Your Number Has Been Called.

My blood drained from my body last weekend.

I'll never forget the Saturday morning General Conference announcement from our Prophet announcing a significant change in age requirement for our young people to serve missions.

 

I was sitting in the basement with my oldest two boys and my visiting 18 year old nephew.  Three boys who yelled back at the TV, "WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! WE CAN GO NOW?!" High fives. Hair pulling. Big smiles.

Benson, graduation

Cousin Jake, with us during the announcement

Benson, my oldest is 18 years and 2 months old, class of 2012.
Jacob, my nephew is 18 years and 6 months old, also class of 2012, currently a student at BYUI.

They were going to be roomates at BYUI in January.  WERE.

It took Benson about 5 minutes to decide he wants to get his papers in immediately. "Mom, I'm just WAITING for school to start.  I'm doing school while I am WAITING for my mission..." And my favorite totally Benson phrase, "It would be a waste of an announcement for me to not go now."

Here's the thing, he's actually pretty prepared. Benson has been going to mission prep for over a year, and weekly the last 4 months at least.  He also attends institute and carries Preach My Gospel in his backpack that goes everywhere.  Someone asked me once what he was into:  sports? music? academics?  My crazy answer: his thing is the gospel.  Seriously. That's what he loves and studies.

He'll be truly doing what he loves.  Yes, our Nauvoo missionary experiences were probably even more important than I realized even at the time and I am SO GLAD we did that when we did.

Josh announced within minutes that as he is a Junior right now, that means in a year and a half from now he'll be able to send in his missionary application.

Jessica: "And I can turn mine in in 4 years!"

Momma needs to breathe. After the blood left my body, the spirit filled in the gaps and I just knew that all is as it should be. 

Almost like this announcement and decision was meant for our family and for Benson in particular.

I'm just getting my head around all the implications and new thinking about how all this raising of kids works it's way to adulthood.  In my previous opinion it was best to leave home for school for a year, get used to being independent... and THEN be a successful missionary with at least a few skills.  If I were a mission president's wife I would be starting up some homemaking classes with these young missionaries...

I'm pretty sure our leaders have thought through most of these issues and are following the Lord's direction which means it's going to be OK. The Lord knows the end from the beginning.  I have to have faith that since it's felt right for Benson and for us, it's going to work out.  In a strange way, I felt a little like I could identify with the early saints and the different times the church leaders changed the expectations, like sending the men off with the Mormon Battalion. I'm sure that was a game changer, an even bigger game changer and I always wondered what I'd feel.  Now I think I know.  Scary as something can be, there is safety in following inspired men of God.

Anyway, his application is mostly filled out, the dental work is done, and he just needs his medical done (appt next week), and some interviews. And a missionary picture (taking that tomorrow).  He says he's putting his availability December 17th, but we'll just have to see with all the wave of missionaries submitting applications right now.  It could be months, so we'll just be ready for anything.

Ready for anything.  A week ago today that meant something totally different. :-) I'm so proud of him and his immediate response ~having a desire to serve the Lord.

Let's just not mention my dream last night that he was being called to HONG KONG. (which I was trying to read through the missionary call envelope-- upside down and backwards, ha!) and while proof reading his application, under special skills and hobbies he wrote "An aviation barrel roll flip dive at 4.4 G's" which I really didn't need to know about (true story)... maybe a shout out to Uchtdorf? Tell me again why that might be important for them to know?

Here we go, this is for real.