Called To Serve

Have you ever tried to pack for 18 months in two suitcases that could only weigh 50 pounds each?

When my sister Lisa got her LDS mission call to St. Petersburg Russia, we thought of how much fun it was going to be to go shopping. Little did we know that it was going to be extremely difficult to find modest and durable outfits that would last 18 months. We spent hours and hours, (really, I mean hours!) looking in every store for skirts, dresses, shirts, and shoes that would do well in Russia. It was harder than we thought. Since it was toward the end of winter here in Utah, it was easy to find sweaters. So we could check that off our list. There is so much that goes into buying for a missionary that I don’t think we fully understood the amount of time it was going to take.

Just buying the shoes was a whole adventure in and of itself! The recommendation for buying the shoes was something comfortable that you could walk up to five miles a day, run and catch the train, and walking around on cobble stone streets. Keep in mind that Lisa is a “high heel”, I’m-willing-to-get-blisters-for-these-shoes type of girl. She did think it was kind of the Mission President to allow for the shoes to have, at most, a one inch heel.

One day while shopping at Sister Missionary Mall, the helpful ladies inside suggested a place in Provo called Modern Shoe. Lisa has short wide feet. She also needs extra high arch supports. Needless to say, I never buy her shoes without her being there, because I always end up having to return them. Having this “high” demand for her footwear, we decided to go check this place out. Now, I've driven up and down Center Street in Provo, Utah a million times, and I have never seen this place before! WOW! It is THE most amazing place for shoes we have ever seen! It isn't your high fashion, trendy shoes. They are your durable, last a million miles, type of shoes with everything Lisa was looking for! The recommendation was to get 2-3 pairs of GOOD shoes. So we thought, “Oh, if you need 2-3, then 8-9 pairs of shoes should be just fine!” I don’t think between my mom, Lisa, and I we had ever bought that many pairs of shoes all at once. It was an adventure!

Lisa is going to be the most amazing missionary Russia has ever had!! She knows how to work and get the job done the first time around!!

Yesterday, while dropping her off at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo Utah, we were told that we could only take one car into the MTC complex to drop her off. You can see where our problem lies because we can’t all fit into our 15 passenger van. So we pulled into a parking lot across the street, and the people from the two other cars that came down with us piled into the van!!!

Remember at the circus, the little car with 20 clowns inside, and they start pouring out? You think to yourself, “How in the world did everyone fit in that tiny car?” Well, that was my family yesterday. We were all there to support Lisa as she embarks on this new amazing journey she is starting.

 Lisa you are amazing! Keep up the good work!! We love you!!!!

xoxo

Stacey