Friends, Farewells, and becoming Set Apart

The past two days have been wonderful! On Saturday, we invited family and friends to join us for an "ice cream celebration." Family and friends showed up in force; we didn't count, but I'm sure we had 150 people drop by. It was so fun to chat with friends, old and new, and to hear their congratulations, encouragement, and advice. We shared this beautiful and delicious cake made by our "Brazilian daughter" Alessandra, along with alfajores cookies (an Argentina tradition) that I tried baking as an experiment. And of course, lots of ice cream!


Sunday morning we had the privilege to share our testimonies in Church, and again were supported by many family and friends. After the meetings, we came home and enjoyed a nice family afternoon and dinner as we anticipated the visit of our stake president at 5:30.

I've been eagerly anticipating this moment. In a sense, our mission began tonight as the President Darren Smith, holding Priesthood keys that authorized him to do it, set us apart as full-time missionaries. As he spoke those words, first to Bonnie and then to me, we were then authorized to proceed with our service for the next 18 months in response to the call that had come from the Lord through His prophet.

I've always loved this insight from President Spencer W. Kimball; our stake president quoted part of it to us tonight in describing the significance of being "set apart" to a calling:

"The setting apart is an established practice in the Church and men and women are 'set apart' to special responsibility, in ecclesiastical, quorum, and auxiliary positions. All missionaries are set apart and it is remarkable how many of them speak often of the authority who officiated and of the blessings promised and their fulfillment.
"To some folk the setting apart seems a perfunctory act while others anticipate it eagerly, absorb every word of it, and let their lives be lifted thereby.
"The setting apart may be taken literally; it is a setting apart from sin, apart from the carnal; apart from everything which is crude, low, vicious, cheap, or vulgar; set apart from the world to a higher plane of thought and activity. The blessing is conditional upon faithful performance....
"In my experience there have been numerous people who like Saul and David and Matthias, like Paul and Peter and Joshua have, through the setting apart, received 'largeness of heart,' extended influence, increased wisdom, enlarged vision, and new powers. I have seen many who have been given 'a new heart' and who have been turned 'into another man' and made into 'a new creature.'"
- President Spencer W. Kimball,  General Conference October 10, 1958; see The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball p. 478-9

I loved the promises that were spoken on our behalf—they will be sacred to us, "conditional upon faithful performance." It will now be our opportunity to "set [ourselves] apart from the world to a higher plane of thought and activity." We'll be physically set apart from our family and our familiar lives; we'll set aside the interests and priorities that have dominated our thinking and activities for the coming season, in order to focus on new priorities in the Lord's service. What a grand opportunity!