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.