The Call

About 2 hours before the end of my workday on Friday, my husband called me in my classroom.  For a couple of minutes, he rambled on about little things he and Jacob had done that afternoon.  Silently, I was thinking, "That's nice, sweetie, but I already knew you were going to do these things." 

Finally, Ed added matter-of-factly, "Then Jacob went out to bring in the mail.  He has a big envelope from Salt Lake City."

After that, the time couldn't fly by fast enough!

Mom watches over his shoulder as Jacob slices the envelope open.

Jacob knew better than to open the envelope before I came home!  We wanted the entire family together, so Jacob called Sarah and told her to meet us at home.  She's been staying at her Grandpa Butler's place since last weekend to house- and dog-sit while they're out of town.

My aide, Kim, made me leave school 30 minutes early, telling me to call her as soon as we opened the envelope.  At 3:15, I pulled into our driveway just as Sarah was pulling in and Dylan was walking up the street after getting off the school bus.  The timing was perfect!

The tension mounts as Jacob reaches into the envelope.

We all hurried inside, I handed Ed the camera, and we all waited with bated breath as Jacob took a peak inside the envelope addressed to "Elder Jacob Timothy Carter."

Jacob's happy reaction to his mission call.

Jacob and I read the cover page together.  Neither of us felt any sense of surprise at all as we read which mission he's been assigned to serve in.  It feels right.  He was beaming as he read the portion of the letter below:

He's going to Santa Rosa, in northern California!  It's just north of San Francisco and west of Sacramento (the state capital).  That's not all that far from where I grew up (age 5 to 17) in Fresno.  I'm so excited that he'll have the opportunity to live and serve in the state I called home for 25 years, having been born and raised in California.

Jacob is excited, too.  He knows this is where he's supposed to serve.  He is also a little relieved to be staying in the USA and to not have to learn another language.  I would have been thrilled no matter where he was called to go, but I admit as his mother it's nice to think, "California is just one state over..." 

He reports to the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah, on December 1st.  That's only 2 months away, and we have so much more to do to get him ready to go!  The envelope also contained several packing lists and lists of things to do.  I foresee much shopping in our future!

I can hardly believe this is really going to happen, and soon!  Congratulations, my son the missionary.  We are all so very proud of you!