Our lives could be compartmentalized in two ways: BEFORE December 5, 2011 and AFTER December 5, 2011.
BEFORE
Bruce was finally seeing the light at the end of the dissertation tunnel. His research was done, the data were gathered, the numbers were crunched, and now it was just a matter of writing up the final results, and getting on to defending his work. It was no small task. There were endless edits. The document – all 243 pages - had to be formatted just so. Five copies for the committee. Were all the references correct? Can all the data and the mind-numbing statistics (sorry Rusty!) be explained?
Finally, the blessed day arrived – November 4, 2011. Bruce actually spent the night before in Pocatello just to be sure he was there in the event of car trouble, etc. Here's what a dissertation defense is like: Big room, six people to present to, and the very nervous, sweaty-palmed dissertation defender. The meeting started at 9am. Bruce bought Great Harvest Bread sweet rolls for everyone to get them "sugared" up. After a 50-slide PowerPoint presentation and lots of questions, by 11:15am Bruce was calling Alynda to tell her she could now officially call him "Dr. Kusch" (still haven't used that name for a dinner reservation yet). In the end, the committee was very kind and the defense meeting was a good experience. After a mediocre burger with his adviser Bruce was on his way back to Rexburg to collapse in a big heap. We thought, "OK, that's done, now life will get back to some semblance of normal." Hah!
AFTER
We actually did have a few weeks of blissful peace – and then Bruce's cell phone rang on Monday, December 5th. He looked at the caller ID: "Church Headquarters, (801) 240-1000." Bruce thought, "Oh, oh. This can't be good." He said hello. "Brother Kusch?" "Yes." "This is Shauna, Elder Bednar's secretary. I am calling to arrange a videoconference with you and your wife with Elder Bednar. Can we talk about a time that might work?" "Sure." After a bit of schedule arranging we settled on Thursday, December 8 at 1pm.
We have videoconferencing capability on campus so we got settled a little before 1. Right at 1pm Elder Bednar appeared on the TV screen. It was great to "see" him. We had not really had an opportunity to visit with him since his call to the Twelve, now seven years ago. He greeted us warmly and then got right down to business. "Look," he said. "You two are "Church-broke. You know what time of the year it is and you know what members of the Twelve do at this time of the year. We don't normally tell people why we are having a call like this, but we are here to talk about a mission call. Let me also tell you that you both have passed the Missionary Department's background check" (more on that later). We went on to spend about 20 more minutes talking about our health, our family situation, work, and finances. The only worthiness question he asked was if we both held current temple recommends.
As the call was wrapping up we asked about possible timing, IF a call were to be issued. He told us we might hear from them now, or maybe in a year, or maybe in three years, or never again. "And," he said, "you should not tell anyone we have had this conversation." He told us if we were to get a call this year, we would probably hear by early January. So, the call concluded and that was that – until the next Tuesday.
Bruce's cell phone rang again on Tuesday, December 13, just as he was getting home from work. Same called ID. "Brother Kusch?" "Yes." "This is Jordan Kesler. I am calling to follow up on your interview with Elder Bednar." He went on to tell Bruce that he was sending several forms – a personal medical history that needed to be completed and returned in 24 hours. We were asked to have a picture taken. MORE medical forms were coming for complete physicals that needed to be completed in about 3 weeks. "I also have your biographical information that I would like to review with you." As he reviewed this information we were amazed at what the Church knew about us. They basically knew everything we had done in the Church since we were married, and they knew our work history – including Alynda's 20 years as a piano teacher.
The forms came, we got the histories back in 24 hours, got a picture taken, and started scheduling the physicals. With "his and hers" colonoscopy kits sitting on the kitchen counter Bruce said, "I sure they are not putting through all of this just for fun!" When Bruce went in for his initial exam the Doctor saw the forms (different than for senior missionaries) and said, "You're being called as a mission president." He told him he wasn't sure but the Missionary Department had asked us to do this. The Doctor responded, "I've done dozens of these – nobody ever goes through this that doesn't get a call." So, exams were completed, immunizations received, and back to Salt Lake it went.
January 6, 2012 – another call on Bruce's cell phone. Same caller ID. "Brother Kusch?" "Yes." "This is Linda, President Uchtdorf's secretary. Is this a good time to talk?" "Of course." "President Uchtdorf would like to meet with you and your wife. Do you have any plans to be in Salt Lake in the next few days?" "Well, we do now!"
