The Setting Apart

Wednesday June 18, 2014 2:30pm.  The day my parents were set apart to be mission presidents is a day that I will never forget.  It was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had, as well as humbling and peaceful. 
Here is how it went down :)
Since I am the only child of my parents who lives close, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend this amazing event.  Also in attendance were, Lori and Rich Woodland (friends), Tony and Jessica (niece/"daughter" and husband), and AmyJo (former student/friend/"daughter").
Something that was kind of cool and weird at the same time was the security at the church office buildings.  I wasn't surprised at all by how serious the security is there, but to be a part of it was interesting.  They had my parents name on a list so that we could park in "Elder Bednar's peoples spot."  It was very official hahaha.

Tender Mercies
As we were waiting in the waiting area, my dad saw a man who recognized him, and gave him a hug and a big pat on the back.  Dad told us that it was Elder Nash of the Seventy and he had spoken at a devotional at BYU Idaho and they had met there and really had a great connection.
After a little while of waiting, they were ready for us and we were escorted down the hall and to the elevator.  We were greeted by Elder Bednar's secretary who showed us to a conference room, and said he would be with us shortly.  As we were waiting, we were also told that Elder Nash would be the one assisting Elder Bednar in the setting apart.  The secretary told my dad that when Elder Nash had come up, he was so excited and said that he had seen my dad in the waiting room and gave him a big hug.  He said he felt blessed to be a part of this special occasion for my parents.  It is just so cool to see the Lords hand in the small details of our life.
Another really amazing thing that happened was when Elder Bedanr looked across the table and saw Lori.  Lori had been the women's basketball coach at BYU Idaho (Ricks) when Elder Bednar was the president of the school.  They were both there when the competitive sports program was taken away, and replaced with sports only as activities.  I remember when that change was made, I wasn't living in Rexburg at the time, but it made a huge splash even in California, and people were not happy about it.  Lori had said she was a little nervous to see Elder Bednar in person after so long and wasn't sure if he would remember her.  As soon as he saw her, his face lit up with a smile.  He was surprised to see her there, but was so happy she was.  They reminisced about their time at the school, and he thanked her for her support during the rough time when sports had been taken away.  He had said that after the announcement was made, he and his wife would sit alone at sporting events, and no one would talk to them because they were so upset about the change.  He thanked Lori for being a supportive faculty member and friend.  It may not seem like a lot, but the spirit was so strong, everyone was emotional, and it was an incredible moment for Lori.

Blessings From An Apostle of the Lord
Being in the room with an apostle and a general authority was truly an amazing feeling.  My parents were able to ask some questions, and Elder Bednar asked them some questions as well.  Elder Nash spoke about loving the people.  He said the most important thing my parents can do is love the people of Ecuador, and love the missionaries that are serving them.  Elder Bednar addressed my mom's concern about leaving her family.  He said some things that were surprising to me, but comforting at the same time. 
This is paraphrasing what he said:
"There are too many good couples, who decline calls, or who choose not to serve, because they don't want to miss the basketball games, the soccer games, the plays, and the recitals.  You are serving the Lord and his people.  You are dedicating 3 years of you life to the Lords work.  Your family will be blessed and taken care of.  And when it comes time for your grandsons to serve missions, they will have their grandparents as an example.  Those grandparents who don't serve, will be responsible for their grandchildren who don't serve.  Don't worry about your family.  They are proud of you, and the Lord is watching over them."

I am so grateful for the example that my parents are setting for everyone who knows them.  They were called by the Lord to serve, and they accepted his call, as difficult as it might be at some times.

Elder Bednar set apart my dad as mission president.  And Elder Nash set apart my mom as my dads companion.  The blessings were special, and the spirit was the strongest I have ever felt.  It was amazing how the words flowed so smoothly from their mouths.  They are so in tune with the spirit, and close with the Lord, that they didn't even have to think about what to say.  It was pretty amazing.

Elder Bednar...He's a pretty cool guy :)
He took the time to go around the table and ask everyone who was there who they were and what they did.  He shook all of our hands and was more than happy to let us take a picture with him. 
I think he gets a lot of grief for being so strict and to the point when he speaks, but he is a gentle, loving, normal guy who loves the Lord and Loves the gospel.

Extras
On our way out of the conference room, I literally ran into Elder Nelson, who was with Elder Oaks.  We got to say hi to them and shake their hands, which was pretty cool.  And on the way out to the hall, Sister Burton, General Relief Society President, was coming into the room.  She didn't know who my parents were, but she gave them big hugs.  My dad told her he was the newest mission president in the church :) She congratulated him, and gave ALL of us hugs and told us how much she loved and appreciated us.
It was a pretty special day.

The Back Story

Okay so here is the back story about how this all came to pass ;)

Most of this is copy and pasted from an email from my mom.

So around the 1st of October Elder Perry´s secretary called to set up an appointment via Skype for us to talk with Elder Perry. Dad spoke with her on Thursday, the 3rd and she told us he wanted to meet with us, but it would have to be after general conference. So she made an appointment with us to visit with him on Wednesday the 9th. That is when he met with us via Skype and asked us a bunch of questions. He mentioned it was an exploratory interview and that nothing may come of it. He held up  a file folder and said the brethren knew a lot about us. He was so kind and joked around a bit. He asked us if we had ever been to Riggins Idaho. We told him no. He told us that if we ever go drive slow, it is the only time he ever got a speeding ticket. He said the speed limit in the entire town is only 25, then he laughed. At the end of the 35-40 minute interview he said we may hear back from the brethren or we may not, and to not mention this call to anyone.

