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Can you believe that we are now less than a month away from sending Mom and Dad off to Ukraine?! 30 days and counting!! This week was a moving along type of week! Mom and Dad had two more days in Provo studying Russian. They are working hard to get as much learned as they can before they leave. We had two events this week. Firstly, a follow up from the last entry, Dad bought a tablet and got everything he needs loaded on it. He's starting to use it and get used to it. We want to make sure he feels comfortable with it before they leave. The idea is that they will have all their books digitally, instead of using up the precious weight in their luggage. This seems to be a good fit so far. Mom and Dad are both enjoying learning something new. The next big event of the week was Jason's and my graduation! This is a huge event towards mission prep, because we'll be holding down the fort here at home and school is giving us the ability to do that. It was such an accomplishment. Jason and I are so grateful to be able to help Mom and Dad serve the Lord. Another week ahead, we're going to begin planning the farewell. It's coming up on October 20th. We're also continuing working on cleaning out the house and getting everything packed away to be stored. Moving right along!!

Missionary Hair & Fond Farewells

Well, another week of preparation! We're 36 days and counting. Things are starting to get really down to it. This past week we took another big step towards "missionary-hood", changing Mom's hair! I'm a hairdresser and Mom has been thinking, thinking, thinking about what to do for her hair. She's dyed it for as long as I could remember, but it's not likely that she'll have the products, time or energy to be dyeing it herself overseas. I talked to her about going blonde, which would make it a "softer", easier grow-out to her natural gray. (Which is actually VERY pretty. Italians, eh? They just do everything right.) She was so resistant at first, she's been brunette most of her life. She knew it would be a big change. But, completely worth it to be able to have the focus needed to go and serve the Lord. One less thing to worry about! So, we did it. It took a good chunk of the day, and Mom was so very patient. There's a part of the lightening process with hair where it takes on it's undertones of orange, pink, and yellow. We hit that point with Mom, and I think she just about gave up hope that I would ever be able to fix it. But, all things considered, I think it turned out rather well. She seems happy with it, anyway. As I said, one less thing to worry about. We also had a farewell moment this week. Trenton, my parents' oldest grandchild, swore into the Navy and left for Basic Training. Mom and I went down to Salt Lake to watch him swear in and wish him well. Mom cried and cried. It's difficult to say goodbyes to family, especially when you're not sure when you'll see them next. Trenton will likely be stationed outside of Utah when Mom and Dad come home. We are so proud of him and his decision to serve our country. It's such an honor to be a part of a family that is so willing to serve others. Next on the list is getting the house packed up and the rest of their needed items bought. Dad is looking into a tablet to have for his scriptures, e-mails, and language training information. It's been fun to research those. So much to do still, and it seems to be coming ever faster! Mom and Dad have more language training this week in Provo. They are working on introductions, bearing testimony, and prayers in Russian. They are getting more and more confident in their abilities. It's wonderful that they get to work with such wonderful people there. They just got a new trainer this week, and it's great to see what a new person brings to the table. This new trainer is helping them learn their language in different ways, which just increases their skills. We had another miracle happen this week when Dad got called to Salt Lake for jury duty. He wasn't looking forward to it, I mean, who would? But he got on the frontrunner and went down. When he got there, he realized jury duty had been canceled, and they were going to pay him for the day since he had already made the trip. So, being in salt lake with nothing to do, he wandered over to the Church Office Building and asked to speak to someone about his mission. They got him connected to Elder Gunther, who works with all the senior couple missionaries. He was extremely helpful and had tons of information for Dad, including the contact information for the senior couple currently serving in their mission! It was great, because they were able to get in touch with them right away. It's so nice to have someone on the other side, be able to ask questions and find out what it's really like. Some of the interesting things we learned, they will not have access to peanut butter, brown sugar, can openers, cinnamon, taco seasoning, measuring cups or spoons. It's amazing how many things we take for granted here, just assuming they will be available to us. Most people there only buy 1 weeks worth of food at a time, no storage, no extras. The church is so new in this area, they only have about 15-20 members in most branches. One of the largest branches out there has about 75 members- but still, not nearly as big as some wards we have here. It will be interesting to see the work they will be able to do, and the changes they will have to make to live in that kind of lifestyle. As the monkey said when he got his tail caught in the fan... It won't be long now!

