What If?

With another holiday on Tuesday this past week, it was a short week in the mission office. Even so, we had two days of Zone Conferences, which I feel is the highlight of every six week transfer period. We always look forward to attending one of the two days because we come away inspired and motivated to serve more effectively and be better human beings.

The training is directed toward the elders and sisters, and is designed to not only help them become more effective missionaries, but to become more effective young men and young women. All the elders look sharp in their suits (they can wear white shirts and ties on other days) and the sisters look equally sharp in their nice skirts/dresses (they now have the choice to wear pants on other days). They are seated at long tables facing the front of the stage where the Mission presidency is seated. There is always great anticipation and respect from the missionaries toward President and Sister Golden and the mission counselors. They are well-revered, and rightly so. They are well prepared. They truly love the missionaries. You can feel the Spirit as they teach and conduct the business of the mission. It is a privilege to be able to attend.

Two zones, or about half the mission, attend each day. On the day that we don't attend, we man the mission office alone while the other two couples are at Zone Conference. That makes for an unusually quiet mission office - especially after the busy weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year's. That's actually a good thing. We were able to get some things accomplished that had been postponed during the holidays.

With the Zone Conference came the announcement from Church headquarters that two of the missions bordering ours, Long Beach and Irvine, will be consolidated and absorbed into other missions in July. This means that our mission borders will be expanding as we incorporate part of the Long Beach mission. The boundaries have been announced and we will gain six new stakes - which will double our current number of stakes to twelve. Vietnamese and Cambodian units will add two more languages to the six we already have in our mission.

Green lines indicate new boundaries of the California Anaheim Mission 

2019 is only a few days old and two big announcements have already been released from the Church (mission boundary changes and changes in the temple endowment ceremony). The consolidated Sunday meeting begins this weekend. It sounds like we're in for quite a year!

2019 also began with a little "what if " experience on New Year's Day for me. As senior missionaries, we are allowed to leave the mission boundaries. We've been to both the Newport Beach and Los Angeles temples as well as the beach on our P-Day (day off ) since we've been here. Then, a month or so ago, Don and I got the bright idea to give each other a great Christmas gift:  tickets to the Rose Parade on New Year's Day in Pasadena this year.

I'll be honest, it was my idea. When I was a young child, I loved going to see the floats after the parade one year with my family and Grandpa & Grandma Dana. (Part of my memory from that day includes Grandpa talking a police officer out of a speeding ticket.) During high school and when I was home from BYU for Christmas, my friends and I used to spend New Year's Eve sleeping on the sidewalk with hundreds (thousands?) of others, just to have the chance to view the parade from the best vantage point the next morning.

Don and I have taken our family to the parade a time or two over the years, but the last time we went was about 1983 (yup, over 35 years ago). It's a bit of a trek from Utah unless you have other reasons to be in Southern California that week (and don't even think about going to Disneyland between Christmas and New Year's anymore...).

This year seemed to be the perfect opportunity:  only a 45 minute drive from our apartment in Anaheim with tickets to sit in the bleachers instead of on the street. Perfect, that is, until we woke up at 6:30 on New Year's morning. It was still dark, the wind was howling and it was cold outside. All of a sudden, it didn't seem like such a good idea to me anymore. We hadn't even considered bringing winter coats or hats or gloves with us from Utah. What if we spent the morning freezing cold? What if the roads were so crowded with all that extra traffic that we missed half the parade trying to get there? What if we had to walk forever from where we parked to where our seats were? What if the huge crowd was rougher and more unruly than it was 35 years ago? What if there was a terrorist incident?

Thankfully, common sense got a hold of me before I said anything to Don. We got dressed, grabbed a couple of blankets, jumped in the car, stopped at the drive-through for some breakfast at McDonald's, and headed for Pasadena.

My fears were all ungrounded. Traffic was light. We had been given great directions and had no trouble finding our parking, even with all the streets that had been blocked off. Our seats were just around the corner from our parking. The crowd was just as excited as I was, and we sat between two really nice families who had come a much farther distance than we had - one there to cheer on the Washington Huskies and the other to cheer on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.

It was a perfect morning. The sun was out and there was no wind at all in Pasadena. The skies were a clear blue as we watched both the Goodyear blimp and the incredible "Spirit 11" Stealth Bomber fly over our heads. The weather was so nice that we never even used our blankets. The floats and bands were amazing. It was such a grand parade!

The "Spirit 11" Stealth bomber over Colorado Blvd.

The Rose Parade 2019

What if I had let my unfounded fears get the best of me? I guess I really wouldn't have known what I missed out on, but I'm so glad for the wonderful memories I have now! Worrying about what might happen if we make this or that decision - our ungrounded fears - can rob us of so many opportunities. I'm happy that wasn't my experience on New Year's Day.

I remember when we brought our first daughter, Janet, home from the hospital, I wondered if we were being responsible bringing a child into such a chaotic world. It was during the height of  the Vietnam War and civil rights rioting in the U.S.; the year that both Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. What kind of life would we be able to provide for our daughter? Well, that was over 50 years ago, and it's been a great life.

We live in a time of many challenges and a lot of uncertainty, but that won't stop me from looking forward to the coming year. I hope it will be a good one, but either way, I will be grateful for the ride.

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." - 2 Timothy 1:7

Here's to 2019!