Service missionaries: serve locally and live at home: transcript
This transcript is a draft under review and may contain errors. Time links return to that point in the video.
00:00:08 Stacey and I love to have fun, whether
it's with the missionaries or with the
00:00:12 grand babies or with our own sons or
just each other. We love to have fun. The
00:00:18 grand babies, because we have a hardwood
floor, they are just riding their
00:00:22 little cars around chasing each other
and we encourage it. They have their
00:00:29 little carts and this becomes a go-kart
track in here. So she's been trained
00:00:32 extensively in drifting.
00:00:37 I'm Stacy Hissong. This is my husband,
Mike Hissong. We serve in the Tennessee
00:00:42 Nashville
00:00:43 Mission. I am the secretary in the Mission
Office, and my husband is the first
00:00:49 counselor
00:00:49 in the Mission Presidency.
00:00:51 What's unique about the Hissongs is
they live right here in their home. They
00:00:55 both are still
00:00:56 employed.
00:00:57 We are service missionaries, and so we
spend time there, but we love to come
00:01:01 home and be
00:01:02 in our own bed at night.
00:01:04 We're considered senior missionaries,
00:01:06 but we certainly don't feel
like senior missionaries.
00:01:09 And I don't know about you,
but sometimes we don't act
00:01:12 like senior missionaries.
00:01:15 We're having one meeting.
00:01:16 When I was Bishop Stacey, who
was a Relief Society president,
00:01:19 she just has this amazing
way with people.
00:01:21 And so when the mission president said
00:01:24 he needed a church service missionary,
00:01:27 her name was the first to come to mind.
00:01:29 Sister Hissong serves as our
mission secretary, but she does it on her
00:01:33 time.
00:01:34 So she kind of writes her own schedule.
00:01:37 I could come in at 10, do the mail, and
go home if that's one of those days, or
00:01:43 if there's
00:01:44 a lunch going on, I'm here a little
bit longer, but I don't really have set
00:01:48 hours.
00:01:49 We're in there Wednesday.
00:01:52 What she does for our
mission is really invaluable.
00:01:54 We wouldn't function
without Sister Hissong.
00:01:58 Mike's calling is he is the first
counselor in the Tennessee Nashville
00:02:02 Mission presidency. He's also set apart
as a church service missionary in that
00:02:08 role. We have seven stakes and I'm
responsible for the missionary effort
00:02:13 involved with three of those stakes.
Like Bishop's storehouse for example. He
00:02:18 helps
00:02:18 correlate the missionary work between
the full-time missionaries and the
00:02:21 members and the stakes and he
provides training to individual
00:02:26 My biggest focus in this presidency
right now is how that missionary
00:02:31 coordination meeting and that
00:02:34 Ward Council communicate
for the missionary efforts.
00:02:40 Church service missionary has some
flexibility to what works for their schedule
00:02:43 and what kind of work
will they be able to do.
00:02:47 So like President Hissong, who is a very
busy businessman and very active in his
00:02:52 personal interests,
00:02:54 he can kind of taper this
schedule to work for him.
00:02:57 And so most of what we have
him doing is on Sundays.
00:03:02 We still continue to
work with our businesses.
00:03:05 We own several yogurt
shops and a barbecue store,
00:03:10 the store shop, shop, restaurant.
00:03:13 It's a drive-through only.
00:03:15 So we got banana pudding,
and then we have cobblers.
00:03:18 Banana pudding, you know.
00:03:19 And they order the front window.
00:03:20 We have fun with them.
00:03:21 They pick up their food,
and then they go home happy.
00:03:24 Thank you, friend.
00:03:25 Appreciate it.
00:03:26 Just thanks so much.
00:03:27 Everybody loves BB's baloney, but it's
just not regular baloney, that's smoked
00:03:31 baloney.
00:03:32 It's a difference.
00:03:33 You gotta smoke it.
00:03:35 We can melt a little cheese
on it, get it melted, look good.
00:03:39 And we enjoy it like that.
00:03:42 And that is an awesome baloney sandwich.
00:03:48 It's a win-win both ways.
