"Called To Serve" - January 30, 2024

On Tuesday, January 30th, 2024, Sam was sitting in class with his friend, Leo Reyes, when they both received the email that their mission calls were ready to read. They both submitted their papers on the same day, January 18, 2024, so it was exciting that they got to receive their calls while sitting together in class.

That night, Sam took some quiet time by himself to open his mission call to read and ponder about where he was going. He kept it to himself until the next day, Wednesday January 31st, when he read it in front of his closest family and friends. 

We had a map of the United States and a map of the world where attendees could pinpoint and guess where they thought he was going. The only person to guess Spain was his eight year old cousin, Victoria. 

I (Sam's mom) was convinced he was going to the SouthEast portion of the United States, such as Atlanta and the Carolinas, either Portuguese or Spanish speaking. When "Spain Madrid South Mission" came out of his mouth, I was floored, but excited!

As a mom does, I googled everything and anything about Madrid Span. There are very few natural disasters, it has a higher safety rating than the United States, and it's considered a popular destination for solo female travelers because of the safety of the area. It also has the second best healthcare in Europe, second only to Denmark. This all helped ease my worries and fears that I had been having since Sam decided years prior that he wanted to serve a mission.