The appointment was arranged for 1pm on Thursday, January 12. The longest six days of our lives! The timing of the meeting allowed us to have the opportunity to visit Carter at PCMC. We drove down the night before and went to see Tami and Carter before heading downtown. At PCMC everyone wondered why we were both dressed up. Mom had told Tami we were coming down because we have some "business" in Salt Lake. At the hospital the questions started and we let Tami know why we were there. It didn't help that one of Elder Nelson's great granddaughters was in the room right across from Carter and her mom figured out what was up.
We got to the Church Executive Office building about 12:30 – we were asked to arrive early. About 12:45 we were ushered in to President Uchtdorf's office by Linda, his secretary. We had a delightful conversation with President Uchtdorf. On his desk we could see that he had a complete dossier on us – including our picture. He told us that our names had been discussed on two separate occasions in the temple with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. He asked if our circumstances had changed. We told him that, no they hadn't. He then said, "Brother Kusch, I am authorized to extend a call to you to serve as a mission president – German-speaking." I am sure he could see the blood drain from our faces and then he said, "Just kidding – it will be Spanish-speaking." He gave us a few additional instructions and off we went. We went directly across the street and bought "all things Spanish" – scriptures, hymnbooks, etc.
Lots more details to tell, but for the sake of brevity, here's some of the things we've been doing...
· On February 13 we received our letter from the First Presidency with our mission assignment to the Mexico Cuernavaca Mission
· LOTS of missionary clothes, shoes, and luggage shopping
· Received BOXES of materials from Church headquarters that we are trying to absorb before June 23rd
· Applied for, and received, our international drivers licenses
· Have a weekly Skype call with a "Preach My Gospel" tutor from the MTC (together)
· Have three-times-a-week Skype calls with Oscar, our language tutor (individual)
· Received a call from the company that will pack and move our things
· Received a call from a nurse to coach Alynda on medical issues
· Received a call from Missionary Medical regarding our health insurance
· Gotten several calls and letters from Missionary Travel regarding visas
· Made flight arrangements to Salt Lake (June 23) and Mexico City (June 28)
· Had a conference call with Elder Don Clarke of the Missionary Department
· Spent six days at the MTC for language immersion – this included a mission conference with President Packer, seeing the grandson of Bob & Linda Browne, our best friends in San Jose, seeing David Archuleta so many times we stopped getting excited about it, seeing Bob & Linda Crawford – friends from San Jose, and THE highlight was Alynda bearing her testimony in Spanish at a branch Fast & Testimony meeting
· Met with our In-Field Representative (a mission president's new best friend) at Church Headquarters
· Had several phone calls and exchanged emails with the current president – including pictures of the mission home – it is beautiful!
· Still waiting to get information on a specific date when the movers will pack our things
· Have to find out how the missionary information system works, when Bruce will get his mission computer, etc.
We know that we need to arrive at the MTC on June 23 before noon. The rest of the day will be some orientation, taking pictures, etc. The New Mission President's Seminar begins on the 24th and runs through the evening of the 27th. We will fly to Mexico City at 9:45am on the 28th. The current mission president will meet us, we'll spend just a few hours, and then they will leave. Two days later Bruce will hold his first Zone Leaders Council meeting. After that we will begin a mission tour, then conduct interviews, then plan transfers, and who knows what else. We know that some missionaries coming from the USA are having trouble getting visas, so that will be an adventure too.
All in all, we are humbled, grateful, and very excited. We have just a few more Sundays to be in our home ward, and we know the time will fly by. We're planning a trip to Arizona in late May, which will allow us to see both the Hinton's and the Kusch's. Bruce's replacement has been named so he is in the midst of transitioning his work to another. Alynda will teach Cake Decorating and two Culinary Arts labs so she will be teaching very close up to the time we leave. Hard to believe, but our next Kidd Kronicle installment will come from the mission field – in a place we do not yet know, but love already.
Mandamos a todos saludos y un fuerte abrazo.
Bruce & Alynda
P.S. Regarding Bruce's Dissertation: In January Bruce was advised of an annual award given by the Idaho State College of Education for the most outstanding dissertation completed during the year. He submitted the requested application and his dissertation was selected. Bruce didn't know anything about the award but it is apparently quite prestigious. He will be recognized at the College Hooding Ceremony on May 4. The award also includes a very nice monetary grant. Bruce feels his dissertation wasn't that great (contrary to Alynda's opinion, who read every word and thought it was fabulous) – but the accompanying grant is a very, very tender mercy.
