Where in the World is June Serving?

I realized that posts are going to be all over the map (pun intended) for a while, as I try to catch up and get important things on here. I also realized that I wanted to put June's letters on here because then they will be saved forever for the family to read. 

But it doesn't make sense to put letters on here when the blog hasn't even documented the events leading up to her departure. So let's get on that right away.

June opened her portal in the summer and dutifully started working on getting all her info on there and her medical records up to date and whatever tid bits she needed. She really wanted to serve foreign. You can't pick that, but there was a question asking if she wanted to stay in the states to which she responded with an emphatic NO.

Her plan was to go to one semester of BYU and leave for her mission in January. So she turned her papers in just before her birthday in September. In fact, Tyler and I were on a cruise when she submitted them. (Alas, also not documented yet.) 

We were not prepared for how fast her call came. Long gone are the days of waiting at the mailbox every week. Instead, June's call came back the following week. So fast. I ordered a map and I wasn't sure it was going to come in time. Calls arrive on Tuesdays, but June decided to wait until Saturday to open her call. That takes some serious patience. And meanwhile, the map showed up. Where might she go in this big world?

Saturday arrived and the house slowly filled with friends and neighbors. And the map slowly filled with guesses of where June might serve. 

Then it was time for her to open her call. It's sent over email, so she read it off her phone. It used to be that the location was at the beginning, but now they have the important reminders before everyone gets lost in the geography. I loved hearing the importance of serving a mission.

In this picture, you can see she just announced the location. Smiles all around.

Now, if you want to listen to it yourself, go ahead.

There you have it. The Dominican Republic, commonly referred to as the DR. Who would have thought? I'm not sure I even knew where that country was until she opened her call. But I sure will never forget where it is now. 

No one guessed the right place. Jasmine, one of Sharon's roommates, was close with Puerto Rico, but she missed by a few miles.

We later have learned that the Dominican Republic has three missions. June will serve in the north in the Santiago mission. And down south is East and West Santa Domingo. We are so excited for her. June has so many good friends. You can even see here that at her mission call opening, some of her friends had already donned their tags and were soon to hit the MTC.