On October 16th, Dad received a call from Pres. Uchtdorf ´s secretary asking to set up an appointment to visit with him and would Friday the 18th work. We said yes. So we met with him on Friday. After visiting with us for a while, he extended the call to us for Dad to be a mission president and me his companion, in a Spanish speaking mission and asked us if we would accept this call. We both said yes(obviously, that´s why we are here). We were told not to tell anyone until the call came via Fed Ex. He also said it would be nice to keep it to ourselves for maybe two weeks so we could contemplate this with the Lord, only the 3 of us knowing (except the entire missionary department).

Now its me, Jeree talking ;)
At this point my brothers and I had no idea about any of this.  One day my mom text me and says they want us to come over because they are going to by skyping with Bill and Alex and want to tell us all something.  So me, being the most paranoid person on the planet, automatically assumes one of them has cancer and they are going to die...OR that they got a call to be mission presidents.  SO, we went to their house on the 30th of October (they had gotten the call Fed Exed to them on the 28th) and my brothers are on the computer and phone, and my parents open the call DUN DUN DUN!!!  "Where are you going?"  We all ask immediately!  BUT THEY DIDN'T KNOW YET!  What a disappointment. LOL.  We were all so excited and everyone started guessing where they would go.  We all knew it would be Spanish speaking, that part was confirmed.  My mom thought they would go to Columbia, drug capital of the world, and that they would die there.  My dad was hoping to go to his mission in Chile.  I had no idea, and I can't remember what my brothers guessed.

In December they received the paper work that told us where they were going.  We all got on Skype and facetime with my parents and they read their specific call out loud over the phone and computer.  I think everyone was so relieved and excited to hear it was Ecuador.  As far as we all knew it was a pretty mellow country as far as drugs and killings hahaha.  Alex immediately googled it finding out what the whether was like there and started planning a trip there.  Everyone asks if we are going to visit them...HECK NO it's really expensive to get there!!  But I think Alex and Ana will go.

It was December 21st when they were allowed to make it public to everyone that they would be serving as mission president and where they would be going.

From October until they reported in June of 2014, it was a roller coaster of emotions.  We were all excited, but of course sad that our parents would be gone for 3 years.  I knew Chloe would be devastated.  She's done pretty well so far, sometimes when we are facetiming and its time to say good bye, she gets teary eyed.  But I'm so proud of how well she has held it together.  Of course it was stressful for my parents as well.  They had to pack up their house, rent it out, sell their cars, and as much furniture and junk as possible, and be trained for their mission all in just 6 months.

Unlike regular missionaries who go to the MTC for 3-9 weeks, mission presidents do the majority of their training over Skype and phone calls.  They had 3 or 4 appointments every week, and then spent about a week in the MTC with all of the other couples that would be reporting at the same time.

We got to facetime with them last night.  They are doing well and they LOVE serving the missionaries and the Lord. 

I am so lucky to have such amazing parents who are so strong and great examples of disciples of Christ!!

The next post will be about them being set apart.  It's a pretty good story ;)

Sorry For The Delay

Here is an email they sent me a couple of weeks ago.

We have been on the road since early Wednesday morning and have not had access to the internet or our computer. We just found out last night about the flooding, sounds crazy.

We have been interviewing all of the missionaries so we have spent the night in two different towns and drove home late last night instead of having to spend another night in a hotel. We interviewed for 10 hours on Tuesday, twelve hours on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Sixteen hour days have been intense. We will be traveling again tomorrow and spending the night in the furthest north town in our mission. We will finish interviewing every missionary on Tuesday night!

They are busy little bees ;)

Driving In A Foreign Country

Hi Everyone!
Well I haven't heard a lot from my parents yet.  We did get to facetime with them for a little bit...last Wednesday I think it was. 
The best story they had was about driving.  They were on their way to a meeting that started at 7...and they didn't get there until 8:30.  Someone actually had to come find them and then they followed the rest of the way.  They had gotten on the "freeway" not realizing that there isn't really off ramps to exit.  So they drove for 10 minutes going the wrong way and weren't able to turn around.  My dad said the traffic laws there are more like suggestions.  They were stopped at a red light once, and all the cars got mad and just zipped around them.  Needless to say, my mom said she will NOT be driving while they are there! Hahaha.  The mission presidents before them...well lets just say, they got in more than 1 accident while they were there ;)

Other than that my parents are doing well.  They love being there and doing the work of the Lord.  And my dad loves that the avocados are HUGE there. LOL.

Remember them and their missionaries in your prayers :)

First Post!

Hey everybody!!  It's Jeree.  I will be updating this blog on behalf of my parents.  Please spread the word to anyone you know who would like to keep updated on the Riggins adventure as Mission Presidents in Ecuador.

Right now we know that they arrived in Ecuador safely.  They have already had to deal with several sick missionaries...but also got to attend a baptism their first day there.  They called us on Sunday night and we were able to Facetime with them for a little bit.  It was awesome! 

I have already experienced many blessings in my own life, from them serving the Lord.  I was the only child that moved from San Diego to be close to my parents.  I lived with them, or just a mile from them, for the last 7 years.  When I found out they were going to be mission presidents, and then found out it would be in Ecuador, I was of course excited, but SO SAD too.  I would miss them so much!  And I if you know my parents at all, you know that my kids had them wrapped around their fingers.  I was so sad that my children would not get to see Grandma and Grandpa for 3 years.  I was dealing with their call pretty well, but as time got closer for them to leave, I expected a  melt down, from me, my kids, and my parents.  Last Thursday we were able to have dinner with them before they flew out at 6am Friday morning.  There were NO TEARS!!  I was at peace and so were my kids...and I think my parents were as well ;)  They haven't even been gone for a week yet, but I am already optimistic that 3 years will go by fast, and that we will survive without them up the street from us.

My parents are so amazing and the people and missionaries of Ecuador are lucky to have them!