Not a Christmas List

Our week passed in a blur of appointments, shots, interviews and arrangements. We’ve sold one car, purchased two items of luggage, put our finances in order, and started a list of things to do. The list is long enough that we use post-it notes on the kitchen door. There is so much left to do. And the list is growing.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o />

Our last appointment needed to finish our application was a visit to the dentist. At 4:30 p.m. at the moment the dentist signed the evaluations, I called Bishop Cluff to tell him we had completed our application. Within moments he pushed the application to the stake level.

We took our signed evaluations to the assistant stake executive secretary so he could fill-in all the medical and dental information. By 8:30 p.m. the application all was ready for the Stake President. Minutes later, President Hughes, who happens to be in Japan today, sent an email to say he had reviewed the application and had passed it on to the missionary committee. After a week of furious activity, we have officially submitted our mission papers.

First thing tomorrow morning, President Dunaway will be calling the missionary committee from Italy to make sure everyone is on the same page. Although unlikely, there is a small chance the church could send another couple to Italy and send us to some other place. Marieta is very afraid we will end up somewhere in Africa.

We probably will not know our fate for certain for two to three weeks, but at least we can relax a little. Because we are trying to get to Italy as quickly as possible and because we cannot get a long-term visa until we have an official call in hand, we were in a rush. Now while we wait we can concentrate on our list. Hopefully, Marieta will have a little time to sew. Pete