August 16th 6:30 pm

It's now 6:30 and we have a house full of people waiting for us to open the letter. Norm opened the envelope and gave it to me to read. I started reading and glanced ahead to where we were assigned and stopped. I couldn't believe what I just saw. We have been assigned to the Russia Moscow West Welfare Humanitarian Branch Office and we are to report to the Provo MTC on December 6th. We were in shock! Never, in our wildest dreams, did we even consider Russia. I just started shaking and could barely finish reading the letter. Everyone erupted in cheers and we shared hugs all around. WOW!!!!! RUSSIA!!!!!! We don't know a thing about Russia.

Shanda was on the phone and was skyping with Milo so I talked to her for a minute. We got hugs and congratulations from all the kids, mom and Bob and many others. Tina walked in one minute late so I read the letter again to her and we shared a hug and a few tears. I called President Hatch on the phone to tell him and he was a little speechless. We looked at the map and found where Russia is and Dick and Cheri Adams, who went to Russia on their first mission, showed us where they served. That was the beginning of story after story of people who have either been to Russia or know someone who has been there. Of all the stories, we have never heard anything negative about the Country or the people. By the end of the evening we were in complete agreement that Russia is where the Lord wants us to be - and we're ready to go!