Dear Sister Smith

It was Friday, July 12th, 2013. I had been going through my morning routine –Eating Breakfast, Unloading the Dishwasher, Watering the Garden, Watering the Flowers— as quickly as I could so that I could make my way to the library and exchange one large stack of books for another. I had placed my books in the car, and was getting ready to step inside the car myself, when I spotted the mail truck coming down the hill of my street. My thoughts went something along the line of, “What is the Mailman doing here at 10:30 in the morning?” Because I knew that the mailman NEVER came before 3:00, because I had been diligently waiting for him for Two Weeks, checking the mail at 3:00, and then every following half-hour to until it came.

My confusion was quickly changed to an unrealistic hope that he had stopped by just for me, but just after I quickly squashed the idea, the truck stopped, and then started coming back in reverse, then stopped in front of my driveway. I approached the vehicle cautiously, worried that if I might wake up from this dream, trying not to get my hopes up… But really, why else would the mailman stop in front of MY house?

Our conversation went along the lines of

Mailman: Are you Hannah Smith?
Me: That’s me!
Mailman: Then I believe this is yours.
Me: *Squeals and Jumps of Delight* oh ThankyouSOMUCH!!

I think I might have scared him a bit with my antics.

I waved goodbye and quickly ran back to the house, my trip to the library completely forgotten, and called parents, grandparents, siblings, and select friends.  They all confirmed that they would be there (except for two friends, one who had work, and another who was out of town. And Rachel, who couldn’t drive down, but who we were able to Skype. Yay Technology!!).

And then I had to take a picture of it and put it on Facebook telling everyone to make their guess.

The rest of the day consisted of finally going to the library, and cleaning the house. When out of the blue I got a call from BYU Freshmen Mentoring.

It turns out that when you don’t apply for classes for a month, they become concerned and want to know if you’re planning on attending in the Fall Semester. That concern was quickly demolished when I told the woman on the other end of the line that I had just gotten my call from the mailman two hours previously. She was disappointed that she didn’t get to hear where I was going, but was happy to learn that I already knew how to defer my enrollment. She gave her congratulations, and then I continued to clean the house and make cookies.

That evening we gathered in a circle and everyone gave their guesses (The favorite guess being my niece’s- Disney Land. We took that to mean Japan, California, or Florida).

 

Dear Sister Smith:

 

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Philippines Iloilo Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.

 

You should report to the Provo Missionary Training center on Wednesday, October 23, 2013. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Hiligaynon language.

 

Awesome Guessing Points went to Becca and Keatley (Keatley had been saying Philippines the minute I started my papers, she must know something the rest of us don't!)

We had to look up how to say Iloilo (Pronounced EelOh-eeloh), and I didn't find out how to pronounce Hiligaynon until the next day when I found out that the Ward Young Women's President's Husband had served in my area! (I knew he'd served in the Philippines, but he also spoke Hiligaynon (Hee Lee Guy Non), also known as Ilonggo (EE long oh), and is now teaching it to me!)

So now It's time to prepare to serve the Lord!