Being Called
Sometime in late April, (we think it was the 26th), Margot and I were called and set apart as Service Missionary Advisors for the Australia Melbourne Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There was a bit of a process leading up to this.
First, I received a phone call one day from Greg Scott, who I used to work in the Temple with, and who I count as a friend. Still, it was unusual to get a call from him, and he explained that he was the Executive Secretary for Elder Damon Page, an Area Authority responsible for Melbourne. He asked if we would be willing to meet with Elder Page, who wanted to get to know us.I think it was the following Sunday that Elder Page came to our Stake Centre and we met him there. We had a very pleasant interview with him. He explained that the Area Presidency were looking for people to fill several callings in the Melbourne area and he had asked various Stake Presidencies for names of people whom they thought might be suitable, and our names were submitted by our Stake Presidency. I guess they got desperate!
The 3rd step was an interview with Mission President Andersen. We were on our way to the Temple one Wednesday morning (again, I can't remember the date) when Brother Scott called us again and asked us if we could meet with the Mission President soon. I told Greg we were on our way to the Temple and could meet with President Andersen after our morning shift, which we did. He asked about us, similar to the questions we'd had from Elder Page - mainly asking us about what positions we had each served in previously but the extra one was if we enjoyed working with the young missionaries, we we said that we did - it was probably our favourite part of our missionary service in the Brisbane Mission (we were in Cairns for the full 18 months of our service there).
I assumed that we might be assigned to do flat inspections every 6 weeks, (that was one of our responsibilities in Cairns, where we served as MLS Missionaries). President Andersen did ask if we'd be able to serve about 25 hours per week (this was more than Elder Page had originally suggested it might be - I think he said 15 hours), but we thought we would be able to manage that ok. We left his office not really too sure what we might be getting ourselves in to. But, we were excited about the prospects!
Now, the next thing that happened was another phone call, from Greg Scott again. He asked if we could meet Elder Page and Elder Smith (who will be replacing Elder Page when he leaves the position later this year), to be called and set apart. "As what?", was my immediate reply. Greg seemed to take a few seconds to sort through some information, before he replied, "As young Service Missionary Advisers". Okay, so that gave Margot and I something to think about for a few days.
I've never refused a calling to serve in the Church, and I doubt whether Margot has either. We both feel that when we receive a calling to serve, that it's coming from the Lord, via our Church leaders. We feel humbled to be asked, and we are excited for what the next three years will bring.
We officially start our service at the end of June, when Elder and Sister Evans will be finishing their three years. Up until then, we are in training mode with them, and as I write this I am flying back home from Auckland, where we had a 2 day training seminar, which I may write more about later, perhaps.
We will be looking after about 15 young Service Missionaries in the whole mission, which covers all of Victoria and Tasmania plus parts of southern NSW. Most contact with them will be online.
Service Missions are a relatively new position in the missionary department of the Church, and started about 5 years ago. All young people can make themselves available to serve missions. Those who are neurodiverse, or have some physical disability perhaps, who may not be suitable for a teaching mission, can be called as a Service Missionary. We are called young Service Missionary Advisers, so it is our role to support them. It's a very good program, to help all young people feel needed, to help them grow, by serving others in ways that they're able to.
Most of them will continue to live at home with their parents. So they have us as extra support to assist their parents, particularly if their parents are both working or perhaps are single parents. We will also help the parents support their young missionaries, and we will also liaise with the Mission Leaders and with all the Stake Presidents in the region.
We have been invited to attend a dinner at the Mission Home in a few weeks with all the Stake Presidents and their wives, the Mission Leaders, and also the Evans. It's a farewell dinner for them and a welcome dinner for us. As I read the list of all the people who are invited, I think I said to Margot that my name looked a bit out of place at the end of the list. Are they sure that they've called the right people? I don't think we're the only ones who have ever thought that. But, at the end of the day, we all pull our trousers on one leg at a time. We don't have to be capable, we only have to be available. The Lord will make us capable.
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