Ani finally received her missionary name tag and official start date and assignments a couple weeks ago. She will be serving her service mission from July 26, 2019 until January 26, 2021. She is currently doing a shift in the temple, a day at the distribution center, and a day at Catholic Charities each week. Over the course of the next year and a half she may be reassigned or have things added as needed. So far 2 1/2 days is about all she can handle health-wise.

She loves what she is doing so much. When she got her patriarchal blessing when she was 16, the stake patriarch, who was in our ward and aware of her health issues, began to sob and collapsed against her chair as he said she was invited to serve a mission. We knew it would take a miracle in order for her to be able to do so. We assumed that miracle would be that her health would get better, but of course the Lord knows better than we do. Instead, the miracle was that, just prior to her turning 19 and old enough to serve, they announced that those who could not serve a traditional teaching mission would be able to serve service missions right from the start. They would be able to live at home, see their own doctors as needed, and have their mission duties and work time customized to their needs and abilities.

So here she is, a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She’s not serving the mission she envisioned when the patriarch said she was invited to serve. But she is serving the mission that is perfect for her.