"Tonight, Andrew Read His Call to Serve a Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" or "Hoosier Son Gonna Serve?"

I am excited for this fine son of mine!

It took a long time to get the evaluations and medical history done. But, Andrew persevered and did whatever was asked. 

One of his medications is on a list stating that mission service would not be possible, but it is on the list for a condition he does not have. The psychiatrist that did his evaluation recommended him for full-time service. But, apparently, he almost was not approved. Our stake president pulled me aside after a meeting this week and told me that he got a call from the mission department to talk about alternatives a couple of weeks ago. More calls were made. At the end of a meeting, the stake president told the attendees that he felt they should know what kind of a person Andrew was and gave them a brief example: Andrew had been a faithful Chick-fil-A employee for years, and worked long hours and difficult shifts, and would smile and say "my pleasure!" even when things were not going well. The next day, Andrew was approved!

Andrew will start his training (not sure if it will be at a Missionary Training Center or at home) and mission service on February 14th, 2022, and has been called to serve for two years in the Indiana Indianapolis Mission.