Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Call of the day...


All grown up…not really!

Some of you may already know this, actually I think all of you know this, but Alex was called to serve to the Kiev, Ukraine mission.  He leaves on January 2nd, 2013.  He reports to Provo, UT, at the MTC for probably 2 months, we’re not sure yet.  He’ll get to learn Ukrainian.  We’ve done a lot of reading on Ukraine in the past days.  He received his letter on Thursday, but he wanted to wait until his friends were there to open it.  After all, they’re the ones that gave birth to him, fed him, changed his diapers, consoled him when he was scared or sad, taught him the ABC (okay, Barney and Sesame Street did), taught him how to drive and just let him live a happy almost 19 years.  But I’m not bitter, that’s okay.  So since they weren’t available on Thursday and that the boys had tickets to a Cardinal’s game anyway, we had to wait till Friday (Football and friend win over my sanity).  Alex hid the letter from me, because how could I have resisted the urge to just search the internet on “how to open a letter without anyone knowing”.  It wasn’t too bad to wait, after all, I waited 18 years and 11 months, what’s one more day?  Besides, as long as it wasn’t opened, then it wasn’t real, right?!  But he opened it, and open it he did J  I had asked friends and family to take a guess on where he’d go.  It was fun, only 2 people got it right.  We had lots of guesses for Belgium, France, Quebec, Germany, Australia, some random states like Iowa or Wisconsin, some Africa.  I had guessed Holland.  Reed had said Cote d’Ivoire.  The kids said Belgium and Switzerland and Japan.  I don’t think I was really expecting anything, I was not expecting Belgium or France, and it was really okay with me.  How could I go home see my parents if my oldest boy was 1 hour from me and I couldn’t visit him!  So Ukraine is where the Lord thinks he needs to go, and I’m happy with that.  I really KNOW that He is helping me, because I really should be freaking out, right!!! I’m okay, I’m at peace, happy for him.  One little gift I got is that when I looked closer at Alex’s papers, I saw a picture of his future mission president and his wife. To my shock and aw, I have met them!!! About 10 years ago or so, we went to Mallorca on vacation, it’s a Spanish Island.  We spent one week there, Alex was about 10.  There, we met some Mormons, quite rare and random to find some other members of the church in the middle of no where!  And those Mormons happen to be his future mission president and his wife and their kids!!! We spent a week with them, the kids playing together and swimming together.  What a nice little gift that is, to know I’m sending my boy to some people I met before.  Those are the tender mercies of the Lord.  Also, but this is quite funny, Alex told me a month or so ago about a dream he had.  Now I hate people telling me their dreams, I don’t mind them telling me what it was about, but I hate details!!! Those dreams are meant to stay in your brain for you to enjoy (or hate), not for ME!!! Never the less, he told me he dreamed that I had another baby, that we called him Timothy or Timmy, and that he could talk.  I told him that if I had another baby while he was gone, that baby would talk by the time he came.  But that wasn’t the funny part…in the Friend (church magazine), there is a child from Ukraine being featured…and his name is…Timofei….ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!  The first anecdote is funny, the second one is creepy!!!
Right before the letter is read, getting all cameras ready to go!
So here I go, an almost official missionary mom…gotta go shop for boots and sweaters and coats and and and….

PS: in 12 yrs, when we do this again, I'll have a map ready because our kids kept asking "Where is Ukraine????"

2 comments:

Ezra, Kian & Eden said...

What a fun experience for your family!!! Ezra leaned over at church on Sunday to let me know that there were only 9 years left until he went on a mission. I hope when that time comes (and it will come quickly!) that I can be as positive (and funny) as you. :)

Erin said...

His mission call is super exciting! I know my in-laws loved the people of Ukraine. You were patient to wait until Friday, what a good mom! Another baby? That is some dream. Maybe it will come true???? :)