Becoming Seth and Julie: The Mission Years

Alma 17:13
And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.


By the time my mission call arrived I was so torn. I wasn't even sure I wanted to open it. I told Seth that it was up to him and that if he asked me to stay I would. Of course, one of the reasons I love Seth so much is because he would never try to make such an important decision for me.

It was the toughest decision I have ever had to make. I would pray about marrying Seth and the answer was yes and then I would pray about the mission and the answer was yes. Now I fully understand that the answer was...you can do both, but at the time I was so confused.

So as I held the call in my hands I was trembling. As I read the words and learned that I was called to the New York Rochester Mission with the special assignment to serve part time at the Historical sites, I knew immediately that I had to go. This call was not issued randomly.

The following is a cool story about getting my mission call but it is unrelated to my relationship with Seth so you can move past it if you like.

Right before I got my mission call I met a girl named Amy at work. She had recently had to come home early from her mission due to illness. She missed it terribly and always wished she was still there finishing her mission, although I feel that what happened next was part of her mission. One day I asked Amy to bring in her mission call. I had never seen one and I wanted to know where it said where you would be going so that when I opened mine I could skip right to the good stuff. She brought her call which was in the front of her mission scrapbook so I got to look through the whole book. As I looked through her book I could feel the Spirit so strong. I loved the people in these pictures who I had never met. I could see myself living in the apartments she lived in and taking pictures in the same places she did. I told her that if I could be called there I wouldn't be so confused. Where did she serve? Of course, in the New York Rochester mission at the Historical sites.

So, I was really leaving, and in only 6 weeks. I was so scared and so sad but also so excited about my call. I kept telling Seth that everything would be perfect if he could just come with me. They let older couples go together, why not us? Then one morning he came over and said that he knew what he was supposed to do...come with me!!! He was going back to the mission field. He had previously served in New York City for 6 months during the time that we were broken up. (long story, and that one is his to tell so I will leave it for him to post if he chooses) That is where he gained a testimony and he had been trying to decide if he should go back. I was so thrilled when he got his answer. So, we were both off to New York.

As we got ready to go on our missions we spent every available moment together. We were actually really excited to get out in the mission field but we still wanted to be together as much as possible. He came to California with me for Christmas and we dressed in matching clothes and went to Disneyland and saw Titanic 6 times in the theater and all the other totally dorky stuff that people in love do. I wanted that 6 weeks to last forever but inevitably the day came when I had to report to the MTC.

I think I cried the entire 5 weeks that I was in the MTC but once we were out in the mission field doing real missionary work, it was awesome. We loved being missionaries. We made tapes for each other each week on P-day and I was always amazed at how similar our weeks were. We had so many of the same challenges and successes at the same times. We also read together every day. We made a schedule of what we would read each morning and then we would write about it in a journal. This way we read all the scriptures (every word of every book) and the entire missionary library, even the footnotes on Jesus the Christ. We even talked on the phone on Christmas and Mothers Day, for about 10 hours.

Going on missions was the best decision we ever made. We grew so close to each other spiritually. It was such an amazing and unique experience to be able to share our missions. As hard as it was to leave on a mission, coming home was so much harder. Thankfully I already knew what would come next in my life so I had something new to get excited about.

Did I mention that the temple was already reserved for our wedding before we even got home, thanks to our moms. We said I love you on December 16th, got my call on December 17th, so of course we had to get married on December 18th, right?

More about that tomorrow, but for now here are some pictures of Elder Johnson and Sister King

Right after I arrived in New York, President Hinckley came out and dedicated the Joseph Smith log home and the Grandin buliding (where the Book of Mormon was published)

City girl milking a cow

Just being immature as usual

Me and my friend Amy...the same Amy that had gone on her mission to Rochester. She came back to be in the Hill Cumorah pageant.

In front of the Sacred Grove, which was pretty much my backyard for a few months of my mission

Small town Wyoming boy goes to the big city

Seth loved to ask strangers to pose with him. Once he laid down in the street with a drunk man that had passed out.

Seth's lady for 2 years. Notice the frog in all his pics? I gave him that and froggy went everywhere Seth went in NYC.