President & Sister Augustin's Homecoming...........

Arnold R. and Kathleen C. Augustin

Arnold Roger Augustin, 60, and Della Kathleen Cook Augustin, five children, Texas Lubbock Mission; Bountiful 45th Ward, Bountiful Utah East Stake. He is a former counselor in a stake presidency, counselor in a stake Sunday School presidency, stake missionary, high councilor, bishop, high priest group leader, gospel doctrine teacher and ward mission leader. Director in public affairs, Corporation of the President. Born in Vallejo, Calif., to Arnold Roger and LaVerne Barbara Baker Augustin.
Sister Augustin is a former counselor in a stake Young Women presidency, Relief Society president and counselor, Young Women president and counselor and Primary president. Born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Doyle and Beth France Cook.


Today Steve and I attended the homecoming of Cody's first mission president and his wife.  We figured out right away why Cody loved them so much.  The article above was from the Church News 3 years ago when President Augustin was first called to serve as the Texas Lubbock Mission President.

Just a few reflections on our experience listening to them speak.......

First off, I wasn't prepared for how emotional I would get, the minute Sister Augustin began to speak the floodgates opened up and I couldn't stop the tears until President Augustin sat down, talk about embarrassing.

Sister Augustin told us that Lubbock is definitely flat just as Cody describes it, but she said they tell their missionaries not to look down but to look up, Lubbock has the most beautiful sunsets she has ever seen.

The Texas Lubbock Mission is a HUGE mission, if you were to drive east to west it would take 10 hours and north to south 12 hours.  The Augustin's drove those distances over and over and over again.

When the Augustin's were first called, they had 120 missionaries, and when the age requirements changed, their number more than doubled to 265!  Their driving through the mission doubled as well as they opened up 45 new areas for missionaries to serve in.

Many people told the Augustin's that they would never be able to find places to house the additional 145 missionaries because the big oil companies in the area buy up all the rentals for their employees.  President Augustin said it was one of many miracles they witnessed as they were able to find enough rentals in a very short period of time without any assistance from member housing.

The Augustin's served with 541 missionaries!!!  Holy cow, how do you remember them all???

The Augustin's made attending the temple a priority for the missionaries.  The Lubbock Temple is very small and  has limited open hours.  The missionaries get to attend once a year, and when they do, the temple opens on Monday when it is normally closed.  Temple workers and other members let the missionaries borrow their temple clothing because there is only limited clothing to rent.  Sister Augustin said that one of their favorite experiences was being in the Celestial Room filled with their missionaries.

Sister Augustin shared with us that every now and then some of their family would come and visit for very short periods of time and she cherished those moments.  She recalled many times that during those short visits their phones would quit ringing long enough for some quality time with their loved ones, and once they were dropped off at the airport to go home, their phones would begin to ring again.  Tender mercies :).

The Augustin's both lost a parent while they were gone, and President Augustin shared how hard it was not to attend his father's funeral as his only child, but that he knew of the importance of his calling and who he was ultimately serving.  

When the Augustin's returned home they had no furniture, no cell phones, no cars and no jobs.  But to them, it was worth every sacrifice made.  When it was time for the musical number they asked all of their missionaries who were in attendance (and I lost count) to come to the front and sing "Called to Serve".......more tears!!  

President Augustin is a convert to the church, he joined at the age of 23 when 2 sister missionaries taught him the gospel.  He is a POWERFUL speaker with a STRONG testimony of the restored gospel and Sister Augustin spoke of her reliance on the Spirit as she made decisions in taking care of the physical and emotional needs of each missionary.   

The lives that have been touched because this husband and wife accepted the call to serve are countless.  I can't help but think about one individual in particular who has expressed time and time again how much he has learned from both of them and how very much he loves them.  I will be forever grateful to them for the amazing influence they have had on Cody......