What Now, and Why?

Once Mom and Dad got their call, we asked "what now?", a lot. We read through the information the church gave us, and started looking up maps, pictures and words online. The first obstacle we needed to overcome was the ability to travel to Ukraine. Mom and Dad both needed to quickly apply for their visas and passports. The waiting periods on visas especially, can be very long. They put in the paperwork, and prayed. Mom and Dad were both relieved when they found that it would be processed in time for them to accept their call October 28th. The next step was to learn what kind of language they would need. At first, we thought Ukrainian. But we soon-after learned that the church would like them to learn Russian instead. They're similar languages, and from what we've gathered, if you speak one you can generally understand the other. Russian is, of course, used more worldwide and will be a greater benefit as they travel to and from. Mom and Dad both jumped on learning Russian as quickly as possible. They ordered Russian hymn books, church magazines, and Book of Mormons. For younger missionaries, a lot of the language training is done in the MTC. For senior couples, that is not the case. For seniors, they only give you a week in the MTC to learn the mission expectations. Then they send you. Little or no language training will be done in the MTC. So, Mom and Dad got in touch with the trainers there to find out what they could do to start now. They arranged skyping lessons twice a week with a returned missionary and started learning the Russian letters. Jason and I started learning small words to use with them at home, so they could hear it on a daily basis. Little things like hello, please, thank you, goodbye. We even spent some time with little post it notes everywhere with Russian words on them. We've done anything we can to help the process of learning move along. Mom and Dad have improved about million times in the weeks since and are now starting to say full sentences in Russian, as well as simple prayers. They work very hard, and currently spend 2 full days a week in Provo learning with returned missionaries and trainers. They are starting to feel confident that they will be able to travel and understand what is happening around them. I am so proud of them. Learning a brand new language is never easy, but it's especially hard when the language you're learning contains upside down R's and backwards N's. The other question we've been asked (what seems like several times) is why? Why choose to serve? The church is in a great need for senior couples and yet so many are simply choosing not to go. So why should the Preece's? The answer to that is one of my very favorites. Dad is keeping a promise. When my parents got engaged, my Mom had her mission papers already turned in. She was fully expecting to go on a mission. Dad proposed, and Mom accepted, with the understanding that her mission was still going to take place- just later than she expected. As the years passed and they had raised their family, it never really came up. It was an old promise, made years before. Then, Dad woke up one morning to the Spirit's prompting to ask Mom about going. Mom was so surprised, she never thought it would really happen. Just a few short weeks later, they had their papers in and were anxiously expecting their call. Mom often talks now about feeling as though she's been called to this mission from the other side of the veil. It's truly wonderful to see them both so happy in their preparations to serve their fellow men, and therefore, Heavenly Father.

Opening the Call

What a RED letter day in our family! We were expecting the call on Wednesday June 5th, but it didn't come. Then Thursday... it still didn't come. We had pretty much resigned ourselves to waiting until next week. Then on Friday, June 7th, I took a small detour home from school and thought to myself, "I'll just stop by the mail box. The call won't be there, but you know. I am here." And there it was! I was so tempted to open it right then and there, but of course I didn't. I pulled out my cell phone and called Mom as quickly as I could. I was so excited, she could hardly understand me. Finally I was able to convey to her that the call was finally here!! We gathered our family and opened the call later that night. Mom had a sneaky trick she'd picked up from other people in the stake where you can tell if the call is foreign or stateside by the postage amount. Their postage was $2.52, which we couldn't decide if it was high enough for a foreign mission or low enough to be a stateside mission. We thought, since there is two people going and therefore two mission calls, that it was likely stateside. Mom was a little disappointed, I think. She was really hoping for a foreign call... Then, the moment finally came. Dad opened the call and read, "You are hereby called to served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Ukraine, Donetsk Mission. Your primary assignment is to labor as a member and leader support missionary." I was sitting on the floor, but had I been sitting on a chair I would have fallen off it. In all my wildest dreams, I never thought they would have been called there. My first thought was honestly, where is that?! Lol. We looked it up on a map and read all through their instructions. Mom and Dad were so thrilled. It certainly wasn't what they were expecting, but it was a perfect mission call for them.