“The Envelope,” Friend, Sept. 2010, 4–5
The Envelope
Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come (D&C 31:3).
It finally came! I knew what it was when the mailman rang the doorbell. He smiled at my mom and handed her the envelope. Our mailman takes mission-call envelopes to the door instead of leaving them in the mailbox.
A mission-call envelope is big and wide. It comes from the Church headquarters in Salt Lake City. And this envelope was for my older brother Mike.
When the envelope came, Mike, my sister, and my other brother were all at school. Mom, Dad, and I waited for them to get home. Dad called Grandma and Grandpa. They wanted to be here with us for the big moment of opening the envelope.
Mike got home first, and he and Mom got out a big world map. Finally, the rest of the family got home. Mom wanted us to take turns guessing where Mike would go. We each had a pin with our name taped to it. We stuck the pin in the map where we thought Mike might go. Dad said a prayer, and then it was time for Mike to open the envelope. We were all excited to find out where the Lord wanted Mike to serve a mission.
Mike slowly turned the envelope over. Grandma kept saying, “Open it, open it.”
Carefully, Mike opened it and looked at the letter. He read, “You are called to serve in the Salta Argentina Mission.”
Everyone was surprised! We didn’t know where Salta was. Then Mike read the date when he would report to the Missionary Training Center. It was about two months away. Everyone was smiling, but Mike smiled biggest of all. He was excited to teach the people in Argentina about Jesus Christ. We all looked at the map to find Salta. Then we looked on the Internet to learn more about it.
What a night! I was happy for my brother. I am glad he gets to teach people about Jesus Christ. One day when I am ready to go on a mission, I will get an envelope myself. Then I will smile like Mike did when he got his.
Illustration by Julie F. Young
I can’t wait until it’s my turn to go on a mission!
Me too!