Another Mission?

So we are now on another mission. This time in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We are serving in the temple again. Here is how we ended up being here.

While we were in Draper for General Conference in April, I received an email during one of the sessions, from Pres. Jay Jensen, the temple president in Cochabamba, Bolivia. A temple worker from Boise, Bro. Glaettli, who was serving there with his wife, had given him our name. Pres. Jensen explained the need for temple workers in Cochabamba (several were ending their missions and there were no scheduled replacements) and asked us to please consider going on a mission and coming to the temple there. I called Pres. Jensen and asked him some questions and let him tell me more of the need for missionaries at the temple. I felt the prompting of the spirit to not just let this pass by. As best I could, I relayed the conversation to Sylvia, who was understandably, not as excited about the prospect as I was. Like any mother and grandmother, she was enjoying being around family. Several weeks followed with much discussion and prayer about leaving again so soon after we had returned from the last mission. We were just getting reacquainted with children and grandchildren. Kevin and his family had recently moved to the Salt Lake area, giving us more opportunity to see them once in a while. Ryan and his family had moved to Meridian and we were enjoying being around them. Shannon and her family had just returned from Uruguay and were now living in Fruit Heights, just out of Ogden.
In addition, were had been working on upgrading things in our house, after living in it for more than 20 years. We had just begun working on the kitchen, redoing cabinets, painting, and plans to put in a new floor. So there were many things to consider in trying to decide how to respond to the invitation to serve again.
We finally felt we should go now. Yes, we would miss some important family events and opportunities. But from now until we are too old to go on missions, that will always be the case. We did have pause when we learned that Kaylynn is expecting and we will miss the birth of our 20th grandchild. That is still a difficult thing for Sylvia to accept. True, it is also difficult for me but not in the same way it is for her. Yes, we would have to put off some of the work in the kitchen, but it will still be there when we return. I could go on about our feelings concerning the covenants we have made regarding sacrifice and consecration, but I won’t (unless asked). The important thing is that this decision was made after much pondering, praying, and fasting. We are doing it because we have felt the spirit telling us that it is the thing we should do at this time. We have worked our whole married life to be in a position, financially and health-wise, where we could do what we are asked to do. To have said “no” when we have felt the spirit say “yes”, even when it was not in our plans, would be inconsistent with what we profess to believe.