There is something magical about watching your kids fulfill their dreams and goals. Alex has always wanted to serve a mission for our church. I can't remember him ever questioning whether or not he should do it--the only decision he had to make was whether he should do it before starting BYU or after his freshman year. After much prayer and discussion with us he felt that he should definitely go to college for one year and then turn in his mission papers to be able to leave as early in the summer as possible.
He was so fortunate to find absolute best friends at BYU during his freshman year. Guys who have been his rock, his biggest fans and basically are like his brothers. They all encouraged each other to stay faithful, be good examples to each other and go on missions.
Alex opened his mission papers in UT, but finished all the interviews and paperwork here in NC while visiting us for Christmas. As soon as he was able to turn in his papers (120 days exactly before his availability date), he did it. His availability date was Jun 1. So submitted them somewhere in the first week of Jan, and then flew back to BYU.
Mission calls come on Tuesday, usually in the morning. We all were anxiously waiting for him to call us once he got the email. We knew it would be coming around 9 am but...nothing...nothing at noon. Nothing even at 2 and 3 pm! As we figured out later, when Monday is a holiday, it takes longer for mission calls to get sent out on Tuesdays. And it was the MLK's weekend, so they were running behind.
Finally! Late in the afternoon, Alex called us all and waited while we all got on FaceTime. Robert was still at work, Mark was hanging out with Dani and Katya was with me at home.
We all held our breath as Alex was outside, reading his mission call. It was one of the most spiritual experiences for all of us as a family again. I am tearing up even as I am writing about it.
And the big reveal--Alex was called to serve in the Baltic Mission, speaking Latvian!
Were we surprised? YES! But did it seem very fitting? YES!
His report date was Jun 17 with one week of Home MTC, leaving for UT on Jun 25th.
It was such a wonderful experience, a complete disbelief on Alex's part. But at least he knew exactly where Latvia was! Such a unique mission with four different languages being spoken by the missionaries. And SO close to Ukraine!
As a BYU tradition, all friends gathered together that evening for Alex to announce where he was going. No one guessed the right mission, because it's such a tiny and unusual place. When he announced "Baltic Mission", you could hear and audible hush as no one knew exactly how to react....and then he added "Latvian speaking" and all made more sense. Later he found out that some people thought he said "Baltimore mission, Latvian speaking", so they were pretty confused-hahaha.
We are so excited and proud of Alex for making this choice to serve the Lord and the people of Latvia. We have great faith that it will bless his life and will enrich his soul to the brim.
We love Alex!
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