We both got an interesting email from the Senior Missionary Department yesterday. It congratulated us  on submitting our Missionary Recommendation and said our application is currently being processed by the Missionary Department before going to a member of The Twelve for assignment. They asked that we each complete a questioner about our feelings and impressions, which when combined with information from our application would give them a clearer picture of each prospective missionary.

The questioner asked how comfortable you would be personally (NOT our spouse) with a missionary assignment that would require the following: (The choices were: Very Uncomfortable, Somewhat Uncomfortable, Somewhat Comfortable, Very Comfortable, and Don't Know. We were to mark each of the following:

Living in a different culture, Developing basic skills in a new language, Driving in unfamiliar places, Living where many people are poor, Having little contact with other missionaries, Living in a hot climate, Living in a cold climate, Living in a humid or wet climate, Performing repetitive tasks,Having to figure out what to do and how. 

Working with nonmembers, Working with less active members, Working with local LDS leaders, Working with non-LDS governmental and business leaders, Working with young single adults, Working with people having educational, employment, or welfare needs, Working with things more than people, and working in an office, agency or center.

Working throughout the community - seldom in an office, Working outdoors, Doing clerical or secretarial work, Doing administrative or managerial work, Using a computer to keep records or to communicate, Performing light manual labor (such as stuffing envelopes or folding laundry), Performing moderate physical labor (such as maintenance), Assisting local unit leaders.

Proselytizing, Being a host or hostess, Public speaking, Memorizing information or scripts, Counseling people on non-ecclesiastical matters, Teaching Gospel classes, Providing training, Organizing social activities, Developing programs, Doing research, Conducting music, Playing piano, Teaching basic music, Teaching English.

As we each independently filled out the questioner and then compared our answers, it was interesting to see how we each responded. Most things we answered pretty much the same. There were a few variations. For example, I hope we don't go where it gets real cold. I would be somewhat uncomfortable where Gene would be okay with that.

The email said we could expect our mission call to arrive in 4-5 weeks and that if we were called to serve outside our resident country, to expect an additional 3-6 month delay before entering the MTC, depending on time it takes for the host country to issue a visa. Wow! Lessons in patience. We are ready to go now. Three months I could take - six months would be an eternity.