The Good News

The good news is that after a little more than 3 weeks of torturous anticipation, Elder Marcus Auna's call to serve came in!

Let me begin by saying the polls were way off, as they tend to be in cases like this. Even though the survey was small, 5 out of 7 people guessed Asia. Mom Lyn was rooting hard for Korea! : ) However, the Lord called and chose Marcus to serve in the San Bernardino, California Mission! We are so thrilled for him to start his adventure sharing the gospel. It's so wonderful to see how he is preparing himself, keeping himself worthy, and also feel of his excitement and desire to serve the Lord by sharing the Savior's gospel of "good news"!

The picture above is of Koa, Kai, and Marcus. Actually, Kai was one of those who guessed closest to the mark. He guessed North America, while my mom, Patty, guessed the exact state, California. Nice guesses!

Mom Lyn was so excited that she called the whole family. She even called a person she didn't know! : ) She had a long conversation with a lady she thought was Aunty Candice because she was acting so interested and friendly, until she mentioned that she hurt her back playing golf - Aunty Candice doesn't play golf. After mom had that realization she tried quickly to end the conversation and the lady thanked mom for letting the family know - so maybe she knows who she was talking to, but to Mom Lyn it's still an embarrassing mystery. I couldn't stop laughing!

One fun trivia fact about Marcus' mission is that Landon Donovan, a professional soccor player and member of the U.S. National Team and the Los Angelos Galaxy team, resides in San Bernardino.

Also, according to Wikipedia (click here to read the rest of the article), "San Bernardino County is the largest county in the contiguous United States by area, containing more land than each of nine states. The county is larger in area than the states of Massachussets, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined. Any of those states could be replaced in the list by New Jersey, Vermont, or New Hampshire." In Elise's words, "Wow, Amazing!!" Good luck, Marcus! Our prayers and love are with you.

(Click on the map, and it will link you to an larger version, and click again to get a clear picture.)