Three Mormon Missions: A Novel

By Terry Cook

Three Mormon Missions is a fictional and heartwarming story of three Mormon missionaries-Bradly Cooper, Justin Miller, and Neil Young. Feel and experience their vivid emotions, personal struggles, and triumphs, as they prepare to leave their loved ones and serve the Lord by serving a Mormon mission.

These three Mormon missionaries come from entirely different backgrounds.

Mormon missionaries for the most part look alike; white shirt, scuffed shoes, dark tie, and a black missionary tag. After reading Three Mormon Missions, you will know that each of these well-mannered young men has a unique and beautiful personal story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Nov 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483419497

Book preview

THREE

MORMON MISSIONS

A NOVEL

Terry Cook

Copyright © 2014 Terry Cook.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-2095-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1949-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014918114

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 10/27/2014

CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Glossary

Chapter 1    The Paperwork

Chapter 2    The Call

Chapter 3    The Farewell

Chapter 4    The Mtc

Chapter 5    Greenies

Chapter 6    The First Thanksgiving

Chapter 7    Christmastime!

Chapter 8    Transfers

Chapter 9:    Change!

Chapter 10    The Home Stretch …

Chapter 11    Returning With Honor!

Chapter 12    The Homecoming

Epilogue

About The Author

DEDICATION

I may be the most blessed person in the whole world! I would first like to thank my parents, who adopted me at a very young age and then prayed daily that I would serve the Lord by serving a mission. It wasn’t an easy decision for me, as by nature I’m kind of selfish. But after much thought, I made the decision to serve a mission, and it may have been one of my greatest decisions of my life. I served a mission in New York City, and it changed my life. In my heart I consider myself a New Yorker. Because my mission blessed me with confidence, I was able to convince the most amazing and beautiful woman I’ve ever met, Anita, to take a huge gamble and marry me. Together, we’ve been blessed with three of the most loving children I know and five beautiful grandchildren. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the missionaries in our church as well as other churches that have ever served and those that will serve in the future. To me, missionaries help balance out the bad things of the world.

INTRODUCTION

There are almost one hundred thousand Mormon missionaries worldwide. You see them almost everywhere! In almost every city or town in the world they can be spotted riding their bikes or walking along the city streets. For the most part they are fairly easy to spot because they all look the same—white shirt, dark tie, scuffed shoes, short haircut, and a backpack. They are allowed to call home on Mother’s day and Christmas, and communicate by e-mail to their family and friends once a week. They are asked to give up all television, radio, newspapers, dating, and devote one hundred percent of their time to serving The Lord by serving others. The missionaries and families pay the cost of serving a mission.

With so many, and because they all look alike, it would be easy to assume that they all come from the same circumstance. Beneath the surface, however, every single one of these well-mannered missionaries could tell a unique story. Some breeze through their two-year missions with ease while others struggle. Some have grown up wealthy while others have had to scrimp and save their pennies. For some it was an easy decision to leave the comforts of home, and for others the decision to serve was difficult—even gut-wrenching—because of the families they’d have to leave behind for two years. For some of these families the separation is easy and for others very difficult.

Three Mormon Missions is a fictional story of three missionaries whose circumstances are vastly different. My hope in telling their stories is that when you see these young missionaries, you will know there is a unique story behind each one.

On a personal note, a few years ago our son Greg served a two-year mission in the Santa Rosa, California, Mission. Even though we had prayed fervently that he would have the desire to serve a Mormon mission, the separation was extremely difficult. We had golfed hundreds of rounds together, and I had coached him in baseball and basketball for most of his life. It may have been one of the longest two years of my life, but also one of the most precious as well. Knowing that my son was serving the Lord full time brought special and tender blessings that are indescribable. My wife’s favorite day of the week was Monday because that was the day we anticipated receiving his weekly e-mail. The rest of the family knew that Monday was a day that Mom stayed glued to her computer anxiously awaiting to hear from her only son. His weekly e-mails were nothing short of amazing. We loved hearing about the people he was serving as well as watching him grow spiritually.

Finally, I would like to remind the readers that this book is fictional, and while I’ve tried to portray real life situations; my story does not represent the official views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"Go Ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." Mathew 28:19, The Holy Bible

GLOSSARY

bishop: Ecclesiastical leader of a Mormon ward (an unpaid position).

Blessing: A very special prayer where blessings are pronounced by direction of The Holy Spirit.

call: The assignment given to a prospective missionary to serve in a particular location. (Prospective missionaries do not have the option of choosing where they serve.) Young Mormon men are encouraged (not required) to serve two-year missions for the church. They are eligible to leave at the age of eighteen. Young women are also eligible to serve a mission that is eighteen months in length. Young women are eligible to leave at the age of nineteen. Prior to leaving, all missionaries are required to go through a series of ecclesiastical interviews with local church leaders, including their bishop and stake president. They are also required to submit to a medical and dental exam. The interviews, along with the medical exams, constitute the paperwork. This paperwork is then submitted to the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The leaders of the church, after much prayer, thought, and fasting, decide where the applicant would best be needed by the Lord to serve. A call is then issued and sent to the prospective missionary.

elder: An office in the priesthood. Also, a sacred title given by ordination to all full-time male missionaries in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

general authority: The worldwide spiritual leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

greenie: A new missionary who has just arrived on his mission.

Lamanite: Descendants of Laman, who is a character in the Book of Mormon. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that the Lamanites comprise the indigenous people of the Americas, including the Native Americans.

