Barrett's Awesome Mission President!

Today is Labor Day and I am puttering around the house.  I get a call on my cell phone and notice it is a Utah phone number.  I answer the phone to hear "This is President S... from Russia." on the other end.  Of course my first reaction is "Is he alright?"  President S reassures me that everything is fine.  In fact, Barrett is doing great!  He just wanted to reassure us that if we had heard about the events with the police that Elder H and his companion were not in any danger nor did the missionaries do anything wrong.  He said that the police do not have to have any cause to take them down to the station as they did and that Barrett and his companion did nothing wrong.  He said that the police can do it for many reasons, including pressure from other groups in the area.  They consult with legal counsel and he said that he has followed up and everything is fine. He said that the missionaries all exercise the caution that is required for living in this very large city. 

He said that Bear was a remarkable young man, smart and mature beyond his years.  He said that he was not saying this just because I am his mom though he knows I already know this about Bear. I do, but what a wonderful thing to hear.   Of course that opened the conversation for me to talk to him about Bear's feeling about his call there.  He said that he expected great things in the mission over the next two years. I am sure that they have some really remarkable kids there now and there is such a turnover right now.

I didn't want to hang up.  It kind of felt like a thread that touched Bear but it was time to end the call.  He was so nice.  He said we could call them if we have any questions or needed to call.  I let him know how appreciative of he and his wife's efforts to communicate with us.  We won't call unless we have an emergency which we certainly will not during the next 17 months :) 

This was perfect!  I missed Bear so much this last Sunday.  I don't know why.  I have been so good.  It was little things...the choir needed a bass; us sings 'Go Forth With Faith', seeing our wonderful missionaries who are serving in our area....