Between terribly excited and terrified...

How a single meeting (and 47 pounds of materials) changed our life

That's pretty much the range of our emotions these days. Although you could add, "overwhelmed." Or "panicked." On January 7th, Kathleen ("Hna. Hinckley") and I ("Pte. Hinckley") had a visit with Pres. Monson that changed our lives. I have been called to preside over a mission; Kathleen has been called to serve as my companion. We will leave the country "on or about" July 1 (according to the official letter) "until approximately July 2012."

Yes, we have our assignment and know where we are going. But no, we can't tell you yet ("until advised by the Missionary Department.") But we can say that it is foreign and Spanish-speaking.

This was not a complete surprise, of course. We had an interview with Pres. Packer on September 26, and he advised us that we should be prepared to serve beginning in July and that we would likely receive a call from a member of the First Presidency. We waited by the telephone for over three months, all the while keeping the news a secret. (Although Joseph and Jenni, home for Christmas, put things together when they noticed the Spanish language books on Kathleen's desk and the file labeled "Mission Medical.")

It has been a busy month. We completed our visa applications this past Thursday. (You will be glad to know that neither of us has a police record or an infectious disease, and we have the notarized statements to prove it.) And we spent all day Friday at the MTC begnning our language study. It was quite a day. We each had separate tutors and highly customized training. By the end of the day Kathleen was able to pray in Spanish, and I had conducted several mock interviews with missionaries. To say that we were exhausted and overwhelmed by the day would be an understatement. It's hard enough to preside over a mission, but how can you expect to run an entire mission in a foreign language! By 5:00 p.m. we were so physically, mentally and emotionally drained we had to get some dinner in the MTC cafeteria in order to have the strength to drive home. But for all that, it was a great day. I think if we could spend every day there for the next few months there would be some hope for us. Mother is going back for a day next week, and we hope to both go back the following week. In the meantime we have telephone sessions scheduled with our tutors.

To say they we have a lot to do in the next five months is a gross understatement. This is not just a matter of making arrangements to leave the country for three years. While doing that, continuing to be employed full-time, continuing to serve as stake president (until March 15), traveling to visit our grandchildren for the last time in three years, we have received 47 pounts of materials from the Missionary Department which we are expected to master before the Seminar for New Mission Presidents the last week in June.

I'd write more, but I have to go study.