One Crazy Day

I leaned down and turned the mailbox key. A small scraping sound accompanied the door opening. I hesitated before I looked in, praying and hoping with all my heart it had arrived. Gathering all my courage, I pulled the tiny door wide. IT WAS THERE!!!!!! I gave an excited squeal and pulled it free from the container. Heavy and white, my mission call was here.

After the longest work shift of my life my family and I drove straight to Red Deer, where my Dad was working that week. I held the white package--unopened--on my lap the whole drive. That was torturous; holding the package that would tell me where I would spend the next 18 months of my life. I have some serious will power because I actually made it to my destination without ripping that white envelope to shreds! The crazy thing was that while I was about to open the envelope, with my family all around me. I almost didn't. It is a totally terrifying feeling to put your future in someone else's hands, even if it is God's. Be Brave. I slowly and carefully ripped the envelope open and searched for the single sheet of paper next to the booklet. when my fingers touched it, I somehow grabbed it and began to read, aloud, at midnight, while the cameras rolled, the words:

 Dear Sister Nelson,
you are hereby called to labor in the Chile Concepcion South mission. It is anticipated you will serve for a period of eighteen months.
....
you will prepare to teach in the Spanish language.
....
you will report to the Mexico City, Mexico training center on October, 7, 2015.

I almost passed out.

I did have a strong feeling of rightness, strength and peace. As well as a immediate terror!  I scanned the rest of the page for the words "jokes! you are going to Canada Winnipeg Mission, or the Salt Lake City mission, just like everyone else that's received their call in the last three months!" guess what? the words were NOT there. It was totally true.

Saying yes to that call took me three or four days. It took all of my faith and trust in Heavenly Father's planning to say yes. You know what though--I did it, I said yes!