish-speaking. She reports to the Mexico MTC on January 15, 2019.
I do believe we were all rather disappointed, because we wanted her to have the amazing foreign experiences her siblings have had, but she had one reaction:
"THANK GOODNESS IT'S NOT UTAH!!"
I was so surprised. I had no idea that she was so worried about it, but she was. She absolutely hates living in Utah at the moment, and she didn't think that she could handle having to spend any extra time ever living there. That was the biggest relief for her.
In a tender mercy from the Lord, we looked up where the mission is, and John, Glo and I were just visiting her mission last May. I mean, what are the chances? We've never been anywhere else in California. And when we were there, she asked if we could come back because she loved the area so much. We had visited Muir Woods and gone hiking, and biked around the area. We all fell in love with it. And to think that if she had been called anywhere else in California, we would have had no reference, but there it was.
And that's it. She hasn't said much more about it. She didn't announce it on Facebook, and she's not really telling anyone. Just like Glo--it's just business, and she'll get it taken care of.
John and Hannah are especially excited because there will be another Spanish-speaking Kennedy.
I, however, took a very long time to process it all. I still wrestle with feelings of disappointment for her. However, just tonight, sitting in the Miami Airport, three young men on their immediate way to their missions, sat down next to us in TGI Friday's. One of them is from Sacramento, and the other had a cousin who just got home from the California Santa Rosa mission two weeks ago. He told us that his cousin absolutely loved it, and that it had basically been a foreign-mission for him, Spanish speaking.
I won't lie--I'm going to pretty much die when Glo leaves. I have two children who regularly contact me, and one of them is Glo. She's been with me through thick and thin for what feels like forever, and the idea of not hearing from her daily kills me already and brings me to tears as I write this. She is the darling of my eye, and probably one of my very best friends. I don't want her to leave. In fact, just today, I asked her to pray again about leaving--not for her sake, but for mine. I could see a purpose in every other kid leaving--priesthood duty, or a need to learn things--but Glo doesn't need a mission. I know she'll learn things, and grow, and it will be life-changing, but I guess I don't want to have to experience those same feelings on the other side.
At least I can send her mail without a customs form, eh?
It's just been a matter of waiting for her to turn 19 to be able to submit her papers. We got everything done over the summer while she was home (doctors' appointments, and religious interviews) so that when the 100 days before the possible date to leave arrived, she was ready to put her papers in.
There was a lot of pressure on Glo with three older siblings who have all served foreign missions. We always joke that if you just plan on Kansas (or in my mind, Indiana would be the worst), you can never be disappointed. In all honesty, Ethan just didn't want France because of his bad experience attempting to speak French throughout most of his life, and Mark didn't want anywhere cold. One for two isn't bad, right? :-)
Glo seemed much more worried about wishing for where she would like to go than worrying about where she didn't. She really wanted to serve in an Asian country because she loves everything Asian--she even studied Japanese last year in school--but she felt like it was too much to hope for it.
We submitted her papers, and waited. And waited some more. And waited another week. Finally, I had to contact the stake president to ask him what was going on because it had been almost a month and we hadn't heard anything. He didn't say anything except that he would have the call FedEx'd to her apartment at BYU (her actual call showed up at our house almost two months late).
We did receive a letter from the church's travel department the day that her call arrived, so we knew that she would be traveling somewhere at some point which also meant that her mission would involve a language. That gave us all some hope.
We were all very nervous as we crowded around our Skype call. With the other kids, it felt like a very sacred experience with lots of prayers and thoughts and hymn singing, but Glo isn't really that kind of person. She just wanted to get it over with. So we said a prayer, and she opened it with Hannah there beside her.She's been called to the California Santa Rosa mission, Spanish-speaking. She reports to the Mexico MTC on January 15, 2019.
I do believe we were all rather disappointed, because we wanted her to have the amazing foreign experiences her siblings have had, but she had one reaction:
"THANK GOODNESS IT'S NOT UTAH!!"
I was so surprised. I had no idea that she was so worried about it, but she was. She absolutely hates living in Utah at the moment, and she didn't think that she could handle having to spend any extra time ever living there. That was the biggest relief for her.
In a tender mercy from the Lord, we looked up where the mission is, and John, Glo and I were just visiting her mission last May. I mean, what are the chances? We've never been anywhere else in California. And when we were there, she asked if we could come back because she loved the area so much. We had visited Muir Woods and gone hiking, and biked around the area. We all fell in love with it. And to think that if she had been called anywhere else in California, we would have had no reference, but there it was.
And that's it. She hasn't said much more about it. She didn't announce it on Facebook, and she's not really telling anyone. Just like Glo--it's just business, and she'll get it taken care of.
John and Hannah are especially excited because there will be another Spanish-speaking Kennedy.
I, however, took a very long time to process it all. I still wrestle with feelings of disappointment for her. However, just tonight, sitting in the Miami Airport, three young men on their immediate way to their missions, sat down next to us in TGI Friday's. One of them is from Sacramento, and the other had a cousin who just got home from the California Santa Rosa mission two weeks ago. He told us that his cousin absolutely loved it, and that it had basically been a foreign-mission for him, Spanish speaking.
I won't lie--I'm going to pretty much die when Glo leaves. I have two children who regularly contact me, and one of them is Glo. She's been with me through thick and thin for what feels like forever, and the idea of not hearing from her daily kills me already and brings me to tears as I write this. She is the darling of my eye, and probably one of my very best friends. I don't want her to leave. In fact, just today, I asked her to pray again about leaving--not for her sake, but for mine. I could see a purpose in every other kid leaving--priesthood duty, or a need to learn things--but Glo doesn't need a mission. I know she'll learn things, and grow, and it will be life-changing, but I guess I don't want to have to experience those same feelings on the other side.
At least I can send her mail without a customs form, eh?
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