Called to Serve
In December of 2019 my father passed away, as much as we loved him and would miss him, we knew that being around for him was the last roadblock that we had to serving another mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
So we began to look at missionary opportunities. Before we could express interest in any of these opportunities, I was called to be Relief Society President and my husband was called to serve in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. Therefore we put our plans on hold during which time we served during the world wide Covid Pandemic.
In the spring of 2022, we started to feel like it might be time to start thinking about a mission again. We decided we would start preparing but wait til the end of summer to talk to anyone of our desire. We started filling out the missionary recommendation application near the end of the summer but because I needed some minor knee surgery it would be the end of October before we were able to submit our request to serve.
Imagine our surprise when on November 22, we opened our call and read the following -
Our mission was in Newport Beach, California as member leadership support. Nothing at all of what we had preferred but very exciting nevertheless because we raised our children in California and my parents owned a beach house in Newport Beach when I was a child therefore I spent most of my summers there. But it wasn't just the fun that I remembered from my parents beach house but it was the life lessons I learned there from them that made Newport Beach such a special place to me. They taught me that if you put the Lord first he will always take care of you, always share what you have with others because it is a gift from God, and finally always give back to the Lord. The following story which my brother, Gordon Larson wrote explains how these lessons were taught.
"After having enjoyed leasing a beach house in Newport Beach for a year Grandpa and Grandma Steve and Barbara Larson started hunting for a more permanent place where we could vacation as a family, with the beach and the waves and each other. We even spent a summer vacation or two driving up the Pacific Coast and checked out places further afield. As our search continued, they saved their money for the day when they could find the home they wanted. Later in 1969, Dad received a call from Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. A meeting with members of a small committee was requested, which Mom & Dad attended in a hotel in downtown Los Angeles. They were asked to contribute some money to the church for the purchase of land that the church had been trying to acquire. In summary, over the course of the next 2-3 years, Mom & Dad donated all the savings they had acquired for the purchase of their vacation dream home. But the search continued, faith in the ability to purchase was strong.
Dad had grown a successful business of Price Books and Forms, Inc., based on the original company Mom's dad, Orville Willard, had started named Dealer's Aids Co. years before. From that business, many families were blessed with the means to earn an honest living and learn work. We as the original Larson family (Mom & Dad and all us siblings) were blessed with many material things and the funds to have a good life and bless others with donations to the church in many ways, similar to the one requested by the church at that time. As quickly as the money was donated to the church, new, lucrative business opportunities were given that replaced the monies just as quickly.
As the search continued, we stopped at an Open House on the other end of Bayside Drive in Newport Beach. The realtor later called Mom & Dad with an opportunity to tour a house on Bay Island. Not really expecting anything, but wanting to just see what was beyond the Private Island signs, they went to see it. After they walked thru the house, Mom says, they didn't even say anything to each other, but just looked at each other. Dad offered to purchase it for about 2/3 of the asking price: 1/2 now and 1/2 upon close. Mom says Dad wrote a check on the spot. They paid cash for the house, completely debt-free. The price they ended up paying for the house was about the same amount that they had donated to the church. The Lord matched them dollar for dollar!
Mom & Dad taught us in their actions so many times concerning the beach house that they understood it to be a gift and a blessing. They were not the owners of the house as much as they were the stewards of it. I recall that nearly every time we got there for a long weekend or a week during the summer, Dad would pull out the Stake Directory and start down the list of who we should invite. As a pre-teen and teenager, it seemed to me that we were just getting others to come and play with us. But as I grew up and became a husband and father, who at times has had limited resources to enjoy time away from work and the hustle and bustle of life, I realize that our loving parents were extending to a harried family the same respite that they enjoyed. The bay boat and the Beach House offered hours of relaxation for family, extended family and many friends; an opportunity to focus on each other and enjoy just a few minutes and maybe hours of freedom from worries.
Whenever Dad heard about a newly-engaged couple, he would pull out his calendar, give the soon-to-be-groom a copy of the Beach House booklets he had printed, put their information down in the calendar and let them have a honeymoon spot which they likely would never had been able to afford. When families we knew came upon hard times, a home issue or death in the family or whatever, Mom & Dad were quick to invite them to the Beach House, either on their own or with us to ease their troubles.
As the years continued, Mom & Dad had felt the time had come to end the legacy of the Beach House. He was concerned with the cost of upkeep, the age of the house. Since they felt strongly that the Beach House was not something they earned, but had been given stewardship over, they felt the time had come to return it to its proper owner. At the end of 1990, and moving into early 1991, they worked with LDS Philanthropies and donated the house to the Benson Foundation of BYU, to help educate farmers in Central America. The blessing of the house now extended beyond to others. Truly, the Lord is mindful of His children who are mindful of each other."
Newport Beach has been a special place for me since the age of 7. Now as we return to the serve our Lord and Savior for the next twelve months it will become even more special. I know he is very aware of us and sending us to Newport Beach, California is just another one of his tender mercies. I look forward to serving side by side with my good husband and assisting in the Lord's work here on earth.
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