Pre-Mission Photoshoot & Mission Call Memories

Here's Shane's mission call memories he wrote up in an email a few years ago ...

I received my call on my birthday in 1995. It hadn't been that long since I submitted my papers, so while I thought it would be cool to get my call on my birthday I was totally expecting it the following week. But I went to the mailbox just to check, and the big envelope was there! I couldn't believe it. Mom was the only one home, and I knew she would try to convince me to open it right away, so I shoved it under my shirt and came home and said "sorry, I guess we need to wait". I went up to my room (I was staying in the East bedroom at the time) and put it under my pillow and went about the day like normal. A while later Mom said "I was so hoping it would come today!" and I admitted it did come. She made me go get it right away and said I should open it right then, but I wanted to wait. She convinced me to at least call Dad from work and open it with him on the phone. I remember seeing Brazil -- somewhere I hadn't really seen myself going -- and "Belém" was a place I had never heard of, so I ran and got the globe and found out where that was. As we learned more about Belém and Brazil in general I became even more excited, while Mom became even more nervous. It was also cool to see President Hinckley's signature on it, as he has just barely been sustained as the prophet and president of the church. 

Shane was he the fourth Westra missionary, but the first of the Westra siblings to leave the country for a mission. Shane had been going to school at the U, but was still living at home, so he hadn't had that "out of the house" experience the other Westra missionaries had. Mom was a little nervous about it all.  He was scheduled to leave for the MTC on July 19, leaving for Brazil in September. Mom and Dad tried to get in a lot of landscaping around the house while Shane was still around to help. Then the yard and house was used for a pre-mission photoshoot! 

Mom remembers that they didn't check the mission papers for awhile, and then saw the passport stuff should have been started earlier. They panicked and worried it wouldn't come in time! They ended up going to a place in Trolley square to get the passport photo taken--nearest place they could find back then.

Pretty good pictures ... but too bad Alicia wasn't around to do a professional photoshoot ;) 

(check out Landon's Pre-Mission Photoshoot for Alicia's photos)

Shane was the first Westra (of this generation) to leave the country for his mission - 

but he wouldn't be the last!