00:03:50 I have time to do the Mission Office,
and I have time to be in the stores.
00:03:56 Now we're in a position that I can go
in, check on the businesses four hours,
00:04:00 five hours,
00:04:01 and then be comfortable that they're
running like they're supposed to.
00:04:04 I'm 100% confident that if I can take
20 hours a week in the service of the
00:04:09 Lord doing my
00:04:10 calling or whatever calling we've been
called to do, that the business is going
00:04:14 to continue
00:04:14 to flourish.
00:04:16 Do you like your seat?
00:04:17 No, thank you.
00:04:20 I've officiated high school
basketball for 15 years.
00:04:23 That's something I love to do, and I
love getting up down the court and trying
00:04:27 to get a little exercise there as well.
00:04:32 He has more fun reffing basketball games.
I know he won't admit it, but he is
00:04:37 really good at it, and it's fun to watch.
00:04:40 This time of year, I'm reffing six to
eight games a week, and so again, it goes
00:04:45 back to planning.
00:04:48 I love it.
00:04:49 They're very involved in the community,
as well as their family. They're
00:04:53 extremely involved with their family.
00:04:54 This is our youngest Tyler.
00:04:56 I know he looks young.
00:04:57 He grew me by about eight inches.
00:04:59 We love our sons.
00:05:00 Make no doubt about it.
00:05:01 We have three sons that
we're very proud of.
00:05:04 But now it's hard to talk about our sons
00:05:05 because we have four grandchildren.
00:05:07 And they call us Big Mama and Big Papa.
00:05:10 So they called me Big
Papa first and by default,
00:05:12 she got called Big Mama.
00:05:14 They do a really good job balancing,
00:05:16 but they take certain
days to do certain things.
00:05:18 Every Friday, we have all four.
00:05:21 We babysit them.
00:05:22 and so we have such an amazing bond
with them and it's important to us that
00:05:29 they
00:05:29 know who we are and they know what we
stand for. They're close because they do
00:05:36 spend time with them once a week when
I'm at work. They love the park. They
00:05:42 love
00:05:42 the park and so a great chance we'll
run over here to the park at local park
00:05:46 and
00:05:46 And so we'll get worn
out before they will.
00:05:50 And then lunch is always fun.
00:05:52 They get to help make sandwiches.
00:05:54 They help participate in making
lunch, and then it's nap time.
00:05:58 We really are so blessed to be able to
have them so close and then still be
00:06:02 able to serve.
00:06:04 And I know that's a concern for a lot
of people leaving grandbabies behind.
00:06:08 And so this is just magical for us.
00:06:11 I think most couples think the only
time I'm available to go on a mission is
00:06:15 when
00:06:16 When I retire. With the new structure in
the church, there are less callings out
00:06:20 there.
00:06:20 And there are couples out there that can
offer so much in service missions and
00:06:26 be
00:06:26 in local. There's opportunities in Bishop
Storehouse. There's opportunities to
00:06:31 lead
00:06:31 just serve, to lead addiction recovery,
to be involved with public affairs. We
00:06:37 didn't
00:06:38 know that we could do that and stay at
home. And so we share that every Sunday
00:06:43 when we
00:06:44 meet couples out there as we travel
around and challenge them to join in and
00:06:49 help.
00:06:50 I've seen couples that have gone on
full-time missions and have come back and
00:06:55 had a wonderful
00:06:55 experience.
00:06:56 But you can also do that at home while
you're working, while you're raising
00:07:00 your family.
00:07:02 Our relationship is stronger.
00:07:05 I think our relationship with
our grandchildren is stronger.
00:07:08 Our relationship with
our sons is stronger.
00:07:11 Our relationship with our friends.
00:07:12 both members and non-members.
00:07:13 Team works make the dream work.
00:07:15 I think the challenge is to
get out of your comfort zone,
00:07:19 and I think that's where we were.
00:07:21 We were comfortable because
we enjoyed what we did,
00:07:23 and now I wouldn't
change this for anything.
00:07:26 I would spend every minute in
the Mission Office if I could.
00:07:30 The blessings that you get from
that are just unexplainable.