3/27-28/24
On the evening of the 27th we received an email from the Church with instructions about how to begin working on our Icelandic visas. (Iceland is part of the Copenhagen Denmark Mission.) This was confusing, to say the least. We were going to Denmark, didn’t we need to get a Danish visa? Also, there was one sentence buried in our mission packet that said we needed to start learning Icelandic. First off, how do they expect us to learn Icelandic? And, secondly, do they speak Icelandic in Denmark?? They speak Danish, right? I’d been in a bit of a panic that whole day and this email, later in the day, just added to my stress. They had sent us the wrong visa information and what was this about Icelandic? On Thursday morning I sent an email asking about the Icelandic visa. The email exchange went something like this:
Me: We are assigned to Denmark, shouldn’t we be getting a Danish visa?
Them: Where is your assignment? Denmark or Iceland?
Me: All I know is we are called to the Copenhagen Denmark mission.
Them: We’ll contact the missionary department and see if we can figure out what paperwork you need to do.
It did not help clear up the mystery. We decided to get started on the Icelandic visa information and then, if we needed to get a Danish visa as well we would work on it.
One thing I didn’t expect when receiving a mission call was the sheer volume of information there is to read. The missionary portal is full of drop down menus, each with new things to do, read, learn, fill out, etc. It’s good we don’t leave for five months because it will take us that long to read through all the information! They do have a section titled “Things To Do Immediately”. We have been focusing on that to begin with.
In addition to the things in the portal there are emails coming in from the missionary department. The visa emails and paperwork, and other emails about training meetings, etc. There is a lot to read, process, and consider and it was, initially, super overwhelming.