signed by President David O. McKay, ninth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, arrived at my house in Nampa, Idaho, on Saturday, August 24, 1968. The letter called me to serve as a full-time missionary in the Brazilian North Mission, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. (During the time I was serving, the name of the mission was changed to the Brazil North Mission.) I was to report to the mission home in Salt Lake City just one month later on Monday, September 23, 1968.“A great amount of anticipation was natural,” I wrote later of that occasion. “So as the white envelope from 47 East South Temple finally came, a flood of last-minute thoughts followed before that seal could be broken. Other floods would come later. From the Prophet’s letter the words Brazilian North Mission jumped out. Brazil! Never once had such a place even entered my mind in all the months of dreaming and planning. Yet from that very first moment Brazil had new meaning to me, and it became special to tell friends and family of my new home. It required but little time to satisfy my own mind that the Lord Himself, through His authorized servants, had called and wanted me serving in Brazil.”
My missionary call letter, I later observed was "the one single letter that influenced my life more than any other I have ever received." Unfortunately, I misplaced the letter and to this day have been unable to find a copy.
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