The Call

It's not that I'm impatient....I just don't like waiting....especially for things that have an impact on the next 18 months of my life. :) Both my bishop and stake president told me that the calls are assigned on Fridays, mailed on Mondays, and usually arrive on Wednesday. I did the math, I should get my call in ten days. That meant I'd get my call on October 26, right? Right! Except, I was wrong.

My bishop (did I mention I have the greatest bishop in the world?) texted me on Monday afternoon and told me that the call had not yet been assigned, so I would have to wait another week. Guess what?!? I cried. Yes, I cried (I'm such a wuss!). I thought to myself, "Another week? I could be dead in a week" (I don't know why, but that thought seemed logical at the time). Haha, maybe they had forgotten to update my call? I was desperate! So, I came home early that Wednesday to check the mail....just in case. I opened the mail box and it was full of junk mail. I took out the mail, said something mean to it, shoved it back in the mailbox, and walked away. So, the waiting game continued. Where would I go? I had no clue.

Being the crazy person that I am, I carried little slips with me to class that had two lines - one for a stateside guess, another for a foreign guess. I forced my nerdy biology friends, my other friends not of the nerdy type, and anyone else who felt so inclined to fill them out. I told them that if they guessed it, I would treat them to Cafe Rio. Of course, if multiple people guessed it, I'd have to degrade their prize to something a little more affordable....perhaps a dollar frosty at Wendy's (I'm so cheap!).  If no one guessed it, my wallet wins. :) My lucky color guard girls had a sweet deal because they're super important to me - if no one guessed it, the person who guessed the closest gets Cafe Rio on me and the rest of them are welcome to come along, if they pay their own way. Yay Nicole, she guessed the closest! 

Anyways, a week later, my bishop texted me that my call had been mailed and I should get it on Wednesday! I called some friends and family to tell them to I would be opening my call Wednesday at 7....because I just knew that it would be waiting for me when I got home from class the following day. The next day (Wednesday), I left campus at 11 and drove home, anxious to get the mail in less than an hour. Not even 5 minutes after walking in the door, my mom shouted to me that the mail man was driving down the street. When she pulled in front of our mail box, I walked to her, my hands outstretched like a little kid wanting cotton candy. She handed me a small stack of junk mail. My mission call was not there! I looked at her (probably in horror) and asked, "this is it?!" She gave the affirmative and then asked, "Were you expecting something?" I started to walk away, too disappointed to talk. And then I started to cry again. Yep....this crying spell required tissues though. Man, I'm such a wuss! 

My mom had to call all of my family (because I was a mess) and tell them that I wouldn't be opening my call until Sunday night because I would be LEAVING TOWN FOR THE NEXT 4 DAYS on Timpview's Band Tour. I knew that I would have to wait until Sunday to open my call (good heavens, that is a LONG time!)

Bless their hearts, my siblings and sister-in-law threatened to steal my call, steam it open, and sabotage it because they knew it would come while I was out of town. Although my mom thought them incapable of playing such a horrid trick on me, I knew better than that. We play practical jokes on each other all the time - hide each other's underwear on vacations, feed each other habanero pepper jack cheese, etc. I would not tolerate such behavior, so we asked our neighbor to take it from the mailbox on Thursday when it arrived and keep it until my dad got home. Hey, better safe than sorry! 

The drive home from Vegas seemed like an eternity. Each mile sign passed and I counted down the miles until we'd reach Provo. I was on the brink of throwing up.....I would be opening it in just a few hours. Once home (finally!), my dad handed it to me and I touched it for the very first time! My family started to show up and some of my closest friends (Linda, Lee, Anderson, Arielle, Callie, Hannah, Emily and Joe) came as well. Others could not make it because it was too short of notice and the men of my family fail at calling relatives to inform them of this stuff.

Obviously I was a nervous wreck....I was shaking, my heart was racing, I half-way listened to what people were saying, etc. I sat down and looked over to my right, looking for my call and the knife I had planned to cut it open with. No need for the knife! My dad had already torn my mission call open. WHAT?!? Why on earth would he do that? It was my envelope to open! I kinda joked that I should go reseal it. People laughed, but I was completely serious. How annoying! I took a breath and calmed myself down, "Its just an envelope, Becca. Get over it." 

I slid out the call and turned it over. It was addressed to me! From the office of the 1st Presidency! Craziness! And then.....I began to cry. I'm such a wuss!!! I read the letter out loud (still crying):

"Dear Sister Donaldson: You are hereby called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." (I thought, "Okay, that's good. I hoped you would say that.") It continued, "You are assigned to labor in the India..." (I thought, "Holy Hannah! Not India! Oh, wait, there's more) "...[India]na Indianapolis Mission. (I thought, "Indiana?!?" I said it too. Just like that: "Indiana?!?") After about saying, "Indiana?!?" about ten times, I continued to read, "....You should report to the Provo MTC on February 15, 2012. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the English language."

I was so surprised! Indiana?!? After rewatching the video, I think it came across as a disappointed tone. Let me assure you, I was not disappointed. Only shocked....because I forgot Indiana existed. Indiana was one of the states I consistently forgot on the "50 state" quizzes in the 4th grade. I'll never forget it again. :) After getting over the shock of Indiana, it felt right immediately. I loved having everyone there that I love and care so much about. Hopefully it wasn't too awkward. I can be a pretty awkward person when I'm nervous, surprised, shocked, and thinking really hard. :) 

Phew! That was quite the blog post! Thanks for reading my novel, everyone (anyone?!?)! There's more to come soon. Probably with some of the things I've been thinking about and experiencing since receiving my call and beginning my official preparations.