John & Leesa Dupree--Alpine German-speaking Mission

      As mentioned, Leesa and I met with our Stake President in early November, and I spent the next three weeks full of hope and excitement, along with a lurking fear of disappointment. We both badly wanted to return to the land of our first missions.     I woke up on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 29th, and with bleary eyes saw a text message: "You may now view your mission call on your missionary portal."       Suddenly, I wasn't so bleary-eyed anymore. Leesa was still fast asleep (she is a nightowl, staying up into the early hours knitting and watching playoff reruns of her beloved San Francisco Giants. Every year, just after the World Series, she begins watching each postseason win of the Giants' championship years of 2010, 2012, and 2014. I can't forget an evening two years ago, when she started watching the first game of their 2010 playoff run against the Atlanta Braves. That year, the Giants had picked up a fringe player by the name of ...

    My name is John Dupree, and I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My wife and I are about to embark upon a one-year mission, and so many of our friends and acquaintances have asked us to post news and pictures, so here we are at the beginning of this adventure. Warning! This blog will contain a lot of religious references, which are necessary because they speak to our core motivations for doing what we do. At the same time, we don't want to get too preachy. 😁     A brief bit of history is in order. I am a convert, and was baptized into the Church at age 19 in 1975. My wife, Leesa, is a lifelong member. Both of us served missions when we were single, and both of us were originally called to the Germany Frankfurt mission in 1976. We had not yet met, and though we served in the same mission, we always served in the different zones, and didn't really become acquainted until we returned from our missions in 1978, to the Fair Oaks, Californ...