During the October General Conference in 2012, Pres. Monson announced a change of the ages for missionaries. It used to be Elders at 19 and Sisters at 21, but now it's Elders at 18 and Sisters at 19. Jasmine had always wanted to serve a mission, but she figured she would finish her four year nursing degree first and then be old enough to serve a mission.
In mid April, we (mom, me, Chelle and Jas) attended Time Out For Women and it was fantastic. During Saturday lunch, Jas told me she was seriously considering serving a mission now, after her first year of college, rather than later. At first I was a little stunned, or shocked because her plan was in place and the RESP was set up, and scholarships, etc. But by the end of TOFW, I was getting pretty excited for her and this opportunity. And truthfully, I think I was a little envious too because I had wanted to serve a mission, but got married at age 20. Jas said not to mention it to anyone yet because she was still tossing around the idea. She asked me to look into the RESP and see if that could be delayed (and yes, it can be postponed twice, or possibly more).
So after much pondering and prayer, she decided she was going on a mission!
She doesn't turn 19 until mid October, and 120 days before you turn mission age is the soonest you can submit your papers. So she got talking to her Bishop and started working on the papers and talked to her Nursing Instructors and officially withdrew from the Nursing program. She'll have to reapply in two years and hopefully get back in. They said with cutbacks coming to the program, it might not be too easy. But Jas finished her first year with honours and she will trust in the Lord.
So . . . doing the papers online is actually the fast part!
She went to the dentist and had two small cavities filled, went to the doctor with all the paperwork, and went to the lab for bloodwork, x-rays, etc. Luckily she was up-to-date on her immunization as she needed that done for her nursing courses. It seemed like she was getting everything done plenty early to have her papers gone by June 18 (exactly 120 days).
One other thing that was a challenge was getting a decent picture of Jas!!!
She just has too much fun during photoshoots! And it needs to have a plain background!
Stop coughing! Stop laughing - this is serious!
Yay - got a good one!!!
She had everything done that she could do and now just had to wait . . .
Every time she saw her Bishop she'd ask him if the medical papers had arrived so she could have an interview. And he kept saying they haven't arrived yet.
The delay came in waiting for the lab to send her results back to her doctor, and then the doctor sends them on to her Bishop, and then she can have a final interview with her Bishop. The hold-up seemed to be with the lab, but eventually it all worked out.
Jas came home for Father's Day dinner with her medical and dental papers for me to sign. She'd just had her interview with her Bishop and now just had to meet with her Stake President. A few days before her Stake interview, we had some torrential rain and her basement flooded and her papers got all wet. She texted me "Do you think they'll accept soggy papers?" She spread them out to dry and they're still legible, just wrinkly now. I'm sure it will be fine!
She met with her Stake President on Wednesday, June 26 and he said he would have her papers sent off on Friday at the earliest and Tuesday (July 2) at the latest.
And now we wait, and guess, and speculate . . . my top pick for her is the new New Zealand Hamilton mission, followed by Temple Square and eastern Canada (Halifax or Montreal).
So exciting . . .
