The Mission Call

Yesterday morning at about 8 am, I awoke to sounds from downstairs. Our mail comes really early, and I knew if my mom was up that she would have already gone to check it. After a few minutes of intent listening, I decided my call had not come, rolled over and went back to sleep.

About an hour later, I awoke again, this time to my mom yelling, "GET UP AND GO CHECK THE MAIL!!" Bleary eyed, I peered out of my covers into a camera lens and my mom's giddy expression.

"Wha..?" I mumbled, not fully coherent.

She threw the mail keys at me, and suddenly I was wide awake. "IT'S HERE?" I fell out of bed, pulled on some clothes, and stumbled down the stairs, where my whole family sat waiting in the living room. "Where is it?!"

"Still in the mailbox! I gave you the keys!!"

Right. I sprinted to my room, snatched them, and hurtled out the door to the mailbox across the street. I couldn't stop grinning.

As I ran back to the front door, about 5 cameras and camera phones were pointed at me. My cousins Brayden and Colin were visiting, and Tanner's friend Zach was here for some reason. "You could have chosen a more attractive time of day for this," I noted, but I didn't care that much. I had my mission call in my hands.

My hands were shaking when I sat down to open it, but I was still grinning madly. I hoped I would remember how to read. I pulled the papers out upside down and had to shuffle through them to find the letter. I was much more uncoordinated than usual.

"Dear Sister Weinheimer," I read breathlessly aloud. I determinedly avoided allowing my eyes to skip ahead to the important part. "You are hereby called to serve..." I failed. Taiwan. I could barely get the last part out, "...as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." My voice shook as I finished, "You are assigned to labor in the Taiwan Taichung Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months."

I laughed, my mom shrieked, and the kids started an uproar of exclamations. I never really understood why anyone felt the need to read the whole call letter - the vital part is all at the beginning, right? But it almost feels compulsory. It's like inertia. So I finished reading the letter out loud while my mom yelled, "QUIET, she's not done yet!!" and no one else listened.

I was giggly for the next several hours. We took a group picture. I called my grandma first while Tanner and Zach looked through my booklet of information; while I was still talking to her, Tanner burst out laughing. "Jade!! Look at this list of shots you have to get!"

Taiwan. It was a shock! No one had guessed anywhere close, especially not me! Honestly, I thought I was going stateside. But I am SO excited to go experience a culture so drastically different from my own. I am terrified of Mandarin Chinese, but in a good way. I hope. And I am so ready to work harder than I have ever worked in my life!

I've been praying that when I got my call, I would know immediately that it was right and be excited about it. Heavenly Father answered my prayer on both counts. I love knowing that Taiwan is where I can touch lives... Taiwan! Who would have thought??