Mission Reunion of Sorts

Father's Day seems like a good time to publish this post. I miss my dad. He served a mission to Denmark and always loved to tell stories of his experience there.

I came across someone connected to my dad. It was quite a surprise:

The internet can be a wild and wooly place with strange interactions. I have become more and more careful about who I connect with on the internet and so when I received a message from someone I didn't know named Tim Sondrop, I wasn't quick to respond.  

Something about it made me curious though. He asked: Is your father Gayle C Jensen who served in the Denmark mission during the mid -60s?

That was a pretty specific question. Not your average 'hey pretty lady'. LOL I finally responded. Turns out Tim is the youngest of five boys and his father and mine were companions on their mission. 

He said:

I discovered his obituary in a google search. I read that he had passed away in 2010 to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. My condolences. I have no doubt that my father and he are continuing their missionary lessons in the spirit world. 

He was my father, Daryl Sondrup's first companion in the mission field. My father passed away abruptly last month and I've been reading through his missionary journal. In it, he relates his experiences with your father including baptizing, Thanksgiving and Christmas '65 and many missionary experiences. 

This particular one stood out to me:

November 20, 1965

Today I had the scare of my life. As my companion and I were getting on the bus, my companion, Elder Jensen, turned to me and said, "This is a first lesson." We were just leaving to a cottage meeting. "I hope you're ready to give it."

I don't know why, but I got kind of sick all of a sudden. I was praying that he was kidding. but when we got to the appointment, I found out, to my dismay, that he wasn't. So, when we got to the Joseph Smith story, he said, "Now my companion will take over."

I was praying all the time. I started off quite well and even felt a little proud of myself until we got to about the middle of the lesson. Then I started to have a little trouble (every once in a while, my mind would go completely blank). Towards the end, my companion ended up giving most of the lesson. But I think it went quite well for the first time. I wish though, that I could get over getting embarrassed when I talked to people. We gave the lesson to Hr Nielsen a Ferisor.

Some other excerpts:

• He bears his testimony which is very vital in the conversion of people, he is a good teacher - He makes the lessons interesting and understandable.
• My three months I spent with Elder Gayle Jensen will be remembered for as long as I live. I will never forget the times I spent trying to struggle through the lessons. Elder Jensen's statement, "Come on, you can learn a page a day."
• Elder Jensen was a great Elder and he helped me very much in getting a good start here on my mission. He pushed hard on the lessons, but I'm glad he did. 
  
  
  

Here is my father's obituary:  https://www.lindquistmortuary.com/obituary/Daryl-Sondrup 

We hoped we would get at least ten more years with "Papa", especially for the sake of his grandkids. He was a kid at heart and we all miss him dearly, but I believe that we all have a time appointed unto death, and that your father and mine were needed to continue their missionary service to the Lord beyond the veil.

It's been a joy to read through my dad's missionary journal after all these years. I served a mission in Brazil, so I can relate to my father in a whole new missionary sense. Your father came across as a great man and I'm grateful to him for helping my dad at the onset of his mission. 

Those mission reunions can be awfully sweet!

Alma 17

1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of ^aManti, behold, to his astonishment, he ^bmet with the ^csons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel ^afirst appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had ^bsearched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and ^afasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with ^bpower and authority of God.

4 And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much ^asuccess in bringing many to the ^bknowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and ^cconfess their sins before him.

Mission Complete! ....almost

I have great regrets over my lack of blogging. Once missionaries were allowed to call home, I really fell off the wagon with blogging about Jill's mission. Now this week she is coming home! I have decided to recommit to daily blogging. I've felt a longing for it lately. 

When Jill left, I decided I was going to also make it MY best 18 months ever. I'm not so sure I can say that it was though. It's not that anything bad or not good has happened, but I can't say it's been totally the significant time of growth like I hoped it would be for me. That just reminds me again that nothing really compares to a mission. You can't replicate it even if you really try. 

Jill has always been that kid who was excited about each new step. She made being a mom easy because I never worried about her being nervous or scared about things. There were no tears when she started kindergarten or grade one and life has kind of continued like that. I have never been able to watch those videos of kids coming home and hugging their moms without crying though. We will see how things go at the airport. Bottom line: I'm excited for her to be home.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm ready or if I'm nervous or if I have done everything to be ready for you to be home...and I'm like, "Well, I think so." I'm not nervous. I will clean the bathroom, change the sheets, take the vacuum out of her room and put it back in the basement. ....not sure what else I'm supposed to do. LOL I'll try and get the tree up (if only I could find the extra bulbs that will make the entire string of lights work....argh!) 

Bottom line: Allen and I are just super proud of her. It is almost like  she was built for this mission experience. I'm so happy it was such a positive experience. It isn't always positive for everyone - but it can be SO great when it is great.  I am confident that Jill will come home with confidence and the  spirit of peace she so often possesses.  I love that she has spent so much time at the Paris, France temple. She will have a perspective on the temple that will be rare. I'm so happy for her!

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.

 ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow