Temporary Delay.....

There will be a postponement to our mission for an indeterminate amount of time. The bank wants to talk to us. Such is life....

Introducing Elder and Sister Miasnik

We are going on a mission! And you can read our journal of adventures right here at GpanGma.blogspot.com (that's Grandpa and Grandma in shorthand). We hope you will go along with us in spirit and thrill with us in the wonders we will experience.

On Wednesday, July 1, 2009, we met with our bishop, Ray Joos, and he gave us the computer access information so that we could start filling out our papers electronically. A week later we have everything completed except for our physicals. Two of the most important blanks we had to fill out on the missionary papers were our date of availability and how long we wished to serve. When Bishop Joos asked Gma how long she wanted to serve, there was no hesitation, not 24 months but 18 months. Bishop Joos said "Yes, I understand. Grandchildren." So when could we leave? How about October 5th. Again Gma said "The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back!" Yes, to you!

Early this year we met with Sister Tomlinson at Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City who is in charge of the Records Preservation effort for the Family History Department which uses missionaries to take digital photographs of church and civil records throughout the world so people can do their genealogy: that means finding out who their relatives are. After discussing several possibilities, she said she actually had one more option that she felt would fit our skills and interests the best. It would be to fulfill her number one priority right now....and that's in French-speaking Switzerland (known as the Switzerland-Geneva Mission). Gpa practically fell out of his chair! When the French-speaking missions in Europe were re-aligned in 2002, part of Gpa's old mission, the Belgium-Brussels Mission, got transferred to the Switzerland-Geneva Mission! Gpa loves this area and the French-speaking people there.

Sister Tomlinson said not only would we be taking photographs of records but that we probably would be asked by the mission president (President Kent Murdock who is brand new there) to assist doing other things in the mission, which may mean we could travel throughout the mission. Gpa would love to show Gma all the neat places he knew on his first mission. The mission covers western Switzerland, eastern France, the very southern tip of Belgium, Luxembourg, and a French Branch that meets in Saarbrucken Germany.

These are all the places where maternal ancestors of Great-Grandma Mary came from! Gpa could not have wished for a finer opportunity. Later, Gma even started to learn French by listening to CDs.

Gpa and Gma had some things they had to do this spring to get ready to serve a mission. In June Sister Tomlinson called us back and asked us if we were still interested in this mission because she still had not been able to find a senior missionary couple to fill it. We told her we were, but still were working to free ourselves from a certain financial obligation. In June, the house we were trying to get sold in Riverton finally foreclosed and we got out from under that lien on us. Based on Sister Tomlinson's inquiry, Gpa felt an urgency to get ready for this mission as soon as he and Gma could. So instead of staying in the military any longer, Gpa has decided to retire on September 30, 2009 (He just got his last promotion on June 28, 2009). He is going to hang up his uniform for good (except for maybe some veterans' parades later on). Gpa is passing the military colors to the next generation who have answered the call to bravely protect all of us...Paul, Tino, and Josh. Gpa will take terminal leave in the last half of September and also enjoy an Alaskan cruise with Gma and then return to pack their bags for Europe. Gpa and Gma will get to listen to one last General Conference before arriving at the MTC the next day, Monday, October 5th. Who knows what Gpa and Gma will do with themselves when they get back in April 2011. But that is where our faith (which requires action) will kick in. We will still have marketable skills.

Gpa and Gma don't know for sure yet that they are going to Switzerland. They will find out when they get their mission call in the mail. But Sister Tomlinson says she has always gotten who she has requested, but there is still that 5% chance that our leaders may receive revelation from Heavenly Father that Gpa and Gma should serve somewhere else. Gpa and Gma already know that they will serve enthusiastically wherever Heavenly Father wants them, because wherever that is, that is where Heavenly Father needs them specifically the most.

Gpa and Gma will keep you updated, and you are in our prayers every day!

Here are some missionary ties. The ones on the sides are ones Gpa wore in 1975 through 1977. The one in middle is the tie he is wearing in the top photo.