It's the second Ronaldinho dummy

 Today was not on the bingo card.  

This morning we had a million things going on, work, appointments, shopping, tasks to do, guests, etc.etc.etc. Then suddenly and quite unexpectedly, Brigham sent out a test on our family chain that had a screenshot of a text he had received.  It included a message for the church missionary depart and said, click here to receive your mission call.

I immediately replied back and his mother didn't figure it out until a hour or two later when she returned home from work and read the text again.  She started crying.  Like ugly crying.  And running around the house trying to take care of a million things that hadn't gotten done.  We'd heard that it could take up to 8 weeks from when the package was submitted; we weren't expecting 2 1/2 weeks.  She became a tornado of activity.  The house needed cleaned, the floors swept and vacuumed.  We needed homemade cookies for the reveal party, and 87 thousand text messages and social media posts needed to be made immediately so people had time to shift things around and attend.  She booked the Relief Society room after mid-week activities and informed the bishop.  This was an all hands, immediate party.

very much to her credit, Michelle pulled the whole thing off by herself.  Including setting up the chairs.  That's kind of how she is and what she does.  Admittedly she did it all through a constant stream of tears and sighs.  Her baby is taking a big step and this is one that she is excited for but also scared silly.

Brigham has always wanted to serve in a portuguese speaking mission.  Around the world that includes Brazil, Portugal, Boston, Toronto and Mozambique.  So to that end he took three years of Portuguese language in high school when only two was required.  You see, there was a bit of maneuvering involved.  His language teacher has been keeping a log of his students that take all three years vs how many are called to Portuguese missions.  The correlation is rather high, like 85%.  BG heard that and he figured that he could manipulate the "calling" system to get what he wanted.  I don't think it quite works like that.  In fact I think a more appropriate way to look at it is that BG was put in a position where he could study this specific language at a much greater detail than he would have if he were raised in say, Gosnell Arkansas.  The Lord has a plan and ensures that this plan is brought to fruition by preparing those he calls to serve.

It was remarkable how many people showed up on no notice for this announcement.  A couple dozen friends such as Mitt and Orion, his girlfriend Kelsey and many more I didn't even know.  The Leiningers and Krystal from the Line Momma's Club brought their families.  KK, Chris, and their whole families as well as Grandma Susie.  A bunch of friends from the ward, including the Christensen's kids who wanted individual pictures with Brig because he is their big brother.  

He asked me to pray, which was a sweet privilege that Dad's get to occasionally enjoy and then he open a printed copy of the email which Mitt had taken care of for him so he could read it without peeking.  Crystal L. took a video of Michelle's reaction; that is a special moment.

At this point you need to know something about BG; he is our slot machine kid.  Relentless and persistent, when he wants something he will keep at it--keep pulling the one armed bandit until it comes up the way he desired.  I used to see this as a negative but I'm looking at it a bit differently.  As an example, last month a 5-star QB named Ryder Lyons was deciding which college he was going to attend.  Every school in the country wanted the kid.  I had little hope that he would choose BYU.  But very early in the process Brigham determined that Ryder was in fact coming to BYU.  He never once waiver no matter how persuasive my arguement or  unrealistic it appeared.  Then the unprobable happen--Ryder signed with BYU.  That guy doesn't know it but Brigham 'willed' that commitment into existence.

He did the same thing with this mission call.  I was fully prepared for him to be called to Nebraska but every time we spoke of it he said it was going to happen.  He went so far as to switch to reading the scriptures with us in portuguese so that he could practice reading out loud with me.  It was going to happen and he knew it.  He attempted to 'will it into existence'.  Even I found myself jumping on the train.  I went to the temple and prayed for nearly an hour asking that the righteous desire of his heart be fulfilled.

And it was.  My boy was just called to the Lisbon Portugal mission and will leave for the MTC on 5 January.  He has great faith and throughout his life it will serve him very well.  I love that boy.