Elder Ethan James - you are hereby called...
Ethan has always wanted to serve his Heavenly Father ever since he was a young boy.. And we as parents have always supported him in his choice.. We of course were happy for this decision but tried not to put the pressure on as we feel very strongly that if a young person (or any age for that matter) does not fully want to serve by their own means.. Like they are not fully converted and have not felt the promptings of the Spirit or the burning desire or received a testimony or confirmation themselves it is all for naught.. (Just my own personal thoughts)
Ethan left Grade 12 (High School) and did not really know what he wanted to do with his life.. he knew he wanted to study he knew he wanted to serve a mission... He did not want to start studying only to have to defer for 2 years.. Which I though was wise.. and then he bummed around for ages and was really wishy washy.. he was trying to save but with spasmodic work it was a bit hard..
When Ethan was turning 18 he was almost 1 year out of High School and he'd done almost nothing...
We tried to encourage him to find more work.. to find better work.. to save more money.. to sacrifice etc etc.. but it only seemed to cause more friction... You know the typical teenage years where they know better and as a parent you are only "nagging" or "getting on their case"... and where we as his parents felt we had not done enough to teach him,... then one of his good mates asked him to go to Roma (6 hour drive away in the middle of no where.. mining town).. to work at a Domino's Pizza Place... While we were a little trepidatious of the whole thing we were SUPER keen to have him stand on his own two feet for a while and REALLY LEARN the true difficulties of living away from home with no one to call on to help you out and budgeting for future bills etc... It was hard to say good bye for me.. but I knew the growth he would gain from this experience would be well worth it.. besides he was only 6 hours away... And I could call or text anytime and he would be there to pick up my call or text back...
Long story short in the 6 months he spent away he learned a great many lessons... he lost his license overtaking a truck on the way back from a Brisbane visit... Speeding too much... He learned that paying for rent was a weekly thing and if you don't get enough hours you don't really eat that week. He learned that you really should pay back your mates when you borrow money. He learned that he missed living away from friends and family.. But Especially living in the middle of nowhere and the closest chapel to attend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints each week was a 3 hour drive away.. It was super hard and with no license... Impossible. So when he came home he had a much greater appreciation for his "blessings" and begun to work harder towards every facet in his life. He was much kinder and understanding toward his family... He was more responsible with paying board on time. He was keen to work two or three jobs (for a little while) and he started to really progress... He really wanted to work towards saving for and going on his mission.. What really made a MASSIVE difference was when he came home (From Roma) he realised that many of his friends who were already out serving the Lord were due to come back anytime soon... "I got to get my act together", "I've wasted the last almost 2 years of my life, I could be coming home by now"...was his words. We assured him that there were things he needed to learn and that those lessons were invaluable to him serving a mission...
I'm super happy to say that 6 months on and working steady (not hard not a lot but steady) he saved a goodly amount towards his mission and he was more prepared to serve the Lord.....
He received his call via an email on the internet... (as it happens these days) on the 12th of Feb 2019.. and did not open it until we could have a very few people gathered to be with him as he opened his call..
We gathered on Sunday the 17th of Feb to learn of what the future held for Elder James...
As Ethan waited for his guests to arrive at the time he asked them to come he nervously waited... As his mother and knowing him well I watched in the 2 hours while all the last 6 months of "manhood and growth" washed away... He seemed to turn into a 14 year old little boy again... It was a REALLY interesting thing to witness... He was nervous eating.. pacing the house and keen to get things going... After-all he had already waited an 5 extra days... And what really surprised me was he didn't even peek once.... As he paced the house waiting for the time when people would arrive... He kept saying, "so here we go.. I'm going to Brisbane North.."... We live in Brisbane South and there is no Bris North Mission only Brisbane.. he was trying to psyche himself up to not be disappointed.. not that he thought he would be but just in case... Finally the time arrived....
We had 9 people here that night on the 17th of February 2019.. Stake President President Acer Smibert, 2 of Ethan's Besties (Sarah and Ammon) and their partners, Marey Christou (not blood Aunty but should be blood!!), Brother Camdon Grey, John Frizwell and Joel Hillier.. Plus Hubbie, our younger son, Izra and Myself... We all had guesses as to where he would be sent... (except me I was happy withe where the Lord would send him.. and I had no idea.. But I knew he would answer my prayers..) Everyone wrote their guesses on a post it note and stuck it to the TV screen where we had put a world map for the backdrop of his opening his call... We set up all the phones and Cameras and recorded the whole event.. As he read out the words of his Call Letter.. "Dear Elder James you are hereby called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. you are hereby called to labour in the .... (woohhh.. WHAT??? What country is that??) ... Moz.. ammm.. bik....Mapoto... " the room has cheers, claps, gasps and questions.. "Where is that???" a we figured out where Mozambique Maputo was the reading of the call continued... "Reporting to the Provo MTC on Tuesday the 7th of May 2019 and you will prepare to teach the gospel in the Portuguese language..."
So much joy... And it all seemed a little unreal as you did the math that there was only 11 weeks and 2 days before your Elder would leave to serve... But Oh What a Blessing...
Elder James is going to Mozambique Maputo Mission - Speaking Portuguese
Whoot Whoooooo!!!
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