Now that we’re nearing the end of our mission, I’d like to tell you how we got here in the first place. The story begins in 1988 when Dottie and I drove a VW bus to Yosemite Valley National Park to celebrate our wedding. As we rumbled our way west, we set some goals for ourselves and our new family. One of them was to serve a mission for our church after our children had grown and become independent. We didn’t set a limit on the number of times we would serve only that we would do so as long as we were healthy.

     The years passed quickly, and one day in 2016 we found ourselves filling out paperwork for our first mission. One of the questions on the application asked if we had any preference about where we wanted to serve. We both knew we would go wherever we were called, but after some consideration, we decided South Africa sounded appealing. Sure enough, that’s where we went. We had an extraordinary experience supporting young missionaries and members of the Port Durnford branch in the Kwazulu Natal Province. 

     Following our return home in 2018, we began some repair and remodeling work on our house and then got caught up, along with the rest of the world, in the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior missionary work was restricted during this time so we hunkered in like everybody else and waited while the virus rampaged across the world.

     In late 2021, with the virus winding down and our home repairs mostly completed, we felt it was time to serve another mission. When the question popped up on the application about where we wanted to serve, we immediately entered the Pennsylvania and New York Historic Sites, specifically, the Priesthood Restoration Site in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. This is where Joseph and Emma Smith lived following their marriage, and where the first efforts in translating the Book of Mormon took place. We had visited the site as a family in 2003 and had a strong feeling that one day we might serve there. This site needed senior couple missionaries to assist with providing tours to visitors, and with our education backgrounds, we felt this would be an ideal placement for us.

     As soon as we entered our preference for serving in Susquehanna, another question box popped up asking us to enter three additional places. That was a surprise! We had to pause the application to consider where else we might want to serve since we felt so strongly about Susquehanna and hadn’t thought about other options. After some consideration, we came up with a plan that we thought might weight the system in our favor. We identified other historic sites in the East that were in need of missionaries and listed them as options. One of them was the Joseph Smith birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. This was another site we were interested in serving at as it also had a need for senior missionaries to assist with tours. The other two sites we listed were in need of physical facility support missionaries to assist with maintaining, repairing, and cleaning their buildings and grounds. Although I have some handyman skills and experience, I’m no journeyman so we felt comfortable listing those sites. We knew there was just about zero chance we’d be called to one of them.   

     On a November evening in 2022, we gathered with our family to open our call letter and learn of our assignment. With great anticipation, Dottie began reading the letter, and everyone in the room was silent as she read the following, “And you have been called to labor . . . . in the New York & Pennsylvania Historic Sites.”¹ Everyone went crazy at this point, and Dottie and I jumped out of our chairs to congratulate each other. Yes, our plan had worked! When the wave of excitement died down, Dottie continued reading, “Your primary assignment is to serve as physical facilities specialists.” What?! We both looked at each other incredulously. How was that possible? We were educators, not contractors.

     Looking back, we know it was the right assignment, at the right time, to the right place. However unqualified we might have thought we were, God knew otherwise, and that’s what matters. We were called to serve where we were needed; we worked hard, we learned a lot, and our faith in God’s plan was deepened. We served with some of the most talented, caring, and committed people you could imagine in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  We wouldn't trade these last 19 months for anything. 

Notes

¹Although our original desire was to serve as site guides at the Priesthood Restoration Site in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, we actually served most of our mission as physical facility specialists in Palmyra, New York. I say “most” because Sister Collins also served as a site guide at the Joseph Smith Farm and at the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center when time permitted. This was a dream come true for her.

We traveled to the Priesthood Restoration Site on multiple occasions to visit, help with special projects, and to transport young missionaries. Susquehanna is approximately 150 miles from Palmyra, and both areas played key roles in the early history of The Church of Christ, now the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.