Mission Call Day (by Mom)

I spent Wednesday morning in the living room so that I could watch out the window and spot the mailman. What a long morning that was!!! My mom was equally as anxious so we spent the time dusting the furniture, cleaning the windows and the blinds in there (all the while peeking out the window!) I accidentally pulled too hard and all the blinds fell down, but that's ok. Now I had a better view! It was a different worker than our usual cute lady and he was driving a white mini van instead of the usual mail truck so that was weird. But he had the mail and that's all that mattered. The second I spotted him across the street, I grabbed my camcorder and taped the whole thing.

Oh my gosh!!!! My hands were shaking, my heart was pounding, and I even started sweating with all the emotions that were rushing through me. I spent the next little while texting, emailing, and calling everyone about the big news. Then we all had to wait 8 long hours to open it until Jordan finished his classes for the day and a shift at the bank. Nicole came over early to help me make cookies. I had found some fun mission countdown blocks at Pebbles and I bought both of us one. We decided to make them together to help pass the time.

As soon as Jordan was off work, we all met and went out to dinner and then headed over to BYU. He wanted to open it at his dorm because lots of his friends that wanted to be there didn't have transportation to our house. He and Ocho figured out how to do a live feed so they broadcast it on line for all our family and friends that couldn't be there. 8:09 was the chosen time for "Jordan's lucky number 9."

GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA CITY NORTH MISSION!

It was so much fun to have so much of our family there and all the little cousins too! Jordan is the first grandchild on both sides so it's been a long time since we've had a missionary in the family! Thank you everyone for coming, especially everyone with little kids. Also thanks for everyone who tuned in on-line and for all the messages received since then.

Just a couple amazing stories concerning his call:

1. We had about 75 guesses from family and friends. Not ONE person guessed Guatemala!

2. My mom was born and raised in Guatemala City and has a lot of family still living there that she keeps in contact with. They are not of our faith and it would be so cool if Jordan could visit with them and teach them the gospel in Spanish!!! Not sure yet if his mission actually covers the part of Guatemala city where they live, so we will see.

3. A little over three years ago, Jordan was working on his Eagle Scout project. A family friend was associated with the Guatemalan MTC president and he learned that many local Guatemalan missionaries enter the MTC there with just the shirt on their back and a plastic sack of belongings. That really affected him and he decided to collect white shirts and ties to be sent to the Guatemalan missionaries and future missionaries from the city for his project. Now he's going to that exact place to serve them personally and will be one of them!!!

4. During October 2009 conference, Brendan and I were watching the "in between conference specials" that are always a favorite part of conference for me. They did a whole thing on a service project in a rural town in Guatemala. Click here to watch it. We loved it so much. We said that we wanted to take a family vacation with Jake and Allison to that place and help with the humanitarian efforts while Jordan served a mission. Little did we know that the little town would be right in the mission that he was called to serve in one month later!

5. We just remembered that Jordan did his 6th grade country report on Guatemala. It was fun to pull out his display board and see his 12 year old handwriting describing a country that would mean more to his life than he realized at the time.

We know that the call was so inspired. Jordan is thrilled beyond words and couldn't stop shaking all night. His call has already blessed our lives and we are so thankful to our Heavenly Father. Jordan is in His hands now and we put our trust and faith in His wisdom to guide and protect our son as he prepares to devote the next two years in His service among these choice people! He reports to the MTC on February 10, 2010.

The following is the 10 minute live feed that Jordan did on his computer for friends and family that couldn't be there when he opened his call. Just click on the tiny link listed below. Then scroll down until you see the link again highlighted in blue and click on it to view. It's 10 minutes long. The actual opening of the call happens at the 5 min. mark Fast forward to then if you don't want to watch the whole thing.

Watch live video from JordansMissionCall on Justin.tv