So Thankful.....

On Thanksgiving, right before we were getting ready to eat, my text went off, and I checked it, only to see an unknown number.....with an attachment.

Should I open it?  Was it OK?  Would it make my cell phone crash?  Was it spam?

I hesitated.....but I opened it anyway, and to my great delight (& surprise) it was pictures and a message, "Your son with his companion after a fun game of touch football this morning."
(I love how she clarified that it was touch so I wouldn't worry about him getting hurt in tackle football or breaking the rules by doing so!!  She's a mom - she knows how we think!)

 My son, as in Ryan, who is away from home, serving a mission, on his FIRST Thanksgiving.

 A minute later, I got another text; this one with the message, "It was quite muddy!  This is Kristi H.....a sister from the ward."

I have heard so much about this GOOD family from Ryan's letters.  They are so great to him; having him over for dinner often, accompanying them when they teach the people, working hard to get permission from the Mission president for them to proselyte at a high school football game where there would be many important contacts, serving him, driving long distances to help, etc. etc.  The list goes on and on.

I sent her a text telling her I've heard all about her family and thanking her for all she does for Ryan.

She replied, "Your son is a wonderful missionary and we love having him here."

By this time, the Brenchley's were READY to start our feast, but Matt & I were on our phones looking at the pictures & texts.  Matt's mom (I don't think she knew what had happened?) had to scold us saying, “Now, I made the teenagers put away their phones for Thanksgiving – you put yours away, too!”  And I was like, “I’m getting photos of Ryan, I’m not putting it away!!”  What a rebel "teenager" I am!  ;)
This is about as close as we can get to having any contact with him - except for the Christmas and Mother's Day phone calls (or Skype?) that are allowed in the future.  The way technology has changed the whole missionary correspondence - amazing!  I was so thankful for this "tender mercy."  I did get a little emotional and teary after that, though.  Just KNOWING he was OK - more than OK.....Turkey Bowl?  Nothing could be better!!  He's so passionate about that annual tradition!  But, he's away from us, yet he's still getting taken care of.  It's a mixture of feelings; not really too sad, but relief, assurance, and thankfulness. 

A little more than an hour later, my text went off again.  Kristi was sending me more....

 ....with the caption, "I promise he's not starving today!"

"We were happy he could spend Thanksgiving with us."

There were actually two families from the ward in this photo.  I guess they both wanted the missionaries for Thanksgiving dinner (along with 5 other families from the ward - what competition!) so they combined forces and did it all together.  

I have heard a lot about this other family from Ryan, as well.  In fact, Ryan has already "pegged" one of their daughters as Kyle's future wife because he wants to be a part of their family, they're so awesome!  ;)  This family has done so much for Ryan, too.  For example, they have been known to drive 30 minutes to sit in on & fellowship at an investigator's lesson, just to be "stood up" and they have to drive all the way back home for nothing.....but, at least, invite the missionaries for dinner still.  (It makes me feel lazy!)  They have a missionary son out, too, so they understand the life.

I am so thankful for these fantastic families who are working in the Lord's vineyard located in West Virginia!  I'm so thankful for these "surrogate mothers" he has to watch out for him while he's away - it's such a blessing!  They are doing such a good job!!  I love them (his family away from home) and I've never even met them.

Something funny happened in the middle of all this, too.  I kept looking and re-looking at the texts on Thanksgiving and somehow the wrong button got pushed because all of a sudden, I see that my cell phone has dialed Kristi's phone number.  When I realized it, I was like, “Oh No!  Oh No!” and I was frantically trying to end the call as fast as I could, but it wasn’t working.  That would be a big NO-NO to try to call him - or her if she was with him - but I didn't mean to, I PROMISE!  I don't want to be One of Those Moms!  ;)  I don’t know if she answered and heard all the commotion, but if she did, I also hung up on her!  ha-ha. 

Ryan's end of the story was that when Kristi's phone rang (from my inadvertent call), she pulled out her phone and showed Ryan the screen.  He was like, "Oh, no!" and he shot out of the room!  But, she did realize and told him it was just a "pocket-dial."  Whew!

Again.....I'm so thankful.

I've Got a John Denver Song Playing in my Mind

The song's been with me ever since Sunday evening when Ryan opened his mission call (which one out of the 407 possible places would it be?!!?) 

in front of....Oh, I don't know how many....

a wall-to-wall multitude of his favorite peeps - family, friends, neighbors & church leaders.
(And family who are also some of his best friends, and friends who are also neighbors, and church leaders who are also friends!) 

{with Jaden - one of his best friends}

The song that's been on my mind is "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

Do you have a guess where he got called, now?

The song introduces this place with it's very first words, "ALMOST HEAVEN".

It continues by singing about it's BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS and SHENANDOAH RIVER.

Any guesses now?

John Denver pays tribute to it with the lyrics, "Take me home, to the place I BELONG...."
He reminisces about it with a "teardrop in my eye." 

Doesn't it sound like a MAGNIFICENT place?
Sentimental.  Dreamy.  Impressionable. Touching.

(Oh....John Denver evokes fond memories for me, too.  I hear his songs, and all of a sudden, I'm riding in my dad's Peugeot, listening to his 8-Tracks!!  
So, Matt bought me John Denver's 4-disc set several years ago as a gift!)

 He didn’t get to choose where he'd go. It could be anywhere from Boise, Idaho (very close to us), Florida, Greece, or Japan (where Matt & I served) or many, many other places.

 We had many guesses.

**One last chance to guess!**  ;)
(Matt put the video on facebook a couple days ago, so maybe it's no surprise, now!  haha)

OK.  Drumroll, please....

Ryan has been called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

He has been assigned to labor in the West Virginia Charleston Mission!!!
(He will serve for 2 years, starting August 27, 2014.)

He didn’t get to choose where he'd go. It could've been anywhere from Boise, Idaho (very close to us), Florida, Greece, or Japan (where Matt & I served) or many, many other places,  

but the second he found out where he was called, it was perfect!


We've been in celebratory mode around here ever since - it's SO VERY exciting!!

 A lifetime of waiting, and now we know!