Mormon: The name by which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often referred to. Mormon was one of the last prophets in the Book of Mormon.

p-day: Preparation day. The one day of the week Mormon missionaries have off for preparation. They usually do their laundry, write letters, and participate in other activities.

Relief Society: The women’s organization within the Mormon Church. The largest organization of women in the world.

stake: A Mormon stake is made up of several wards, usually six to twelve.

stake president: Ecclesiastical leader of a stake. (an unpaid position)

temple: A Mormon temple is not a regular chapel in the Mormon church but a very special edifice where sacred ordinances are performed. There are approximately 150 Mormon temples around the world.

ward: A Mormon congregation.

CHAPTER 1

The Paperwork

Elder Cooper

Bradly Cooper arose from his bed and suddenly looked over at his clock. It was almost 11:00 a.m., and he had overslept by almost three hours. He frantically ran his fingers through his beach-blond hair, pulled the curtains back from his walk-out balcony, and surveyed the valley below. It was another beautiful day in Newport Beach, California. Off in the distance the Pacific Ocean shimmered and glistened as the sun gently rose over the mountains behind him. The palm trees that lined his parent’s cobblestone driveway lazily swayed to the gentle breeze.

Frantically, Brad role-played in his mind some possible excuses for missing his final interview with President Smith, his stake president. He was supposed to have met with him two hours ago at President Smith’s law firm to go over the final details of Bradly’s missionary paperwork. They both agreed it would be a good idea to meet one more time before pushing the button and submitting his paperwork to Salt Lake City. He quickly grabbed his iPhone to see if President Smith had called.

The only message was a text from Lindsey that said, Hey, beautiful, wake up and call me when you get up. Lots of love. He slowly put his running shorts and USC shirt on and walked downstairs. The house was empty, except for the maid, who was vacuuming up the popcorn in the theatre located on the bottom level of their home.

The thought of missing his last interview with President Smith weighed heavily on Bradly, and he quickly tried to dismiss it from his mind. Normally he could dismiss things of this nature, but all attempts to set this aside not only failed but seemed to come back with vengeance. Bradly had enjoyed his summer, perhaps even more than past summers. He had completed his freshman year at BYU, and his parents had let him have the summer off since he would soon be serving a Mormon mission like his two older brothers.

Bradly’s parents seemed much softer since he had agreed to attend BYU instead of going to Southern Cal with his high school buddies and Lindsey. For the most part, Bradly had always wanted to serve a mission. He couldn’t remember a family prayer that had been said without the mention of a mission. He knew it was also expected of him, but the time had somehow crept up on him. His oldest brother, William, had served in the Paris, France, mission. His other brother, Brent, had served a mission in Sydney, Australia. The time seemed to go by fast for Bradly, and it was exciting to hear of their experiences in a foreign land.

All of his nonmember friends knew he was Mormon, and one evening they all put in bets on where he would be called. He was of Scandinavian descent, and so most placed their bets that he would be returning to a place of his ancestry, perhaps Sweden or the Netherlands. Bradly was tall, slender, with mesmerizing Tar Heel blue eyes, and California sun-bleached hair. His hair was untamed, and no matter what he did, it constantly looked disheveled, much like the hair of Keith Urban.

He was an above-average-starting quarterback on his high school football team and enjoyed playing football—but he excelled at baseball. He was the ace pitcher on the high school baseball team. He had been blessed with the gift of an extremely strong arm and had been offered several college baseball scholarships, including one at USC. Bradly was also an excellent student and carried a 3.9 GPA. Things seemed to come easy for Bradly. He had spent most of his previous summers playing baseball, and in his spare time he hung out at the beach and played volleyball. He had always been active in the Mormon Church, but because of his good looks and popularity, he had never really been challenged about his beliefs.

The reality of leaving Southern California was starting to hit home, and so he decided to take his bowl of Froot Loops out on the patio by the swimming pool so he could enjoy the warm California sun. Shortly after finishing his second bowl, he realized that the pit he was feeling in his stomach was not going to leave until he called President Smith and apologized for oversleeping and missing their interview.

His thoughts also turned to Lindsey. The fact that Bradly was leaving in a short time loomed over them, and this also drew them much closer. They both knew Bradly would be leaving soon, but they avoided talking about it at all costs. He had promised himself over and over again that he would start slowing things down a little with Lindsey as his mission became a reality. This was much easier said than done. In a way he felt compelled to protect her, as it seemed that the whole world was against her. His parents had never really seemed to warm up to her, and he felt like they treated her much like an outsider or even an intruder at times. Over the years he had taken Lindsey to different ward functions. Though the ward members seemed warm and pleasant, he sensed a cloud of skepticism. He and Lindsey had been going out together for almost two years. They had tried to break things off when he went off to BYU and Lindsey to Southern Cal. But even though they were not officially a couple, they stayed in constant contact. Although he dated some nice girls at BYU, he didn’t click with any of them like he did with Lindsey.

***

Lindsey also tested the waters and dated occasionally, but finally admitted to herself that she wanted someone with the values, good looks, and character of Bradly. Even though she was a free spirit at heart and had a rebellious side, she was drawn to Bradly for several reasons. She loved the way he treated his mother. He was extremely competitive, and that manifested itself on the pitcher’s mound as well as the many hours they spent playing beach volleyball.

When his mother was around, however, he was different. She saw a gentle and reverent side to him that she was attracted to. He was not the least bit ashamed to show affection in public with his mother, unlike many other boys his age. His charming smile also became much more pronounced when he was with his mother. Lindsey knew very well that when Bradly was with his mother she would slip back to number two on his list—but surprisingly this didn’t bother her. She noticed that he always scurried ahead of her to open a door, and