Called to Serve in . . . ENGLAND!

 **This Post Written by Mom**

After Jake submitted his papers with President Kent on May 1, our family waited very impatiently for five and a half weeks for Jake's mission call to come! (We waited so long it almost became like he was a child again going on a mission on some far distant date years in the future.) But alas, IT CAME! And when it came, the flurry of excitement in our house was like nothing I've ever seen! The call was discovered in the mailbox about 1:30 Thursday afternoon by Portia. She left it there for Jake to find for himself only a few minutes later. Although we had been expecting it to arrive that day, it was still shocking to find it actually in Jake's possession.

 Jake declared 8PM as the appointed hour for opening the call. So what did we do all afternoon (besides spread the word)? Well, Portia, Hannah, Fynn and I started baking cookies as fast and furious as possible. We had quite a system set up and cranked out some serious baking. Meanwhile, Jake left the house with his friends and went for a drive. A very long drive.

  

 At 8:00 we had hordes of people in our backyard! Few things are more exciting to witness than a mission call opening! Click here to watch it for yourself.

 

 The emotion was tangible and palpable. There was crying and laughing. It was magical and the Spirit was strong!

 

 

 

 We were so happy to have so many friends and neighbors, plus Grandma and Grandpa there to share Jake's exciting moment!

  

After everyone left and things settled down Jake had fun logging into his account and learning more about the England Birmingham mission - HIS mission! The next morning, his first stop was the flag store to pick up a Union Jack and a Wales flag!

 

But 4 months is a long time to wait!