August, 16, 2014

My dear institute brethren:

It is a great honor to work with our wonderful institute, YSA students. They are the brightest, most energetic, spiritual generation in the history of man and they feed our souls each time we associate.

Something we have worked hard at over a lifetime of service in the church is ensuring all things we do are in accord with the principles, the spirit, and the guidelines of the gospel.

We are delighted with the wonderful associations we have garnered this past week at the Pleasant Grove YSA Institute and look forward to participation with them for the remainder of our one and one half year missionary calling. We seem to have fallen through the organizational cracks regarding our actual missionary call. We were called to serve by President Scoville in August and told that we would become “real” missionaries in December, 2013. We kept asking and time kept going. Finally in June, 2014 we asked for and received an appointment with Bishop Smith, who shared from the handbook that we, as “service missionaries” should be set apart by our local bishop. He then set us apart.

We also received a request to serve as “home bound” and agreed to begin that for the Fall semester, 2014. That is our YSI history. This is our plan for the future.

1.       Receive, complete and submit our missionary application which will be sent to us this week.

2.       Post the date of our calling as September 1, 2013 (the approximate date of our calling by President Scoville.)

3.       Work the remainder of our missionary season with the wonderful people at Pleasant Grove YSI institute on Thursday evenings. Even though it was painfully obvious they did not “need” us, they made us feel needed. Our goal is to be worthy of that trust.

4.       Painful as it may be for us, we need to ask to be released from the home bound seminary experience. Sister Jacobs feels that it will be too much for Brother Jacobs because of his physical limitations.

Thank you for all you do in the service of the Lord,

Duane and Jean Jacobs