Elder Quinn needs your prayers...

I know that sounded rather ominous, and really, it's not that bad. So I'll start at the beginning (yesterday afternoon)....

Phil (P.J.'s dad) was in the garage yesterday and I was at work when Phil got a call from P.J.. Calls from the mission field are RARE (about five calls in two years)!!!! P.J. got special permission to call home and let us know that his mission assignment has been changed. He has spent the last six weeks learning Slovene and was finally getting comfortable speaking, writing, and teaching in it when he and his companion were called to the MTC president's office and told that they were being reassigned. Where?...you ask...well....wait for it....They are being sent to Serbia (and possibly Bosnia and Herzogovina). Hmmmm....what's the big deal?..you want to know... It's a whole NEW language for crying out loud. And they have approximately three weeks to learn it.

For a little bit of perspective, picture the Russian alphabet...yeah...that's what they are going to have to learn in three weeks. In the MTC, the elders/sisters going to Russia have twelve weeks to learn it. P.J. and his companion have three.

Now, we know for certain that Heavenly Father is a God of miracles, and I know he hears and answers all prayers, regardless of your religion. Would you take a few minutes and offer up some heavy-duty prayers for him? Not only that he will be able to learn the language, but that he will be comforted and blessed with confidence. I know that P.J. has been blessed with faithful friends of various religions, and I know all our prayers will go a long way in sustaining him.

Now about missing the SECOND phone call he's made since he's left. Yeah...not happy about that... He did e-mail me this morning. I guess since Phil and I aren't divorced, he wasn't allowed to get two passes (Phil said, "Huh...being penalized for having a great marriage...Ha-kidding!). That's okay. I'll get to talk to him in three weeks.

Okay...I know this is really low on the totem pole of things-that-matter-in-life...but the blog is going to get a make-over during the next week or so. Since P.J. designed the last one, this is going to be interesting.

Of course, after I heard last night, I got on the internet and looked up Serbia/Bosnia. They've really only had tenuous peace for the last, say...three years. P.J. was reassured that it is safe there and I'll have to take his word. One really good thing about this change is that he will be more likely to be able to use the language after his mission. Slovene is considered to be a dying language while Serbian is not.

It really does take a lot of faith to serve a mission, does it not? I feel bad now for all the hard times I gave P.J. when I would ask him (about Slovenia), "Are you going on vacation or serving a mission?" :) Either way, no matter where he serves, he is serving the Lord.... Let's just hope that P.J. can learn a language in...say...three weeks!!!