Dying To Know, Afraid To Find Out...

This is how We/I felt. We all wanted to know where the Lord needed Ben to go, but I was a little afraid to find out. Ben was always saying, "Mom, I'm going to be a little salty if I go stateside. I would love to see another part of the world." Then I would follow it up with, "Oh buddy, I have been PRAYING for stateside and God hears a Mother's prayers more!" We all know that isn't true, but I was hoping. 😉 The anticipation and excitement was all consuming. Between Ben constantly telling us how excited he was and us trying to guess where he was going made for an emotionally charged day, to say the least. 
As he thanked everyone for coming and ripped open the call the words seem to drag on forever and then he read it, "You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You are assigned to the California Riverside Mission." 
My Mom heart was so relieved. Stateside meant McDonald's, peanut butter and even Wal-Mart. So many of the amenities the US had to offer. He seemed content with the call which made us happy too and he reads on. 
"You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Mandarin language." WHAAAATTTT! The shock was real! MANDARIN?? My first thought-OH BOY! My second thought-HOW COOL! I guess those Chinese classes in HS will come in handy after all.
When I hugged him I asked him if he was OK with the call he said, "Oh ya Mom. I was OK with California or New York." Oh OK, I guess the Lord knew his choices. LOL
All in all, not where anyone guessed he would serve and definitely not the language he would teach in, but what an adventure this was going to be!