Mission Call

We've been eagerly waiting for Matt's mission call to arrive, really hoping it would come before Christmas. I was actually on the phone with Matt today when I came home and went out to check the mail. I didn't see the big white envelope at first, but there was quite a feeling of joy and excitement for both of us when I did discover it on the bottom of the pile!

Matt wanted to share the opening with friends, so we waited until about 5:00 p.m. to get everyone together (in spite of it being Christmas Eve). He had 7 or 8 friends here, and we also had a few people (grandparents in Virginia, Adam and Ale in Pennsylvania) listening in via cell phone. There is nothing quite like opening a mission call letter, and reading its contents for the first time:

"Dear Elder Kenison:
"You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Chile Santiago West Mission....
"You should report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah on Wednesday, 11 March 2009. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language."

There was a lot of rejoicing, as we all felt and shared Matt's excitement. As we talked since, we discovered that Matt was MUCH more interested in learning Spanish than we realized. We think this kind of immersion will be essential for him, but we know he'll do great and be blessed.

So now, Dad and Mom will have to work more aggressively on our Spanish skills in the coming months!