I have been called to serve for 2 years in the Costa Rica San Jose Mission as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

The Mission Call




(By Taylor's Mom, Alicia)
For Taylor's whole life, he has wanted to, and planned to serve a mission. For me, it was always in the future. Even when he began his interviews with the Bishop, and had endless dentist and doctor appointments, it wasn't real.
Then one evening, Taylor returned home from his interview with the Stake President and stated that the Stake President would be submitting his Missionary Application right away. All of a sudden, what had always been in the future was here, in the present. No more "someday..." Now just the wait for the call.
Everyone had told Taylor that it only takes a couple of weeks, and that mission calls always arrive on Thursday. Taylor told us that when his mission call arrived he was NOT going to wait for everyone to assemble before he opened it. I made plans to check the mail every day and hide it until everyone could get here. Week One, no call, Wednesday of week 2, Taylor told me that he thought his call would arrive the next day. He asked me to call his brothers and sisters and make sure they could all plan to be here early. I'm not sure how he was so certain it would come the next day, but he was. The mail comes pretty early, and Taylor worked late Wednesday night. He told me to wake him up if his call came.
Thursday morning, I saw the mailman at our mailbox. I hurried out, and as soon as I opened the mailbox, I saw the big white envelope. The spirit was incredibly strong. I began to cry, and hurried into the house. I called Brent and texted pictures of the envelope to Jennifer and Luke, and texted Nick, Allie and Tracey to be here by 12:30 when Allie got off work. I was shaking when Taylor came up the stairs, and held the beautiful white envelope behind my back when Taylor asked if he got his call. I held it out to him, and we both started to cry as we hugged, and realized the significance of that moment.
Taylor went out to breakfast with his good friends, Kelsie and Kristin. It was a good thing. It kept him from going out of his mind. Finally, everyone was here: Mom, Dad, Tracey, Nick and Allison plus Kelsie and Kristin. We had Jennifer, Jeff, Luke, Jenny and Conrad all on speaker phone as Taylor opened and read his mission call. He read very slowly, and then stopped completely as he got to the part about where he was going. Then a smile lit up his face as he read, "You are assigned to labor in the Costa Rica San Jose Mission......You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language."
The room filled with cheers. It was real. It was now. Our son, going on a mission!