Mission Call

On last Friday, I drove down to Salt Lake to open my Mission call which had come. The call actually arrived at my home in salt lake about ten days earlier then we expected. Because I had agreed to participate in two different performances the weekend of the 8th, and because I am a poor college student, it didn't make sense to come down to Salt Lake two weeks in a row. So I made my family keep the envelope unopened for ten days. Needless to say, Mom practically went crazy with anticipation. I told that that I thought he better hide it in case mom got any ideas. Apparently he agreed with me, because the next day, Mom asked me if I had asked him to hide it.

I invited my grandparents to be there when I opened it. They readily agreed. I drove down Friday after classes with Kate to accompany me. Good thing to, because I was tired. We made the trip in three and a half hours. It could have been three were it nor for all the construction. I got there around eight. Everyone was there waiting, except mom, who had not expected us for a little longer, and had run to the store for something. So, we had to wait for her to get back to open the call.

We all sat in the front room waiting for her return. I am sure that she was only like five or seven minutes behind me, but it felt like a lot more than that. She finally got there and came inside. I gave her a hug, and then we all sat down. I opened the knife that Grandfather handed me to open the envelope. Then I pulled the contents out. On top was a letter addressed to Elder Samuel David Crowley. Beneath it was a packet with a picture of a person being baptized on it. I took the letter and began to read. I deliberately did not read a head or skim the letter to find the place where I would be called. Some how that felt like cheating; don't ask me why. I read one word at a time: Dear Elder Crowley.... blah blah blah... called to serve in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission.

I then read on Blah Blah Blah.... it is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 24 months. When I got to this line, I actually said "It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 24 years. Everyone started laughing. It was an accident, but it was funny.

The best part about the whole thing was that, my grandfathers grandfather served in the southern states mission, and my great grandfather served in the southern states mission, and my grandfather served in the southern states mission. Unfortunately, non of my grandfathers children served in any of the southern states. But I get to be the first to pick the tradition back up.

I can't wait!

(After having seen the list of shots I am supposed to have, I don't ever want to know how many Alex has to get to go to the Philippians!)

Don't forget your daily dose of music!