Getting the Call

Thursday, January 15th, 2015 - It seemed like forever but the day finally came. Everyone told us mission calls arrive in your mail (in Utah) on Wednesdays. We thought it might arrive this week, but when the mailman came and went on Wednesday, we put on brave faces and readjusted our expectations for at least another week. I had become a nervous, hand-wringing mess over the last few days and realized how "anticipation" and "anxiety" are so closely related. I couldn't see myself surviving another week without confirming where we would serve (by then we had a good idea it would be in Hong Kong - which will be a story for another day), and when we would begin our service.

Today, we were not as anxious because we didn't really think it would arrive. This time, I walked the 40 yards to the mailbox and happened to meet one of our dear neighbors getting his mail at the same time. He knew we were anxious to get a large envelope. He watched as I looked into my box and pulled out a large white envelope from the church and a small package from Best Buy (we had ordered a small thumb drive for our computer). After a few fist pumps, he asked - "Where's your wife?" I assumed his excitement was about the envelope from the church, not the package from Best Buy. By then I was already walking briskly back to our condo.

Laraine was in the bedroom at the desk, so I decided to leave the important envelope behind. Bringing the Best Buy package with me I announced, "Some exciting news!" She looked up warily. "We finally got that thumb drive we've been waiting for," I continued. She smiled, knowing I had gone to the mailbox in anticipation of something else. Then, a little offhandedly and with great constraint I said evenly, "Oh, and there is this other envelope . . . let me go get it."

By now, Laraine was amused and a little perturbed that I would tease her about the mission call. She said, "Yeah, right. You didn't get a mission call!" I then walked into the other room and returned with a large, thick envelope. Her eyes got big when I said, "Then what do you think THIS is?"

For at least a few minutes, the envelope burned a hole on the desk as we tried to wrap our minds around what to do next. We knew my father wanted to be there when we opened it, as well as my sister. We texted several others to say it had arrived, then made arrangements to open the envelope at my father's home, which he now shares with his wife, Janet. My sister, Lori, decided to meet us there and off we went. The rest of the experience was captured on video.

We seem surprised that we were called to serve in Hong Kong because we were. We were so prepared to be called someplace other than Hong Kong, we would have been thrilled no matter where we were called. We are truly anxious to be engaged in missionary work.