10 Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today I received my mission call to the Spain, Barcelona mission. At the time I received my call, I was living in Logan, Utah, going to Utah State University. My call was sent to my home in Erda, Utah (two hours from Logan), so my parents called me when it came in the mail and I drove home that afternoon. This picture is of me with my call, my brother, Luke and sisters Jenifer and Kendra (11 days old).
As I read to my family the letter from President Hinckley, then president of the church, calling me on my mission, my rebellious eyes skipped down a couple of lines and read Spain, Barcelona. In that instant I knew that was the mission the Lord wanted me to go to and I couldn't read anymore, so my dad took the letter from me and read it to the rest of the family. My mother and grandmother had expressed desires that my mission not be too far away or too dangerous. My mother's brother, David Smith, had served his mission eleven years earlier in Spain, Barcelona, so I knew they would be content.
I had laid awake at nights for months wondering where I would spend the next two years of my life serving the Lord and preaching his gospel.
A week and a half ago we had a mission reunion and celebrated 10 years since the dedication of the Madrid, Temple. My mission president, Clate W. Mask Jr. (pictured below with Brittney and I) petitioned the area president, Dieter Uchtdorf to allow all the missionaries to attend the dedication of the Temple. President Uchtdorf said it was unlikely, as the Temple was not in our mission and missionaries are not allowed to leave their mission, but that he would check with Salt Lake. Finally permission was given and all the missionaries in the mission were able to attend the dedication. That was in March of 1999. I received my call shortly afterwards and was able to attend the Madrid Temple while living at the nearby Centro de Capacitation de los misioneros (Missionary training center) before entering the mission field.
One of the great blessings of my life was serving under two mission presidents, each for about a year, President Mask and President Bowen. I learned that two men could fill the same calling and do a wonderful job, and be completely different. President Mask was an institute teacher and loved to show us motivational videos like "Rudy" and "Pollyanna" and constantly told us "you gotta believe" and to be "glad missionaries". President Bowen was an insurance salesman and gave us power point presentations, clearly teaching us the doctrine of the church.
My mission was an important time of my life and President Mask told us at our reunion not to hesitate to share our experiences from the mission. So, for the next two years, you can expect posts starting out "Ten years ago today..."
I have pondered whether or not I was a good missionary. Before my mission I thought all you had to do was have a lot of faith and go out and work and you could be the best missionary ever. On my mission I learned that missionary work is hard work. We had to search for those who were ready to hear the gospel and open our mouths all the time, something I'm not naturally inclined to do. I've decided to let the Lord be the judge of whether or not I was a good missionary. One of my companions used to say though that however good a missionary you were determined how beautiful your wife would be. If that is true, I was the best missionary ever, my grandmothers would probably agree.