By way of explanation for my non-LDS friends:
When a person decides to serve a mission, he/she goes through a process of earning money (the missionary supports himself for the 2 years)
taking care of medical and dental things (missionary must be in good health and dental things [braces, wisdom teeth, etc] need to be taken care of before beginning service); preparing spiritually and being interviewed by bishop and stake president.
When this is completed, everything is submitted to Church Headquarters and the prospective missionary waits (im)patiently for his/her call to arrive via the postal service.
It's a big, exciting day when the call arrives.
Bryan was working in Arizona, so when his call came on a Thursday to our home in Nevada, family members drove the few hours to deliver the call and watch Bryan open it.
Until the packet is opened, the missionary doesn't know where he is assigned to serve or the exact date he begins service. It's like Christmas - opening the call!
His a pictoral anatomy of Bryan's experience
(quite typical!):
Brad first shares a bit about Trevor opening his mission call 10 years earlier
Trevor's records as his wife, Caci, tries to sneak a peak
Bryan opened the call and read outloud ... we could feel the anticipation in the room!
"... you are assigned to serve in the Philippines Quezon City North Mission ..."
We were all so excited that it our jumping around made it hard for Trevor to get verbal reactions on video!
Trevor and Steven are our most recent returned missionaries - Trevor served in Russia and Steven (Brooke's husband) served in the Philippines! He immediately began teaching Bryan Tagalog.
proud family
excited
things finally got quiet enough for Bryan to make a few phone calls
We are all so proud of Bryan and excited for his 2 years of adventure, service, spiritual growth. He begins on February 1st.
I remember when my brother opened his Mission call. He stopped reading outloud and started skimming for where he was going. He had the opportunity to serve in Poland (which we're polish), it was a fantastic experience. Good luck to him in the Phillipines!!
ReplyDeleteI was in the northern Philippines as an 18 year old on my own adventure, living with a missionary from my own church, in a remote community. One day I was walking down a jungle path (literally) with a group of Filipino girls and I ran into (again, literally) two young guys from Utah where were there on their mission. We were all so flabbergasted to see each other it was rather funny. I certainly hadn't seen another American or Canadian teenager in several months, and neither had they :)
ReplyDeletewow - how exciting! good luck to your son on his mission. i know you must be very proud of him - and all of your children. rightfully so...
ReplyDeleteIt is a wonderful commitment for a young person to make. I'm sure he will learn so very much and be a blessing.
ReplyDeletei can feel the excitement in the air from here! my best wishes to bryan. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is so beautiful How proud you must be I'm excited for you all too. What an amazing journey he will undertake and so rewarding, thanks for sharing your special news with us. I hope you have a lovely weekend my friend.
ReplyDeleteAlways Wendy
Yeah, we can all feel the excitement! Love the photos, too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post this was for me to read. TOTALLY brought back memories of when my sons got their mission call.
ReplyDeleteI could feel every emotion, every anticipation.
Everyone gathered around waiting for him to open the large envelope....hearts a pounding...hands a shaking....and then they read.
I had 3 sons serve missions.
One to California.
One to New Zealand.
and One to Ecuador.
Awesome experiences for each one.
ENJOY this crazy time of preparation.
congrats to YOUR son
That is so exciting! Did I tell you that my son got a personal letter from the prophet for earning all the merit badges? Such a sweet moment for us, just know the prophet loves and cares about us.
ReplyDeleteSandy
How very grateful we are to be the proud grandparents of Bryan! We know he will be blessed as he dedicates two years of his life to serving the Lord, Jesus Christ, and his fellow man.
ReplyDeleteLove to ALL
Mother
Oh how exciting!! :) That is fantastic news.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. xoxo
i SO admire the way your expression of worship
ReplyDeletehandles missions. sometimes i get overwhelmed
by the request for money from ALL the missionaries
i am associated with. many times i have thought,
if they are called to the missions field, could they
not work and save some money toward that, too?
i know this sounds calloused, and i hate that, but
you can not imagine how many requests we have!
That is sooo great! What an awesome adventure he's going to have. You guys are all soo cute!
ReplyDelete