Mission Two (hope)

 First off, if you are bored with these updates from us, you have two choices:

1. Reply to the email I sent and tell me to leave you alone

2. Ignore it

With that out of the way, here's some news and some info that might influence your choice. We have received a new mission call!

This call is to serve in Finland in the mission office there. We are scheduled to start the MTC on 27 December and fly to Helsinki 4 January.

I'm being careful NOT to say "we're going to Finland" because we know how that turned out last time. Can't believe that was three years ago when we were in a very similar situation, then things changed to Poland and all the new and great experiences there. Thus, terms like "called to" and "scheduled to."

It has been a great year here in Utah since January 15th 2021. Our intent, thanks to the generosity of Sherry, was to stay in her basement until we could find a place. This turned out to be such a good deal for us, well, we stayed. We've had a fun time doing things with and for our kids. Jean's skills with plants have been put to good use. There were many weeks that we drove to and from Utah County Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We really enjoyed it and enjoyed helping out in the small ways we were able.

Don't know why, but just about every job I (Stewart) applied for didn't work out for one reason or another and that left us free to do those things whenever the heck. Looking back, it was a good thing. It kept us free and humble enough.

One mandate from the 4 Bridge offspring was that we must not miss another holiday season after the three previous. You'll notice our start date is the 27th, so that box is checked.

There are many people we would've/should've connected with during this summer of love, but we failed. (If you need to, please see The Healing Power of Forgiveness (James E. Faust, 2007 Annual General Conference)

I know many would be sad to read one of these updates without a bridge with Bridges, so here's one you might recognize. We travelled to San Francisco in October to apply for our Finnish residency permits (visas), thus the Bay Bridge. That trip gave us a taste for how things could still not work out. You might know a little airline called SkyWest out of St. George Utah. We were lucky to be flying to and from SFO on the day that little airline's servers went down. The result was the joy of standing in a line that stretched "all the way back to Terre Haute" as ours and others' were delayed, delayed, delayed, then finally canceled. Sitting for hours in the airport is fun enough for anyone, but standing is even better. We did get out the next day, but the lesson is that even small things can upset the very complex interconnectedness. We will let you know if and when we arrive in good old Finland.

We got notified the day after Thanksgiving that our application for residency in Finland was granted. We received our residency cards (just like the Polish cards we had) a couple weeks later, which means we can legally and legitimately enter any time we please until July 2023. Excitement.

We'll speak in Bountiful the day before our MTC date. You shouldn't expect much, but if you want to know more about that (43rd Ward, 1000 N 100 W, at noon) let me know through an email or other.

I avoid trying to describe emotions here, but I have to say that we sincerely appreciate the love and support you give us just by being interested in what we're up to. It means more than you realize.