Missionary moments: Pure inspiration
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When I received my mission call many years ago, I was more than a bit disappointed to be called to my grandmother's home in Scotland instead of one of the more romantic climes, like the homelands of the Incas or Aztecs.
President David O. McKay, who was a friend of the family, somehow learned of my disappointment and called to ask me to visit him in his office. He told me how he had known my grandmother in Scotland during his own mission and that there were other members of her family there waiting to hear the gospel.
So I went. When I arrived at mission headquarters in London, I found out that Scotland was only one of 14 districts comprising the British Mission. As one of the 22 new missionaries, my chances of going to Scotland were pretty remote. Imagine my surprise the next morning when I was told that I was going to Scotland.
As a result of accepting the Lord's call to Scotland, there are today more than 50 new members of my grandmother's family in the Church.
Years later I asked my mission president whether President McKay had instructed him to send me to Scotland. He replied, "Why, the president of the Church would never have told me where to send one of my missionaries. It was pure inspiration."
Later, the Lord granted my desires to travel to foreign climes. I served for 37 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, being posted to different countries from France and Spain to North Africa, Central America, China, Romania, Scandinavia, and Switzerland, having learned five other languages. — David Brighton Timmins, Ensign Peak Ward, Salt Lake Ensign Stake
