It’s been a bumpy road watching Andrew as he went back and forth about serving a mission. It all started with a pretty great spiritual experience last fall that helped him realize that he did in fact want to serve a mission. He was pretty solid about it for a few months but then something happened the beginning of this year. He had lots and lots of questions about things he never questioned before. His testimony was definitely tried, and he spent a few months pondering, praying and asking for answers to his questions. It was during this time that he had many conversations with not only his parents but also with his Grandpa Al. He later told me that it was the conversations he had with his grandpa that helped him back on the path to serving a mission. With nervous hearts, Mike and I kept asking him if he was going to finally turn in all of his paperwork. It was right at this time that COVID19 was starting to shut down the world and Mike was preparing to go and pick him up. In a quick conversation Andrew told Mike that he had finally made his appointment with his Stake President for his final interview before turning in all of his paperwork. He had wanted to surprise us but with everything that was going on he felt like he needed to tell us. We were both so incredibly excited by his decision. Then it was the long wait. Days turned into weeks and finally a month passed, and we were starting to wonder what happened to his paperwork. With General Conference in the mix we weren’t panicking just yet. Then as Tuesday passed, which in the past was the day that the mission calls came, and he had no email about his mission call, we encouraged him to write his Stake President. Surprisingly, two days later his call came. Mike and I weren’t home at the time when he received it and so he read it to some of his closest friends via Facetime. When we got home, he read it to all of us plus both sets of grandparents that were chimed in on Facetime. It was nice to have it be intimate with just family. When he read that he would be going to Frankfurt, Germany on August 19th we all lost it. We were beyond excited for him. I couldn’t believe it because a year ago I had a dream that he would serve in Germany. It was one of the most powerful dreams I have ever had but I didn’t put a whole lot of stock into it because let’s be real…it was a dream. Apparently, Mike had been having impressions that Andrew was going to go to Frankfurt. Again, mind blown. To say that we are excited for him is an understatement. We are so happy that he chose for himself to serve a mission. We know that he will make a great missionary!
