Once in a Lifetime

I was able to go to Salt Lake City, Utah for a quick trip to be there when my parents were set apart for their mission. It was a wonderful trip that included a rare/once in a lifetime opportunity to be face to face with one of the 12 apostles. We were so happy that it worked to have all of my parents 6 children there as well as 3 of my married in siblings. There were a little sad as my mom said "to not have all my children" meaning Klint, & my bro-in-laws Derek & Marvin who had to stay home to work. We all flew/drove in the day before the setting apart and we had a great time all sitting around talking. The day of the setting apart we got ready, loaded into the cars and headed for the LDS church offices. Here's our crew. (Stacy, Jenn & Scott, Aunt Marilyn-my dad's sister, my parents, Jennifer, Emily & Eric, Me, & Ryan & Linsey) When we got to the church offices we pulled into the garage where this parking pass was waiting for us. Yup that says Dept: Elder Holland. We were going to get to meet Elder Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles as well as Elder Snow of the Quorum of the Seventy.

We left nice and early just to be sure we weren't late. That made us about a half hour early for our appointment. We filled up the lobby and sat to wait. As we were in the lobby we saw Elder Cook (Quorum of the 12), Elder Jensen (Quorum of the 70), and Pres Uchtdorf (2nd Counselor of the 1st Presidency). We were all pretty star struck.

There have been very few times in my life that I've seen my dad as visibly nervous as he was that morning. He soon found a newspaper & that eased him a little bit. I've never known anyone who reads/loves news as much as my dad. Even from the DR Congo I think he's more informed than I.

At the appointed time we were directed to a conference room for the setting apart. It was probably a good thing no one was in the room yet when we came in. It was no ordinary conference room. It was beautiful & looked nothing like a conference room to me. There was this picture of the prophet, and I thought the ceilings were pretty cool.Then as we looked more closely at the table we realized the set up was important. With 3 chairs at the head & 6 chairs on each side it was set up for what could be the presidency of the church & the 12 apostles. There's no promise it's used by them, but we couldn't help but notice. It felt like a very neat place.

The experience of being there was nothing short of amazing. When Elder Holland & Elder Snow arrived they walked in & right up to my parents. Elder Holland's greeting was something to the effect of "Hello my Burundian friends." as he went right to my parents and shook their hands and hugged them. (They had spent 12hrs w/him & Elder Snow during their last mission when they came to dedicate the land of Burundi for the preaching of the Gospel). We were pleasantly surprise that he not only remembered who they were, but thought of them so highly. Elder Snow asked my mom if she'd "had enough time to hold those grand kids" which they had talked about when he was in Burundi. We couldn't believe all the things they remembered about them with all the people they are in contact with. Elder Holland then shook every person's hand and had each person introduce themselves and tell where they were from. So wonderful that he took such interest in us all. Then he talked about what a wonderful thing they were doing. In talking Elder Holland said "This is what I want you to remember and go home and tell your kids. This is your heritage.....that the Jamesons serve missions." Then Elder Holland and Elder Snow set my dad apart as the Mission Pres of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa mission. Elder Holland gave such a sweet blessing that, I thought, was full of things that were so perfect for my dad to hear. I'll just say one thing from the blessing and it was so cool to hear him say to my dad "My dear, dear friend..." Then Elder Snow set my mom apart as a missionary with Elder Holland & my dad, & my brothers standing in the circle. It too was a wonderful blessing filled with perfect things for my mom to hear. It was such an amazing experience. Then we said our goodbyes & it was done. We got to spend the rest of the day talking about. The only thing that would have made it perfect is if Klint, Marvin & Derek had been able to be there. Here they are, the mission president & "mission mama" of the DRC, Kinshasa Mission.

The next morning my parents headed off to the Mission President's Seminar at the MTC in Provo. Elder Holland referred to it as "instruction by fire hose....you just hold out your cup and hope you catch something." (It was full of so much information there was no way to absorb it all) They said it was an amazing few days. They were able to hear from the prophet, his counselors, and all but 1 of the 12 apostles. They were also able to have dinner with Elder Holland & Snow & their wives. I'm so blessed to have such wonderful parents.