Trust In the Lord . . and He Shall Direct Thy Paths.

It is because of our trust in the Lord, that we accepted a call to leave our home and spend the next three years of our life serving as mission leaders in the California San Diego Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In this post I hope to capture some of the happenings that occurred in the last two months of our preparations for our mission to San Diego. After considering a variety of options we determined to drive from New Jersey to San Diego in order to visit friends and family along the way. We scheduled movers to come collect those belongings that we would take to San Diego the last week of May, so that effort would be concluded prior to the arrival of our children and grandchildren for one last hurrah before we departed. In mid May we received a call from facilities management informing us they were behind schedule remodeling the mission home bathrooms and that we would be unable to move into the mission home when we arrived. Not to worry - we knew we could trust in the Lord.

We immediately began searching for an airbnb that would be available for the entire month of July and after consulting with facilities management prepared to book one they had found that seemed suitable and happened to be available for the entire month. Just as Norm was going to click the button our selection was suddenly unavailable on airbnb. Norm contacted the owner hoping to persuade them that they should seriously consider our month long rental over a shorter term option. The owner was surprised and said the property was available for July and that airbnb must have a glitch. We took this as a sign we should continue our search. A few moments later we found an attached home that, while not as large seemed adequate. We had facilities management drive by and they thought it would be fine. We booked it then and there and now have an understanding and appreciation of this location which is three minutes from the mission office and very convenient to the travel corridors in San Diego. We are within 30 minutes (max) from all but one zone of our mission. We could not be in a better location especially for this intense initial period of our mission. We know God placed a well-suited home in our path that day when Airbnb had a glitch. 

We knew it would be difficult but planned to have a two day visit with my mother the last week of May. Our plan was to fly down on a Tuesday morning and return Wednesday night. While short, this was the only time we could squeeze in as we had to meet the movers on Thursday morning. The Sunday before we were to fly, my sister's children all tested positive for covid. While it broke my heart, we had to cancel our trip. It took me some time but I came to realize that the Lord had his hand in this as well. We needed the time in New Jersey to prepare the house and organize for the movers. I am thankful for a faithful mother, whose teachings over the decades gave me no doubt on where she would stand on this matter. We should do what we needed to do to serve the Lord, we could put our trust in Him. 

Things were loaded, we regrouped and prepared for our DC meet-up. We left early Saturday morning, Drew and Zac driving with us to the DC area. Fronks were driving up from Florida and Buttars flew into DC. We selected DC so we could see the temple open house. We had a great weekend in DC and returned to the lake with the full crew on Tuesday May 31. We played in the lake, held a yard sale that the grandkids operated, saw Aladdin on broadway, hiked, biked, tie-dyed shirts, went on a bowling outing, ate grandpa's ice-cream and basically had a fun time. 

Fronks were scheduled to drive back to Florida on June 9. That same morning Armenay tested positive for covid. Buttars decided to get out of town as soon as possible and after a teary-eyed, through the glass door goodbye, they headed to the airport. While we were disappointed in this circumstance we again saw the Lord's hand. Our calendar was suddenly cleared giving us time to finish our departure preparations. The illness was optimally timed and Norm did not get covid and we were able to attend the seminar in Provo at the end of June. We truly felt that prayers that were being offered on our behalf were sustaining us and felt happy to submit to the will of the Lord. 

As Norm drove, I slept, we listened to talks, and read a book aloud and most of all enjoyed seeing family and friends as we drove from New Jersey to Provo. Our four days of seminar fed our souls and lighted our spirits. Following the seminar we shared a couple days with Norm's mother in California, who had landed in the hospital a couple days before we arrived. We are so thankful for this opportunity to learn and grow and most important to place our trust, fully and unequivocally in the Lord. 

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